APPLE Cohorts: Beginning of a Journey

/in /by

Your Journey Begins Here

You have reached the end of this series, and perhaps the beginning of something much larger.

Over the course of these posts, we have tried to give you an honest, warm, and practical picture of what life in APPLE looks like. We have talked about practical preparation and pacing guides, about the mindset it takes to thrive in a competency-based program, about the experience you bring to your studies, and the feedback that will sharpen your thinking. We have talked about the support surrounding you — your faculty mentor, your cohort, your MLC family, your home congregation — and about the very real tension of balancing work, family, and coursework when all three matter deeply.

If you have read every post in this series, you know more about APPLE than most people who have considered it. More importantly, you know something about yourself and the kind of learner you are, the kind of educator you are becoming, and the kind of calling you are answering.

To Our Current APPLE Learners

If you are already enrolled in APPLE, this series was written with you in mind from the very first word. You are part the first cohort of learners to walk this path at MLC. The road ahead will ask a great deal of you. It will also give a great deal back.

You will be challenged in ways that make you a better teacher. You will be supported by people who are genuinely invested in your success. You will grow in knowledge, in skill, in the attitudes and behaviors that define a faithful called worker. And when you stand in your own classroom for the first time as a licensed teacher in the WELS, you will know that the preparation you completed was worthy of the calling you accepted.

Keep going. Your students are waiting.

To Our Prospective Learners

If you are still considering whether APPLE is right for you, we hope this series has answered some of your questions and perhaps raised a few new ones worth exploring. We hope it has shown you that APPLE is not a program for a particular type of person. It is a program for anyone who has heard the call to serve in WELS public ministry and is ready to do the work that call requires.

The questions that matter most are not about your background, your prior experience, or the number of years you have spent in a classroom. They are simpler than that: Do you want to serve? Are you willing to grow? And are you ready to begin?

If the answer is yes, we invite you to take the next step. Reach out. Ask your questions. Talk to someone who has walked this path. And when you are ready, join us.

The Journey Ahead

Whatever brings you to this page — curiosity, conviction, or a quiet sense that God is calling you somewhere new — you do not take the next step alone. You take it as part of a community of learners, educators, and called workers who are walking the same road for the same reason: to serve the children and families of our WELS elementary schools with knowledge, skill, faith, and love.

That is the heart of APPLE. That is the heart of everything we do at MLC.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Wherever this journey takes you, He goes with you.

APPLE Cohorts: Instructor Feedback

/in /by

Making the Most of Instructor Feedback in APPLE

There is a moment that many learners know well. You have worked hard on an assignment. You have read the material, thought carefully about the prompts, and submitted your best effort. And then the feedback arrives. It is detailed, specific, and more extensive than anything you received in your previous academic experience.

What you do with that moment matters.

Feedback Is Part of the Teaching

In a traditional course, feedback often arrives after the grade has been recorded. It explains what went wrong, or occasionally what went right, and then the class moves on. In a competency-based program, feedback works differently. Because mastery — not completion — is the standard, feedback is not a postscript to the learning. It is part of the learning.

APPLE faculty use detailed rubrics in D2L Brightspace to evaluate your work against clearly defined competency standards. Alongside the rubric, you will receive written summative comments that explain where your work demonstrated mastery, where it fell short, and what would strengthen it. Some faculty also share audio or video feedback to add a more personal, conversational touch. All of it is offered in the same spirit. Feedback is not meant to judge, but to guide.

Read It Carefully. Then Read It Again.

Adult learners tend to engage with feedback seriously. That is one of the gifts you bring to this program. But seriousness can sometimes tip into something less helpful. You may find yourself reading feedback as a verdict on your ability rather than as instruction for your growth.

When feedback arrives, resist the urge to scan quickly for the bottom line. Read it carefully and completely. Notice what your faculty member affirmed, not just what they asked you to reconsider. Ask yourself what the feedback is telling you about the competency standard. What does mastery actually look like, and how does your work compare? If something is unclear, reach out and ask. Your faculty member wrote that feedback because they want you to succeed. A clarifying question is not an imposition; it is exactly the kind of engaged learner behavior that CBE is designed to encourage.

Resubmission Is Not Failure

If your work does not yet meet the competency standard, you will be asked to revise and resubmit. Before you do, you will meet with your faculty member in a scheduled virtual meeting to talk through what needs to be adjusted or refined. Many learners find these conversations to be among the most valuable in the program. They are focused on your specific work and how to strengthen it.

It is worth saying plainly: resubmission is not failure. It is the CBE process working exactly as it is designed to work. The goal is mastery, and mastery sometimes requires more than one attempt. What matters is not how many times you submit, but what you learn between submissions. Ideally, competency is demonstrated within three attempts, not because there is a hard limit, but because consistent progress serves you well in the long run.

Carry It Forward

The most important thing you can do with feedback is use it for the assignment in front of you and for the work that follows. Patterns in your feedback over time are worth paying attention to. If multiple instructors are asking you to go deeper in your analysis, or to connect your reflections more explicitly to course content, that is not a coincidence. It is a signal about where your growth edge is, and it is an invitation to lean in.

Your monthly faculty mentor meeting is a natural space to reflect on feedback across your courses. If you are noticing a pattern — or if you are struggling to understand what an instructor is asking of you — bring it to your mentor. That conversation is exactly what the mentor meeting is designed for.

Feedback in APPLE is not something that happens to you. It is something you participate in, respond to, and grow through. Approached with openness and humility, it becomes one of the most powerful tools in your formation as a Christian educator.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)

APPLE Cohorts: What APPLE Learners Can Count On

/in /by

You Are Supported: What APPLE Learners Can Count On

One of the most common concerns adult learners carry into a new program is a quiet worry that they will be on their own. They might assume that the flexibility of online, competency-based learning means navigating challenges without a net. In APPLE, the opposite is true. From the first term to graduation and beyond, learners are surrounded by a network of support designed to help them succeed academically, spiritually, technically, and professionally.

Academic Support

The foundation of academic support in APPLE is the faculty mentor relationship. As we have described in earlier posts in this series, your faculty mentor is your ally, your tutor, your writing support, and your academic advisor. Your faculty mentor is a consistent, invested presence throughout your time in the program. When coursework is challenging, when an assignment needs a second look, or when you are not sure how to approach a resubmission, your faculty mentor is your first and most important resource.

APPLE learners also have remote access to MLC’s library resources and databases, giving them the same research tools available to on-campus students. The library staff is available to help with research support, making the library a genuine academic partner for learners working on coursework from a distance.

Technical Support

Technology is the infrastructure of online learning, and when something is not working, it matters. APPLE learners have two clear channels for technical help. Questions and issues related to D2L Brightspace are handled by MLC’s LMS Administrator. All other technology questions — Google and access to campus systems — are supported through MLC’s IT Services Helpdesk. Knowing who to contact before a problem arises saves valuable time when one does. Information on how to connect with the Technical Support resources is included in the online orientation.

Spiritual and Community Support

APPLE is not simply an academic program. It is preparation for a calling, and MLC takes the spiritual formation of its learners seriously. One of the most distinctive expressions of that commitment is a one-on-one virtual meeting with the President of MLC during a learner’s first year. It is a personal and unhurried conversation because every learner at MLC is a known and valued member of the MLC community.

Learners also build meaningful connections with faculty through the Theology Minor, which most learners complete during their first year of study. These courses are among the most community-rich in the program, featuring weekly activities, discussion boards, and synchronous class meetings. The relationships formed with theology faculty during that first year often extend well beyond the courses themselves, providing a source of ongoing encouragement and spiritual conversation throughout the program.

MLC’s daily chapel services, streamed live during the fall and spring semesters, are open to all APPLE learners. Special services and events from MLC’s on-campus chapel are also streamed and available to the broader APPLE community. These are invitations, not requirements, but many learners find that connecting to the rhythms of chapel life at MLC deepens their sense of belonging to something larger than their individual coursework.

Ultimately, the primary source of spiritual support and pastoral care for APPLE learners is their home congregation and pastor. The program is built on the understanding that the learners in this program are already rooted in the church they serve, and that the spiritual community surrounding them at home is itself a gift and a resource throughout their studies.

Professional Support

Support in APPLE does not end when coursework does. As learners approach graduation, they receive guidance from their faculty mentor and through the formal processes embedded in their student teaching term to prepare for the call process. APPLE graduates who are not already serving in a call at the time of graduation are considered call-eligible and will be assigned to their first call as an elementary school teacher in the WELS.

And the support continues even after the call is received. All APPLE graduates are encouraged to participate in MLC’s New Teacher Induction program — an experience that pairs new teachers with experienced mentor teachers for ongoing professional guidance and encouragement as they step into their classrooms for the first time as called workers.

From your first term to your first call, APPLE is designed to make sure you are never without the support you need to thrive.

APPLE Cohorts: Balancing Work, Family, and Coursework in APPLE

/in /by

Balancing Work, Family, and Coursework in APPLE

There is a tension that nearly every APPLE learner knows. It does not always announce itself loudly. It shows up quietly in those moments when you close your laptop to help your child with their homework, when a meeting runs long on the night you planned to study, on a Sunday afternoon you spend grading for your students when you intended to spend it on your own coursework. You want to give your best to your family, your school, and your studies. Sometimes those three things want your best at the same time.

If that tension sounds familiar, you are not alone. And you are not failing. You are an adult learner doing something genuinely hard, for genuinely good reasons.

Name the Competing Demands

Family, work, and school are the three great competing demands for most APPLE learners. Each carries real weight and real responsibility. Many learners in this program are also serving their congregations, caring for aging parents, raising children, or supporting spouses and partners who are making sacrifices to support their studies. The demands are not imagined, and they do not disappear when the term begins.

What changes for learners who find their footing is not the number of demands. It is the intentionality with which they manage them. The most successful APPLE learners do not simply find time for their studies. They make time, protect it, and communicate clearly with the people around them about what that time means and why it matters.

Build a Schedule That Works for Your Life

Flexible pacing is one of APPLE’s greatest strengths, but flexibility without structure can quietly become procrastination. Learners who thrive tend to treat their study time the way they treat any other non-negotiable commitment. They put it on the calendar, and they keep the commitment to their studies.

A few strategies that work well for APPLE learners:

  • Create a family schedule. When your study time is visible to everyone in the household, it becomes a shared commitment rather than a source of tension. Some learners find that sitting down with their family at the beginning of each term to map out study time together builds understanding and buy-in from the people who matter most.
  • Study regularly, not in bursts. Fits and starts are the enemy of progress in a competency-based program. Shorter, consistent sessions — even thirty to sixty minutes daily — are more effective and more sustainable than marathon study weekends that leave you exhausted and behind.
  • Plan your pace intentionally. APPLE learners can adjust their course load term by term. One of the most effective strategies your faculty mentor will discuss with you is going part-time during the school year, when your professional responsibilities are heaviest, and full-time in the summer, when your schedule opens up. This is not falling behind; it is planning wisely.

Make the Most of Your Monthly Mentor Meeting

Every APPLE learner meets with their faculty mentor monthly. These meetings are not administrative check-ins. They are structured conversations built around how you are doing, where you are in your pacing guide, and the goals you set together at your last meeting. They are your dedicated space to ask questions, share concerns, and celebrate what is going well.

Come prepared to be honest. Faculty mentors are not looking for polished updates. They are looking for the real picture, because that is the only way they can help. If the balance is feeling impossible, say so. If something at home or at work is affecting your studies, name it. The mentor relationship only works as well as the honesty you bring to it.

When Life Disrupts the Plan

Even the most carefully constructed schedule will eventually reach a point where it cannot hold. Illness, family crisis, professional emergency, and grief can all impact your studies. Life does not pause for a pacing guide.

When a genuine disruption occurs, contact your faculty mentor and your course instructors as soon as possible. Do not wait until you are significantly behind to reach out. Together, you will assess where you are in the term and make a plan. Sometimes the right answer is to push through to completion. Other times, requesting an Incomplete for one or more courses is the wiser choice. An Incomplete is a straightforward process that can be implemented by your course instructor, giving you additional time, typically until the midpoint of the following term, to finish your work. If an Incomplete is not resolved by the deadline, the course grade may become an F, so it is important to make and keep a realistic plan for completing the course.

If you need more than a brief extension, a leave of absence is also available. Your faculty mentor can help you navigate that process and plan your return when the time is right.

APPLE is built for the whole person, not just your role as a learner. The people supporting you in this program understand that your life does not stop when your coursework begins. They are on your side. Most importantly, they will follow the guidance of our Savior and pray for and with you.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” — Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV)

You are not carrying this alone.

APPLE Cohorts: Practical Tips for Your First Term in APPLE

/in /by

Getting Ready: Practical Preparation for Your First Term in APPLE

Starting something new is both exciting and a little daunting. Whether you are a paraprofessional already serving in a WELS school, a long-time classroom aide finally pursuing your teaching license, or someone answering a call you did not expect, the first term of APPLE marks the beginning of something meaningful. A little preparation goes a long way toward making that beginning confident.

Before You Begin Coursework

APPLE learners rely on technology to successfully complete their coursework. Here is what to have in place before your first day:

  • Activate your MLC Campus Gmail account and Google Workspace. Your MLC email is your official channel for program communications. Check it regularly.
  • Have a reliable computer or laptop. A tablet or smartphone may work for reading, but you will need a full computer for completing coursework and submitting assignments.
  • Set up a microphone and camera. Several APPLE courses include required synchronous class meetings and videoconferences. Being able to participate fully from day one keeps you connected to your faculty and cohort.

Meet Your Faculty Mentor

One of the first things you will notice about APPLE is that you are not navigating it alone. Your faculty mentor is introduced in your acceptance letter and will likely be in contact with you before your first term even begins. Your mentor is your primary academic relationship in the program. Your faculty mentor is the person who responds to your reflective journals in orientation, monitors your progress throughout your course of study, and walks alongside you when life gets complicated. Do not wait for a problem to arise before reaching out. The most successful APPLE learners are those who stay in regular contact with their mentor, especially when challenges — academic, professional, or personal — begin to affect their studies.

Complete Your Orientation

APPLE learners have access to a self-paced orientation in D2L Brightspace two weeks before the term begins. We encourage you to complete it before your first course activities begin. The orientation is built around MLC’s mission and values, with particular attention to our shared identity as Christians serving in public ministry. It also introduces the tools and features of Brightspace in a low-stakes environment, so that by the time you engage in graded coursework, the platform feels familiar. The orientation remains open throughout the program as a central hub for announcements and program information, so make sure you favorite the course.

Understand the Pacing Guide

Every APPLE course includes a pacing guide, and this is one of the most important tools in your academic toolkit. The Theology courses have a weekly schedule to follow. All other courses allow for flexible pacing; learners can choose to complete a course in five, seven, or fifteen weeks. All paces require the same activities and are outlined on the course pacing guides. Learners who consult their pacing guides regularly and treat them as roadmaps consistently complete their courses on time. Those who set it aside early in the term often find themselves working harder to catch up later. If you fall behind, your faculty mentor is there to help you think through how to get back on track, but learners who use their pacing guides often find their own footing and are back on pace before their next monthly mentor meeting.

Make Your Study Time a Priority

The single most consistent difference between learners who thrive in their first term and those who struggle is time management. APPLE is designed for busy adults, but it still requires a genuine commitment of time and attention. The most successful learners treat their study time the way they treat any other important commitment. They schedule it, protect it, and show up for it. Some learners find it helpful to share their study schedule with their families, making it a visible and shared priority in the household. That kind of intentionality sends a powerful message — to yourself, to your family, and to the students you will one day serve — about the value of this calling.

You are ready for this. And on the days when it feels otherwise, your faculty mentor, your cohort, and the whole MLC community are here to remind you why you started this program. God called, and you answered, Here am I! (Isaiah 6:8).

APPLE Cohorts: Experience, Growth, and the Journey Ahead

/in /by

What You Bring to APPLE: Experience, Growth, and the Journey Ahead

Every learner who begins APPLE arrives with a unique story. Some have spent years as paraprofessionals, working alongside classroom teachers and learning the rhythms of school life from the inside. Others have served as substitute teachers, stepping into unfamiliar classrooms with confidence and adaptability. Some are experienced teachers of record seeking formal licensure for a calling they have been living for years. And some are making a genuine career change, drawn to WELS public ministry from a different professional path entirely.

What unites all of them is not what they already know. It is why they are here.

Experience Is an Asset, Not a Shortcut

Prior classroom experience genuinely enriches learning in APPLE. Learners who have spent time in schools bring a practical frame of reference that makes methods courses come alive. When a course asks them to design a lesson or analyze an instructional strategy, they are not imagining an abstract classroom. Instead, they are drawing on real students, real moments, and real challenges. That connection between academic content and lived experience is one of APPLE’s distinctive strengths as a program.

Prior experience also builds confidence in one of the most distinctive features of APPLE coursework: micro-teaching recordings. Learners who are already comfortable in a classroom setting often find the micro-teaching requirement less daunting than those who are newer to teaching. For learners who are not yet in a formal school setting, finding an appropriate student audience is sometimes the bigger challenge. APPLE learners are already connected to a WELS congregation, and Sunday School or Vacation Bible School programs can provide a natural and appropriate setting for micro-teaching. The Director of Field Experiences is also available to help learners connect with WELS schools in their area earlier in the program if needed.

But experience, however valuable, does not replace the degree. APPLE is a full bachelor’s degree program requiring 120 credits of rigorous coursework. The program is not a rubber stamp for years of service; it is an academic credential that prepares called workers with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors their students and congregations deserve. Even the most experienced classroom teacher will find that APPLE asks them to think more deeply, reflect more honestly, and grow in ways that years of practice alone cannot produce. The teaching profession, at its best, is a lifelong journey of learning. APPLE is designed for teachers who understand that.

Transfer Credits and Prior Coursework

Learners who have completed college coursework before entering APPLE are encouraged to have their transcripts sent to MLC as part of the application process. Transcripts are reviewed automatically during admissions, and general education courses that align with MLC’s curriculum are often accepted toward the 120-credit requirement. Learners who have completed methods courses from another teacher preparation program may also have those reviewed, though acceptance is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and cannot be guaranteed.

This means that for many learners, prior academic work does count. The ability to transfer courses reduces the total number of credits remaining. The conversation about transfer credits begins at admissions, so learners enter the program with a clear picture of where they stand and what lies ahead.

Your Faculty Mentor Meets You Where You Are

Whether you are an experienced teacher of record or someone stepping into education for the first time, you do not navigate APPLE alone. Your faculty mentor is more than an academic advisor for course registration. They are your ally, your tutor, your success coach, and your cheerleader. They know your background, understand your goals, and walk alongside you through every term of the program.

APPLE is not designed for a single type of learner. It is designed for any returning adult learner who has answered the call to serve in WELS public ministry and is ready to do the work that calling requires. Whatever you bring to the program, there is room to grow and someone beside you for every step of the journey.

APPLE Cohorts: Setting Up for Success

/in /by

Setting Yourself Up for Success: The Mindset for APPLE

Beginning something new almost always brings two feelings traveling together: excitement and self-doubt. If you are starting your first term in APPLE carrying both, you are in good company. Nearly every adult learner who has walked this path of returning to school has stood in the same place. They find themselves energized by the possibilities ahead and quietly worry whether they are ready for them.

The honest answer is that readiness is not something you arrive with fully formed. It is something you build, one week and one assignment at a time.

Expect a Moment of Feeling Overwhelmed

At some point in your first term, the coursework will feel like a lot. For some learners, that moment comes early, when they first map out their courses and see the scope of what lies ahead. For others, it arrives at mid-term, when two or three courses are running simultaneously, and the weeks feel short. For others, it comes near the end of the term, when deadlines feel closer than expected.

Whenever that moment arrives for you, know that it is normal. It does not mean you are not cut out for preparing to serve as a teacher. It means you are taking your coursework seriously. The learners who struggle most are not those who feel overwhelmed. The ones who struggle most are those who respond to feeling overwhelmed by stepping back rather than reaching out. When the coursework feels like too much, that is precisely the moment to open your pacing guide, contact your faculty mentor, and take the next small step forward.

Practical Resilience Is a Skill

Resilience in APPLE is not about pushing through on willpower alone. It is about building habits that sustain you over the long arc of the program. A few practices that consistently serve APPLE learners well:

  • Protect your study time. Flexible pacing is a gift, but it requires discipline. Learners who treat their study time as negotiable often find it disappearing. Schedule it, share it with your family, and keep it.
  • Use your pacing guide before you need it. The pacing guide is most useful when consulted regularly, not in a moment of crisis. Check it weekly and adjust before you fall behind rather than after.
  • Engage with feedback as a tool, not a verdict. When your faculty member returns comments on your work, read them carefully and ask questions if anything is unclear. Feedback in APPLE is instruction, not judgment.
  • Celebrate small completions. The program does not mark every milestone with fanfare, but you can. Finishing a course, submitting a difficult assessment, or completing your first micro- teaching recording are real achievements. Acknowledge them, even quietly.

You Are Not Alone on This Journey

Perhaps the most important thing to carry into your first term — and every term that follows — is this: you are not walking this path alone.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” — Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

God is with you on this journey, a constant source of compassion and strength. When the readings feel heavy and the assignments feel long, prayer is not a pause from the work. Prayer is sustenance for and through the work you are doing. The Theology courses in APPLE, which many learners find to be a source of both wonder and deep encouragement, are a regular reminder that the academic and the spiritual are not separate endeavors. They are one.

Your MLC family includes your faculty mentor, your course instructors, and other learners in your cohort. All of these individuals are with you as well. Your mentor is not simply an academic advisor. They are someone who knows your name, reads your reflections, and sends a personal note when you finish a course because your progress genuinely matters to them. Your cohort, brought together through APPLE In Service meetings and shared theology coursework, is a community of people who understand exactly what you are carrying because they are carrying it too.

And beyond MLC, your home church, your family, and your circle of friends are part of this journey as well. The people who know you best are cheering for you, even when they do not fully understand your coursework and assignments.

You have been called to this race. Run it.

APPLE Cohorts: What to Expect from CBE Coursework

/in /by

A New Kind of Learning: What to Expect from CBE Coursework in APPLE

Most of us carry a mental model of education built over years of traditional schooling. Show up, take notes, study for the test, earn the grade, move on. It is a familiar rhythm, and it is almost entirely unlike how learning works in APPLE.

Competency-based education does not ask when you learned something or how many hours you spent studying. It asks one question: Can you demonstrate that you have mastered this? For adult learners bringing years of classroom experience to their studies, that shift in focus is often the moment APPLE begins to feel less like going back to school and more like finally getting credit for what you already know.

Mastery, Not Seat Time

In a traditional course, a learner who submits an assignment that falls short of the standard receives a grade and moves on. In APPLE, falling short is not the end of the story; it is the beginning of a conversation. If an assessment does not yet meet the competency standard, learners meet with their faculty member in a scheduled virtual meeting to talk through what needs to be adjusted or refined before resubmitting. Most learners find these conversations genuinely helpful. They clarify expectations, deepen understanding, and give faculty valuable insight into what course materials might need strengthening. The goal is not to penalize. Instead, it is to ensure that every learner who completes APPLE has truly mastered the competencies that their future students will depend on.

Ideally, competency is demonstrated within three attempts. Not because there is a hard limit, but because consistent progress matters. Fits and starts are the enemy of momentum. Regular, sustained engagement with your coursework keeps you moving forward and keeps resubmissions from stacking up.

Assessments That Look Like Teaching

APPLE assessments are individual tasks designed to reflect the real work of a Christian educator. While there may be some multiple-choice tests or timed exams, most assessments focus on reflections, analysis of instructional scenarios, crafting of lesson plans, and, perhaps most memorably, recording yourself teaching.

Micro-teaching recordings are among the most distinctive features of APPLE coursework and often surprise new learners. A micro-teaching recording is a short lesson you facilitate with school-age learners — either in your current classroom or in an informal setting with family members or children of friends. It is an authentic window into your practice as an educator and one of the most powerful ways to connect coursework to your actual calling. If the idea of recording yourself teaching feels daunting, reach out to your faculty member early. They are there to help you prepare, not just to evaluate the work you submit.

Your Experience Is Evidence

For many APPLE learners, the moment CBE truly clicks is when they encounter the field experience courses: EFE I, EFE II, and IFE. These structured early teaching experiences ask learners to facilitate lessons and reflect on their practice. For learners who have spent years as paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, or teachers of record, these courses offer something traditional programs rarely do: the opportunity to demonstrate competency through prior experience.

The process begins with a resume submission. With faculty approval, learners may then submit a reflective portfolio documenting how their prior classroom experience meets the field experience requirements. For many learners, this is a powerful and affirming moment as years of faithful service in WELS schools are seen and honored as the meaningful preparation they have always been.

Feedback Is the Teaching

In a traditional course, feedback often arrives after the grade and feels like an explanation of what went wrong. In CBE, feedback is the primary teaching tool. APPLE faculty use detailed rubrics in  Brightspace, our online learning environment, alongside written summative comments. Some faculty also share audio or video feedback for a more personal touch.

As adult learners, APPLE students tend to engage with feedback seriously and thoughtfully, but sometimes they take that feedback too seriously. Feedback is meant to help you grow, not to define you. Read it carefully, ask questions if something is unclear, and then use it to move forward. The faculty members who write that feedback are invested in your success. Receive their comments in the spirit they are offered — as the words of someone who wants to see you thrive in your calling.

You are not just learning new content in APPLE. You are building the professional identity of a Christian educator, one competency at a time.

APPLE Cohorts: Welcome to APPLE

/in /by

Welcome to APPLE!

Some journeys begin with a clear sense of direction. Others begin with the quiet conviction that God is calling you somewhere new, even if the path is not yet fully visible. If you are reading this, you may be at the beginning of one of those journeys.

The APPLE program at Martin Luther College exists for people like you. Whether you are a paraprofessional who has spent years serving in a WELS school and is ready to pursue your teaching license, someone making a career change in answer to a call you did not expect, or a prospective learner simply exploring what APPLE might mean for your future, this series of posts was written with you in mind.

We are writing these posts at a particularly meaningful moment as MLC welcomes its first APPLE cohort. This group of dedicated adult learners is beginning the journey you are considering, or one you are embarking upon yourself. Their presence in this program is a testament to the need for called workers in WELS elementary schools and to the courage it takes to answer that need.

What This Series Covers

The posts in this series are designed to give you an honest, warm, and practical picture of what life in APPLE looks like. Together, they address the questions prospective and incoming learners ask most often:

  • What do I need to have in place before I begin?
  • What does CBE coursework actually look like?
  • How do I develop the mindset to succeed?
  • How does my prior experience shape my learning?
  • What support systems are available to me?
  • How do I balance work, family, and coursework?
  • How do I make the most of the feedback I receive?

Each post stands on its own, so you can read them in any order. But together they tell a complete story that begins with practical preparation and ends with the moment you step into your calling as a Christian educator.

A Program Built for Your Life

APPLE is not a traditional degree program, and it is not designed for traditional students. It is built for adults who are already living their vocations — in their schools, their congregations, and their homes — and who are ready to deepen their preparation for the calling they have already answered in so many ways.

The program is flexible, rigorous, and deeply rooted in the mission of MLC and the WELS. It asks a great deal of its learners. It also surrounds them with support, community, and the conviction that the work they do matters to them, their students, and the church and school where they serve.

If you are among the first cohort of APPLE learners, welcome! We look forward to supporting you on your journey.

If this sounds like the kind of program you have been looking for, we invite you to keep reading. And, when you are ready, we hope you will join us.

D2L Fusion 2025: Igniting the Joy of Learning

/in /by

Drs. Martin and Nichole LaGrow attended D2L Fusion 2025 in Savannah, Georgia. Brightspace, a D2L product, is the online learning environment for competency-based coursework at MLC. This three-day conference allowed both LaGrows to meet with our D2L support team and engage with colleagues from other institutions that use Brightspace. Both returned to campus with more notes and ideas than they can possibly implement before the next Fusion.

Although both attended the daily keynote presentations, they elected to divide and conquer the agenda to make the most of their time at the conference. Dr. Martin LaGrow attended several sessions focused specifically on the competency features in Brightspace and course design. These sessions are already informing his work as the instructional designer and Brightspace administrator for our program. Dr. Nichole LaGrow attended several sessions on specific functions within the online learning environment that we can leverage more effectively to support learners in our program, as well as sessions on data analytics and reporting.

Both participated in several stakeholder information and testing sessions. These opportunities to meet with and speak with the programmers and engineers who maintain and develop new features in Brightspace were invaluable. We were able to share what is working well in our online learning environment and what functionality we need. We also provided feedback on planned product releases.