Faced with rapid growth and changing classroom needs, Emmanuel Lutheran School and Martin Luther College partnered with Sibme to enhance instructional coaching and educator development. By integrating AI-powered tools, they improved feedback, reflection, and collaboration across their school communities.
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Schools are facing the exciting challenge of rapid enrollment growth. Principal Bill Fuerstenau, balancing teaching and administrative duties, struggled to conduct timely classroom observations and provide meaningful feedback. Meanwhile, at Martin Luther College, Dr. Jon Schaefer saw the need for deeper, tailored reflection tools to support graduate and continuing education programs. Both leaders realized that traditional methods alone could not keep pace with their institutions’ needs.
Principal Fuerstenau and Dr. Schaefer partnered with Sibme Virtual Coaches to learn new skills for improving feedback, reflection and collaboration across the schools in the MLC network. By using a structured coaching model, powered by AI analysis of classroom artifacts, both leaders were able to identify opportunities for teacher growth more efficiently, and use that data to provide evidence-based feedback to teachers.
Sibme enabled educators to receive precise, timestamped feedback, boosting instructional effectiveness and student engagement. For John, AI Insights structured pre-meeting reflections, helping him identify new insights and extend discussions beyond immediate goals.Emanuel Lutheran teachers connected with peers across Lutheran schools to share strategies and support growth. At Martin Luther College, John applied Sibme to foster stronger mentorship between lead coaches and instructional teams.
Video-based observations with clear, timestamped evidence strengthened evaluations at Emanuel, while AI-supported feedback helped John plan not just for one cycle, but for sustained six-month and year-long development goals.
With Sibme’s success, Principal Bill aims to expand the platform’s use within his school and beyond. His vision includes integrating new teachers, strengthening collaboration with other Lutheran schools, and leveraging Sibme’s AI-driven features for deeper instructional insights. By building a broader professional learning network, he hopes to drive lasting improvements in teaching excellence.
"Sibme offers an opportunity to create a virtual professional learning community across schools."
"From her first observation to her second, I was like, is this the same classroom? She literally went from the conscious stage to the active stage in a matter of months."
