QTL News & Stories

Franklin County High School Teachers Unanimous: QTL™ Will Impact the Classroom
November 2006

Teachers from several schools in Franklin County, NC say they'd recommend QTL™ to their peers after participating during Summer and Fall 2006.

LOUISBURG, NC - The Franklin County school system is augmenting teachers' professional development through partnership with The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning.

Teachers from Edward Best Elementary and Bunn Elementary (top) were among the first from Franklin County to take part in QTL™. Fall brought a session for teams of teachers from the county's three high schools.

Dozens of teachers are participating in QTL™ during the 2006-07 school year, beginning with elementary cycles during the summer and fall. The most recent fall session was composed of 18 high school teachers. There were six each from Franklinton, Louisburg and Bunn High Schools.

QTL™ instructor Theresa Bell says participants have been receptive and supportive. "This has been an excellent group of educators," she says. "I am enjoying the Franklin County teachers immensely."

QTL™ instructor Rachel Porter also worked with the Franklin County teachers. "They were very enthusiastic about trying out the Best Practices and the new technology," she says. "Some of them reported using a new strategy as soon as they returned to their classrooms after Day 1!"

Teachers say they DID put the strategies to work right away. In fact, the high school teachers were unanimous in voicing optimism they'll be able to continue to put what they learned to good use in the classroom. The following are comments turned in by all 18 participants at the culmination of the high school session:

"I'd like to tell a colleague that every teacher would be ill-prepared if he has not had QTL training. There is no other training that brings all of the different research based approaches to teachers and shows them how to apply each type. Thanks!"
"I would tell a colleague to leap at the opportunity to take the QTL training. This course provides additional "arrows in the quiver" to supplement instructional techniques they may already use. I've been very pleased with the exposure to techniques and accompanying technological capabilities to improve my instructional options. Students come in numerous capabilities and "flavors," so any new tools I can use to convey my lecture information is greatly appreciated and beneficial to the learning environment."
"The first thing I would tell a colleague about this training is that it truly makes you a better teacher! I have thoroughly enjoyed each day of QTL training, and my students are already reaping the benefits. I feel that I am teaching more effectively to all of my students' learning needs now. All of the 89+ project/activity ideas have been extremely useful in that after several years of teaching, sometimes my creativity gets stifled. With a 'stifled' mind, my lessons are not as interesting or effective as they should be. This training has reminded me of many of the things that I learned in college and have been pushed to the back of my memory. I now feel excited again about teaching! Thank you QTL!!!"
"I think all teachers would benefit from QTL training. It is not only a learning experience, it also is refreshing to be in such a relaxing environment and to be able to collaborate with your colleagues from other schools."
"I would tell my fellow faculty members that the training was a lot of fun but only some of the activities were applicable to my classroom. I also wished it could move faster and we could do more activities because I enjoyed so many of them it seemed like we could get more in."
"I would tell them this is the best workshop I have ever been in! We have learned how to take curriculum based learning and have hands-on learning! It is awesome! The more hands on activities, the better students learn! It is great! I would love for all teachers on the high school level in Franklin County to come and be a part of such a wonderful experience. This would be even amazing for someone to teach! (Like me)"
"This is absolutely the best professional development workshop that I have attended. The hands-on, differentiated instructional strategies have modeled the way that we as classroom teachers should utilize different strategies to engage all students who learn in different ways. We have not been lectured to or been given worksheets; we have actually created products that we can take back to the classroom and utilize without much more preparation. It has shown us ways to work smarter and not harder because many of the activities are actually student driven with a lot of student input and we as teachers serve as monitors. I have already used several of the activities in my classroom with little revision and have found them to be extremely successful."
"I think QTL has been a good staff development opportunity for our teachers. They have learned many valuable techniques and strategies to use with the students and in the classrooms. I hope the teachers continue to use the strategies in the classroom like I have already seen. Thanks to Theresa (Bell) and Rachel (Porter) for all they have done to teach our staff. We really appreciate the added tools that they have given us."
"I would recommend that my coworkers attend QTL training. I would tell them you learn very valuable techniques and activities you can possibly use in the classroom. In QTL I have been taught several activities that would keep students highly engaged in the classroom. We have learned things that can be used in basically all subject areas."
"This training would be valuable to all my coworkers and the students would definitely benefit from the entire faculty attending QTL training. I will encourage my coworkers to sign up for the next session."
"I would tell my colleagues that QTL training is really good for classroom settings. The use of programs and certain activities via the computer and other software would help enhance learning for students. The instructional materials given to us by the QTL instructors are very useful in class, if our school had the capacity to install the software and programs into our system. It is an intense training session but is vital to use for class."
"QTL provides a practical interpretation of theoretical constructs; the classroom strategies practices and advocated during QTL training are supported by researched methods development. The constructivist approach promotes the creation of engaging student work and provides teachers the tools they need to develop such work. Each teacher is given the opportunity to plan effective lessons – to individualize the instruction he or she is receiving to best fit his discipline – using the new strategies they have learned. QTL is a worthwhile training session that will most likely result in higher student achievement."<
"There are a lot of new activities that I have learned from QTL. I recommend this training to my fellow colleagues. This training really discusses and builds on different learning styles."
"QTL is a group of workshops to help teachers reach all types of learners. It helps all teachers each all types of learners. We were given several different projects that could be adjusted to most subject areas. All of the projects were a lot of fun to be involved in. They were engaging as well as being fun. Even though there was homework on different learning styles, we also used the information gathered in different projects to help diversify our teaching repertoire."
"QTL will give you an opportunity to work with high school colleagues exploring different types of technology that can add to daily instructional practices. While some may be frustrated by not having access to the technology in their schools, the larger group generates ideas about how to use the instructional practice without actually having the technology handy. By having time during the training to actually complete sample projects, teachers have an opportunity to think about the logistics of actually delivering the project/instruction to their students."
"I would tell my colleagues that QTL is beneficial because I've been shown practical techniques to use in my classroom in engaging and fun ways. The technology has been taught in a way that is easy to understand and to incorporate in every day practice. I have enjoyed the trainers and working with different people from other schools. Overall, it has been a pleasurable learning experience."
"I would tell a colleague that QTL is a way to learn new skills about teaching your subject. You learn new technology that you can implement, and find ways to give assignments that might not take a lot of class time, but will allow students to further examine the subject they are teaching. It gives teachers a way to make learning student-centered, and not teacher-centered, and provides all teachers the opportunity to think outside the box and find new ways to present old material in a way that makes students responsible for their own learning, and in doing so they actually learn and retain more information."
"I would advise them to take advantage of the training. If they don't have adequate computer labs for their students, they would certainly benefit if they just used the training in preparing their lesson plans. I have become familiar with many programs that I was not aware of and learned how to use them. The sessions have been fun and informative. Any teacher would benefit from the training."

Franklin County had previously implemented the Whole Faculty Study Groups® program, and QTL™ added to implemention of the concepts of that program.

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