Center for Teaching and Learning Resources
Landon's Center for Teaching and Learning Resources (CTLR) opened in September 2005 as a place for students to develop strategies geared to their unique learning styles and for teachers to explore diverse instructional methods and to stay abreast of the latest thinking in the field of learning to better serve Landon students.
Marcos Williams '65, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Resources, guides the school's efforts to facilitate greater understanding of different learning styles and needs of the boys. Wherever a student finds himself in the spectrum of capacity, production and achievement, the CTLR stands ready to strengthen his skills and help him become a better learner.
Mr. Williams works in each of the Division buildings to:
For more information, contact Mr. Williams at marcos_williams@landon.net or call 301-320-8477 or visit the Center office on the 2nd floor of Andrews House.
Helping boys become better learners
When a student needs personal attention, there is a formal process for intervention:
Identification
Students can be referred for intervention by the Learning Specialist in four ways:
- A student can refer himself
- A parent can refer a student
- A teacher can refer a student
- An administrator can refer a student
Assessment
Subsequent to the referral and the identification of the student, the Learning Specialist will gather any and all data available on the student. Any testing conducted by an outside agency will first have to be reviewed by Landon School's psychologist, Dr. Charles Parks. If the data corroborates the concerns expressed by the source of the referral and the teachers involved agree with any assessment results, a plan for intervention will be initiated in collaboration with all the teachers involved.
Observation
Subsequent to the assessment process, the Learning Specialist will observe the student in a minimum of one class with ample notification to the classroom teacher.
Intervention
Subsequent to the observation(s) of the student, the plan initiated during the assessment process with the teachers will be designed and implemented to meet the specific educational needs of the student.
Evaluation
The intervention plan will be evaluated to assess its efficacy and will, consequently, be revised if necessary.
Culmination
The reasons for the referral will be reevaluated and the intervention terminated if the goals and objectives of the intervention plan are accomplished.
Helping faculty members become better teachers
Since its founding, a central goal for the Center for Teaching and Learning Resources – along with assisting boys to become better learners – has been to help faculty members develop better skills as teachers. The steps to accomplish this goal fall into two main categories. First, to present world-class expertise to help teachers develop strategies to support all boys, the CTLR is working with vertical sets of teachers, i.e., departments, and horizontal sets, i.e., grade teams. As one example, last August, 23 members of Landon's English Department, representing each of the three divisions, underwent a weeklong training course in All Kinds of Minds. In addition to learning research-based rationales, the participants developed an understanding of the processes and emerged with a common language from grade 3 through Form VI.
The second area of focus involves assistive technologies to support boys' growth and learning into their future. Landon uses the latest version of the Kurzweil software. Landon is arranging for faculty training and also developing a users group of boys who can help their peers learn the uses of the software.
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