“Quality Teacher Development, LLC provided our PK-2 teachers with two days of math professional development addressing the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. The overwhelming response from our teachers was “Now I have a better understanding of what I need to do to implement these standards into my daily instruction!”
Janey Morris, Supervisor
Office of Exceptional Learning
Athens City Schools
Athens, TN
“Sue O’Connell’s professional development session for our elementary education community of teachers was excellent! Not only was she inspiring and motivational, she was also very knowledgeable. The participants gained new insights into the Common Core Mathematics Standards, were given a variety of useful practical strategies, and came away with a list of resources to incorporate into their best practices repertoire.”
Jeanine K. Brizendine
Eastern Shore Region Representative
Maryland Council of Teacher of Mathematics
“Having read the 8 Common Core Standards for Math Practice prior to this staff development day, I can attest to the difficulty of trying to interpret their meaning. This session definitely made the practices “teacher-friendly”. The activities demonstrated were useful and adaptable for a multitude of grade levels. This professional development workshop provided a great “jumping off” point for implementing the Common Core Standards.”
Middle school math teacher
Huntingdon Special School District
Huntingdon, Tennessee
“For more than 5 years, Sue O’Connell has been a mentor, coach, and colleague for teachers and administrators in St. Charles Parish Public Schools. She has customized workshops to address the needs of our district and promoted classroom implementation through her practical and engaging approach to teaching teachers and administrators. Through demonstration lessons, she has modeled effective instructional practices in our classrooms. By participating in learning walks, Ms. O’Connell has coached administrators in assessing and providing feedback about mathematics instruction. Ms. O’Connell is a credible and knowledgeable advocate for developing mathematics skills and understanding.”
Rachel J. Allemand
Assistant Superintendent
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
St. Charles Parish Public Schools
Luling, LA
“Sue O’Connell is an outstanding math workshop presenter. Our organization, Learning Forward TN, sponsored math workshops across Tennessee in the area of problem solving. We wanted a presenter who had math content knowledge, an understanding of how children learn, and good communication skills. We found these qualities plus many more in Sue O’Connell. She made the workshops unique to our teachers by connecting the problem solving strategies to Tennessee’s curriculum and assessment program. Teachers left her workshop, not only with many strategies for all children, but also, a much clearer understanding of how problem solving should be taught. Sue’s presentations inspire teachers to teach math in a way that increases student achievement.”
Gaye Hawks, Executive Director
Learning Forward Tennessee
“When looking for some help with professional development for our middle school math and special needs teachers we turned to Sue O’Connell. She not only provided math ideas for teachers that were practical and immediately usable in the classroom, her methods were useful for both the math and special needs teachers. In addition, she is willing to assist in helping teachers to see what they need to do to make their classroom math friendly for their students. She was consistently evaluated very highly by all participants in her workshops.”
Mario Nogare
Project Coordinator
Southern Colorado Math Partnership
“As part of our Instructional Coaching initiative in Wicomico County, we asked Sue to provide professional development related to coaching in the mathematics’ classroom. Sue’s expertise in this area proved to be just the shot in the arm our coaches needed. She shared practical strategies and tips for how to make the most of the coaching experience and our elementary and secondary coaches left with a renewed sense of commitment to the important work of classroom coaching. Sue brings a wonderful blend of knowledge related to teaching mathematics along with skills related to working with adults. Her workshop was certainly an inspiring experience.”
Bonnie Ennis, Ed.D.
Math Coordinator, PreK-8
Wicomico County Board of Education
Salisbury, Maryland
“Sue O’Connell is insightful, knowledgeable, and authentic. Her instruction, demeanor and skill in the classroom are superior. Simply an outstanding presentation with lots of take home applications. The information she provided our teachers was invaluable, creative, and practical strategies that can be implemented into any curriculum.”
Tim Collins
Principal, Rutledge Elementary School
Grainger County Schools
Rutledge, TN
“Our Elementary Math Coaches in Tampa, Florida had a remarkable experience working with Sue O’Connell over several days. Sue’s inspirational workshop left our coaches energized with fresh ideas to reflect on their roles in enhancing mathematics within the school. We found the data action plan and the discussions with activities related to differentiating instruction to be particularly helpful, and we are making plans to incorporate these vital pieces in our school action plans for the upcoming year. We feel Sue’s powerful tips for coaching will help our cadre of coaches develop lasting relationships with teachers and guide us all in attaining our goals in mathematics teaching.”
Shelley Fritz
District Resource Teacher
Elementary Math Department
Hillsborough County Schools
Tampa, FL
“Several years ago, I was in search of a consultant with math expertise who could deliver solid professional development related to problem solving and writing in mathematics, as well as strategies for struggling learners. I knew immediately after attending a workshop Sue conducted that she was the woman for the job! I was impressed with her content knowledge, her interactions with workshop participants, and the many, many creative and practical strategies for effectively teaching mathematics. I plan to continue to utilize Sue’s know-how for the benefit of the districts I serve, both through her excellent presentations and her high quality publications.”
Anna Frank
Professional Development Specialist
Special Education Training and Resource Center
Monroe #1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Rochester, NY
“Sue O’Connell has continued to awe and inspire middle school math teachers in our school system for the past three years. She has provided teachers with a series of ongoing workshops on the integration of math content and process. All of her trainings have offered teachers new ideas to use with their students. As a result of her workshops, teachers have continued to refine and extend their thinking. Every evaluation shared by her participants used the words ‘practical’, ‘motivating’, and ‘hands on’.”
Kay Brown, Mary LaMarca, and Ronnie Singer
School Improvement Instructional Specialists
Department of School Improvement & Accountability
Prince George’s County Public Schools, MD
“Sue O’Connell is a master at delivering practical, motivating workshops which include both the content and the necessary background needed for full implementation. Her math coach workshops provide inspiration and know-how for teacher leaders as they assist other teachers improve their craft. Our math coaches left her full-day workshop filled with new knowledge, understanding, and do-it-tomorrow techniques. Several months later, they were still buzzing about all they had learned from Sue. We all give her the highest rating possible!”
Kimberly Rimbey, NBCT, M.Ed.
Professional Development/Math Specialist
Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona
“Sue conducted a workshop for nearly 90 elementary teachers in Bucks County and all 90 thought she was fantastic! Her workshop was engaging, hands-on, and showed us all that differentiating problem-solving instruction is something that we can do. Staff developers and teachers alike left with many ideas and activities that were ready to use the next day in classrooms.”
Lindsey R. Sides
Staff Development Coordinator for Title II and Title V Programs
Bucks County Intermediate Unit, PA
“Originally I heard Sue present at a workshop. I was so impressed we brought her to the district many times to train our teachers in problem solving and writing for math. She is a wonderful presenter who shares a wealth of information. Her presentation style captures interest and makes learning fun!”
Bonnie LaFave, Ed. D.
Curriculum Supervisor, Grades 5 – 8
Galloway Township Schools, NJ
“Sue O’Connell is a well-known and well-loved consultant and friend in Pueblo School District No. 70. She has worked with our teachers for the past four years. Teachers leave her workshops with practical applications that they can apply and use with students immediately. Her strategies work for all students!”
Ginger Andenucio
Director-Instructional Services
Pueblo School District 70
Pueblo, CO
“Sue’s lively and interesting workshops and seminars have been very valuable for the teachers in my district. She always provides meaningful activities and strategies for those high-priority areas such as problem-solving, math communication, number sense, and number operations. She has worked extensively with lead math teachers and classroom teachers in my district.”
Shirley Ellison
Math Teacher on Special Assignment
Red Clay Consolidated School District
Wilmington, DE
“The evaluations of Sue’s workshops attest to their value. Our teachers comment on the knowledge and expertise that Sue brings along with her hands-on activities, multiple examples, and resources that can be taken back to the classroom to improve their students’ writing and increase their content vocabulary in a way that compliments our math curriculum! She allows teachers to process their understanding of the theory by facilitating discussion and planning time so it can be applicable to their curriculum. Sue solidifies the connection of theory to practice in teachers’ minds by demonstrating how the writing and vocabulary strategies are evident in our state assessment’s released constructed response items. Her workshops created a nice bridge for reading and writing in the math content in our district.”
Lola J. Brown
Federal Programs Curriculum Specialist
Harrison County Schools
Clarksburg, WV
“I attended Sue O’Connell’s seminar on “Writing About Mathematics”. This seminar was packed with practical ideas, suggestions and creative ways to integrate writing and mathematics. Sue presented the information through hands-on activities and provided us with resources to take back and use in our classrooms. This seminar provided detailed information on how to help students improve their communication skills in mathematics. I am an elementary math specialist and will be sharing this information with the teachers in my school district. It’s exciting to think about the potential for positive changes in our classrooms.”
Shannon E. Gilmore
Elementary Math Trainer in Minnesota
“I attended Sue’s workshop “Writing About Mathematics” and was taken aback by the immediately useful material she gave us. Since then, I implemented many of the writing strategies with my 8th grade students and saw tremendous growth both in their writing and mathematical understanding.”
Veronica Ruiz-Ramirez
Simons Middle School, CA
“Sue O’Connell’s seminars are highly practical and engaging. She has given our teachers tools and confidence needed to implement our problem solving instruction for all learners. Practical, ready-to-use ideas were shared that have been proven successful in our classrooms. Sue has enhanced our schoolwide problem-solving program by helping teachers discover how to make better use of both pre-assessments and ongoing assessments to more effectively target instruction on what students really need to learn. In assessing our community of learners, she provided feedback that guided our program to effectively meet the needs of our students.”
Nancy Sawa
Teacher/Facilitator, Problem-Solving Committee
Sugar Grove Elementary School
Greenwood, Indiana