Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud

As teachers’ relationships with those providing coaching grow from a foundation of trust, teacher vulnerability and risk-taking increase which positively impacts teacher growth. I had an earlier opportunity to explore earning trust and building trust with Jonathan Mueller, an experienced international school leader. He shares that when you can build rapport through unconditional positive regard with somebody, it helps build and continues to earn trust with people. Here are questions teacher have of a coach: Do you appreciate and value me? Can you help me? Can I trust you?  Unconditional positive regard for people as human beings is an excellent way to start.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

In his book, "Triage Your School: A Physician’s Guide to Preventing Burnout," Dr. Chris Jenson provides specific actions school leaders and coaches can take to address the elements of chronic stress for teachers and themselves. Combining his years as a doctor in an emergency room with his years teaching high school science, Dr. Jenson has a unique understanding. Chris states, “Like health care, triage prioritizes educators actions and provides a healthier perspective toward overflowing work demands...one that removes guilt and emotion from incomplete tasks. Find Chris's Book, "Triage Your School" here.  Visit Chris's website here. Find Chris's LinkedIn here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

The author of "Teaching With The Heart in Mind,"  Dr. Lorea Martínez, who was a special education teacher and school administrator and worked with children and adults internationally, provides reinforcement for the value of purposefully planning for embedding SEL skills in the classroom, beyond teaching the SEL curriculum. She guides educators to provide the necessary resources and structures to support teachers’ social and emotional capacity; and go beyond the SEL curriculum to include the conditions that make learning and growth possible for all students. Read "3 Misconceptions about SEL" here.  Contact Lorea and find her resources here. Watch Lorea's video on Teacher Stress here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Accountability is a broader concept than responsibility - it’s something you do to yourself, not something that someone does to you.  A focus on responsibility can create attitudes where people justify the ways they think and act to "cover their tails" which pulls in the opposite direction of achieving organizational or team results. With accountability, people not only take accountability for the results they need to achieve individually but for results that they are not 100% in control of. How might your leadership or coaching practices encourage accountability. Read the Culture Partners post, "Responsibility vs Accountability" here.    Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

Agile education coach and the founder of The Agile Mind, Jessica Cavallaro, describes why students and teachers benefit from working with Agile teaching and learning processes. Jessica shares how she works with teachers and administrators to integrate agile principles and the rewards that everyone can experience. E-mail Jessica: jessica@the-agile-mind.com Find Jessica's website and resources here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Listen as Dr. Lorea Martinez, Columbia University Teachers College faculty member, founder of HEART in Mind, and author of "Teaching With the Heart in Mind," provides guidelines for supporting teachers in building students’ social emotional learning skills. Identify how developing your own SEL skills supports your leadership and instructional coaching with staff. Honor Your Emotions Elect Your Responses Apply Empathy Reignite Your Relationships Transform with Purpose Read Lorea's article, "Leading From the Heart" here.  Visit Lorea's website and find her resources here.  Find Lorea's YouTube Channel and watch her video, "5 Strategies for Educator Stress" here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Simon Senik’s advice to focus communicating the WHY of your organization before the how and what has a direct application to a staff’s understanding of “why” an investment in instructional coaching would be made. Decisions about a coaching model, the selection of coaches, the training provided to coaches, as well as the expectations for administrators, coaches, and teachers should all be connected to the program’s “WHY.”

Agile Classrooms provide for student-centered learning, collaboration, iteration, continuous feedback, and adaptability. Experienced teacher and Agile coach, Jessica Cavallaro, describes how Agile revolutionized her teaching practice and shares how teachers can create classrooms where students are active participants, planning alongside teachers, making informed decisions about their learning tasks.  Agile classrooms foster independent learning where students tackle problems with creativity and critical thinking. E-mail Jessica: jessica@the-agile-mind.com Find Jessica's resources here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

"Stop Saying These Kids Don’t Care About School." That’s the title of an op-ed piece written by podcast guest Laurie Putnam, superintendent in St Cloud, MN. Laurie identifies how this sentence buries the real challenges and daily struggles that many of her students’ face.  That belief undermines our collective responsibilities to nurture future generations. Hear examples of some strategies that St Cloud has implemented that have positively impacted student engagement. Consider how you create an environment for educators to safely explore beliefs that are often unconscious. Read "Stop Saying ‘These Kids Don’t Care About School’" here.  E-mail Laurie: laurie.putnam@isd742.org Find Laurie's LinkedIn here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Thanks to staff at PLS3rdLearning and scores of educators and authors, we are celebrating our 500th podcast! We took a few minutes to share our experiences with you. It has been exciting to have my learning extended as we created an opportunity to ponder about teaching and learning with guests and listeners. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Liz Keable, a specialist in guiding increased student leaning through metacognition practices, provides insights and suggestions for supporting and coaching teachers. "If we want to have a real impact on the next generation, there is one thing vastly more important than our teaching, and that is their learning.” You’ll find “look fors” and questions to build into your coaching practices. Contact Liz: success@lizkeable.com   Visit Liz's website here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Kyle Coppes, a secondary principal, shares the thinking behind an opinion piece he wrote titled, "Student Laziness Is a Myth. Here’s Why" - "The belief that laziness exists will limit the behavior of any teacher who encounters it, and that is harmful. Essentially, it is a teacher’s get-out-of-jail-free card: If a student does not complete a task on time, and if laziness is the culprit, then giving a zero or assigning detention is the right tool for the job.” How do you explore teachers’ beliefs and generate reflection upon those beliefs as part of coaching? Read Kyle's article, "Student Laziness Is a Myth. Here’s  Why" here. Visit Kyle’s website here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

Heather Lyon, the author of, "Engagement is Not a Unicorn, It’s a Narwahl" and "The Big Book of Engagement Strategies," shares her insights on student engagement and teacher strategies from her new book, "50 Ways to Engage Students with Google Apps." Teachers' knowledge and understanding of pedagogical choices is key to tech tools tapping student engagement. Find Heather’s many resources here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Just as teachers use a focus on communicating interest and positiveness to inspire, motivate, and foster a positive learning classroom environment, coaches need to communicate the same with their coachees. Interest and positiveness can impact an individual's self-esteem, motivation, and performance. Communicating interest and positiveness is not just about what you say but also how you say it. The effectiveness of your communication lies in your ability to make the other person feel seen, heard, and valued. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

With many years of experience as a Success Coach supporting the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged students, Liz Keable provides concrete "do and don’t do" guidance for parents and caretakers.  Learn ways to build students’ understanding of their own role in the learning process, their belief in their capability as a learner, and the internal motivation to face challenges. To receive a free copy of 'The A-Z of Supporting Learner Achievement," e-mail Liz at: success@lizkeable.com Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

How do coaches increase teacher voice and reflection in post conferencing? Too often the coach’s voice can sound more like a report being given (similar to supervision conferences) rather than a conversation. You’ll gain some mindsets, strategies, and questions in this podcast. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

What happens when the marathon of teaching - the long rewarding journey with its share of challenges becomes an unending obstacle course laden with ever-changing rules and unseen hurdles? Jason McKenna, an experienced teacher, author and current VP at VEX Robotics explores this question.   Read Jason's article, "Embracing the Teaching Marathon with Joy and Well-being" here.   Contact Jason McKenna or subscribe to his newsletter here.   Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

What do you want grades to communicate? What do you want to be sure that your grading doesn’t do? When grades are used to teach life lessons, such as responsibility, or punctuality, the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake can be diminished. Does the lack of consistency among teachers’ use of grading create a grade fog because we are asking a single letter grade to communicate too much disparate information? Read, "The Problem With Grading" here.         Listen to the podcast with Sarah Morris here.  Read Tom Schimmer's article here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

According to a Harvard Business Review article, "curiosity helps employees engage more deeply in their work, generate new ideas, and share those ideas with others." Certainly, these are all benefits we would want for staff in our schools. The questions that leaders and coaches use can support tapping into curiosity.  Find out why "what" is a good start for your questions. Listen to the podcast with Tanya Sheckly and Tom Willis here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

When we are engaged in growing and learning as educators to reach a student success goal, reflecting on evidence gathered along the way is key both to the goal’s success and to educator learning. Evidence that shows changes in teacher actions and in student learning production behaviors should appear before changes in learning outcomes. With school leadership team goals, changes in leaders’ behaviors should be some of the first evidence that’s observed. Coaching is a great tool for gathering and reflecting upon evidence.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!