Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud

A meeting to establish a teacher’s professional growth plan goal can either be a perfunctory activity to be checked of the “to do list” or the start of a year-long do --- reflect --- apply cycle that generates professional learning. Ask these questions at the end of the planning meeting:

• Does the teacher own the goal?
• Is there something they're curious about?
• Have they identified something they want to learn rather than simply something they want to accomplish?
• Do they know what evidence they'll examine?
• Are they leaving the conversation thinking more deeply than when they entered it?

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Kelly Hastings, founder of Enlightening Leadership and author of Leading Change That Lasts shares thoughts on school leaders planning backwards from desired student outcomes to leadership actions. How do leaders involve and empower teachers in the process? What role does evidence of progress, with cautions around “fidelity,” play in supporting an implementation.

Visit the Enlightening Leadership website and Connect with Kelly here. 

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Schools aren't experienced through mission statements or curriculum guides. They're experienced one interaction at a time.

• What are students experiencing?
• What are teachers experiencing?
• How do we know?

Coaches can help teachers and leaders gather evidence about experiences that often go unnoticed because they have become routine - or even unconscious.

Watch Marcela Andreas Diaz Revultas’ video here. 

Find Tim Montalvo’s blog here.

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If professional learning for educators is going to generate increased learning success for students, it needs to be an environment, not an event. Dr. Marisa Ramirez Stukey, co-author of, "Professional Learning Redefined: An Evidence-Based Guide," shares key elements of effective professional learning and the necessary commitments needed from administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers.

Visit The Reading League website and get in touch with Dr. Stukey here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

In many schools, it isn’t common to find teachers exploring possibilities and reflecting on observations with instructional coaches early in the school year. Perhaps there is a view that coaching is problem-solving and the idea that coaching around designing is being missed. Hear an example of what that coaching around a teacher’s early planning might sound like.

Find Dan Steele’s post here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

 

Multipliers, as Liz Wiseman identified ("Multipliers - How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter") don't simply recognize talent—they help it grow and spread. Perhaps that's one of the most important roles of an instructional coach. Rather than identifying what teachers are missing, coaches are on the prowl for the capabilities that are already emerging. Noticing them, naming them and creating opportunities for those talents to become even more powerful and, ultimately, benefit colleagues and students beyond a single classroom.

Watch the Positive Psychology in Coaching and Professional Practices video (from Growth Coaching International) here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Teacher to teacher conversations are powerful when they expose us to perspectives we would not generate on our own. Left to ourselves, we tend to revisit familiar assumptions, interpretations, and solutions. We think within the boundaries of our current mental models. Dialogue creates the opportunity for those mental models to be challenged, refined, or expanded. How do instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and administrators support those dialogues?

Listen to Naquin’s podcast, "What educators should know when talking with one another" here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Michael Hernandez, the author of, "Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity" and "The Uncheatable Assessment Course," shares insights on authentic learning. How can we create learning tasks and assessments that encourage and strengthen students' curiosity - supporting them in becoming engaged and inquisitive scholars and citizens.

Read Michael's article, When Assignments Invite Wonder here.

Find his book, "Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity" here.

Find the Uncheatable Assessments Course here. 

Contact Michael: LinkedIn | Instagram | michael@storytelling-with-purpose.com

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

"It’s time to treat curiosity as the superpower it is. We can build students’ ability to use this learning power by giving them the tools, time, and encouragement to wield it effectively."

Dr. Teresa Hill, the superintendent of South Holland Schools in Illinois and the author of, "The Instructional Leaders Guide to Closing Achievement Gaps: Five Keys for Improving Student Outcomes," highlights the “why and how” to empower learning with curiosity. Curiosity is a key to her motto, "All children can learn….. Period."

Read Dr. Hill's ASCD article, "Curiosity Is a Superpower" here.

Find Dr. Hill on LinkedIn here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Leadership coach for educators and business leaders, Julie Schniers, shares her insights around coaching others to create opportunities for growth, self- discovery, increased confidence, and a focus to accomplish their goals. She focusses on the importance of communication, connections, and confidence. Coaching curiosity is a key.

Visit Julie's website and connect here.    

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!