Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud

Traits of Effective Teams and Team Members

Just as instructional coaches need specific skills and mindsets to be an effective coach, teachers need specific skills and mindsets to gain from being coached. Similarly, team facilitators need important skills and mindsets, and team members need critical skills and mindsets of membership. Patrick Lencioni suggests that team members need to be hungry, humble, and smart. Gather insights and resources to reflect on your team and your team membership skills and mindsets.

Watch "Are you an Ideal Team Member" here. 
Read "Assessment: How well does Your Team Function" here. 

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

Coaching Generating Reflection Generating Growth

"If you don’t question what your experiences mean and think actively about them on an on-going basis, the evidence shows you are unlikely to improve.” - Alexandra Spalding

Using the Gibbs Reflection Cycle, Steve explores how a coach's questions and observations can maximize a teacher’s reflection and thus learning. Teachers’ insights are empowering.

View Spalding’s Guide to Reflective Practice in Teaching here.
View Gibbs Reflection Cycle here.

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

Leadership in the Classroom and Beyond

The author of "Leading Beyond Your Title: Creating Change in School from Any Role," Nili Bartley, shares reasons and strategies for generating leadership opportunities for students to lead. She identifies the value of teachers leading with their passions and learning the passions of others. Countless opportunities to create real change exist in every school just waiting for someone to take the lead.

Find Nili's book, "Leading Beyond Your Title: Creating Change in School from Any Role" here.

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

Supporting Teacher Leaders

How do teacher leaders work to build a coaching culture in a school? They should be the most coached teachers in the school.

Steve responds to these questions from teacher leaders:

• If I observe something that the teacher can easily fix, should I point it out?
• What if the teacher asks, "What should I do?”
• What do you do when a teach asks for suggestions and then doesn’t use them?

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

Encouraging Teachers to Teach with Big Concepts

Using science teaching and learning as an example, Dr. Stephanie Sisk-Hilton illustrates the importance of exploring big concepts and connected systems with students. She shares her work with colleagues, designing a program leading to a Climate Justice Education certificate. Suggestions on how coaches can assist teachers to expand current instructional practices are included.

Email Dr. Sisk-Hilton: stephsh@sfsu.edu
Read, "A New Program Will Train Teachers to Teach Climate Change, Without the ‘Doom and Gloom’" here.

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

Learning to Learn From Mistakes

Dr. Maleka Donaldson, parent, teacher, education professor and author of "From Oops to Aha: Portraits of Learning From Mistakes in Kindergarten," shares her vast experiences for parents’ consideration. Children at all ages are reading cues concerning the acceptance of mistakes. As parents, we need to be aware of the message we are communicating. How have our past experiences influenced our unconscious responses?

Visit Dr. Donaldson's website here.
Find Dr. Donaldson's book, "From Oops to Aha: Portraits of Learning From Mistakes in Kindergarten" here.

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

Encouraging Teachers to Teach More by Micro-Managing Less

Miriam Plotinsky, the author of "Teach More Hover Less: How to Stop Micromanaging Your Secondary Classroom," identifies that students need to be empowered to take ownership of their learning in order to be fully engaged.  She breaks hover-free teaching down into four sequential stages: mindset, deeper relationships, planning for engagement, and choice-based instruction.

Read "Teach More Hover Less" here.

Read "Lead Like a Teacher" here.

Find Miriam’s articles here. 

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

 

Responsibility for Improving Student Outcomes: From the Boardroom to the Classroom

AJ Crabill, the director of governance for the Council of Great City Schools and the conservator for Desoto ISD in Texas, explores the need for district alignment on continuous improvement in student learning outcomes. These statements from AJ spark the conversation: "The sole reason that schools exist is to improve student outcomes” and “Student outcomes don’t change until adult behaviors change."

Visit AJ's website here. 

Find AJ's book, "Great on Their Behalf" here.

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

 

Taking Learning Deep and Broad

“Students are not like Lego sets; collecting small bits of knowledge and eventually building a bigger picture understanding.” Dr. Stephanie Sisk-Hilton describes the reasons for engaging students in learning activities that include deep and broad systems understanding. Her examples encourage educators to increase these opportunities by building from current learning activities.

Email Stephanie: stephsh@sfsu.edu
Read "A New Program Will Train Teachers to Teach Climate Change, Without the ‘Doom and Gloom’" here. 

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

Coaching the Process of Learning Rather Than the “Right” Answer or Performance

Dr. Maleka Donaldson shares how school leaders can either encourage or discourage teachers from taking new risks and learning from mistakes. What coaching conversations should occur to uncover teachers’ beliefs, habits, and notions around mistakes? How does a coach personalize coaching with that understanding? What is the “error climate” in your school?

Visit Dr. Donaldson's website here. 

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