Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud

How Teachers Can Build Student Led Discussions

“Stop talking so much and make time for inquiry.” That’s the first of the six strategies that Alexis Wiggins and Tracy Hill share from their experiences as teachers and instructional coaches both nationally and internationally. They provide the "why" for empowering students to learn content deeper while developing critical success skills for life outside of school and specific strategies such as graphing discussions, rubrics, and peer coaching strategies. Implementing even just one or two of their tips will help you take your students and their thinking to the next level.

Email Tracy: tracyriyadh@gmail.com

Find Tracy on Twitter: twitter.com/tracyhillriyadh

Email Alexis: awiggins@ceelcenter.org

Find Alexis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexiswiggins

Read Alexis & Tracy's article, "6 Strategies to Bolster Student Led Discussions"

Read Alexis's book, "The Best Class You Never Taught"

Find the Spider Web Discussion Core Resources here. 

Visit the CEEL Center website and find more resources here.

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Instructional Coaching Impact

Donna Spangler, a past chair of district level coaches, describes the need for coaches to develop strategies to gather input that assesses the effectiveness of their coaching program. The collection of calendar and activity records tend to record activity; not impact. How does coaching enhance teacher professional growth, positive organizational change and most importantly student success?

Find Donna’s recommendations here:
Coaching for Impact Report. 
Jim Knight's, "Evaluating Instructional Coaching: People, Programs, and Partnership."
Contact Donna: donnaspangler@comcast.net or donnas@sibme.com 
Twitter: @spanglerdonna1

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A Skill We All Need: Improving

George Wright, management consultant, explores why focusing on continuous improvement is a critical leadership purpose; improvement for your self and creating the needed support for your staff’s growth. He identifies the benefits of improvement as increased self-confidence, greater job satisfaction and more opportunities for growth. Improvement is not a one-time event, it’s an ongoing process. Making improvement a top priority will be the best investment you can make.

Read George's article, "The One Skill You Need for Success: Improving" here. 
Visit George's website here. 

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

Teachers and Parents: Empowering Mastery Oriented Learners

Mastery-oriented learners are motivated by building competency. They are intrinsically motivated rather than driven by extrinsic rewards or by fear of punishment. Mastery-oriented learners want to learn for the sake of learning rather than for grades or teacher or parent approval and believe that ability is changeable. Mastery-oriented learners believe that failure is part of success and persist when learning is difficult. How can parents and teacher guide learners in building mastery orientation.

Listen to the "Rough Draft Math" podcast with Dr. Amanda Jansen here. 

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

Foundations for Instructional Coaching: Episode III - The Four Learning States (Gordon’s Ladder)

All of us are at different stages in our learning of a new skill from being unconsciously or consciously unskilled to being conscious or unconsciously skilled. Tom Gordon, the originator of Parent Effectiveness Training and Teacher Effectiveness Training identified theses stages. They provide a helpful understanding for those of us coaching and being coached.

Read Tom Gordon's Bio here. 
Read the blog on the four stages here.

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

Foundations for Instructional Coaching: Episode II Coaching to Extend Professional Development

This episode continues the exploration of the early authors, presenters, researchers, and experiences that have influenced my work in coaching across the last 40 years. Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers' exploration of the impact of coaching on the transfer of workshop skills to embedded classroom success was an early footing for me. I explore that impact here.

Read Bruce Joyce & Beverly Showers', "The Coaching of Teaching:" https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_198210_joyce.pdf
https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/joyce_and_showers_coaching_as_cpd.pdf

Read Joyce Showers', "Student Achievement Through Staff Development" here.

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

 

Foundations for Instructional Coaching: Episode #1 Heavy Coaching

Looking back on my 35 years of working in the field of coaching, I am pulling some of the authors, beliefs, experiences, and insights that I believe form a foundation for those building their coaching practices. In this first episode, I’ve focused on Joellen Killion’s explanation of the importance of "coaching heavy." She reminds us that results build relationships.

Listen to Joellen's interview with Coach Better here. 
Read Joellen’s article, "Are You Coaching Heavy or Light" here. 

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

Parents and Teachers Generating Opportunities for Learners’ Intrinsic Motivation

Research informs us that when tackling tasks that are more complex, success is more likely to occur from intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. How can teachers and parents support learners in building self-determination?  What are the environments that nurture intrinsic motivation leading to increased engagement, persistence, and satisfaction in students’ learning journey?

"The Puzzle of Motivation"

"25 Ways to Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation"

"Why We Do What We Do" 

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

Sharing Best Practices With Teachers

When teachers are told to implement a new program because it’s "research based," what are they thinking and feeling? That’s the question Sarah Morris, a Doctoral Academy Fellow at the University of Arkansas explored. She shares her summary from 400 responding teachers. Instructional leaders should consider how they engage teachers with research.

Read Sarah’s article, "5 Reasons Teachers Are Tired of the Phrase "Best Practice" and "Backed by Research" here.  
Email Sarah: srm041@uark.edu

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

Wellness Support For Students

Schools face increasing needs to respond to student wellness concerns, often with limited staff and time. Maria Barrera, the founder and CEO of Clayful, shares how her organization is working to respond with an app that through text links students with a wellness coach. She responds to some of the most asked questions about the strategy.

Find out more about Clayful at: clayful.co/ponders

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