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School leader and author, Tim Montalvo, explores the question, "What does a student need from us in order to be successful?" Tim reinforces that before we can expect students to regulate their behavior, we must design schools where they experience belonging every day. In addition to belonging, he explores the importance of clarity, access, and coherence. Visit The Room to Belong website here. Contact Tim: [email protected] Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

People need to know that their individual contributions on a team are recognized. While teachers may not need—or even want—the spotlight, they do need to know that someone sees their effort, skill, professional judgment, and the importance of the outcomes they are seeking. There is an important difference between wanting attention and wanting someone to be paying attention. Whether you are a school leader, instructional coach, team leader, or team member, consider your role in helping the people around you know that their work is seen, understood, and valued? Read Jeff Matlow's, "The Problem With Bring a Team Player" here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Allison Rodman, the founder of The Learning Loop, explores how we create professional learning where trust sets the stage for vulnerability - a key to teacher learning. Professional learning is an ongoing daily process that should be supported by what might be labeled a professional development workshop. Effective professional learning positively impacts student learning outcomes. What commitments need to be held by district level staff, building leaders, instructional coaches as well as teachers? Find Allie at The Learning Loop.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

When we enter a coaching conversation, we need to consider two layers. One is visible: the lesson design, the teacher’s actions, student participation, questions and responses, and evidence of learning. The other is less visible. It includes the teacher’s beliefs and assumptions, confidence and uncertainty, previous experiences, fears and concerns, values and intentions, sense of responsibility, and hopes for students - an “invisible thread.” -(Randi Brown) Read Randi Brown's article, "Supporting Teacher Growth Through Trusting Relationships" Read about Joellen Killion's insights on Heavy Coaching in this previous blog.   Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

“We don’t have a teacher shortage. We have a shortage of sustainable, team-designed teaching jobs.” - Roger Osorio Positive results emerge when educators genuinely share students and responsibility, collaborate around instruction, distribute expertise, and possess meaningful decision-making authority. Teaming can create the daily observation, feedback, and reflection opportunities that make peer coaching part of the work rather than an added activity. Teaching is a team sport. Find Roger Osorio on LinkedIn here. Tune into the The Ensemble School Podcast here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Where do teachers learn to maximize the value of planning periods in their schedules? Teacher and productivity coach, Carla Erskin, reports that "Planning periods have long been treated as empty space on the master schedule, resulting in a missed opportunity to recognize the effective use of that time as professional practice and to help teachers develop the knowledge and skills it requires." What are some first steps coaches and leaders might take? Read Carla's article, "Are Schools Squandering Teacher Planning Periods" here.  Visit Carla's website, Sustainable Teaching Solutions here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

If I believe the person sitting across from me is a professional, my coaching job can't simply be to get that person to do what I've decided is best. I need to engage their thinking which means deep listening on my part. Treating someone as a professional isn't simply something we say. Teachers experience whether we see them as professionals through the conditions we create and the ways we interact with them. If we want our students to be taught by professionals who exercise professional judgment, our leadership and coaching need to continually develop that judgment and create the conditions that support professional dignity. Listen to Jim Knight’s podcast episode, "Stop Telling Teachers What to Do" here.  Visit Brad Gaynor's website here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

The author of, "Not One More Teacher Lost," Brad Gaynor, explores the powerful idea that improving education is not only about developing better teachers and leaders, but also about creating the conditions in which they can continue to do their best work. What happens when systems confuse accountability with documentation, support with compliance, and improvement with constant change? Connect with Brad and his work here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

“Within every school there is a sleeping giant of teacher leadership which can be a strong catalyst for making change.” (Katzenmeyer and Mollar, "Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders") Carly Quiros, from EdAdvance, explores this quote with Steve. What should instructional coaches, school and teacher leaders be modeling and doing to create schools that are “leaderfull?” Find Carly’s Blog in ISTE/ASCD Visit Carly's LinkedIn and get in touch Visit EdAdvance Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

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

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

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

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!