Steve Ponders Out Loud

Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud

Follow Steve as he brings insight to many educational issues teachers face in today’s classrooms. Steve is a consultant with PLS and offers consulting, workshops, and one-on-one coaching to educators internationally. He recently wrote and published his latest book, Questions for Life, which was just released on November 20, 2009. Steve Barkley is a highly motivational and riveting speaker who is extraordinarily knowledgeable about life in the classroom. In his blog, you will read about real issues in today’s schools with solutions provided.

PLATOONING
Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:14:16 PST
How do coaches’ and principals’ work with elementary teachers using departmentalized structures?The November/December edition of the Harvard Education Letter titled “Platooning” Instruction:.........

LEARNING STYLES AND COACHING
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:03:34 PST
I recently conducted a workshop session for instructional coaches looking at how their personal learning styles influenced their coaching approach. Everyone began by completing the Kaleidoscope.........

QUESTIONS FOR LIFE AND BLOOM'S TAXONOMY
Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:21:01 PST
When presenting PLS’s work Questions For Life (QFL) (featured in my new book) , I am often asked how QFL compares to Bloom’s Taxonomy. My usual response is that I’ll explain QFL and then let you t......

RIGOR
Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:55:36 PST
As I have spent a substantial number of days recently observing in K12 classrooms, I’ve looked to identify examples of students engaged in rigorous learning.Oregon’s Small School Initiative websit......

REVISITING WOW!
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:16:14 PST
During my recent participation at the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), I did a presentation on Wow! Adding Pizzazz to Teaching and Learning and decided I should pass on some of th......

WHAT ENVIRONMENTS ENCOURAGE LEARNING?
Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:42:51 PST
Betty Steinberg wrote a commentary, Schools Need a Culture Shift; Bringing Passion, Fun, and Collaboration Back to the Classroom, in the Nov 18, 2009 Education Week where she suggested too many.........

LEADER'S RESPONSE TO "OVERWHELMED"
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:47:33 PST
In the last few months I’ve heard coaches or principals say that their teachers are overwhelmed. I’ve been in PLC meetings where teachers share with teammates that they are just overwhelmed by.........

'TWAS THE TIME BEFORE COACHING
Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:11:35 PST
This week’s blog celebrates coaches and teachers. It comes to you compliments of Carla Cushman, a Supervisor of Coaches in Sumner County TN.Thank you Carla!Happy New Year to All (Photo of Santa.........

COACHING AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:07:05 PST
In the December(09)/January(10) issue of Kappan, Jon Saphier and Lucy West describe, "How Coaches Can Maximize Student Learning".Beyond the title catching my attention as it matches much......

REAL EXPERIENCES FOR REAL RESULTS
Sun, 24 May 2009 06:20:01 PDT
'If “soft skills” are in your definition of student achievement, are you finding ways to provide those experiences? Many students find those experiences in their extra curricular activities. I am.......

HOW ARE WE DOING?
Tue, 19 May 2009 03:56:55 PDT
That’s the continuous improvement starter question that produces discoveries and concerns that create possibilities for growth. It’s an element of coaching, professional learning communities,.........

THE MANY FACES OF COACHING
Sun, 10 May 2009 11:42:27 PDT
The Many Faces of Coaching...that was the tile of a recent presentation that I did at the Tennessee Reading Summit: Every Student a Reader. My presentation to reading coaches and administrators.........

ACADEMIC LEARNING TIME
Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:43:57 PDT
I recently had the opportunity to spend a major portion of a day observing in teachers’ classrooms with their principal and then discussing the observations with her. Late in the day the principal......

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND PEER COACHING:Building Natural Leaders
Sun, 31 May 2009 10:38:12 PDT
Some of the readers of this blog have attended my presentation on Natural Leaders. My focus is examining how principals and teachers who have followers assigned to them can perform as the kind of.......

WHAT DOES SATISFACTORY MEAN?... WHAT DOES IT TELL YOU?
Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:53:00 PDT
In my last posting I noted that I am reading David Perkin’s, Making Learning Whole. In Chapter 5, Working on the Hard Parts, he examines the role of feedback in learning. He describes the problem.......

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:13:46 PDT
The real test for the movement to professional learning communities as a school improvement effort is, ”Can we show payoff in student achievement?”In my work with the New Jersey Professional.........

GETTING ENGAGEMENT: THE JOB OF PRINCIPAL,COACH, AND TEACHER
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:12:48 PDT
I have recently worked with new instructional coaches in the Salem Keizer School District in OR and with the principals in Sumner County Schools in TN.Salem Keizer will be beginning its third year......

COACHING AND LEADERSHIP
Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:15:01 PDT
I received a request from a new instructional coach and am writing this post as a response:I was wondering if I could ask you one more question for my paper and presentation. I was hoping you coul......

RESPONSIVENESS
Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:44:00 PDT
Someone forwarded me an interesting post from the Providence Journal, written by Julia Steiny (April 26,2009) titled School Revolution is a New Responsiveness to Kids.Here are some of her... Vis......

STUDIO LEARNING FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:41:25 PDT
I have finished reading David Perkins’ Making Learning Whole: How 7 Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education. I’ve mentioned my earlier reading in a previous post. The seven principles align......

SECONDARY READING COACHES
Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:32:10 PDT
While attending the recent SREB High Schools That Work summer professional development conference, I received a copy of their new report, A Critical Mission: Making Adolescent Reading an Immediate......

MENTORING AND COACHING ADMINISTRATORS
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:09:39 PDT
I recently had the opportunity to provide some training and facilitation for Education Service Center Region XI in Fort Worth, Texas for their Administrator Mentoring Program. An outstanding group......

OPENING SCHOOL: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:30:54 PDT
August provides a great time to be thinking about the messages educational leaders want to be providing teachers and students as the new year begins.Consider the following thoughts from McCombs an......

ORIENTATION FOR COACHING
Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:37:00 PDT
I had the opportunity to work with two school districts who are implementing new or reorganized instructional coaching positions. In Gallitin, TN (Sumner County Schools), Instructional Coaches wil......

WOWS FOR LEARNING
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:10:15 PDT
In Wow! Adding Pizzazz to Teaching and Learning , I illustrate the power of teachers creating Wow experiences for their students….things that hook students …sparking their interest and attention t......

DIFFERENTIATING COACHING
Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:28:00 PDT
In the summer 2009 issue of The Journal of the National Staff Development Council, Gary Waddell presents a format for identifying the professional development/coaching needs of teachers.(Who’s Tha......

TIGER WOODS AND TWO COACHING BELIEFS
Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:42:00 PDT
In Quality Teaching in a Culture of Coaching, I describe the need for everyone to be coached and suggest that the stronger a person’s skill set becomes, the more coaching they should receive. Debb......

HOARDING INDIVIDUALS...SHARING FRANCHISES...TEAMS
Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:45:52 PDT
In a blog post titled Hoarding Culture or Sharing Culture, Rob Jacobs provides the following descriptions:Hoarding Culture--- teachers and schools keep their expertise, their knowledge, their.........

DANIEL PINK ON THE SURPRISING SCIENCE OF MOTIVATION
Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:15:53 PDT
I recently met with a PLC consisting of 3rd 4th and 5th grade teachers early in their school year. The group was struggling with two new district/building policies put in place.First, a district........

MOVING COACHING FROM LIGHT TO HEAVY
Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:17:33 PDT
A recent blog by Kim Cofino, a 21st Century Literacy Specialist at the International School in Bangkok, whom I’ve met through Twitter and online, triggered this week’s post.Kim, learning with a.........

TEACHING TEAMS AS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:55:04 PDT
I was recently asked to assist a middle school faculty that is using common times to meet as grade level teams and as vertical teams. Students are divided into three grade 6-8 houses and will rema......

DOING...LEARNING...DOING
Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:22:37 PDT
I have recently spent several days doing observations in teachers’ classrooms in several states. In every instance the observations, often done with other teachers and principals, were focused on.......

DRIVING EFFORT WITH PICTURES OF THE FUTURE
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:04:09 PDT
I am always looking for examples of stories that illustrate the formula that I presented in Tapping Student Effort…Increasing Student Achievement: Effort X Ability focused on a Manageable Task =........

PLCs EXPLORING ASSESSMENT
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:34:00 PDT
As I continue to work with faculties implementing Professional Learning Communities, I have found that giving PLCs some guiding questions can deepen the quality of their early conversations and sp......