Planning for the start of a new school year, we should intentionally design for playfulness, connection, and flow—the  elements that are core to fun and joy.  It’s not just about better lessons— but better experiences. Experiences that students will remember, that teachers will find energizing, and that build both engagement and joy. Whether it’s a surprise horse outside a classroom window or a red-carpet moment for staff, fun has the power to transform not just how we feel—but how we learn, connect, and grow.

Watch Catherine Price’s TED talk here.  

Hear the entire podcast with George Philhower here.

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"Coachability is a crucial mindset that builds individual and teacher efficacy and thus student success. Coaching conversations should have a human connectedness built on hope, trust, gratitude, strength, and purpose." (Jennifer Fraser, 2025, Leading with Hope and Kindness)

Listen for human connections in a sample coaching pre-conference.

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Read the article, "Leading With Hope and Kindness: 5 Ways to Be a Better Leader" here.

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Listen as an experienced post -secondary professor and Dean of Computing and Data Science shares her insights as she assumes the position of the Head of School at a 7-12 independent school, the New England Innovation Academy. Dr. Durga Suresh-Menon provides a definition of innovation and discusses the need for curriculum and instruction to be continuously relevant. How do students prepare for what comes next?  How do staff engage in the learning that supports their work with student?

Email Dr. Suresh-Menon: [email protected]

Learn more about the New England Innovation Academy here. 

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

Patrick Mongrain, an experienced teacher and teacher coach, shares a message comparing the use of data to drive smarter decisions in the movie Moneyball to providing teachers with data to analyze their instructional classroom moves. He describes the role of 8 high level strategies such as building community and relationships, providing opportunities to respond, and positive and corrective feedback. Too often clearly defined instructional skills that are key to instructional strategies are not identified or coached.

Email Patrick: [email protected]

Watch "The Why of the 8 practices" here.

Learn about the EdChanger Pro App here.    

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

Dr. Meagan Booth, the Supervisor of Employee Relations at Knox County Schools in Tennessee, explores our need to learn about and from our Gen-Z teachers. She suggests the need to move from “just trust me” leadership to “here’s what you can expect” leadership providing consistency and transparency that build trust and respect for Gen Z. How do we make mental health “a way of being” to create systems that promote a switched focus from surviving to thriving?

Read Meagan's article, "Gen Z Isn’t Lazy: Let’s Rethink What We Expect Of New Teachers" here.

Email Meagan - [email protected]

Visit Meagan's LinkedIn.  

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

Teachers looking for a strategy to increase students’ engagement in learning and instructional coaches looking to support those teachers can find ideas and encouragement from Katie Brooks. She shares her experiences that led her to say:

"By making podcasting a part of my ELA curriculum, I’ve seen students finally comprehend complex materials, have a blast learning and using their creativity, and take ownership of their learning in a way that traditional assignments don’t always allow. Students who struggle with traditional tasks have become more invested in their learning when given the opportunity to express themselves through audio storytelling."

Read Katie's Edutopia article and find her resources here. 

Email Katie: [email protected]           

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

Hear a principal’s firsthand experience in facilitating a staff’s implementation of standards-based grading. Explore some of the “bumps” and how they worked through them.

“There were bumps everywhere. We shifted the ground between kids and families’ feet. Most of us go through school with the same grading systems our parents did. This was no different. We had to explain what, why, and how. We also had to share that we weren’t demeaning the education or grading expectations that adults had as kids. We were simply trying to evolve.”

The goal - authentic mastery.

Read Matt's article, "Our Grading System Was Setting Students Up to Fail—Until This Change" here.

Visit Matt’s website here. 

Watch Matt's TED Talk here. 

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Its that time of year when many school administrators and teacher leaders are engaged in setting school improvement goals focused on increasing student learning. But goals alone aren’t enough. Real change happens when we identify and support the behaviors that lead to those goals: the consistent learning behaviors students will need to be engaged in, the teacher actions that are most likely to generate those student learning production behaviors, and the leadership actions that will support teachers in implementing those actions.

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Most school leaders and teachers give a rather low rating to the value of teacher observations regarding increasing teacher effectiveness and thus student learning. Many find the process actual interfering with building a trusting learning culture in a school. Craig Randall, the author of "Trust-Based Observations: Maximizing Teaching and Learning Growth," has developed a transformative model of teacher observation that focuses on strengths and building differentiated trusting relationships with each teacher; creating work environments where teachers feel safe, embrace taking risks, and experimenting with new practices. The result is a schoolwide culture of trust and care extending throughout the school to students. Craig shares the nine areas of pedagogy that are a focus for observing and strategies for generating trust in the process.

Find out more at: https://trustbased.com/trust-based-observation-form/

Email Craig: [email protected]    

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

What is deeper learning and how does it meaningfully engage students, preparing them for success beyond the classroom? How can teachers incorporate deeper learning into their classrooms? Dr. David Reese, from Defined Learning, explores these topics and identifies the six critical competencies that are important to all students’ for success. These competencies are often framed within the context of future-ready skills, which also include creativity, citizenship, and character. 

Find David's blog post, "Why Deeper Learning? 6 Competencies EVERY Student Needs to Succeed" here.

Email David: [email protected]

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