Writer and cross country coach, Linda Flanagan, shares research and common sense findings about the many benefits kids can gain involvement in sports. As the author of "Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids Sports and Why it Matters," she also shares cautions we should be paying attention to. Consider some conversations teachers may have with students about their sports experiences.Find Linda's book here.Find Linda on Twitter: @LindaFlanagan2

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Just like classroom environment impacts student learning, school environment impacts staff learning and teaching. How does coaching assist teachers in understanding and influencing the environment and conditions that will support learning? What roles do instructional coaches, teacher leaders and administrators play in cultivating the needed school environment? Examine the differences in managing and leading.Read about the 13 Components of a Positive Classroom Environment here.Watch Simon Sinek's full video here. Watch Sir Ken Robinson's full video here.  

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Sports have many benefits for kids that can be lost if parents lose sight of the purpose. The author of "Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids Sports and Why it Matters," Linda Flanagan, explores questions caretakers should be asking as we support our kids in sports. How do we listen to the kids as well as to our own motivations?Find Linda's book, "Take Back the Game" here.Find Linda on Twitter: @LindaFlanagan2

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Most instructional coaches have a role in the work and learning of PLCs at their schools. Many coaches ponder the best role to play. How do the coach’s actions in PLCs influence the engagement and empowerment of the teachers? How does the time spent in PLC’s impact the coach’s overall impact on student learning? Should the coach’s role differ among PLCs?Ready Steve's blog, "School Leaders: Getting Teacher Input or Empowering Teachers" here.Listen to the entire Podcast with Kelly Hastings here.

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When are you more of a managerial leader verses an inquiry leader in the classroom? There are important times for each. What do students learn from your approach? How conscious are you of the practices you are implementing?  Jessica Vance, the author "Leading with a Lens of Inquiry: Cultivating Conditions for Curiosity and Empowering Agency," describes why “inquiry is an approach to teaching and learning that honors the learner.”Connect with Jessica here. 

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Two teachers with experience as members of a high functioning team share some of the processes that were implemented as their team developed and now focuses on continued development. They explore the need for trust, tapping members’ strengths, sharing responsibility, flexing the schedule, and planning for new members joining a team. A learning community for teachers and students.

Contact Angela: [email protected]

Contact Nina: [email protected] Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Parent, teacher, and inquiry consultant to schools, Trevor MacKenzie, provides definitions for and explanations of why student agency and inquiry are increasingly becoming a focus for schools. Trevor connects these practices to an understanding of students’ cognitive needs and provides some areas for important teacher/parent conversation.

Send your questions to Trevor and find his resources here. 

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Our "coachability" increases as we develop confident humility. Coaching leaders should be models of confident humility - continuously presenting themselves as a learners. Continuous teacher growth requires teachers to be vulnerable and risk discovering that their current practice can be improved. Building teachers’ confidence and offering challenges is the work of coaches - very similar to teachers needing to do the same for their students.

Find Daniel Pink’s Podcast here.

Find Warren Berger’s, book, "The Book of Beautiful Questions" here. 

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“Focusing on autonomy, mastery, and purpose helps my classroom be a place where both my students and I want to be. And that makes all the difference.” reported Mary Davenport, a high school English teacher. She shares her insights and examples as she is guided by the concepts of autonomy, mastery, and purpose from Daniel Pink’s writing in "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us."Ready Mary’s article, "Boosting High School Students’ Sense of Agency and Motivation" here. Find Mary on Twitter: @eternitymod

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Trevor MacKenzie, the author of "Inquiry Mindset Assessment Edition," describes the incongruity that can exist in some classrooms between co-designed inquiry learning activities and teacher-controlled assessment activities. How do we move to teacher/student co-designed assessments that build “assessment capable learners?” Trevor provides some thoughts to guide coaching to teachers who are exploring assessment. Connect with Trevor and find his resources and books here. 

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