How do we decide the value or motivation of an investment of effort? How young do youngsters conduct a cost/benefits assessment of effort? What role can parents and caretakers play in having learners assess their effort. Steve explores the impact of time, repetition/practice, patience, and practicing after success.

Read the U of T article here. 

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Steve’s earlier podcast on the disappointing findings from research on data review meetings impacting teacher learning and change triggered this conversation with instructional coach and math consultant, Nikki Szajkowski. Nikki shared that curriculum changes need to include administrators asking, “what do teachers need us to learn?” For teachers to receive supportive feedback, leaders need to be clear on the "look for's" and "listen for's" in desired student learning production behaviors and the teacher actions designed to generate that student engagement.

Read Steve's blog, "Coaches Time in Data Review Meetings" Find Nikki on Twitter: @nikkiskimathEmail Nikki: [email protected] Nikki's website.

Experienced teacher, curriculum director, coach and teacher trainer, Tracy Ocasio, shares her thoughts on the importance of students being engaged in rigorous learning. Key to the design of teaching is clarity in knowing the critical desired outcomes of instruction which are sometimes hidden in a curriculum’s laundry list. Rigor has a focus on understanding which frequently extends beyond getting the correct answer.Contact Tracy: [email protected]

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Jeff Utecht, from Shifting Schools, invites Steve to a conversation around the purpose and practice of professional learning communities. As you listen in, make your checklist of the indicators that are the strengths of your PLCs and identify any elements you’d like to change or strengthen. Are your PLC’s building teacher individual and collective efficacy and agency?Listen to Steve's episode with Jeff here.Visit the Shifting Schools website.

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

Empathy has been described as being at the heart of what it means to be human. It is the capacity to imagine what another person is feeling without feeling it yourself as well as the capacity to reflect the feeling of the other person back to him or her. Empathy is an important life skill. This podcast contains some specific ways parents can support youngster’s continuous development of increasing depth of empathy.

5 Tips to Cultivating EmpathyExpressions of Empathy in Medical ConsultationsDeveloping Empathy, an Important Success Skill

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Instructional coaches and administrators need to build conversations with teachers around key standards. How is the teacher planning for instruction with an understanding of the depth of the standard? What decisions is the teacher making as she observes students’ engagement in rigorous learning tasks? Dr. Tracy Ocasio highlights the need for curriculum leaders’ interaction with coaches and principals to build support for teachers.Contact Tracy: [email protected]

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Being a teacher leader is a demanding and rewarding role for the professional educator. Michael Iannini, the author of Hidden in Plain Sight: Realizing the Full Potential of Middle Leaders, provides guidelines for teachers already in these leadership positions and those looking to progress into teacher leadership roles. Michael provides an interesting perspective of the teacher leader being on the team and also being able to observe the team.Visit Michael's website here. 

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

Jim Knight joins Steve to highlight the seven factors for success in his most recent book on instructional coaching. Jim and Steve’s coaching experiences over the past two plus decades highlight a look at who coaches are, the work coaches do, and where they work. A great resources for coaches, the leaders who support them, and the administrators who partner in building a culture of coaching in schools.Find Jim's book, "The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success," here.

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

Questions around the role and value of grading have been debated among teachers, administrators, parents and students for many years. In this podcast, Steve explores some of these questions and provides resources for further exploration. How much teacher effort is invested in grading student work, tests, and projects? To what extent does grading positively or negatively impact student learning? What strategies might a teacher put in place to decrease the grading that takes place?

Listen to Steve's podcast with Tom Schimmer here. 

Alfie Kohn - "The Case Against Grading"Jesse Stommel - "Ungrading: An Introduction"Jal Metha -  Possible Future: "Toward a New Grammar of Schooling"Jennifer Gonzales - "20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half"Vogel/Zywica - "Want to Go Gradeless? Here's How We Do It"

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

“A culture of collective efficacy does not simply happen; it is built intentionally.” Sarah Sugarman, from Lead by Learning, identifies leadership actions that support the building of teachers’ belief that as a school team they have the power to help their students learn more effectively. This belief is based on their own shared experiences of success.

Read the article, "Three Actions for Building a Culture of Collective Efficacy" here.  Visit the Lead by Learning website here.

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