"Stop Saying These Kids Don’t Care About School." That’s the title of an op-ed piece written by podcast guest Laurie Putnam, superintendent in St Cloud, MN. Laurie identifies how this sentence buries the real challenges and daily struggles that many of her students’ face.  That belief undermines our collective responsibilities to nurture future generations. Hear examples of some strategies that St Cloud has implemented that have positively impacted student engagement. Consider how you create an environment for educators to safely explore beliefs that are often unconscious.

Read "Stop Saying ‘These Kids Don’t Care About School’" here. 

E-mail Laurie: [email protected]

Find Laurie's LinkedIn here. 

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

Thanks to staff at PLS3rdLearning and scores of educators and authors, we are celebrating our 500th podcast! We took a few minutes to share our experiences with you. It has been exciting to have my learning extended as we created an opportunity to ponder about teaching and learning with guests and listeners.

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

Liz Keable, a specialist in guiding increased student leaning through metacognition practices, provides insights and suggestions for supporting and coaching teachers. "If we want to have a real impact on the next generation, there is one thing vastly more important than our teaching, and that is their learning.” You’ll find “look fors” and questions to build into your coaching practices.

Contact Liz: [email protected]  

Visit Liz's website here. 

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

Kyle Coppes, a secondary principal, shares the thinking behind an opinion piece he wrote titled, "Student Laziness Is a Myth. Here’s Why" - "The belief that laziness exists will limit the behavior of any teacher who encounters it, and that is harmful. Essentially, it is a teacher’s get-out-of-jail-free card: If a student does not complete a task on time, and if laziness is the culprit, then giving a zero or assigning detention is the right tool for the job.” How do you explore teachers’ beliefs and generate reflection upon those beliefs as part of coaching?

Read Kyle's article, "Student Laziness Is a Myth. Here’s  Why" here.

Visit Kyle’s website here.

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

Heather Lyon, the author of, "Engagement is Not a Unicorn, It’s a Narwahl" and "The Big Book of Engagement Strategies," shares her insights on student engagement and teacher strategies from her new book, "50 Ways to Engage Students with Google Apps." Teachers' knowledge and understanding of pedagogical choices is key to tech tools tapping student engagement.

Find Heather’s many resources here.

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

Just as teachers use a focus on communicating interest and positiveness to inspire, motivate, and foster a positive learning classroom environment, coaches need to communicate the same with their coachees. Interest and positiveness can impact an individual's self-esteem, motivation, and performance. Communicating interest and positiveness is not just about what you say but also how you say it. The effectiveness of your communication lies in your ability to make the other person feel seen, heard, and valued.

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

With many years of experience as a Success Coach supporting the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged students, Liz Keable provides concrete "do and don’t do" guidance for parents and caretakers.  Learn ways to build students’ understanding of their own role in the learning process, their belief in their capability as a learner, and the internal motivation to face challenges.

To receive a free copy of 'The A-Z of Supporting Learner Achievement," e-mail Liz at: [email protected]

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

How do coaches increase teacher voice and reflection in post conferencing? Too often the coach’s voice can sound more like a report being given (similar to supervision conferences) rather than a conversation. You’ll gain some mindsets, strategies, and questions in this podcast.

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

What do you want grades to communicate? What do you want to be sure that your grading doesn’t do? When grades are used to teach life lessons, such as responsibility, or punctuality, the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake can be diminished. Does the lack of consistency among teachers’ use of grading create a grade fog because we are asking a single letter grade to communicate too much disparate information?

Read, "The Problem With Grading" here.        

Listen to the podcast with Sarah Morris here. 

Read Tom Schimmer's article here. 

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