What are the compelling "whys" for teachers to invest their time and vulnerability in professional learning communities?  How do professional learning communities differ from professional working communities? When are teachers meeting as a franchise vs meeting as a team with shared accountability? Shared goals and accountability for success are keys to effective PLCs. Read "Professional learning vs. PD: The distinction matters" here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

What would be the benefits of ALL students being taught and coached to develop leadership skills?Maureen Chapman and James Simons, authors of, "Leaders of the Class," share the needs, benefits, and processes for students to leverage motivation, perseverance, communication, and collaboration. Consider how to build stronger, healthier relationships with students as they discover their potential as purposeful, impactful leaders. Educators grow their own leadership skills as they develop other’s leadership. Visit Maureen and James' website here.     Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

I heard about a great experience illustrating awe in learning that was shared by a group of middle school students and their teacher in Grand Island, New York. They joined me on this podcast sharing their reflections and insights. As you hear their story consider where these elements of Awe appeared: Awe occurs when we experience something much larger than ourselves Awe leads to the need to reframe one’s understanding of the world. Awe often brings forth emotions of humility, gratitude, and compassion. Awe is linked to prosocial behavior: people are more likely to help others after experiencing awe. Connect with the teacher, Lora Randles: lorarandles@gicsd.org Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

How do the words teachers hear from school leaders, instructional coaches and peers provide an uplift and motivation? Are there time that the words teachers hear create a subtle source of stress, confusion, or disengagement? Our language can be a vehicle through which expectations, emotions, and commitments are transmitted.  What we say—and just as importantly, what we don’t say—can directly influence teacher growth, agency, and energy. Consider how your intentional language can empower your coachees, team members and staff, fostering a culture where trust, clarity and motivation thrive. Read "Empowering Others Through Words," from Phoenix Perform here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

How do you ensure your students are reading your feedback, digesting it, and using it to improve? Alexis Wiggins explores the connections between reflection and feedback. She shares her personal experiences around revision-based assessments, AI possibilities, and modeling her use of feedback from student surveys. Read Alexis’ article, "Feedback That Matters" here. Watch the "Austin’s Butterfly" video here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Some instructional coaches are starting the year with teachers who are new to the profession—and some with teachers who are entering the classroom without any teacher education background. What do these teachers believe defines classroom management, and where should a coach begin? Many instructional coaches are also hearing highly experienced teachers say, “I’ve never had a student like this before.” How does a coach respond? A. Keith Young, author of The Instructional Coaching Handbook and Confident Classroom Management Moves Card Deck, shares insights and strategies for both teachers and coaches. Consider the skills and strategies that require intentional practice and constructive coaching feedback. Visit the Confident Classroom Management Blog here. Email Keith: keith@akyconsulting.com Visit Keith's Website. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

In coaching—whether you’re supporting a teacher, leading a professional learning team, or working with a school leader—listening is foundational. And yet, in the name of productivity, efficiency, or simply staying on schedule, we can too easily slip into haste. Listening with haste can be worse than not listening at all. When you respond to people too quickly, they’re likely to feel frustrated, demeaned, or unimportant. Coaches having a strong sense of what a teacher “needs” may rush a conversation—finishing sentences, jumping to solutions, or interpreting questions as pushbacks. Missing crucial signals and undermine trust. Read the Harvard Business Review post, "Are You Really A Good Listener" here. Listen to the Podcast with Christine Miles, "What’s It Costing You to Not Listen" here. Listen to the "Radical Listening in Coaching" podcast here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!  

Jennifer D. Klein, the author of, "Taming the Turbulence in Educational Leadership: Doing Right by Learners Without Losing Your Job," shares the need for leaders to support teachers who frequently struggle with false dichotomies like knowledge vs skills or play vs academics. Teachers and leaders often feel isolated and threatened in their efforts to prioritize what learners need most.  Change work requires engagement from a place of courage not of fear. What beliefs and values build your courage to do right by learners? Connect with Jennifer and find her book here. Visit Jennifer's LinkedIn. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Amber Chandler, the author of "Everything New Teachers Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask," shares a program her district implemented to address that 140 out of its 478 teachers have been with the district four years or less—and the ranks of untenured teachers are expected to swell to 250 in the next five years. That’s approximately half of the teaching staff needing support, not just in year one, but also in years two, three, and four. Chandler sees the challenge but also an opportunity to create a community of educators from the ground up. How do instructional coaches support new teachers and mentors? Red Amber's Ed Week Article, "Going NUTs: How One District Supports Its ‘New and Untenured’ Teachers" here.  Find "Everything New Teachers Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask" here.  Contact Amber and visit her website here.

The Executive Director of Counselling in Schools, Kevin Dahill-Fuchel, explores the environments needed for students to thrive in school and survive in life. A key to that environment is a staff that can manage their emotions personally and be resilient so that they support students authentically. What role do instructional coaches and school leaders play in supporting teachers’ emotional safety and relationships? How is SEL foundational to schools and classrooms and not an add-on? What should we be celebrating and where should we have an urgent focus? Connect with Kevin and find his resources here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

Every educator sends signals to students that, consciously or unconsciously, determine who experiences belonging—and who doesn’t. When students perceive they do not belong, they are at risk for a host of adverse consequences. Conversely, when students feel a sense of belonging, it can lead to an abundance of positive personal, social, and academic outcomes. How can instructional coaches and school leaders support teachers in identifying unconscious actions that interfere with our intended message of valuing each learner? How can we intentionally plan actions that nurture a community that embraces differences? In Powerful Student Care: Honoring Each Student as Distinctive and Irreplaceable, authors Kathleen Budge and Grant Chandler provide insights and practical support. Read the article, "The Signals We Send About Who Belongs" here.  Connect with Kathleen: parrettassociates@gmail.com Connect with Grant here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

Research tells us that awe increases motivation and connection to learning, enhances critical thinking and careful information processing, encourages empathy and prosocial behavior, and supports creativity. What’s the plan for teachers and students first days of school? Are you more likely to hear ‘wow” and “awe” or “ Oh, no.” Explore some possibilities. Find Steve's book "WOW! Adding Pizzazz to Teaching and Learning, Second Edition" here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

Feedback doesn’t create learning by itself—learning happens when students reflect on, act upon, and integrate feedback into their work.  Teachers don’t cause student achievement. Students do. Our role as educators is to design environments, tasks, and relationships that enable students to produce the learning behaviors that generate achievement. One of those critical learning behaviors is knowing how and being willing to use feedback. Instructional coaches and coaching leaders are supporting teachers to build opportunities for students to profit from feedback, they should be looking to create the same opportunities for their feedback to be profitable for teachers. Watch the "Austin’s Butterfly" video here.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes! 

Instructional Coaches and school administrators should be continuously mapping out how they support teacher leaders in their schools. Teacher leaders at grade levels or department chairs for curriculum, along with teachers leading programs or projects and those serving as mentors to new staff are all key to a school reaching its mission and vision of maximizing student success. Too often, there is no plan for the development of critical leadership skills and mindsets that are necessary for teacher leaders to support continuous teacher growth for a school staff. That lack of planning and process, I believe, also communicates a lack of value for the commitment and risk-taking teacher leaders assume. Dr. Philhower - School as a Joyful Place podcast episode.  Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

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

"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. [podbean resource="episode=" type="audio-rectangle" height="200" skin="1" btn-skin="104" auto="0" share="1" fonts="Helvetica" download="1" rtl="0"] Read the article, "Leading With Hope and Kindness: 5 Ways to Be a Better Leader" here. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!

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: durga.suresh-menon@neiacademy.org 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: pmongrain65@comcast.net 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 - mbooth@nextgencoach.net 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: katiejoybrooksyt@gmail.com            Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!