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 […]

Too often, instruction can be overly focused on teaching which can be seen as orderly, sequential and manageable, while learning is often spontaneous, irregular, non-linear and complex. The key element in achieving learning is generating critical learning behaviors. This podcast explores the connected learning behaviors in different instructional settings. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders […]

In an earlier blog,   I described the importance of coaches knowing a teacher’s agenda…. the beliefs, values, and thinking behind the teacher’s decision making. What are the options the teacher considered in planning for learning? As the lesson unfolded what did the teacher perceive and consider as decisions were made about feedback to students or […]

During coaching workshops this week I modeled pre-conferences several times. In each of the cases teacher reflection led to establishing an observation focus that the teacher did not have in mind at the start of conferencing. Reflecting on my practice I identified two processes that “pushed” teachers’ thinking. #1 Student Behaviors- Common questions that I […]