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Coaching the Whole Educator is a podcast for instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and school leaders who want to strengthen their educators’ effectiveness and resilience, especially the ones who need it most. Each week, you’ll hear quick tips, proven strategies, and coaching mindsets designed to keep you on top of your coaching game.
This show is rooted in a human-centered approach, where we get things done through people’s humanity, not around it. Whether you’re new to instructional coaching or a seasoned instructional coach or leader looking for fresh perspective, you’ll learn how to focus on the mindsets and motivations driving unproductive behaviors. By getting to the root of resistance, you’ll discover how to build stronger relationships, lead with clarity, and create lasting impact in your school.
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![#178: [Resistance Chronicles] Value Mindset](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/svmdrn6o629et7j7x62p3ffrtt34?.jpg "#178: [Resistance Chronicles] Value Mindset")
Send a text In this first episode of The Resistance Chronicles, Becca Silver challenges one of the most common leadership mistakes we make: treating resistance as a compliance problem instead of a diagnostic opportunity. She reframes resistance as a signal, not defiance, but an unmet need. Becca introduces five core Catalyst Mindsets that often sit underneath resistance: value, ownership, belonging, success, and growth In this episode, she focuses specifically on the value mindset, unpackin...
Send a text The RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK was just released! Grab it for only $7 HERE. In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca sits down with Lindsay Deacon, veteran instructional coach and author of The EduCoach Survival Guide. Lindsay brings more than a decade of experience supporting teachers, coaches, and leaders across districts, and she joins the show to unpack one of the most essential skills in coaching and professional learning: how to read a room and adjust in real tim...
Send a text The RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK was just released! Grab it for only $7 HERE. Here’s a leadership question that sounds simple…but isn’t: How consistent is consistent enough? And when does it start getting in the way? Chris and I dig into one of leadership’s quieter paradoxes: the pull to be steady and responsive at the same time. We talk about why consistency matters: trust, clarity, accountability all depend on it. And we name the shadow side too: when consistency turns into r...
Send a text In this powerful episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver sits down with Dr. Naomi Hall, former educator, burnout expert, and co-founder of the Thrive Conference, to unpack why burnout is skyrocketing in schools and what leaders can actually do to support overwhelmed teachers. Dr. Hall brings nearly two decades of experience as a teacher and administrator, along with her real-world journey through burnout and recovery. Together, Becca and Naomi break down the root caus...
Send a text 🚨Don’t forget to register for the VATLL Power of Coaching Conference, February 3–4, 2026! 🚨 Let’s start with a question we don’t ask often enough: What if resistance isn’t the problem? Chris and I push on a pretty common assumption in education; that resistance is something to manage, fix, or eliminate. I offer a reframe that’s shaped a lot of my own leadership: resistance is often a signal. Engagement. Unmet needs. Something important trying to get our attenti...
Send a text In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca sits down again with veteran instructional coaching expert Steve Barkley to unpack one of the most overlooked but powerful parts of the coaching cycle: the pre-conference. Together, they break down why pre-conferences are essential for effective instructional coaching, teacher growth, and human-centered school leadership. Steve explains how pre-conferences create trust, increase teacher agency, and ensure coaching conversations...
Send a text 🚨Don’t forget to register for the VATLL Power of Coaching Conference, February 3–4, 2026! 🚨 Here’s a question I keep bumping into as a leader and a coach: When does empathy help, and when does it quietly stall us out? In the first episode of our three-part series on coaching and leadership, Chris and I dig into one of leadership’s most uncomfortable tensions. I’ll say it plainly: empathy matters. A lot. And… sometimes leaders have to make decisions with incomplete buy-in, imperfec...
Send a text This episode dives straight into the conversation every educator and leader needs right now: How AI is reshaping coaching, leadership, and the way we build an Innovator’s Mindset in schools. Becca sits down with George Couros, world-recognized educator and author of The Innovator’s Mindset, to unpack how AI can support real human-centered leadership instead of replacing it. Together, they explore how AI can fuel curiosity, deepen critical thinking, and expand teacher and student a...
Send a text Looking for inspiration and real talk you can actually use as a school leader? This episode brings you a powerful conversation between Becca and the vibrant duo behind The Principal Exchange, Andra and Sarah. Together, they explore the real challenges principals face every day. The isolation. The constant demands. The search for support that truly understands the weight of school leadership. You will hear the story of how Andra and Sarah built their platform from the ground up and...
Send a text What if the resistance you’re seeing isn’t defiance—it’s a clue? In this episode, Dr. Donna Spangler shares the coaching breakthrough that changed everything: She stopped trying to convince teachers, and they started showing up with purpose, ownership, and even excitement. After going through The Resistance Remedy course, Donna realized she wasn’t dealing with a skill gap—she was missing the belief gap. Once she started listening for mindset signals like value, belonging, and owne...
Send a text We’ve been taught that good listeners don’t interrupt—but what if the right kind of interrupting is exactly what great leaders do? Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking, “That should’ve gone better”? You said the words. They said the words. But something still missed the mark. Here’s the truth: It’s not what you said. It’s what you didn’t hear. In this episode, I sit down with listening expert Christine Miles, who challenges what you think it means t...
Send a text Rolling out a new curriculum? Brace yourself—resistance, frustration, and missteps are inevitable… unless you do it right. Join Sean Lindsey and me as we break down what it really takes to get teachers, students, and families on board—without wasted effort or top-down mandates that fall flat. We’re talking about: The most common mistake leaders make when choosing a curriculum – Teachers and students aren’t just checkboxes in your curriculum rollout. Use a rubric based on the...
Send a text The Ladder of Conscious Competence Four stages: Conscious/Unconscious Competence & Incompetence.This can explain why there’s a lack of knowledge transfer at your schoolWhy having unconscious competence makes skills hard to teach. The Peter Principle in Education People are promoted beyond their skillset (shifting from teaching children to teaching adults).Success in one role doesn’t guarantee success in another.Effective leadership requires a balance of three key skill sets: t...
Send a text [Podcast Sponsor] Kind Cotton: Soft, sustainable apparel, where every purchase provides a book to a child. In this powerful episode, Becca sits down with Dr. Ann Ishimaru and Dr. Decoteau Irby, authors of Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change, to unpack what it really means to lead for equity in today’s schools. Together, they trace the evolution of equity leadership through four distinct phases: morning (where new roles and policies first take r...
Send a text [Podcast Sponsor] Kind Cotton: Soft, sustainable apparel, where every purchase provides a book to a child. What separates schools that grow from those that stall? One word: trust. In this episode, Becca unpacks research showing that strong trust can double a school’s chance of improving student learning. She breaks down the four types of trust: integrity, intent, capabilities, and results and shares how leaders can pinpoint where trust is missing and rebuild it with pur...
Send a text What happens when a teacher leader decides to stop fixing everything and start empowering others? In this episode, I sit down with Todd Goodman, a teacher and leader who has sparked a grassroots movement of change in his school community. Todd shares how shifting away from the exhausting “fix-it mindset” freed him to build trust, empower his peers, and create real transformation for students. You’ll hear how frameworks like FFIRE Your Complaints™ and reflective listening didn’t ju...
Send a text One of the biggest mistakes leaders make with new initiatives is selling the benefits without naming what it might cost teachers. Grounded in Kahneman and Tversky’s Prospect Theory, this episode explores why the fear of loss often outweighs the promise of gain. Whether it’s autonomy, time, competence, or belonging, the risks teachers anticipate can feel heavier than the advantages leaders emphasize. Through research and real-life examples, you’ll learn how to shift pushback into p...
Send a text Diagnose why your team is resisting or stuck: Take the Quiz! In this episode, Becca Silver interviews Bethany Rees about her unique approach to leadership, using the metaphor of the "body of leadership": head (mindset), heart (relationships), hands (execution), and guts (accountability). They discuss the importance of pausing, reflection, and focusing on what truly matters ("rocks over sand") to avoid burnout and be more effective leaders. Bethany shares practical mantras and stra...
Send a text Every coach and leader has felt the sting of teacher pushback, especially when the change you’re asking for seems so small it shouldn’t cause resistance. But here’s the catch: sometimes it’s not the change itself that sparks resistance, it’s depletion. When teachers are constantly pulled in a dozen directions, their self-control tanks become empty. That’s when even minor adjustments feel like mountains. This episode unpacks the concept of ego depletion and why willpower is more li...
Send a text Craig Randall shares his trust-based coaching model for educators, which integrates trust-building into the observation and feedback process. The model uses regular, strengths-based classroom visits and reflective conversations to create a safe environment for teacher growth. By focusing on teachers’ strengths and fostering open dialogue, the approach encourages risk-taking and collective teacher efficacy. Resources and the observation form can be found at trustbased.com. John Hat...
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