Claim OwnershipCoaching the Whole Educator
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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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Send us 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, imper...
Send us 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 studen...
Send us 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 ...
Send us 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 o...
Send us 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 mean...
Send us 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 ...
Send us 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...
Send us 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 tak...
Send us 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 ...
Send us 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...
Send us 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 int...
Send us 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 s...
Send us 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...
Send us 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 ...
Send us a text Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe shares a deeply human approach to resilience, grounded in both research and personal experience. She introduces the five pillars of resilience—belonging, perspective, acceptance, hope, and humor—as essential anchors for navigating adversity. Rather than viewing resilience as simply “being strong,” she reframes it as the ability to recover, adapt, and move forward with intention. Her concept of “stressing wisely” challenges the idea that stress should be ...
Send us a text Learn more about *The Resistance Remedy* On Demand Course 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 ...
Send us a text If you feel like your days are just putting out one behavior fire after another, this one’s for you. I sat down with Hunter Flesch, Associate Principal and host of the Ed Essentials Podcast, to talk about how he moved from 17 behavior calls a day (yes, SEVENTEEN) to just five—and did it by redesigning the system, not just responding harder. We unpack what systems thinking really looks like when the school day feels like chaos—and how a tiered support system for students and tea...
Send us a text **Check out The Resistance Remedy HERE!** Can you lead with optimism without slipping into toxic positivity? In this episode, Jason Adair from Southern Regional Education Board and I unpack what real optimism looks like in schools—and why it’s a critical ingredient in the Ownership Mindset. We explore the difference between sugarcoated cheerleading and grounded, actionable hope. Drawing on the work of Simon Sinek and Martin Seligman, they highlight how coaches can model optimis...
Send us a text Coaches and leaders—what if the biggest resistance to change isn’t from your team… but from you? Your inner critic! In this episode, I’m joined by Amanda Younts of Midlife Catalyst to unpack the internal resistance we rarely name but constantly feel. We’re talking about the shoulds, the shame, the inner critic, and the hidden expectations we carry that sabotage our best intentions—especially when we're leading others. You’ll hear: Why self-judgment masquerades as “high standard...
Send us a text You know that teacher who should know better by now? The one who should care more? Be further along? Yeah… that “should” is telling on you. In this episode, we’re talking about the quiet coaching killer: holding teachers to invisible expectations that keep you stuck. And we’re calling in a mindset shift that doesn’t lower the bar—but finally gives you a real shot at helping them meet it. We’ll unpack the Expectation Continuum, drop a research-backed tool called mental contrasti...
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