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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 Fan Mail Have you gotten your copy of the RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK yet? Get it for only $7 HERE. In this episode, Becca is joined by her friend and colleague Mia Pumo for an unscripted, honest debate about norms and whether they actually work. Rather than offering a tidy answer, this conversation lives in the gray. Becca and Mia explore why norms are so commonly used in schools, why they often fail to change behavior, and under what conditions they can support trust, psycholog...
![#182: [Resistance Chronicles] Success Mindset](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/hh4zgmthw15zmjuzxdkdlgjd0t7p?.jpg "#182: [Resistance Chronicles] Success Mindset")
Send us Fan Mail [FREE RESOURCE] The Resistance Audit: Diagnose where the resistance is coming from! What if resistance isn’t defiance… but doubt? In Part 3 of The Resistance Chronicles, Becca Silver unpacks the Success Mindset and the powerful role of self-efficacy. When educators aren’t sure they can succeed, resistance shows up , not as rebellion, but as hesitation: •“I’m not sure that will work.” • “That’s not really my strength.” • “I’ve tried that before.” This episode reframes resistan...
Send us Fan Mail Be sure to grab your copy of the RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK is now available! It's only $7 HERE. In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver sits down with Kurtis Hewson, co founder of Jigsaw Learning, to break down what truly drives authentic collaboration in schools. Kurtis explains why many teams think they are “collaborating” when they are actually stuck in compliance based routines that drain energy and limit impact. He shares how real collabo...
![#180: [Resistance Chronicles] Belonging Mindset](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/gfad5nlzhjpldpjbm128xrq4mbfh?.jpg "#180: [Resistance Chronicles] Belonging Mindset")
Send us Fan Mail Resistance Chronicles, Part 2: Belonging Mindset™ In this episode, I explore belonging as one of the most overlooked drivers of resistance in schools. Resistance does not always show up as pushback. It often appears as silence, surface-level agreement, avoidance, or polite compliance. These behaviors frequently signal uncertainty about relational safety. When educators are not sure they will still be respected, supported, or valued if they disagree or struggle, they pro...
Send us Fan Mail The RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK is now available! Grab it for only $7 HERE. In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver talks with instructional leader and writer Lauren Kaufman about how authentic questioning and a true coaching mindset drive meaningful growth for educators. With twenty years of experience across teaching, coaching, and district leadership, Lauren explains why effective coaching begins with curiosity, psychological safety, and open dialog...
![#178: [Resistance Chronicles] Value Mindset](https://storage.buzzsprout.com/svmdrn6o629et7j7x62p3ffrtt34?.jpg "#178: [Resistance Chronicles] Value Mindset")
Send us Fan Mail 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, unp...
Send us Fan Mail 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 rea...
Send us Fan Mail 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 i...
Send us Fan Mail 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...
Send us Fan Mail 🚨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 at...
Send us Fan Mail 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 conversa...
Send us Fan Mail 🚨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, imp...
Send us Fan Mail 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 stud...
Send us Fan Mail 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 u...
Send us Fan Mail 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...
Send us Fan Mail 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 me...
Send us Fan Mail 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 o...
Send us Fan Mail 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 se...
Send us Fan Mail [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 t...
Send us Fan Mail [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 wit...
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