Coaching the Whole Educator

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for a smarter approach to professional learning! In this episode, Becca challenges coaches and school leaders to stop treating professional development like a one-size-fits-all event. Instead, she shares how to design support that truly matches the needs of your educators. Think of it through the MTSS lens:  ✨ Tier 1: Learning that brings everyone together around a shar...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready to see leadership and the next generation from a whole new angle. In this insightful episode, Becca sits down with author and leadership expert Tim Elmore to talk about what Gen Z is bringing to the workplace. Tim shares stories that challenge assumptions, clears up common misconceptions, and shows how Gen Z can help leaders grow sharper in their skills. You’ll hear why...

Send us Fan Mail Why does the same feedback spark growth in one teacher but shut down another? In this episode, Becca Silver unpacks the research on the “four ways of knowing” and how it shapes the way educators receive feedback. You’ll learn how to recognize these differences, adjust your coaching approach, and move past resistance with compassion and clarity. This conversation will help you shif...

Send us Fan Mail 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 f...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 adjustmen...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Becca Silver is joined by Tami Shaw to discuss effective approaches to designing professional development (PD) systems. Tami shares insights from her book "Radically Simple Training," including practical activities like using quotes to foster meaningful connections among participants. The conversation explores the importance of making PD relevant and eng...

Send us Fan Mail 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 co...

Send us Fan Mail 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 f...

Send us Fan Mail 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 missin...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail ** 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....

Send us Fan Mail 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 intention...

Send us Fan Mail 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 m...

Send us Fan Mail We toss around the term school transformation but often it’s just accountability with better branding. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Hickson from Modern Classrooms Project to talk about what real school transformation looks like—and why it has to be responsive, reflective, and rooted in collective efficacy, not top-down plans. Matt breaks down the School Transformation Inv...

Send us Fan Mail You don’t have to agree to understand—and in coaching, confusing the two can shut down growth before it starts. I break down the critical difference between understanding and agreement in coaching and leadership. Pulling from Carl Rogers’ research and real-life coaching moments, we show how validating concerns—without co-signing them—creates space for trust, reflection, and real c...

Send us Fan Mail Sick of feeling like your to-do list is your boss? In this episode, I team up with Barbara Boselli of bnow™ Consulting to break down time management in a way that actually respects your humanity—not just your calendar. We tackle the three biggest saboteurs of productivity: people-pleasing, task-switching, and fuzzy priorities. Barbara shares her PRO Framework—Prioritize, Respect,...

Send us Fan Mail We love to say “be your authentic self”—but what if what we’re calling authenticity is actually just self-indulgence in disguise? In this episode, I break down the real difference between authenticity and self-indulgence in education. Drawing on the work of Dr. Drago-Severson, Dr. Blum-DeStefano, and Brené Brown, I show a distinction of how true authenticity is rooted in self-awar...

Send us Fan Mail What if the real barrier to change isn’t resistance—it’s how we navigate the system? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Nathan Lang-Raad to unpack high agency coaching —a powerful approach that helps educators take action, even when the system says “not yet.” You’ll hear how coaches can model high agency, drive micro-innovations, and build coalitions that stretch across roles an...

Send us Fan Mail Change doesn’t fail because people are stubborn. It fails because leaders bet on urgency instead of readiness.  Organizational change only sticks  when people believe it’s worth it and believe they can pull it off.  That’s the core of Weiner’s theory on change commitment (Value Mindset) and change efficacy (Success Mindset)—and without both, even a great idea will crash and burn....

Send us Fan Mail Coaching alternatively certified teachers? It’s not about lowering expectations—it’s about shifting the support. These educators bring deep content knowledge—but often need help breaking it down, planning it out, and managing the classroom chaos. You can’t coach them like traditional first-years. Their path needs a different path forward. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Hall-Hyman shows...

Send us Fan Mail You’ve been tossing mindset seeds onto concrete, wondering why they won’t grow.   Walton & Yeager’s research confirms that powerful beliefs—like “you belong here” or “you can grow”—won’t take root just because we say them. Beliefs need fertile ground.   When your culture, systems, or norms contradict your message, people don’t just ignore it—they lose trust in your leadership....

Send us Fan Mail What looks like resistance is often dysregulation in disguise—showing up as avoidance, blame, or burnout.   We talk all the time about helping kids manage their emotions, but what about adults? When adults become dysregulated, their brains shift from thoughtful decision-making to fight-or-flight mode, sabotaging effective communication and clear thinking. Kim Hall breaks down exac...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re breaking down why some teachers stay on fire while others burnout, stall out, or check out—and it’s not about how hard they’re working. Backed by Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), we’re unpacking how perceived value and accountability shape motivation—and what happens when one (or both) are missing. You’ll learn the Value–Accountability Matr...