Coaching the Whole Educator

Coaching the Whole Educator, hosted by education consultant and author Becca Silver, is a podcast on instructional coaching, teacher leadership, and school leadership for anyone who wants to strengthen their educators' effectiveness and resilience, especially the ones who need it most. Each week, you'll hear quick tips, proven coaching strategies, and coaching mindsets designed to keep you on top of your game. This show is rooted in a human-centered coaching approach, where we get things done through people's humanity, not around it. Whether you're new to instructional coaching or a seasoned 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 teacher resistance, using the Catalyst Mindsets framework from Becca Silver's book, The Resistance Solution , you'll discover how to build stronger relationships, lead with clarity, and create lasting impact in

Coaching the Whole Educator is a education podcast hosted by Becca Silver, with 206 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Becca Silver hosts Coaching the Whole Educator, a education show with 206 episodes published.

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  Episode #201

  Your Staff's Hidden Superpowers: Building a Neuroinclusive Workplace Without Lowering Expectations

  Sep 28, 202625 minS4

  Send us Fan Mail What if the colleague you've been describing as "quirky" is the most underused talent in your building? In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver sits down with Justin Permenter of NDI Institute to talk about building workplaces where neurodivergent educators, coaches, and leaders can perform, contribute, and lead without lowering expectations. Roughly one in five people is neurodivergent, including people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Yet most schools and organizations are built for neurotypical ways of working by default. Students get IEPs and 504 plans. Adults get a workplace that expects everyone to sit at the same table, the same way, on the same timeline. Justin shares his journey from the classroom in Kansas City to international education in Qatar and his work with Franklin Covey's Leader in Me, plus the story of Omar, a 16-year-old autistic intern who outperformed full-time staff at the Waldorf Astoria within three weeks. Becca opens up about her own ADHD diagnosis and the moment she started seeing it as a strength instead of a deficit. You'll learn: Why accommodation and compliance checklists aren't the same as strengths activation How curiosity (the C in NDI's CLEAR framework) replaces judgment when a colleague works differently What "results alignment" means: keeping outcomes high while allowing multiple pathways to get there One thing school leaders and instructional coaches can do tomorrow to lead more neuroinclusively Perfect for instructional coaches, principals, district leaders, and anyone who leads adults in schools. Resources mentioned: Website: www.ndiinstitute.com Webinar on October 6th: https://www.ndiinstitute.com/webinar Free C.L.E.A.R. Framework: https://www.ndiinstitute.com/download The Resistance Solution: Why Educators Resist and What They Need Instead: amzn.to/4pRCaa5 Resistance Solution Book Study Facilitator Training: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training Let's Stay Connected! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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  Episode #200

  #200: Will Drivers: The Motivations Behind Every Conversation

  Sep 20, 202624 minS5

  Send us Fan Mail Ever notice how the same piece of feedback lands beautifully with one person on your team and completely bombs with another? Robyn Jackson is back, and this time we're digging into Will Drivers, her framework for the four things that motivate every human being: mastery, purpose, belonging, and autonomy. Here's the twist. Each driver comes with its own core question running in the background of someone's mind: how, why, who, and what. Once you know someone's dominant driver, you stop guessing why they're not responding to your coaching and start speaking a language they can actually hear. We get into: What Will Drivers are and where the theory came from Why the people you connect with most easily probably share your dominant driver How the same feedback needs to be delivered four completely different ways depending on who's receiving it Why some of the meanest, most aimless, or most struggling people on your team are driven by the exact thing they seem worst at The principal who couldn't get his staff moving because he was autonomy driven and they were mastery driven, and neither one understood the other Robyn's reframe for ditching the shoulds: be curious, not furious This one will have you diagnosing your own driver, your partner's, and probably three people on your leadership team before the episode is even over. The Resistance Solution: amzn.to/4pRCaa5 Book Study Facilitator Training: www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training About Robyn Jackson: Robyn R. Jackson is the founder of Mindsteps and the creator of the Buildership framework. She's spent years helping leaders move from compliance-driven management to real ownership, and her Will Drivers work grew out of motivation research she originally applied to students before realizing it works just as well on adults. Connect with Robyn: 100PercentPrincipal.com — free weekly newsletter with practical tools for the challenges you're actually facing. Let's Stay Connected! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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  Episode #199

  #199: Stop Waiting for PD: How Self Mentorship Builds Ruckus Maker Principals

  Sep 6, 202634 minS5

  Send us Fan Mail * *JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP**: Resistance Solution Facebook Community Danny Bauer of Better Leaders Better Schools joins Becca Silver to unpack self mentorship, why traditional PD falls short, and how to become a ruckus maker. Most professional development follows the same script: someone else decides what educators need to learn, when they need to learn it, and how. Danny Bauer, founder of Better Leaders Better Schools and creator of the Ruckus Maker movement, calls this "permission-based development," and he thinks it is holding school leaders back. In this episode, Becca Silver talks with Danny about self mentorship: a radical ownership model where school leaders define their own growth instead of waiting for central office to approve it. Danny shares real stories of principals who used self mentorship to build "sticky core values," eliminate outdated practices like midterms and finals, and protect their own boundaries without sacrificing results. He and Becca also dig into an uncomfortable pattern Danny has seen again and again: leaders who win Principal of the Year and then get placed on an improvement plan for doing the very work that made them stand out. If you have ever sensed something was off in how your school or district operates but could not quite name it, this conversation gives you language and a starting question to explore it. What You'll Learn What self mentorship is and how it differs from traditional professional development Why Danny calls conventional PD "permission-based development," and why that framing matters Real examples of self mentorship in action: sticky core values, eliminating midterms and finals, and protecting personal boundaries as a leader Why some of the most innovative school leaders get quietly punished for standing out How systems resist disruption, and why that resistance is not personal A simple question you can ask tomorrow to start thinking like a "Ruckus Maker" * *JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP**: Resistance Solution Facebook Community Guest Bio Danny Bauer is the founder of Better Leaders Better Schools and the voice behind the Ruckus Maker movement in education. After years in the classroom and central office, Danny now helps school leaders build campus experiences worth showing up for through coaching, a mastermind community, and the Ruckusmakers Media Substack. Key Quotes Danny Bauer on traditional professional development: PD is often too little, too late, and disconnected, arriving on a schedule the system sets rather than the leader. On self mentorship: it is a radical ownership over your own growth and vision, not a curriculum someone else hands you. On why leaders get punished for innovating: fragile egos at central office sometimes resent when a subordinate gets the credit for doing something new. On the mindset shift: the real question is not "can I change this," but what would need to be true for it to be different. Timestamps 03:00 What is self mentorship, and how is it different from professional development 05:30 Why Danny renamed PD "permission-based development" 07:30 Real self mentorship stories: sticky core values, eliminating midterms and finals, protecting boundaries 12:00 The Ruckus Maker movement and questioning how school "has to be" 15:00 Why Principal of the Year winners sometimes end up on improvement plans 18:30 Systems built to stay alive, and why disruption meets resistance 20:30 Where to find Danny's free resources 22:00 One question to ask tomorrow to start your own self mentorship journey Resources Mentioned Better Leaders Better Schools: betterleadersbetterschools.com Ruckusmakers Media (Danny's Substack of mini-books on leadership and school change) The Art of Self Mentorship (Danny's free mini-book) Let's Stay Connected! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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  Episode #198

  #198: What Great Lesson Planning Teaches Us About Great Coaching (with Lori Cohen)

  Aug 23, 202634 minS5

  Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Becca sits down with instructional coaching and lesson planning expert Lori Cohen (co-author of The PD Book ) to talk about her new book, The Science of Lesson Planning , and what transformative lesson design can teach coaches and school leaders about building psychological safety in schools. They dig into psychological safety, the difference between coaching and "coaxing," and why celebration and reflection only work when they happen together. In this episode: Why great lesson planning is about more than activities and standards How psychological safety gets built (and spent) in daily interactions, not just at the start of the year The real difference between conventional and transformative practice: who holds control of the "right answer" Why "coaxing" isn't coaching, and how it breaks trust Why celebration and reflection have to happen together for real growth About Lori Cohen: Lori Cohen has spent three decades in education as a teacher, instructional coach, school leader, consultant, and author. Her new book, The Science of Lesson Planning , releases in September through ASCD (preorders open now). She is also co-author of The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development (with Elena Aguilar) and Integrating Educator Well-Being, Growth, and Evaluation: Four Foundations for Leaders . Let's Stay Connected! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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  Episode #196

  #196: The "We vs. Me" Test: Why the Same Staff Meeting Energizes Some Teachers and Drains Others (with Dr. Sheldon Eakins)

  Jul 17, 202623 minS4

  Send us Fan Mail What if the pushback you're getting from teachers isn't about the initiative at all, but about a hidden cultural mismatch in how your school defines belonging? In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver sits down with Dr. Sheldon Eakins, author of Meaningful Classroom Management , What Are You Bringing to the Potluck? , and Leading Equity , to explore a dimension of belonging that rarely gets airtime in school leadership conversations: individualism versus collectivism. Dr. Eakins explains why American schools are built around individualist norms (GPAs, valedictorians, teacher of the month, "stay in your classroom") while many students and staff come from collectivist backgrounds where success is defined by "we," not "me." When leaders don't recognize this mismatch, the result looks like resistance, disengagement, and retention problems. In this episode, you'll learn: How individualism vs. collectivism shows up in staff meetings, PLCs, and professional development, and why "sit and get" works for some educators and alienates others Dr. Eakins' LENS framework for leaders: Look for biases, Examine communication, Notice group dynamics, Shift perspective How to separate facts from interpretations when you catch yourself labeling a colleague "rude" or "disengaged" Why introversion and extroversion are NOT the same as individualism and collectivism Practical ways to design staff culture that balances individual recognition with collective connection This conversation is essential listening for instructional coaches, principals, and district leaders working on teacher retention, staff culture, psychological safety, and buy-in for change initiatives. Grab your copy of The Resistance Solution Book Study Facilitator Training: www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training Connect with Dr. Sheldon Eakins: IG: @sheldoneakins Twitter: @sheldoneakins Website: purposeful247.com Books: Amazon Let's Stay Connected! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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