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 your school.
You can reach Becca Silver at info@thewholeeducator.com.
Coaching the Whole Educator
#152: The Science of Depletion: Why Small Changes Can Feel Impossible
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
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 like a muscle than an endless supply. You’ll discover how exhaustion masquerades as resistance, why “just one more thing” pushes teachers over the edge, and how to spot when pushback is really about depletion. More importantly, you’ll learn practical ways to protect teacher bandwidth so that when you do introduce a change, it has a fighting chance of sticking.
Because here’s the shift: what looks like defiance is sometimes just depletion. And if you can recognize that difference, you can respond in a way that actually builds trust and momentum instead of frustration on both sides.
🔗Check out this research on Ego Depletion
The Resistance Remedy On Demand Course is HERE!
Let's Stay Connected!
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us