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

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.

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Coaching the Whole Educator

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

August 23, 2026 • Becca Silver • Season 5 • Episode 198

0:00 | 34:01

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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.