What if “we learn from our mistakes” is only half true?

In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver talks with Dr. Doug Fisher, professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College, about success-oriented learning and what it means for instructional coaching.

We’ve all heard that mistakes are opportunities for learning. But making a mistake doesn’t automatically mean we learn from it. And when failures keep piling up, especially in a public space like a classroom, students can become discouraged, disengaged, and less willing to try.

Doug shares why experiencing success matters for learning, motivation, and confidence, and how his school is putting that into practice. Through incremental success criteria, teachers chunk each hour of class into at least four checkpoints, giving students frequent opportunities to recognize their progress and experience success. What started in ninth grade a couple of years ago is now school-wide.

Then Becca and Doug turn the conversation to instructional coaching.

Full-cycle coaching (pre-observation, observation, debrief) has its place. But when it’s the only model a school uses, coaches run out of time to support the range of teachers, it can feel like evaluation when a leader runs it, and it reduces how often coaches are in classrooms.

Doug introduces two alternatives: short-cycle (goal-driven) coaching, built around a shared goal over two to four weeks, and micro-coaching, including his Notice → Name → Nudge approach for helping teachers recognize what they’re doing well and consider a small next step.

Becca makes the case that walkthrough forms are a data tool, not a coaching tool. When every visit turns into a laundry list, teachers walk away feeling like they’re never doing enough. And when teachers are stuck, experiencing resistance, or facing a lot to change, another full coaching cycle is often the opposite of what they need. The place to start is small, quick wins.

Because recognizing what needs to change is one thing. Believing you can change it is another.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why learning from mistakes isn’t enough, and how small successes help build confidence and momentum
• What the Eighty Five Percent Rule suggests about balancing challenge and success
• How incremental success criteria create frequent opportunities for students to recognize progress
• How remembering previous successes can support persistence with challenging tasks
• The differences between full-cycle, short-cycle, and micro-coaching
• How to use Notice → Name → Nudge to offer focused feedback without overwhelming teachers
• Why walkthrough forms shouldn’t be your default tool for every coaching conversation
• How frequent peer observations can help build a culture of coaching
• Why collective efficacy depends on experiencing success, not team building

Who this episode is for:
Instructional coaches, teacher leaders, principals, and district leaders who want practical coaching approaches that build teacher efficacy, treat resistance as information, and help educators experience meaningful progress.

Resources mentioned:

• The Art and Science of Teacher Coaching by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Almarode, and Toni Osborn Faddis (Corwin, 2026)
• Fisher and Frey: fisherandfrey.com
• Connect with Doug Fisher on LinkedIn: Douglas Fisher
• The Eighty Five Percent Rule for Optimal Learning (Wilson et al., 2019, Nature Communications)

Related research:

• Not Learning From Failure: The Greatest Failure of All (Eskreis-Winkler & Fishbach, 2019, Psychological Science)

Keep the conversation going:

• Get The Resistance Solution by Becca Silver: https://amzn.to/4pRCaa5
• Lead your team through it with Book Study Facilitator Training: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training

Let's Stay Connected!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com

Episode Summary

What if the scripted curriculum we hand new teachers is the very thing burning them out? In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver talks with Bob Lenz, CEO of PBLWorks, about how project-based learning (PBL) helps early career teachers thrive instead of just surviving, and why school systems built for consistency keep pulling innovative teachers back into compliance.

Bob shares findings from a randomized controlled trial of the Knowledge in Action AP curriculum, where PBL students outscored peers on AP exams by 8% in year one and 10% in year two, across all demographics. He explains why teachers trained in student-centered schools often revert to traditional instruction within three years of moving to a traditional school, and why giving new teachers high-quality PBL curriculum acts as a “floor,” not a script. Becca connects the conversation to her resistance work, naming the compliance culture that shapes how we treat both students and adults.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why the portrait of a graduate works as a “Trojan horse” for deeper learning and PBL adoption
• The biggest gap between teacher prep programs and day one in the classroom
• How PBL partner districts improved chronic absenteeism (one middle school went from 66% to 96% attendance)
• The four areas leaders need to address for systemwide PBL: vision, conditions, professional learning, and measurement
• Why “two projects a year” is a realistic starting point for reluctant departments
• How making expert thinking visible builds new teacher agency and confidence
• Why PBL is an equity issue, and why it may be less “innovation” than overdue updating

Who this episode is for: instructional coaches, principals, district leaders, and teacher leaders supporting new teachers, implementing project-based learning, or working to reduce teacher burnout and turnover.

Frequently asked questions

Does project-based learning improve test scores? According to Bob, a randomized controlled study validated by USC found PBL students scored 8 to 10% higher on AP exams than students in traditional classes, with strong gains in critical thinking and communication.

How can schools support new teachers with PBL? Pair high-quality, student-centered curriculum with embedded professional learning and coaching, so new teachers start from a strong floor instead of designing units from scratch on Sunday night.

Why do innovative teaching practices fade? When school policies, pacing, and observation practices conflict with student-centered goals, teachers drift back to compliance-based instruction. Leaders have to surface those conflicts and build a coherent system.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome and introduction to Bob Lenz
• 00:58 What PBLWorks does and why agency matters
• 01:50 Portrait of a graduate as a path to PBL
• 05:10 Helping new teachers thrive, not survive
• 06:40 The AP study results
• 10:10 Curriculum as a floor and giving Sundays back to teachers
• 12:55 The gap between teacher prep and day one
• 15:00 Compliance curriculum, burnout, and attendance gains
• 16:20 Compliance culture and resistance
• 17:00 Schools built for consistency, not innovation
• 19:30 Moving the whole system: what leaders need in place
• 24:00 Agency, professional judgment, and making thinking visible
• 27:30 Innovation or overdue update?
• 29:20 PBL as an equity floor
• 30:20 Bob’s new book and resources

Resources mentioned

• PBLWorks: pblworks.org
• PBL for All: A Leader’s Guide by Bob Lenz and Lisa Morales
• PBL World coaching academy (June, Napa Valley)

Keep going

• Get The Resistance Solution: https://amzn.to/4pRCaa5
• Lead your team through it with Book Study Facilitator Training: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training

Let's Stay Connected!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com

You've modeled it, co-planned it, and practiced it side by side, and it's still not showing up in the classroom. In this Resistance Solution Mini-Session, Becca Silver reads from Chapter 2 of The Resistance Solution on why more PD and more modeling often miss the mark. Coaches and school leaders get one question to ask before their next coaching move.

In this episode:

• Why resistance often looks like a skill problem on the surface
• The quiet calculation teachers run before trying something new: Is this worth it? What if it doesn't work? Can I pull this off?
• Why a fourth round of modeling rarely fixes a will gap

This week's challenge: pick the coaching conversation that keeps looping and ask yourself, "Is this a gap in skill, or a gap in will?" If it's will, swap your next model for a question.

Take the free quiz, What Is Resistance Costing You?: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/resistance-quiz

Get The Resistance Solution: https://amzn.to/4pRCaa5

Free reader tools: thewholeeducator.com/book-resources

Let's Stay Connected!
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What happens when a new school leader tries so hard to meet everyone’s expectations that they stop leading like themselves? In this episode of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca Silver talks with Joshua Stamper, author of Aspire to Lead and host of the Aspire to Lead podcast, about perseverance, adversity, and the quiet ways aspiring leaders slip into compliance while trying to prove they belong.

Josh shares his unexpected path from art teacher to athletic coach, Dean of Students, and assistant principal for nearly a decade, and now speaker, author, and leadership consultant. He opens up about his first months as Dean of Students, when staff and families expected him to be “the sheriff.” He tried to fill that role, and discipline referrals climbed every month. Then he made a shift: he got clear on his own values, rebuilt the campus approach to student behavior around teaching skills instead of punishment, and watched both the data and the culture turn around.

Becca and Josh also dig into:

• Influence vs. control: how to tell whether you want to lead people or simply want more control over decisions, and why “I’m just a teacher” holds back progress
• How “no” creates compliance culture: why turning down a teacher’s idea can move them from ownership back to compliance, and what a “yes, and” leader does instead
• The cost of being chosen: navigating jealousy, rivalry, and shifting peer relationships when you’re tapped for leadership early
• Rejection as “not yet”: what Josh learned from being passed over for promotion, and why talking about what you have done beats what you would do in leadership interviews
• Regulation under pressure: why anticipating hard moments (and deciding in advance who you’ll be) is one of the strongest leadership practices, plus Becca’s reframe that every breakdown carries the seed of a breakthrough
• The ASPIRE framework: Activate, Support, Persevere, Identity, Reflection, and Execution, with practical advice on “activating” by becoming visibly available to your admin team

This episode is for teachers considering an administrative path, assistant principals eyeing the next role, instructional coaches, and any educator who leads with or without a title.

About the guest: Joshua Stamper is a former art teacher, coach, Dean of Students, and assistant principal who now speaks, writes, and coaches educators nationwide. He is the author of Aspire to Lead and The Language of Behavior, hosts three podcasts, and leads the Aspire to Lead cohort for aspiring school leaders.

Connect with Joshua: https://joshstamper.com | Instagram and X: @joshua__stamper

Explore Becca’s book: The Resistance Solution: https://amzn.to/4pRCaa5

Lead your own book study with the Book Study Facilitator Training: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/book-study-facilitator-training

Let's Stay Connected!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com

Ever leave a coaching conversation feeling great about the advice you gave, only to come back a week later and find nothing has changed? You're not alone, and it's probably not the teacher's fault.

In this episode, Becca sits down with her friend and colleague coaching master Chrissy Beltran, known to many as Buzzing with Ms. B, to unpack why coaching conversations so often go nowhere. Chrissy shares why coaches feel pressure to have all the answers, how teachers often ask for help in the only way they know how (a complaint), and the simple mindset shift that keeps every interaction moving toward real partnership.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why our "advice monster" is so loud as coaches (hint: it feels really good)
• The difference between coaching and consulting, and why quick fixes rarely change thinking
• Why "it doesn't matter what you say, it matters what they hear"
• Chrissy's ABC model: Always Be Coaching, and where the idea came from (spoiler: knives)
• How to narrow your follow-up to a simple yes or no ("Can I come by tomorrow at 9?")
• Why you should offer two or three support options, tops
• The red flag phrases that signal it's time to point the finger back at yourself
• The difference between manipulation and intentionally building connection
• Why connection is the shortest distance to coachability

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Welcome and introducing Chrissy Beltran
• 00:55 The problem: a whole conversation and nothing changes
• 01:29 Why coaches feel they have to have all the answers
• 03:26 Taming the advice monster
• 05:22 That's not coaching, that's consulting
• 06:30 The psychology on both sides of unsolicited advice
• 08:00 When "okay" at the end of PD really means compliance
• 08:57 Selling Cutco and the birth of Always Be Coaching
• 11:45 Making follow-up easy to say yes to
• 13:00 Showing up the next day with two or three options
• 14:37 "Guess what? They're coming back tomorrow."
• 15:42 Red flag phrases like "Well, I told them"
• 18:07 Manipulation vs. authentic connection
• 19:47 Being right vs. making a difference
• 21:24 Chrissy's new book, Expand Your Coaching Toolbox

About Chrissy Beltran:
Chrissy Beltran is an instructional coaching expert, the voice behind Buzzing with Ms. B, and host of the Instructional Coaching with Ms. B podcast. Her new book, Expand Your Coaching Toolbox: 20 Practical Strategies That Improve Teaching and Learning (ASCD), is a hands-on guidebook with strategies for relationship building, knowledge and alignment, and instructional skill, each with a note on how to forward the coaching conversation.

Resources mentioned:

• Expand Your Coaching Toolbox by Chrissy Beltran: pre-order through ASCD now, available everywhere (including Amazon) in November

Connect with Becca:
Learn more about Becca's work and The Resistance Solution at thewholeeducator.com.

Let's Stay Connected!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com

The strategy everyone nodded along to in August? It's thriving in one classroom and missing in action next door. And that eye roll from the back of the room is still living rent-free in your head.

In this first episode of Solution Sessions, a new weekly segment of Coaching the Whole Educator, Becca reads the opening pages of The Resistance Solution and names what most leaders feel but rarely say out loud: the emotional whiplash of thinking a teacher is on board, then walking into their classroom and finding nothing has changed.

When that happens, most of us reach for one of two explanations. Either some people just don't want to change, or we need more accountability. Both are understandable. Neither gets you very far.

Becca offers a different read: the eye roll, the polite nod, and the strategy that never shows up aren't verdicts on the teacher or on you. They're information.

In this episode:

• Why uneven implementation is one of the most common pain points coaches and leaders report
• The two default reactions to resistance, and why neither one works
• One question to bring into your walkthroughs this week

Your challenge: Pick one classroom where the training isn't showing up yet. Before restating the expectation, ask, "What's getting in the way right now?" Then listen.

Wondering what resistance is costing your school? Take the free What Is Resistance Costing You? quiz and get next steps matched to where you are: https://www.thewholeeducator.com/resistance-quiz

Let's Stay Connected!
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Contact Us

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!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com

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!
www.thewholeeducator.com | info@thewholeeducator.com