Showing Others That You Have Heard Them

Why Summarizing What You Hear Builds Trust in Leadership…

How Should We Plan Reading Comprehension Lessons?

Tim Shanahan

Teacher Question

As my teachers continue learning together about text-centered planning, I would love your help with a quick reflection. When you sit down to plan a unit:

1. How do you decide which comprehension standards the anchor text naturally requires?
2. What steps do you take to analyze the text…

50 Metaphors That Reveal How Students Really See High School

Source: Adam, “🚌 50 Metaphorical Prompts about High School,” February 21, 2026.

The Paste Eaters Blog

🎯 Why This Matters for School Leaders

What if the most powerful insight into school culture isn’t found in a survey—but in a metaphor?

In “50 Metaphorical Prompts about High School,” Adam offers a rich…

“This Is Air”: Reframing School Through the Metaphors We Live By

Source: Adrian Neibauer, “This Is Air: Understanding and Changing the Way Teachers and Students See School,” February 16, 2026.

🎯 The Core Question

How do students actually see school?

In “This Is Air,” Adrian Neibauer reflects on returning to the classroom after the pandemic and confronting a painful truth:…

Are We Teaching Too Much Phonics?

Tim Shanahan

Teacher question:

I saw that Mark Seidenberg was complaining that there is now too much phonics instruction. What do you think of that?

Shanahan replies:

I have great…

Considering Running Records, or No, I Don't Beat My Wife Anymore

Tim Shanahan

Teacher question:

I’m confused. I've understood your message that we should stop obsessing about deriving an independent or instructional reading level. But I’ve also read that you feel that there is a place for F&P style running records (many schools still use them!). If a running record is producing a…

The photo at the left is the   Livermore Centennial bulb, the world's longest-burning electric bulb. 

The Dim Bulb…