ABSTRACT
There are stories told to us and that we retell to ourselves. Some of these are untrue or only conditionally true. These stories have lasting power, standing the test of time, often unexamined. Examples in education are as follows: Students need to practice listening skills. (Have you heard of any?) Everything goes back to classroom management. (What does classroom management go back to?) We have to prepare students for middle school by teaching parts of speech (Is that possible?) Don’t smile till Christmas. (Have you tried this?) What was the author’s purpose? (Would E.B. White have answered this question?) What is the mood of the story? (Why ask this?) What are the supporting details? (The color of a shirt?) The solution? Treat old saw maxims as hypotheses, not as gospel. Create your own principles by analyzing your own classroom events.
