Thinkingabout that ham you’re going to cook for New Year’s Day? I thought this story might beappropriate as you think about 2012.
Oncethere was a newly married couple. The bride decided to cook her husband a ham. She cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham. Then she put the ham in the pan and putit in the oven. Her new husbandasked, “Why did you cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham beforeyou put it in the pan?” Shereplied, “Well, my mother always did it that way.”
Thehusband went to his mother-in-law and asked, “Why do you always cut off thefront of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?” She replied, “Well, my mother alwaysdid it that way.”
Thehusband went to the grandmother and asked, “Why do you always cut off the frontof the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?” She replied with a smile, “My pan wasalways too small.”
Asimilar practice often underlies what we do as educators. We don’t know why we do things –we justdo them because we’ve always done them that way. Thinking about WHY you do certain things each day and HOWyou might improve instructional techniques is a challenge that makes our jobmore exciting.
Remember! If you always do what you’ve alwaysdone then you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got!
