I love this story and thought it would be appropriate for the New Year!
Once there 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 put it in the oven. Her new husband asked, “Why did you cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?” She replied, “Well, my mother always did it that way.”
The husband went to his mother-in-law and asked, “Why do you always cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?” She replied, “Well, my mother always did it that way.”
The husband went to the grandmother and asked, “Why do you always cut off the front of the ham and the back of the ham before you put it in the pan?” She replied with a smile, “My pan was always too small.”
A similar practice often underlies what we do as educators. We don’t know why we do things –we just do them because we’ve always done them that way. Thinking about WHY you do certain things each day and HOW you might improve instructional techniques is a challenge that makes our job more exciting.
Remember! If you always do what you’ve always done then you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got!
