{"id":2397,"date":"2020-02-06T19:18:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T00:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2020-02-06T19:19:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T00:19:07","slug":"on-common-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"On Common Sense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Common Sense is not so common.<\/p><cite>Voltaire<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Rules are required. Or so I was told when I entered the classroom as a teacher. Make them clear, simple, and posted everywhere. If ambitious, get the class to make the rules themselves. You can try and channel popular sovereignty towards a functional system. Be warned, anarchy can sound fun to middle-schoolers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I split the difference. Three were my rules. Three were the students. My first rule was an embarrassment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wrote the rule on poster paper. I added to it to the footer of some of my first assignments. I scribbled it on the shower board I used to cover my chalkboard ($8 from HomeDepot). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four months into teaching, it dawned on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That which was common to me was not common to my students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For my students, it was common to hoard the fruit I brought in before testing (wrapping strawberries in notebook paper and stuffing them into their desks when I looked away). It was common to spend their evenings watching their little brothers and sisters while mom or dad was at work (no homework please). It was common to hang everything on certain kinds of reputation, because that\u2019s what you got (fights, talking smack, weird norms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, when I hear \u201cit\u2019s just common sense\u201d I just wince. The fact that we need to say the phrase means it\u2019s likely not common. Better to ask a why question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I removed the rule. Took down the poster. And put up a bumper sticker. It said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere they go. I must follow them! Because I am their leader!&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The words and thoughts of Voltaire concerning Common Sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-cover.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,144],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.6 (Yoast SEO v22.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>On Common Sense - Edlighten<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Common Sense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The words and thoughts of Voltaire concerning Common Sense.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Edlighten\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zach\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a29701aa58828357effc403565c4c791\"},\"headline\":\"On Common Sense\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\"},\"wordCount\":275,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education &amp; Technology &amp; Life\",\"The Aphorism Project\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\",\"name\":\"On Common Sense - Edlighten\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"Diego. On a Tractor\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Common Sense\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/\",\"name\":\"Edlighten\",\"description\":\"Thoughts on Education, Startups, Technology, &amp; Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Edlighten\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cropped-edlightenlogo.png?fit=803%2C320&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cropped-edlightenlogo.png?fit=803%2C320&ssl=1\",\"width\":803,\"height\":320,\"caption\":\"Edlighten\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a29701aa58828357effc403565c4c791\",\"name\":\"Zach\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d15d6e996bc3c706902246bb17e59063?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d15d6e996bc3c706902246bb17e59063?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zach\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/author\/zach\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Common Sense - Edlighten","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Common Sense","og_description":"The words and thoughts of Voltaire concerning Common Sense.","og_url":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/","og_site_name":"Edlighten","article_published_time":"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1125,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Zach","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zach","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/"},"author":{"name":"Zach","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a29701aa58828357effc403565c4c791"},"headline":"On Common Sense","datePublished":"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/"},"wordCount":275,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","articleSection":["Education &amp; Technology &amp; Life","The Aphorism Project"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/","url":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/","name":"On Common Sense - Edlighten","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","datePublished":"2020-02-07T00:18:10+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-07T00:19:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"Diego. On a Tractor"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/2020\/02\/06\/on-common-sense\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Common Sense"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/","name":"Edlighten","description":"Thoughts on Education, Startups, Technology, &amp; Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#organization","name":"Edlighten","url":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cropped-edlightenlogo.png?fit=803%2C320&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cropped-edlightenlogo.png?fit=803%2C320&ssl=1","width":803,"height":320,"caption":"Edlighten"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/a29701aa58828357effc403565c4c791","name":"Zach","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d15d6e996bc3c706902246bb17e59063?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d15d6e996bc3c706902246bb17e59063?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zach"},"url":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/author\/zach\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/edlighten.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/commonsenseFI.jpg?fit=2000%2C1125&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pet6y1-CF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edlighten.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}