Was a principal about 15 years ago when the "whole language" approach to learning reading and writing was a fad. Had a Grade 1 teacher who emphatically refused to even try it, she was sticking with teaching phonics come hell or high water.

Most of the younger teachers fell for the fad with limited results. The 'old school' teacher consistently produced a class of kids who were reading proficiently by the end of the year, while other classes struggled with that success rate.