In this article, the authors present reasons why it is easy to get lost when it comes to teaching literacy. Instead of a "best practices" approach in which educators are advised to implement programs because they worked for others, the authors advocate a teacher-researcher paradigm that provides a set of social practices for outgrowing our current knowledge. It is a call for thoughtfulness, for testing the best ideas publicly, and for putting students and the social practices that sustain literacy at the center of curriculum. (Contains 1 footnote.)