What is a best practice? In education we often see this term thrown around, sometimes incorrectly. Practitioners in fields all over the world will use this phrase to express a heightened level of importance to specific actions or behaviors. But what are best practices exactly? Best practices are defined as procedures demonstrated by research and…

Spring break is a wonderful time to take a deep breath and reconnect with ourselves and those we love. Many of us take the opportunity to rest and engage in hobbies that we often have to put aside in the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. I hope that you were able to enjoy your…

In Arlington ISD, we have a cultural tenet that we believe and try to embody – Get Better Every Day. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what it means to get better every day? What behaviors do we have to engage in daily to make that happen? What do we do when we hit…

I recently started reading a book called Think Again authored by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In the text, he focuses on the value of approaching life and situations with a scientific mindset, open to the possibility (and high probability) that you could be wrong and/or…

Differentiation. It’s a word that is commonly used throughout the education community. It is also a word that is routinely misused. Most individuals using this term do so to describe their effort to provide a variety of entry points to children in the learning process. We often hear of differentiation of content (what is taught),…

Boy, if there was ever a bad word in education, assessment has become that word. Politicized across various platforms, families have rightfully been frustrated with the volume of time their children are engaged in taking assessments all in the name of accountability. School has turned into more than a place where our children go to…

Coaching can initially be an intimidating process. It calls for our vulnerability and trust. We are invited to openly share our goals and to collaboratively work with a thought partner to identify the steps we plan to take to reach them. There is an increased amount of personal accountability. Each time we meet with our…

It has been said that to become an expert, a person must practice their craft for approximately 10,000 hours. While some may learn a bit faster and some may take a bit longer, this number seems to be the average and equated to about 90 minutes a day for 20 years. Consider how routine this…

What a year this has been! We have all been challenged in ways we could have never anticipated. We have had to stretch ourselves and refine our craft with such urgency that the pace at times felt daunting. We have worked to support students and their families as they navigated family hardships all while trying…

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to train for a half marathon. The idea of running 13.1 miles straight was a bit daunting to imagine. I had never run long distances in the past and the longest distance I could remember running was in the eighth grade for PE and that was just a…