Life is full of people urging you to do your best. Schools are full of posters, teacher voices, and dutiful students echoing the idea that you should always do your best.

Knowing we have another day of testing and knowing that these tests can show that a project-based approach can generate academic gains,i.e., it’s important for everyone to do their best. Sigh.

What I tried this morning was to ask everyone to reflect why it’s important to always do your best but also when you might need to “shut down the engines.”

I wanted to think about whether it’s possible to always do one’s best. I wanted to think about when compromises have to be made. I wanted to think about if there are moments where other forces are at work. I wanted to think about which standards students should aim for and what those standards might mean. As always, I wanted to think about how I/we want to be known.