Stop reinventing the wheel.

Stop rehashing past practice.

After all, if everyone is doing it then "best practice" is merely mediocre. 

If everyone is doing it, "best practice" is only mediocre. 

The phrase "best practice" has resurfaced again. At least, in the circles I travel the phrase seems to be cropping up with regularity. This surprises me, since I thought it had dies a slow death.  

Best practice had its glory days a few years ago. It was all over twitter, and it haunted every public school PD session I attended. I wondered where it originated, but a Google search wasn't much help. As a former dot-com employee, the phrase seemed like something shouted across the cubicle farms and communal dining centers. There was always a phrase of the week/month that dotcom managers liked to promote...and best practice sure sounded familiar. 

I was delighted to see that wikipedia includes a critique of the phrase. It comforts me to know that I'm not alone in despising the phrase best practice. That entry even offers a more intelligent alternative: contextual practice. 

This makes sense to me, because every situation is different. Every classroom is different. Most importantly, every student is different. Let's put this into context. See what I did there?