I am a passionate educator working to make a difference in the lives of students, parents, and teachers in the state of Tennessee. I'm 'quite the talker' which makes me an expert communicator in the educational setting. I 'attempt' to use my sense of humor to teach. This makes me the new hybrid of 'edutainer'. This approach to educating makes learning more enjoyable and memorable.As an educator in the public schools, I became a great supporter of inquiry based learning. This means I simply present students with problems, help group them into cooperative learning teams, and facilitate lesson development, execution, and completion. It is my purpose to put student learning in the hands of the students. Differentiated instruction always plays a key role in the classroom design in my buildings. My lessons are backwards planned with the end in mind. I develop formative and summative assessments to collect, aggregate, and present data to drive student instruction. I strive to keep current in my teaching strategies to benefit my diverse students.I love mentoring new teachers. I glean the information from new crops of teachers and Teach For America Professionals and share my "I've Been There' knowledge to get them through the tough early years. Collaboration is an essential part of making education work. Well, truth be told…. Collaboration is the key to making all things work! Here are some of my additional professional values:- I've been a dedicated student and parent.- I make mistakes and feel failure leads to success.- I have BIG ideas and dreams.- I can execute my ideas and dreams.- I try to be calm and carry on…..I love making new professional acquaintances. Please reach out if you like to teacher talk!!Specialities: Common Core standards, RTI in the state of Tennessee, and Quantum Learning