Providing literacy-based professional development in Middle Tennessee.
06/10/2026
Registration is closed for the TCAP Writing Bootcamp at MTSU on June 29-30. We filled every seat in the room! 🔥
There are still a few spots available at Freed-Hardeman on June 22-23! Grab one before they're gone!
06/09/2026
It was a truly an honor to present the TCAP Writing Bootcamp in my own community today! Thank you to the middle school teachers from Clarksville-Montgomery County who showed up today!! The dedication to growing students was evident! 🔥
On the day the 200th person registered for TCAP Writing Bootcamp, 200 workbooks were delivered in the mail!
Looks like I may need to reorder! What a wonderful problem to have! 🔥
06/02/2026
I hope your summer is off to an amazing start! ☀️
The Good and the Beautiful is giving away free books! Just pay shipping. See more here: https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/pages/summer-reading-2026?_gl=1%2Aq4yo47%2A_gcl_au%2AOTA1NDg2NjI2LjE3NzkyOTk0NDM.
05/08/2026
Students have to write far more than we could ever grade! Don’t let the burden of grading stop you from getting your students to write.
05/06/2026
I love helping with teacher appreciation, and I love living in a community that values education! ❤️🐾
Join me this June for a TCAP Writing Bootcamp!
June 22-23 at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, TN.
June 29-30 at MTSU in Murfreesboro, TN.
Hope to see you there! 🔥
04/29/2026
A sneak peek of the TCAP Writing Workbook that all attendees will receive at the bootcamps at MTSU and Freed-Hardeman!
It’s packed with resources to strengthen your writing instruction! Can’t wait to share it with you!🔥
04/28/2026
Goodhart’s Law says: when a measure becomes the goal, it stops being a good measure.
That tension shows up every year with TCAP.
If we focus on the test all year long, writing instruction can shrink into forced compliance and following a checklist. Too much test prep follows a law of diminishing returns.
That’s why my approach is different.
I recommend spending the majority of the year offering rich, authentic literacy experiences that blend reading, writing, speaking, and listening about topics and texts that matter.
Research shows that test prep should start about 10 weeks before the test. Teach the format. Practice the expectations. Refine what they already know.
The goal isn’t to ignore the test, it’s to prepare for it at the right time, in the right way.
State testing cannot be our main goal in school.
Ironically, when we focus on authentic writing, the scores tend to follow anyway.
