This week the Tennessee Department of Education released teacher scores. They take each teacher’s assigned students, analyze how they perform on the one big state assessment and then score that teacher on a scale from 1 to 5. The teacher gets to say whether they want to be evaluated on student growth or overall performance, […]

I don’t remember the day, where we were going, or even why we were in the car. It was sunny, very sunny, and very hot, as it tends to be in August in Middle Tennessee. My nine year old asks from the back seat why that “silly” lady is walking under an umbrella on such […]

As a girl, I was a “Barbie Girl.” My best friend, Tina, loved her baby dolls and I loved my Barbies. When my mom and I finally packed them away, I had close to 40 different dolls – Barbies, Kens, Skippers and their friends. I had THE Dream House full of Mattel branded furniture, a […]