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Scattered, Smothered, Covered… and Apparently Running an Executive Function Intervention

Recently someone said something that made me stop mid-bite at Waffle House. This was during a discussion related to working memory.  “The people who work at Waffle House have their own language.” Now before you laugh and dismiss it, sit with that for a second. Because as I’m sitting here, coffee cup half empty, listening to “Cheesesteak plate! Over medium! Scattered, smothered, covered! Waffle PB! Eggs scrambled, scattered light!” being hurled across the room at lightning speed, I start thinking… Wait a minute. Are we overlooking a whole set of skills? As a special education teacher, my brain never shuts off. Ever. I could probably be stranded on an island and somehow connect coconuts and survival skills back to executive functioning and intervention strategies. So there I sit. Dishes clanking against tubs in the back. The sprayer hissing as plates get rinsed off. The steady sizzle of hashbrowns and bacon on the grill. Coffee mugs clink as servers slide them onto tables wit...
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Stop Telling Me What They Can’t Do

Today’s word vomit… We are back to education. Back to the basics of being a growth-oriented human. Not a perfect human. Not an all-knowing human. Not a human who has all the answers. A human willing to grow. Here we go. It’s the end of the school year, and as I make my way in and out of buildings, I can feel it everywhere. The exhaustion. The pressure. The emotional whiplash that comes with trying to close out a year while simultaneously analyzing every piece of growth from beginning to end. Benchmarks. USC data. Progress monitoring. Behavior data. Classroom performance. Intervention data. State assessments. All the numbers. All the conversations. All the spreadsheets. Honestly? These days are some of my favorites because I am absolutely a data nerd. I love looking for patterns, growth, gaps, strengths, opportunities. I love figuring out how all the moving pieces connect. But I’m tired too. And one thing I’ve had to remind myself lately is this: When you walk into spaces unintentionall...
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If You’re Looking for Normal, You’re Lost

  I’m Free Welp… here it is. Let’s just get this out of the way real quick. You are not getting access to anything prior to 2025. Some of that content needs to be reworked, maybe rewritten, maybe left where it belongs. We are not dragging old versions of me into a space that is supposed to be real. Also… in case you didn’t know… my head is a little chaotic. And this blog? It will have no niche. Because I am not here for fame. If I want to talk about my career, I will. If I want to talk about politics, I will. If I want to tell you about my feelings, I will. If I want to tell you something completely random and unhinged, I will. And if I don’t want to say anything at all… I won’t. And let me tell you something… This is freeing. Like… legitimately freeing. An uncensored space. No box. No label. No pretending. I am not trying to fit into something that was never built for me. And I am definitely not here for people to tell me I am going to hell because I use b...
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The Work You Can't Measure-What Makes a Good Educator?

  I asked a simple question on Facebook. What makes a good educator? I shared a quick response of my own, but I knew it barely scratched the surface. That was intentional. I did not want to jump straight into the heart and soul of it yet. I wanted to listen first. I wanted to hear what others valued, what they noticed, what they believed actually matters in this work. And if I am being honest, I was also wondering if anyone would name a way to truly measure great teaching. Not just describe it, but measure it. Because that is where this gets complicated. My world tends to center around special education, and that will always be my heart. But this conversation is not just about special education. It is about all educators. Because the truth is, those two worlds are not separate. Every student is a Tier I student. I say that often, and I mean it every time. Every student deserves access to strong core instruction, high expectations, and meaningful support. Special education is a serv...
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