Gritty Teacher Tool Shop

I have had the opportunity to be in the field of education as a math teacher, math coach Grades 6-12, former Assistant Principal of public high schools, and now a National Education Consultant for 15 years! It has been an exciting journey and I've been so grateful for such an amazing crew of gritty rockstars that have been there for me through it all!

I am a strong believer of activating student voices and building grit in the classroom. Although my main area of expertise is math, as a math textbook author and education consultant, I've seen great teaching at work. I've learned that when the metacognitive juices get to flowing in the classroom, the teachers are the students, and the teacher becomes the facilitator. I've seen this take place with my grit assessments, grit trainings and my mathamazing money system for years and I'm excited to see other rockstar educators build the same in their classrooms!

I was nominated as Teacher of the Year for Gaither High School in 2014 and Teacher of the Year for Hawthorne Middle High School in 2019. After I obtained my doctorate at UF (Go Gators)! I was nominated as a Gators 40Under40 Honoree in 2022 and completed my TEDxTalk titled "The Power of Grit in 2022. I was honored to then write math curriculum for Big Ideas Learning, National Geographic Learning, Cengage Learning and now for Savvas Learning.

I am a Sarasota, FL Native. I went to Sarasota High School and then transferred into University of Florida where I majored in Math (B.S.), obtained an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and received my doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration.

I am child number 9 out of ten. I went on two have two amazing children who are now teenagers aspiring to attend college and become worldchangers.