About Me

Hello, TMS! I'm beginning my first year at Thomas, my seventh year teaching, and sixth year teaching honors-level ELA and Social Studies. My first two careers were in public radio (reporter and on-air host) and in church administration (planning services and communication).

 

I believe school can be fun and enjoyable, so I try to build in lots of games, competitions, goofy activities, creativity, projects, choice boards, and puzzles/problem-solving. However, like the rest of life, school sometimes is not fun. It's simply work that has to be done. This can be rewarding, though, and students can feel pride in accomplishment and ways to improve. 

 

My favorite topics to teach are the Greek and Latin roots we learn in ELA and the SS units on Israel and India. I would love to visit Greece, Rome, and Israel sometime. 

 

I'm married to Kristin Naylor, an MTSU instructor (public speaking) and I have three grown daughters, two grandsons, and a third grandbaby on the way in 2023. I really enjoy reading historical fiction and some mysteries, grilling and cooking (not baking -- too precise!), helping other teachers in Facebook groups, some travel, and cuddling my dachshund, Pepper. I can play the piano by ear, have done a little community theater, and my music choices are firmly stuck in the 1980s.

 

I'm an inch taller than Abraham Lincoln was (without his hat), by the way.