15 questions for a teacher

What is your name? Where do you teach? Peggy "Dawn" Rushing / Fifth Ward Junior High School

What subject(s) do you teach? Seventh grade English and reading

Peggy Rushing

What is your favorite thing about the subject(s) you teach? Through writing and literature students learn many life-lessons that can benefit them in the future and hopefully impact the decisions that they make.

How long have you been a teacher? 11 years

How has the profession of teaching changed since you started? Technology has exploded in the past 10 years. We use some form of technology in the classroom everyday.

Why did you become a teacher? I enjoy young people, writing, and reading, so what better profession is there? I also wanted to let students know that education is their "Key" to anything that they want.

What is your favorite thing about teaching? Being afforded the wonderful opportunity to work with young people at such an impressionable age and reminding them daily that they are "our" future.

Do you do anything special in the classroom to get through to your students? I use Power Points, Video Excerpts, Group Activities, Bingo Exam Reviews, etc.

What is the hardest part of your job? When summer rolls around, I am sad to see the students go but proud that they are advancing.

Are you involved in any extra curricular activities at the school? We go on a wonderful field trip to the Myrtle's Plantation and the State Capitol Building in the spring. We do Louisiana Research reports about historic sites, and then we get to visit them.

Do you utilize any special technology in the classroom? We have weekly Power Points for our Spelling words and notes, and we go to the computer lab on Fridays to research authors and complete interactive Language Arts activities. We also use the AverVision 300i projector in the classroom to showcase student work (in real time).

Have you received any grants to aid you in the classroom? No

What do you do during your summer vacations? Read young adult novels to prepare for the upcoming school year. I spend a lot of time with my family and try to make it to the beach at least once.

Do you aspire to become a principal one day? No, I love the classroom and the children I teach.

What's the craziest thing that has ever happened while you were teaching? After returning from hurricane Katrina, I decided to go over the crisis codes and evacuation routes with my classes again (since we had been out for a month).

As soon as we finished reviewing the evacuation routes, the fire alarm went off, and we had to evacuate the building. It scared me half to death, and the students thought that it was planned, but it was not. Apparently it was tripped by maintenance.