What is your name? Where do you teach? My name is Amiee Fitzmorris. I teach at Fontainebleau Junior High School.

What subjects do you teach? I teach seventh-grade social studies and eighth-grade broadcasting.

What is your favorite thing about the subjects you teach? The best thing about teaching social studies is the way topics can be brought to life using the arts. Even if a student isn’t that interested in the topic, using music, art, photography and drama can be a way to hook them and involve them in learning. My friends and family say I have a flare for the dramatic so I guess that makes social studies is a good fit.

Amiee Fitzmorris

How long have you been a teacher? This will mark my 15th year of teaching. I’ve been at FJH since it opened in 1996 and was at Abita Junior before that.

How has the profession of teaching changed since you started? Today, teachers new to the profession are provided with better tools for beginning their teaching careers, as well as mentors to support and guide them through curriculum planning. I’m sure this helps them to feel much more prepared for the job than I felt when I started.

Why did you become a teacher? I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was in elementary school.It probably had a little bit to do with the fact that both my mother and grandmother were teachers. I guess it’s a family tradition - one that my 8-year-old daughter intends to carry on.

What is your favorite thing about teaching? One favorite thing? That’s a hard one. It has to be the light bulb – witnessing the “a-ha” moment – being there when a student “gets it.”

Do you do anything special in the classroom to get through to your students? I have always strived to be an energetic and engaging teacher – one who “tells the story” and sometimes even acts it out. Considering time-travel hasn’t become a teaching tool yet, I try to utilize experiential exercises and visual discovery as much as possible in order to bring history to life for the students.

What is the hardest part of your job? Trying to find enough time during the school day to get everything done and still not go home with hours of work left to do.

Are you involved in any extra curricular activities at the school? I was the director of our school’s dance team for 10 years but gave it up after my third child was born. I am currently involved in our school’s Design Team and I serve as our department’s chair person. I am also in charge of our school’s broadcast news team - these students produce a daily news show as well as film athletic and other extra-curricular events.

Do you utilize any special technology in the classroom? The broadcast class utilizes technology daily in order to produce the daily news show. (Cameras, video-mixer, character generator, computer, etc.)

I do try to utilize technology as much as possible in my social studies classes when appropriate and meaningful. This includes the use of computers/various programs, video cameras, digital cameras as well as presentation software and the internet. For example, this week my students are creating voki commercials for colonial regions which will be introduced to the class via an avatar. I try to offer students a variety of “work it out” activities to demonstrate their understanding of a concept, many of which are technology oriented.

Have you received any grants to aid you in the classroom? I am currently in the process of writing two mini-grants so that audio-visual equipment can be purchased for my classroom.

My objective is to incorporate as much daily visual discovery as possible in order to facilitate student “interaction” with historical events and figures.

What do you do during your summer vacations? During the summer, I spend time with my husband and three children. We hang out at the pool, library and playgrounds where I get to catch up on all of the reading that I never have time to do during the school year.

And although in May it seems that summer can’t come early enough – by July I’m working on lesson plans, researching new ideas to implement and bugging the administration about getting into my classroom.

Do you aspire to become a principal one day? No way! Who would want that job? Joking aside, I am exactly where I want and need to be – I can’t see my-self ever being anything but “Mrs. Fitz – social studies teacher.”

What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened while you were teaching? It wasn’t exactly while teaching, but when I was pregnant with my first child – I arrived on campus and before the bell rang to begin the day, my water broke. Everyone else was way more panicked about it than I was.

On all subsequent pregnancies, I was sure to begin my maternity leave at least a few days prior to my actual due date.