Reporting LIVE from the GHS Indian Post, this is Jakeria Davis and Melina Mcintyre. This week we wanted to recognize Dr.Brooks for teacher spotlight. Dr. Brooks is a foreign language teacher here at GHS. She is funny, sweet, kind, helpful, and overall, an amazing teacher.  

For education, Dr. Brooks went to Furman University and majored in German and French. She then received her master’s degree from the University of Phoenix. Finally, she got a Doctorate of Education from Gardner-Webb University. When interviewing Dr. Brooks, we asked her “In what ways do you encourage creativity in your classroom?” She replied and explained, saying “I assign projects that students can use creativity to complete; such as design your dream house, make a fashion magazine, describe your fake family, etc.” We then asked her about her likes, interests, and hobbies. Answering this, she said, “I like to do art and read in my free time.” Another question we asked her was about her individual style of teaching. “Besides lecture, what methods of teaching do you use?” Dr. Brooks replied, “I have students play learning games like gimkit, quizlet live and quizzes.”  

Continuing our interview, we spoke to Dr.Brooks about several types of students, specifically gifted ones. Dr. Brooks said that a gifted student to her is “a student that learns easily and can become bored quickly.” She followed that up and said, “Gifted students particularly enjoy using their creativity and having options for how they can demonstrate what they know. I was a gifted student, and I was very shy. I always preferred to work alone instead of in groups.” Finally, we asked her what she believed were the biggest challenges teachers and students face today. “I think the biggest obstacle for students is their home lives – not feeling safe or appreciated. For teachers, the biggest obstacle is that we can’t fix their home lives, so it’s difficult to get them to see learning as a priority. Also, there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything!”  

We want to give a huge thank you to Dr.Brooks for being a wonderful teacher here at GHS. She is incredible at what she teaches and what she likes to do. We love you Dr.Brooks!