Kevin Williams

Everyone deals with stress in different ways.  There is no right or wrong way to decrease your stress.  It can vary from person to person and from one situation to the next.  It's best to have multiple techniques in your bag in case one is not effective for a given scenario.  

Mindfulness is a constant practice that requires active and intentional energy but the positive effects can be great.  

It is a positive environment for all students to experience some degree of failure in the classroom, as long as it is a supportive and uplifting space.  They need to know that it is okay to not always be correct and that mistakes occur.  

I really like the idea of stopping my students and having them do some deep breathing exercises prior to quizzes to try to relax them.  They are usually so focused on getting the quiz and spilling all of the information out at once, but I think it will do them good to stop and breath for a moment or two first and hopefully relax.  We will see how it goes!

Motivating students is complex and highly dependent on the individual and the situation.  It is difficult to individualize all subject matter to properly motivate an entire class of students, but with persoal experience in the field they intend to work in, I can hope to reach most of them and give them insight that is helpful.  

Adding variety to the instructional environment is important and at times, challenging but rewarding.  Students need variety to keep them involved and interested in a course, but they also should be there for their own learning at the same time.  Not every day can be an exciting and amazing lesson!

I have always felt that being a teacher is a like being a performer to some degree.  While I am certainly an introvert at heart, teaching has forced me to be an extrovert for at least a few hours a day, because I know I am in the spotlight and on stage to some degree.  I have to take subjects (math and chemistry) that are very challenging and usually dry and boring for most, and try to make them come to life.  

It is very challenging to meet the wide variety of needs of all of our students.  They come into our classses with such diverse backgrounds and experiences that it is next to impossible to meet all of their needs adequately.  

EQ as a teacher is as important as IQ if not more important.  

Soft skills are much more important than hard skills in the world of teaching.  While hard skills are certainly necessary, it is the soft skills that truly make a teacher excellent.