Barry Westling

Hi Joseph: I think this one of those philosophical questions that can be looked from different perspectives. I always quote Stephen Covey’s “7 habits of Highly Effective People” with his statement “Seek first to understand, then be understood. I think that’s a powerful statement with deep meaning, really having more to do with communication than self awareness. At the same time, Covey begins with “Be Proactive”. To be truly proactive, one must have a keen sense of self awareness, or more simply, knowing ourselves. In the end, there is balance. Improvements, however they’re labeled, and however we achieve them is… >>>

Hi Patricia: I think whenever students sense sincere passion for anything, it gets noticed. Partly because it's somewhat unusual outside o9f certain professions to openly display emotions of any kind, and students are probably more used to less passionate teachers. Nonetheless, that's no excuse for any teacher to display elements of passion, excitement, enthusiasm, and inspiration in some fashion every day in their delivery and approach to teaching. But it has to be real. Honesty and genuine belief in what the teacher is discussing helps develop good rapport and stregthens relationships. But trying to be a version of someone other… >>>