William De Lange

I have learned that there are several ways to make delivery of course content interesting to the students.  Being flexible and diverse with instruction methods helps students learn effectively.  The instructor as well needs to be mindful of how they present themselves and are perceived by their students.  Practicing always on how to deliver a lecture helps the instructor become an effective speaker and educator.

I've learned that knowing each student by name is important.  Making a student feel that you can identify who they are and why they are in your class is important.  Also, creating new groups in the class is also beneficial to everyone as it creates a sense of community.  It also discourages cohorts that take up all the attention and create an imbalance of learning.

I have learned that preparation for a class is very important.  It set the tone for the rest of the teaching session or even the course.  How things are presented is crucial therefore the instructor needs to plan ahead and make sure they will be effective.  The instructor needs to make use of all the resources available to them in preparation for teaching a class.

I have learned that becoming an instructor takes a lot responsibility, both to yourself and to your students.  Overall, being the best teacher that you can be is the goal.  Measuring this will go beyond the classroom and affect the lives of your students.  Their professional success will largely depend on how you mentored them.  Personally, becoming a good educator for the sake of your own development will also affect your career as a professional.  Individuals that are good educators also tend to become successful in other fields outside of school.