Dr. Williams teaches AP English Language and Composition (AP Lang) and AP Research, and she is loved by her students for her collaborative and flexible teaching style.
Literature is something that Dr. Williams values incredibly deeply, and her passion for the subject shines through her teaching. She describes her classroom as a “collaborative space to experience life through the words we choose to surround ourselves with.” Her love for teaching has inspired a “go-with-the-flow” teaching style, according to Edward (12). After taking her AP Lang class, Edward admires the way Dr. Williams would “gauge what the classroom was interested and go off of that,” altering her lesson plans to better suit each individual day.
Dr. Williams describes her teaching style as “collaborative in nature,” emphasizing that her goal for each lesson is to “learn as much from [her] students as they learn from [her].” She views her lessons as “an exchange of ideas” rather than a lecture, which results in her classes having a level of freedom to them that is rarely felt in high school.
This approach has caused Dr. Williams to be very hands-off, often utilizing the assigned literature textbooks and printing off articles for the class to read, according to Laurel (12). She also makes sure to schedule private reading time in every lesson, which was Laurel’s favorite thing about having AP Lang with her. However, Phoenix (12) noticed that Dr. Williams tended to get sidetracked during lessons in AP Lang, likely due to her relaxed view on teaching. Although she wasn’t fond of this aspect of Dr. Williams’ class, Phoenix did very much enjoy the frequent group discusses that were held, which she says were a staple of any class with Dr. Williams.
With all of this in mind, Laurel is confident that future students of Dr. Williams have “no need to stress at all.” She describes Dr. Williams as a “sweet and understanding teacher who will work with [students] to be successful.” The work load may be heavy sometimes, especially in AP Lang, but Dr. Williams is not “strict about perfection,” according to Laurel.
Edward found that Dr. Williams “genuinely cares and gives good feedback,” and he considered her “very encouraging.” During his semester with her, she taught the content without being “overbearing on the work” and maintained an “exceptional balance.” Both Edward and Laurel believe future students are in good hands, and Edward advises anyone taking AP Lang with Dr. Williams to “speak or engage in a discussion” at every opportunity. According to him, it’s through this participation that Dr. Williams’ unique teaching style really shines.
