When in the classroom, I try to incorporate three values: trust, mistakes are necessary, and all your answers are in the text. I need to build trust with my students first and foremost. If they don't trust me, I can't teach them, and it is my job to find that trust. This helps them be comfortable making mistakes around me, and take the pressure off when all we are really doing is exploring. Through this exploration, I encourage them to use the text as their key for all questions. Everything you need to know will be in the text. 

As a core belief, I hold my students to high standards, and I'm the first to celebrate their achievements. Learning used to be about bettering yourself, but now it has been turned into a system where passing is the only thing that matters. This is a poor structure. To combat this, teachers individually need to hold their students to higher standards. In terms of acting, that's choosing characters or plays that are challenging for the students. You have to push the students a little out of their comfort zone to achieve greatness, but there is a key part of this that many teachers forget: you must be the first to celebrate their achievements. If all you do is push a student, eventually they are going to fall off the edge. However, if you give encouragement, guidance, and celebrate when they pass a milestone, they will never give up.  

I foster clear goals, a safe environment, and independence for my students.

 Sample curriculum available upon request.