Contact Me

• Email: francis.williams@hccs.edu
• Phone: 713.718.6671
• Office: Fine Arts Center, Rm. 319
• Office Hours:  TTh 9:00-10:00 AM or by appt.
  

Courses

• Engl 1301. (56940) MWF 8-9
  

• Engl 1301 (56941) MWF 9-10
  

• Engl 1301 (65493) TTh 10-11:30
• Engl 1301 (56934) TTh 11:30-1
  

Biography

I am a native of Bay City, Texas, but Houston has been my home for nearly forty years.  I have a  Bachelor of Arts in English and Drama from the University of St. Thomas, a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Houston at Clear Lake City, a Master of Arts in English from the University of Houston Main Campus, and many graduate hours from the City University of New York Graduate School.  I have taught a variety of composition and literature classes at many community colleges around the area.  I live in southwest Houston with my wife and teenage daughter.  My hobbies include reading (especially Shakespeare and murder mysteries), gardening, acting, travel, and writing poetry and short stories.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe the most basic principle in any  philosophy of education is, if you don’t love to teach, get out of the classroom.  And I LOVE to teach!  I am committed to my students and have always spent a great deal of time outside of class counseling them and reviewing their work with them.  I like to vary my teaching methods and believe in integrating both individual and small group work into classroom instruction. From semester to semester, I vary assignments, projects, and readings because, if the instructor is bored, the students will be bored. I have become more proficient with educational technology as it has changed, and I enjoy learning new ways of enhancing the classroom experience.  I believe students should accept responsibility for the work they are assigned and suffer the consequences for failure to submit their work.  However, since so many of our students have work, family, and other commitments, I believe a professor should “temper justice with mercy” and be open to incorporating flexibility into his or her syllabus.  After all, I measure my success in the classroom not by how many students give up and drop the course; I measure my success by how many stay to the end of the semester to learn.