Dead Poets Society
At my In-Service day on Friday, the presenter showed a clip from Dead Poets Society. It was a great clip and showed exactly what he was talking about (applying learning to the student, stepping outside the traditional classroom). I am such a sappy geek that I got embarrassingly teary-eyed just quickly replaying the movie in my mind and remembering how much I sobbed at the end that last time I watched it. I haven’t seen it since I’ve become a teacher though. I wonder how I would look at it now. With teacher eyes? Probably. It’s on my list of videos to rent now. I decided I would also like to see other teacher-based movies I’ve never seen. Some that I know of are:
Dangerous Minds
Red Hot Ballroom
Lean on Me - ? Is that what it’s called. The one when the black principal reforms the school? What is that one called? I’ve only seen like 20 minutes of it (a clip of it in a grad class).
Are there others I should check out?
Mad Hot Ballroom is a great movie. I definitely recommend it!
That’s funny that you mention Dead Poet’s Society. At one of the presentations we were given at our NYC induction to Teach For America, The superintendent of Achievement First used that movie as an example of Hollywood’s version of being an inspiring teacher. He played a clip of the movie where Robin Williams is spinning a young, shy Ethan Hawk in a circle trying to get poetry out of him. He finally cracks and the poetry starts flowing. The next scene shows Robin Williams being carried across the football field as the boys all cheer. By then all five hundred of us were laughing, because taken out of the story like that it is quite cheesy. He then stopped the video and said that this is not what our experience teaching this year was going to be like.
Oh man, I would love to have done Teach for America. I’m a little jealous and so excited for you. I put in an application, but seeing as I’m already a teacher and already earned my Master’s, I didn’t think I was an ideal candidate and probably didn’t give as muc as I could have to my application. Anyway, I’m curious to hear more about it and thanks for the move info!
My favorite movie ever!!
you may also want to check out the classic "To Sir, With Love" starring Sydney Poitier. It’s ancient, but is available on video, and well worth watching with teacher eyes.