HW # 49 History(school)

a. In the film I was one of the "smart kids," who were all Asian except for me. I was the token black "smart kid," like Token in South Park. None of us had a speaking part. The only direction I received was to look sad when the teacher told us that we were just as useless as the rest of the class because all we cared about was our grades. As stupid as it sounds, not reacting required acting on my part(in addition to not laughing). In real life I like to make an effort with my work but I don't think about trying to be a smart kid. Of course I like getting good grades in the same way I like winning in sports. But, I don't dwell on the grades or on the wins and losses.

b. The message of our film, directed by Esther and written by Gavin, is that even a super/savior teacher has weaknesses that can get the best of him/her. In this case Mr. C, the teacher who is played by Will, has just lost his wife and
is drinking in the classroom as a result. The idea is that he feels that he has lost
everything, including his will (get it) to teach. I think that this loss is kind of
a gimick to show that teaching isn't easy and that ideally students have to try to
meet the teacher half way. If they don't, it's too much stress on the teacher, and
if he/she has personal life stress too, the teacher can just lose it. The tone of the film is depressing because the teacher is letting stereotypes of the kids affect how he treats them. There are the grade obsessed smart kids, superficial popular girls, the digital world cool kids, and the teachers lets them all have it.
There isn't any realization here on the part of the kids that maybe there is some
truth in what he says and no sympathy for this suffering guy.

c. This film is nothing like Dead Poets Society and Freedom Writers where the students respond to their teacher's quirky techniques. In Dead Poets Society, Mr.Kedding teaches the class about conformity through a walking exercise demonstrating how after a couple of steps the 3 boys who are walking in a row will eventually perform the same rhythmic walk. Mr. Kedding's goal during his tenure as English professor at Welton Academy is to teach his boys to come up with their own meaning of life and how they want to live it, in this case their own walking style. In Freedom Writers Mrs. Gruwell lays a long piece of tape across the middle of the classroom telling the kids that if a statement she has read applies to them that they should step on the tape. Mrs.Gruwell's goal through this exercise is to get her students (who are mostly gang members of black, Asian, and Latino descent) to realize that they are a lot more similar than they think hoping to promote a more caring environment in her classroom. Our class film seems so much more depressing in comparison to these films because Mr. Kedding and Mrs.Gruwell are instructing in a positive way while Mr. C is acting all negative. Also, in Dead Poets Society and Freedom Writers, Mr.Kedding's and Mrs.Gruwell's students actually care about them. In our film the students don't even react when Mr. C walks out.

d. The teacher/savior is an ideal. When teachers get their teaching certificates, they aren't savior certificates. The teachers aren't social workers (most of them) but in cities and maybe in other places too they might have to try to be to actually teach. So maybe in schools where kids are troubled and don't have parents to encourage them or be able to help them, teachers
should get social work training and be paid more. And maybe in more middle class schools there should be more incentives or penalties for kids to make an effort to meet the teacher half way. These teachers should be paid more too because they have to figure out how to inspire students who just aren't really into it, and that must be a huge challenge too. Teachers should have incentives too. There must be some fair ways to figure out how a teacher is trying to help all his/her kids develop their minds and then getting rewarded for it. It's really annoying to hear what these bankers are getting paid for contributing nothing to others or actually even harming others. People have to decide how important teaching really is and then invest in it just like they have to do with the environment.