One of my best teaching stories was when I was student teaching and was talking about the French and Indian War. To illustrate how the British forces scaled the cliffs from the St. Lawrence River to attack Quebec, I went from the floor, to a chair, and then stood on a desk, while I talked about the battle. When I announced that General Wolfe is killed during the heat of the battle on the Plains of Abraham, I jumped off the desk.
The following year, I served as a chaperon on a school trip with some of these same students to Quebec. As we toured the city and stopped at the Plains of Abraham, I had several students come up to me (mind you a year later, now), saying, "This is what you were talking about, wasn't it?" I nearly wept with joy.
While my teaching career never really panned out, I always enjoy watching movies about teaching. Just the other day I tuned in and watched "Stand and Deliver," starring Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante. I was sad to see that Escalante lost a battle with cancer this week. He was one of those teachers that I always wanted to be.
In no particular order, along with Stand and Deliver, a few of my favorite teaching movies are:
- Dead Poets Society
- Lean on Me - for a time, I taught in an inner city high school, though not quite like Mr. Clark's school
- Mr. Holland's Opus - possibly my favorite
5 comments:
When we saw the Plains of Abraham, I learned it was where the "greatest battle that was never fought" from the tour guide. I could have used your class. ;)
Congratulations on getting through to at least some of your students. That's no small feat, you know.
What, no Election?
I am always partial to the movie "Teachers" with Nick Nolte. I can picture you in Richard Mulligan's role. Like you, he knew how to have fun teaching history.
Anna - tutoring in American History is always available for you.
Lana - it truly was a special moment.
C - Seen it. But it didn't quite move me.
J - Now that's a good movie.
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