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
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. ;)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting through to at least some of your students. That's no small feat, you know.
ReplyDeleteWhat, no Election?
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteAnna - tutoring in American History is always available for you.
ReplyDeleteLana - it truly was a special moment.
C - Seen it. But it didn't quite move me.
J - Now that's a good movie.