One of the most popular posts on this blog is the one I did in December about my favorite inspirational videos for teachers. Recently, I saw a post on Edutopia that listed the author’s favorite scenes from “teacher movies” – but they aren’t all inspirational. I added my favorites to my Pinterest Board, including the ones from Dangerous Minds, Stand and Deliver, Dead Poets’ Society, and Mr. Holland’s Opus. The post, by Amy Erin Borovoy, also has some links to other collections of teacher movies, which includes The Top Ten Inspirational Teacher Movies, by Beth Accomando.
Watching some of the clips on the Edutopia post made me realize how far we have come, hopefully, in education. Others worried me, because I think too many people might think that they set the standard for teaching. In the fight scene from Blackboard Jungle, for example, the teacher, in my estimation, throws gasoline on the fire with his handling of one student’s misbehavior. Although I certainly don’t condone the student’s actions, I could list at least 5 things that the teacher did to make things worse.
The clip from Mr. Holland’s Opus is a reminder of what this blog is all about – engaging our students and making things relevant to them so they can discover their own passion for learning.
