Zooze the Horse roams around the pasture near Lamar State College. Zooze thinks about problems in academia. Zhe wants proffies to submit posts (blog posts, not fence posts).
My favorite is "Galileo was Right," which was Episode 10 in the 1998 HBO TV mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon," by Tom Hanks. It shows how Caltech professor Lee Silver teaches the Apollo 15 crew how to do field geology, and the result is discovery of a piece of the Moon's original crust, which the press dubbed "the Genesis rock” (although other rocks in the Apollo samples were subsequently found to be even older).
Normally, I hate movies about education, including "Stand and Deliver," "To Sir, with Love," and "Dangerous Minds." This is because they make me SO depressed, since the miracles depicted at the ends of these films simply do not happen in real classrooms. How wonderful it would be if I could just put on a black leather jacket and all my students would become Ivy-league ready, and all within 90 minutes! I especially hated “Stand and Deliver”, because it was claimed to true, but as Jaime Escalante later noted, none of his students went from struggling with fractions to mastering calculus within one academic year. How real classrooms work is somewhere between "The Dead Poets Society" (without the students taking any interest in Tennyson) and “One Eight Seven,” with the administration shamelessly covering its own ass at all costs.
Stand & Deliver (sorry, Frod), Rita (sorry again - idk if you know it, it's a Netflix series - and it couldn't be real. Not even in Europe) and the Paper Chase.
Stand & Deliver - it's a movie - it's 90 minutes - the real story would have had to have been a miniseries and the NSF didn't give him a big enough grant for that, and as professional development goes, it wouldn't have had the same utility. When you have an idea but you know it's 5+ years worth of work, picture the final shot and how good you'll feel walking into the sunset with an epilogue appearing at your feet if you just take that first step now. Showing the incremental change at the end of year one would not inspire anyone to try anything from within a broken system.
Rita and I are the same age and we both prefer the losers to the winners. I would like to be able to fit in her pants (I would not like to actually wear them, just for it to be physically possible... without smoking). And anything with Scandinavian values, logic, or interiors, always pulls me in. I want to work in a building like that, and the Danish system just seems so much healthier than ours.
And the Paper Chase - well - it's a great movie - but the hotel scene alone makes it worth it. What really pulls me in, though, is the classroom management. I don't want to make my students suicidal, but I would like it if they moved with intent to be prepared to be called on.
a little dated - would probably look like a lot of "one of the good ones" (i.e. benevolent black man framed as a rarity) and "great white hope" (i.e. the white man can teach those kids to read!) in this day and age - I might want to rewatch them before sharing - but what the hell - maybe we can start a debate.
My favorite is "Galileo was Right," which was Episode 10 in the 1998 HBO TV mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon," by Tom Hanks. It shows how Caltech professor Lee Silver teaches the Apollo 15 crew how to do field geology, and the result is discovery of a piece of the Moon's original crust, which the press dubbed "the Genesis rock” (although other rocks in the Apollo samples were subsequently found to be even older).
ReplyDeleteNormally, I hate movies about education, including "Stand and Deliver," "To Sir, with Love," and "Dangerous Minds." This is because they make me SO depressed, since the miracles depicted at the ends of these films simply do not happen in real classrooms. How wonderful it would be if I could just put on a black leather jacket and all my students would become Ivy-league ready, and all within 90 minutes! I especially hated “Stand and Deliver”, because it was claimed to true, but as Jaime Escalante later noted, none of his students went from struggling with fractions to mastering calculus within one academic year. How real classrooms work is somewhere between "The Dead Poets Society" (without the students taking any interest in Tennyson) and “One Eight Seven,” with the administration shamelessly covering its own ass at all costs.
Sorry, that should be "...claimed to be true,..."
DeleteStand & Deliver (sorry, Frod), Rita (sorry again - idk if you know it, it's a Netflix series - and it couldn't be real. Not even in Europe) and the Paper Chase.
ReplyDeleteStand & Deliver - it's a movie - it's 90 minutes - the real story would have had to have been a miniseries and the NSF didn't give him a big enough grant for that, and as professional development goes, it wouldn't have had the same utility. When you have an idea but you know it's 5+ years worth of work, picture the final shot and how good you'll feel walking into the sunset with an epilogue appearing at your feet if you just take that first step now. Showing the incremental change at the end of year one would not inspire anyone to try anything from within a broken system.
Rita and I are the same age and we both prefer the losers to the winners. I would like to be able to fit in her pants (I would not like to actually wear them, just for it to be physically possible... without smoking). And anything with Scandinavian values, logic, or interiors, always pulls me in. I want to work in a building like that, and the Danish system just seems so much healthier than ours.
And the Paper Chase - well - it's a great movie - but the hotel scene alone makes it worth it. What really pulls me in, though, is the classroom management. I don't want to make my students suicidal, but I would like it if they moved with intent to be prepared to be called on.
I love Rita too! And I enjoyed Hjordis' journey from totally naive to... well, a little less. Great show!
DeleteÊtre et Avoir (To Be and To Have). No doubt some would find it boring, but I think it's a great documentary. It made me smile, cry, laugh, etc. . . .
ReplyDelete"Spare Parts"
ReplyDeleteAnimal House?? Actually I always liked "Teachers" Nick Nolte, 1984. I love the ending.....
ReplyDeletePrincipal: "Half of them (students out for a fire alarm) aren't coming back."
Nick Nolte: "But half of them are!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Oldbt6M90&spfreload=10
Good one!
DeleteTeachers, the comedy show on TV Land and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Mr. Hand is a hero.
ReplyDeleteFYI, the movie "Fast Times" is based on a book written by a reporter who went back to High School for a year. It's pretty good.
DeleteOh - I just remembered two more I like.
ReplyDeleteThe Principal w/ Louis Gossett Jr
Conrack - Jon Voight
a little dated - would probably look like a lot of "one of the good ones" (i.e. benevolent black man framed as a rarity) and "great white hope" (i.e. the white man can teach those kids to read!) in this day and age - I might want to rewatch them before sharing - but what the hell - maybe we can start a debate.
Voight turned into such a crackpot that it's hard to watch the film. The book the movie is based on is good, if depressing.
Delete