Teachers sometimes need to be reminded about why they teach in the first place.
One fun way for teachers to recharge is to watch movies about the real life stories of inspiring teachers.
Innovative Teachers
Many movies depict determined teachers using innovative teaching tactics. One of the best known innovators is Anne Sullivan who persisted in teaching Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. Anne Sullivan had high expectations for Helen Keller and helped her realize her incredible potential.
Another example of a teacher who challenges students using innovative teaching methods is Pat Conroy in the movie Conrack. This movie is based on Conroy’s book The Water is Wide which is a fictionalized account of his teaching experiences on an island off of South Carolina. Conroy’s teaching methods encounter stiff resistance from the school principal who believes the students to be stupid and lazy. But Conroy, played by Jon Voight persists in believing in his students and his book helped to expose the substandard conditions.
Unique Connections
Many movies characterize the unique connections that teachers make with their students. One example is Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer as English teacher LouAnne Johnson. Johnson, a former Marine finds herself teaching in the tough schools of East Palo Alto, California. Louanne Johnson's website details the semi-biographical nature of the movie including Johnson dressing in leather jackets and cursing in the classroom in an effort to relate to her students. For the real story you can also read her book My Posse Don’t Do Homework.
Erin Gruwell in the movie Freedom Writers tells the story of another English teacher who works to connect. Based on her book The Freedom Writers Diary, the movie details her experiences at poverty ravaged Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. The movie tells how Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank, reaches out to her students by initially helping them to relate to the Holocaust. She gives their life meaning and worth by having them write in journals.
Gruwell went on to form The Freedom Writers Foundation which seeks to promote a message of tolerance and high expectations in schools across America.
Another teacher who connects with his students is Ron Clark in the made for television movie The Ron Clark Story. This movie tells the story of Ron Clark, a teacher who taught in an inner city elementary school in Harlem in the late 1990’s. Clark gets the attention of his students by learning to Double Dutch and fosters a secure and respectful classroom environment using clear rules which he later detailed in his book The Essential 55.
He went on to found the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. The movie features Ron Clark, played by Matthew Perry, during his first year teaching in Harlem. The DVD includes an excellent interview segment with the real Ron Clark.
Success in Subject Area
All of these movies highlight the creativity of teachers, but probably the best story of a teacher building an overall successful subject area in their school is shown in the life of math teacher Jamie Escalante in the movie Stand and Deliver. Escalante taught at impoverished Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California in the early 1980’s.
The movie stars Edward James Olmos as Escalante and Lou Diamond Phillips as one of his calculus students. According to the Bolivia Hall of Fame website he built a successful math program at Garfield High School and drastically increased the number of students taking advanced placement tests.
Movies based on real life teachers are also effective because often they have written books and started foundations that are working to spread their successful strategies to other teachers. While Hollywood often takes some liberties with the lives of these real life teachers, their stories of dedication, determination, and inspiration, can help all teachers rejuvenate and remember the impact they can have on the lives of their students.
