Teacher Movies

The Marva Collins Story

2008-12-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

I was watching TV really late the other day when I flipped on BET and saw a scene from an obviously dated (old) movie. It caught my attention because there was a scene where this student was really struggling and then began acting act. The teacher (played by Cicily Tyson)was so tender with the child. She gently grabbed the student's face and her that she was beautiful and that she was smart. She told her that she would help her- non matter how long it took. It was a really sweet scene so I ended up watching the rest of the movie (based on a true story) about an inner city teacher in Chicago who started her own charter school that saw tremendous academic gains with students who everyone else had given up on. It's a great movie. Even though it's ol;d, the demonstrations of what research has now proven to be best practices were all throughout the movie. You should check it out!

Half Nelson

2007-06-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

I rented the movie, Half Nelson tonight. Ryan Gosling is truly an amazing actor. This movie was so raw and authentic. It's about an inner city history teacher who is seriously struggling with his demons in his personal life while trying to keep it together at school. The kids who played the middle school students in this movie were so genuine. It was like they just went in to a real school and started filming. If you're really into films, you'll totally appreciate all of the small things in this movie that are true to life. I enjoy movies that deeply explore human emotions and relations. This movie was very insightful. I recommend it.

Dorothy Dandridge movie

2007-04-24T20:33:00.004-07:00

I watched an old movie starring Dorothy Dandridge a few months ago. Dandridge played a teacher, very much "ahead of her time." I cannot recall the name of the movie for anything. I wanted to buy it to add to my collection, but nobody at Best Buy or Media Play knows what I'm talking about. Anyone know the name of the movie? I think it may have had the word "road" in the title.

Freedom Writers

2007-04-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

I finally rented Freedom Writers. I wasn't in a big rush to see it because I'm a little over all of the urban school teacher cliches. I have to say though, it was better than I had anticipated. The bureaucratic bologna was pretty true to life. I've always thought it funny that teachers are trusted with kids but not with books. As I watched the part in the movie where Mrs. G tried to get some high quality books for her students to take home, I was thinking about the many times I've been in that same situation. In schools with students from backgrounds of poverty, teachers are rarely ever monitored, but just let us try to go to the materials room to get something....That place is guarded like Fort Knox!