Mr. Escalante appears to be an unrealistic depiction of a teacher when it comes down to the facts-- working through holidays, coming to class early and leaving late and not to mention having an entire class agree to these circumstances-- but being based on a true story, I find that it is unbelievably realistic. These extreme measures are sometimes what it takes to motivate students and reform the education that has been delivered to them since their first years.
3. I think the main idea I take away from this movie deals directly with who I want to be as a teacher and how I am going to do it. Mr. Escalante shows dedication to his profession and students that some people would have a hard time believing exists. I want my students to love and respect me the way his students loved and respected him. He made sacrifices financially, in his personal and social lives, and risked everything to not be the best, but make the best. His students proved everyone who didn’t believe in them wrong. The faculty he faced at Garfield High School was not his greatest means of support, but instead, his opponents; however, he never let this keep him from doing his job and overcoming these obstacles. As a teacher, I don’t ever want to let my peers tell me how to teach or tell me my students can’t be taught. I want to be my students biggest supporter despite however many people may tell them or me otherwise. I’m not saying that working through the holidays, the summer, early mornings, and late nights is what I will be doing, but I will try to do what is necessary just like Mr. Escalante.
While reading these books, watching these films, or learning about reform through on-line videos, I found a major common theme that shocks me each time—the lack of support from the faculty these teachers face. I think that is one thing that really stood out to me besides fueling my ideas for the way I want to teach.
I think that what Mr. Escalante did is unrealistic (like Brittany said) in most classroom settings. All that he did surpassed anything near what was asked of him. While he was expected to simply “baby-sit,” he took it upon himself to make these kids more than they thought was possible of themselves. The sacrifices that were made on his part show a character that I want to have as a teacher. He respected and loved his students in a way that created a mirror effect, in turn causing his students to respect and love him as well. They saw his devotion and commitment to them – they saw that what HE saw and wanted for them truly was important. So many teachers today stop at what is adequate because that is all that is expected – no one is asking them to go the extra mile, and they don’t.
I also agree with Brittany in that a problem that I see recurring again and again is the lack of encouragement from peers and faculty. I think that if this is a typical attitude in most places, teaching is perhaps not the hardest part; rather it is the refusing to sink to the level of “who cares, just do you job and be done with it,” and instead rising above to meet an expectation the students never would have set – surprise them – show them that there are teachers out there who DO care and who DO want the best for them.
I think teachers need to take a "roller-coaster" approach to teaching. There are going to be times where you should give it your all and work crazy, probably going overboard. But you can't do that for too long. After a while, you need to scale way back and focus on yourself. But then later you might return to being a like Escalante or Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers.
I agree that teaching "full throttle" can lead to burn out which does not help anyone, least of all the students. It is good to modulate your intensity, besides not all students and classes will require the same level of involvement. Upper division students don't always need as much guidance as freshmen or the guidance they need is tailored to different tasks and aesthetics.
Rather than give up when presented with the academic and social indifference of his students, his coworkers’ defeatism, and his own limited experience teaching math Mr. Escalante challenged himself, his students, and his coworkers to get involved and actively inspire their students to excel. Instead of using the “economic status of the neighborhood”, the school board, and the students’ past education as excuses to tread water Mr. Escalante became more active: he taught math that was beyond the standard curriculum in classes after school, over the summer, and through all holiday breaks. He focused less on literacy and spoken English and more on mathematical principles as the means to help his students achieve higher education and better jobs. “Students will rise to the level of expectation” and they did.
Rather than strictly following the curriculum, high school teacher Jaime Escalante encourages his students to meet his own expectations. These expectations are much higher than those of his supervisors and fellow teachers. By believing in his students Mr. Escalante inspires them to believe in themselves and they become wildly successful. I believe that teachers should be encouraged to become invested in the holistic life of the student. They should be free to practice unconventional teaching methods, as long as such methods are proven beneficial to the students. I would also emphasize the significance of elevated expectations as demonstrated in Stand and Deliver. Stand and Deliver inspired me to keep faith and hope in my students. I hate to use this phrase, but no child should be left behind. If you, teacher and authority figure, believe in your students they will be encouraged to believe in themselves. As a teacher I will not accept acceptable. I will push students to their limits and assure them that anything is possible. From this piece I learned that education, specifically in low income areas, is barely surviving. Many educators have settled for merely getting their students through school. There is no desire to impart wisdom or improve a standard of living. They are only concerned with statistics and salaries. Stand and Deliver suggests that students must be in a comfortable environment in order to learn. Students in a classroom must be largely comfortable with each other and students must respect their teacher. The relationships within the community were overcome in order to create a comfortable learning environment in the classroom.
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ReplyDeleteMr. Escalante appears to be an unrealistic depiction of a teacher when it comes down to the facts-- working through holidays, coming to class early and leaving late and not to mention having an entire class agree to these circumstances-- but being based on a true story, I find that it is unbelievably realistic. These extreme measures are sometimes what it takes to motivate students and reform the education that has been delivered to them since their first years.
ReplyDelete3. I think the main idea I take away from this movie deals directly with who I want to be as a teacher and how I am going to do it. Mr. Escalante shows dedication to his profession and students that some people would have a hard time believing exists. I want my students to love and respect me the way his students loved and respected him. He made sacrifices financially, in his personal and social lives, and risked everything to not be the best, but make the best. His students proved everyone who didn’t believe in them wrong. The faculty he faced at Garfield High School was not his greatest means of support, but instead, his opponents; however, he never let this keep him from doing his job and overcoming these obstacles. As a teacher, I don’t ever want to let my peers tell me how to teach or tell me my students can’t be taught. I want to be my students biggest supporter despite however many people may tell them or me otherwise. I’m not saying that working through the holidays, the summer, early mornings, and late nights is what I will be doing, but I will try to do what is necessary just like Mr. Escalante.
While reading these books, watching these films, or learning about reform through on-line videos, I found a major common theme that shocks me each time—the lack of support from the faculty these teachers face. I think that is one thing that really stood out to me besides fueling my ideas for the way I want to teach.
I think that what Mr. Escalante did is unrealistic (like Brittany said) in most classroom settings. All that he did surpassed anything near what was asked of him. While he was expected to simply “baby-sit,” he took it upon himself to make these kids more than they thought was possible of themselves. The sacrifices that were made on his part show a character that I want to have as a teacher. He respected and loved his students in a way that created a mirror effect, in turn causing his students to respect and love him as well. They saw his devotion and commitment to them – they saw that what HE saw and wanted for them truly was important. So many teachers today stop at what is adequate because that is all that is expected – no one is asking them to go the extra mile, and they don’t.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Brittany in that a problem that I see recurring again and again is the lack of encouragement from peers and faculty. I think that if this is a typical attitude in most places, teaching is perhaps not the hardest part; rather it is the refusing to sink to the level of “who cares, just do you job and be done with it,” and instead rising above to meet an expectation the students never would have set – surprise them – show them that there are teachers out there who DO care and who DO want the best for them.
I think teachers need to take a "roller-coaster" approach to teaching. There are going to be times where you should give it your all and work crazy, probably going overboard. But you can't do that for too long. After a while, you need to scale way back and focus on yourself. But then later you might return to being a like Escalante or Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teaching "full throttle" can lead to burn out which does not help anyone, least of all the students. It is good to modulate your intensity, besides not all students and classes will require the same level of involvement. Upper division students don't always need as much guidance as freshmen or the guidance they need is tailored to different tasks and aesthetics.
ReplyDeleteRather than give up when presented with the academic and social indifference of his students, his coworkers’ defeatism, and his own limited experience teaching math Mr. Escalante challenged himself, his students, and his coworkers to get involved and actively inspire their students to excel. Instead of using the “economic status of the neighborhood”, the school board, and the students’ past education as excuses to tread water Mr. Escalante became more active: he taught math that was beyond the standard curriculum in classes after school, over the summer, and through all holiday breaks. He focused less on literacy and spoken English and more on mathematical principles as the means to help his students achieve higher education and better jobs. “Students will rise to the level of expectation” and they did.
Rather than strictly following the curriculum, high school teacher Jaime Escalante encourages his students to meet his own expectations. These expectations are much higher than those of his supervisors and fellow teachers. By believing in his students Mr. Escalante inspires them to believe in themselves and they become wildly successful. I believe that teachers should be encouraged to become invested in the holistic life of the student. They should be free to practice unconventional teaching methods, as long as such methods are proven beneficial to the students. I would also emphasize the significance of elevated expectations as demonstrated in Stand and Deliver. Stand and Deliver inspired me to keep faith and hope in my students. I hate to use this phrase, but no child should be left behind. If you, teacher and authority figure, believe in your students they will be encouraged to believe in themselves. As a teacher I will not accept acceptable. I will push students to their limits and assure them that anything is possible. From this piece I learned that education, specifically in low income areas, is barely surviving. Many educators have settled for merely getting their students through school. There is no desire to impart wisdom or improve a standard of living. They are only concerned with statistics and salaries. Stand and Deliver suggests that students must be in a comfortable environment in order to learn. Students in a classroom must be largely comfortable with each other and students must respect their teacher. The relationships within the community were overcome in order to create a comfortable learning environment in the classroom.
ReplyDelete