1) In the film "Stand and Deliver" there are a few scenes that portray Mr. Escalante as my definition of a good teacher. In my "What Makes a Good Teacher"blog I explain how a good teacher challenges their students and pushes them to work hard. For example, in the film Mr. Escalante pushes his students to succeed; he challenges them by having the students work overtime. The class was at one point was working hard to learn calculus during there summer vacation. There were far more examples in my blog post that did not relate to Mr. Escalate's teaching methods. In my post I explain that a good teacher needs to push there class to achieve without over working them and stressing them out. In the film we see that Mr. Escalante pushes the kids to stressful levels. For example, Mr. Escalante convinces the class to retake the test; making them work consecutive hours straight to study for the retake. I also state that a good teacher needs to be friendly with the class. Mr. Escalante's relationship with the class started off a bit rough and didn't have a very friendly environment. However toward the end of the film the class and Mr. Escalante share a unique relationship. At one point during the film he has a heart attack and the class is then under the supervision of a substitute teacher. The class realizes they miss Mr. Escalante and don't know what to do without him.
2) In the handout, "What Makes a Good Teacher", Brown's criteria relates to Mr. Escalant. In the beginning of the handout Brown asks the question "are great teachers born or made?" From what I saw in the film I believe Mr. Escalante was born a teacher. During the film is seemed teaching and helping other was a part of who he was. He had a passion to help others succeed and get kids on the right track. He would go out of his way to make sure his class was going to persevere. For example, during the film he at one point was working around 60 hours a week, helping students. This shows his dedication and the idea that being a teacher is more than a job. In the film it was easy to notice that teaching was engraved in him. In the handout Brown's first classroom experience didn't go well. The students were able to walk all over him; testing his authority. Brown didn't know what to do, unlike Mr. Escalante.
3) Ken Robinson's criteria for good teaching is to let students express their creativity; don't dismiss the obvious signs of a students ability to do things differently. Just because they can't succeed in math or english doesn't mean they don't have a capability to do great things in art. Schools need to figure out that art related courses are an important part of the curriculum. This could help a student discover a hidden talent, who has been distracted with unappealing courses schools require to graduate. Ken makes a great point as he talks about a young girl who couldn't sit still in class and was thought of having ADHD. He goes on to talk about the real reason she had this problem was because she and others like her have to move to think. This is a excellent reason why students should always have the opportunity to learns arts in public schools.
4) There are a few things Ken Robinson says that give me an idea of what he would think of Mr. Escalante's teaching. Robinson would admire the way Mr. Escalante handled his class, putting on different acts to play along with the students games. He had to be creative with his teachings; trying to entertain the class with his sense of humor to get their attention. For example, the scene in the movie when he singles out the "finger man". His teaching was unique and didn't have the normalcy most classes experience. Robinson would probably rate Mr. Escalante's teaching as effective and creative.
Excellent!
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