Class-Dismissed

Jonathan posted at 8:42 PM - Comments (2)

Book Recommendation - The Film Club

I love to read anything, but I've really gotten into books about teaching since I started ConEd. In fact, I just put in a rather hefty order with Amazon and the various (used) books are trickling in from bookstores all over the country. Two have arrived so far-- Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol, which I chose for an upcoming assignment, and The World is a Class: How and Why to Teach English around the World by Caleb Powell which Amazon recommended to me after I chose a book about teaching ESL which has yet to arrive on my doorstep. That Amazon recommending feature really works, since I bought about 4 books as a result of its suggestions. I'm not spending as much because I buy used, so I don't need to worry about feeling too guilty. It's professional development, after all!

Anyway, it's funny these books should arrive today, because I just started re-reading one of my favourite gems of teaching wisdom, The Film Club by David Gilmour.

This isn't a teacher's guide, or even a traditional memoir about a teacher's life. This book is about a man who allows his son Jesse, who is utterly disengaged from academics, to drop out of high school. Gilmour gives two conditions for this deal: His son is not to do drugs, and they must watch 3 films a week together. The Film Club chronicles a father's journey to educate his only son in a way that won't bore him or push him away.

There is so much to take from this book. First of all, it's great writing, straightforward and quirky. You are immediately drawn into the lives of these people. Secondly, the entire structure of the book revolves around the amazing films that David and Jesse watch. This book would keep your Friday movie nights stocked for months, even years.

But mostly, this book speaks to me as a teacher looking for new insights on how to motivate the unmotivated. And it gives hope to those of us who might plod along, trying desperately to reach those sullen teenagers.

I don't feel I can do The Film Club justice will my meagre descriptions, so you'll just have to go out and read it yourself. You can buy it used or new on Amazon for about $14, or grab it at your local library-- it won the Governor General's Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (not sure how it can be both, but whatever), so if you're Canadian you'll definitely find it.

To conclude this nice light Thursday evening post, I'll include some quotes I found particularly gripping. Let me know what you think of one, some, or all of them.

On The Bicycle Thief (1948):

"... we sometimes calibrate our moral positions, what's right, what's wrong, depending on what we need at that particular moment."

On appreciating a story:

"You need to know how it ends before you can appreciate how beautifully it's put together from the beginning."

On university:

"'You know what I think,' I said. 'I think you belong in university. That's what they do there. They sit around talking about stuff like this. Except unlike a living room where there's just your dad, there's a zillion girls.'

At that he cocked his head. 'Really?'

And like that first day-- it seemed like ages ago-- with The 400 Blows, I knew to leave it there."

On film:

"There's a certain effect films have on you when you're very young, I explained; they give you an imaginative experience in a way that is hard to recapture when you're older."

And my very favourite:

"How little I can give him, I thought, just these little apple slices of reassurance like feeding a rare animal at the zoo."

And since I know Jon adores films of all kinds, I'll let him have at it.

Labels: books on teaching, David Gilmour, film, getting them motivated, inspiration, reassurance

Courtney posted at 7:28 PM - Comments (2)


*Courtney Langton* Courtney is an aspiring high school teacher. Her teachables are History and English, but she's happy to teach anything that doesn't involve numbers or formulas. Her particular interest is in promoting gender equity and anti-oppression both in and outside the classroom. She writes a detailed To-Do list every morning, and enjoys nothing more than a good book and a plate of bacon on a rainy Saturday.	*Jonathan Wong* Jonathan's primary interest is moral education. His teachable subjects are English and Music. He encourages critical thinking and hopes to teach his students to recognize, and strive for, what is truly important to them without forgetting to be compassionate, tolerant, and open-minded along the way. He likes making analogies and his favourite is one that compares life to jumping on a trampoline.
LINKS: Blogger Canadian Chalkboard Coffee, Calculations and Colombia! Mewlings Progressively Unnecessary TeacHer Finance It's Not All Flowers and Sausages So You Want To Teach? Classroom Confessions Teach Hub Web English Teacher Blogging the Renaissance	ARCHIVES: June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 March 2010
Cultural Studies, Part 1 (Films for Teachers) Thursday, July 30, 2009 Because seriously - teachers could do with seeing more films... and we all know students could do with reading more books. That's not to say that teachers are all huge bookworms and students are all film fanatics but you know... probably more likely that way around than the other. I'll likely add to this as I see more films/read more books but I thought I'd take the time to highlight some films that made me think about teaching in a different way, and some books that really influenced me when I was a student. Films for Teachers: 1. Dead Poets Society. Carpe Diem! The definitive "this is why we should study English" film, it's very obvious why I think it's a great piece, not just for English teachers (though they will be able to appreciate it more), but for all teachers in general. Superb acting and dialogue, and some very interesting ideas we might integrate into our own lessons. 2. August Rush. A music teacher specialty. I might have trouble making music education as ultra-progressive as the ideas in this film. The idea simply being that "The music all around us. All you have to do is listen." 3. The Girl Next Door. No, this is not just my undying love for this film finding its way into every list of recommendations I make. We've written about moral education right? This is it. At its finest. I have a feeling this film will creep into my lessons here and there simply because it encapsulates one of the most important lessons I learned as a student. While we try to uphold the general standards of right and wrong in school, I think it's important to help our students understand that in real life, things are rarely defined that way; that sometimes, you've got to find out what it's like "to cheat, to steal, to lie, to live and die." If the juice is worth the squeeze... 4. Accepted. Highly highly unrealistic. But also highly entertaining and oddly revealing. The idea behind this film is valid. Accepted pits 2 very different ideas of "college" against one another. And while most real life colleges are somewhere in between, you have to give this film credit for trying to point out that while the pursuit of knowledge if all good and well, practical application SHOULD have a place in academia. As a teen comedy, Accepted would, of course, take this to the extreme (otherwise it wouldn't be FUNNY and then people would find it boring and then it wouldn't sell...), but the fundamental point is there. 5. Big Fish. All teachers should appreciate the value of storytelling. And that is exactly what Big Fish is about. Oftentimes, it's not so much what happens that's worth hearing; it's the way we present it. And we teachers will be presenting ideas all our lives so it's definitely a skill to practice. 6. V for Vendetta. Aside from being an excellent companion film to 1984 (and Guy Fawkes Day), I always liked some of the ideas presented in V for Vendetta: symbolism, politics and the relationship between the government and its people... and of course. there's the very excellent speech by Hugo Weaving as to why language and words are such powerful tools. As an English teacher, I always point out, if you can master the English language, you can talk like Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta. And who doesn't want to have that kind of charm, charisma, and linguistic fluidity at their disposal? 7. Take the Lead. Aside from its cool dance moves, Take the Lead is also good because it shows that once you get students interested in something, they very often take their own initiative. The willingness of one teacher to sacrifice what Antonio Banderas sacrifices for his students is also inspiring to watch. Oh yeah, did I mention it's a true story? 8. The History Boys. An... interesting film to say the least. I don't think I can do anything better than to quote what flixster says about it: "The film centers on an unruly class of bright, funny teenage boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a college degree. Bounced between their maverick English teacher, a young and shrewd professor hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to sift through it all to pass the daunting university admissions process. Their journey becomes as much about how education works, as it is about where education leads." 9. Good Will Hunting(?). Apparently, this is good. I personally did not think it was all that impressive but enough people are convinced that it's a good teaching film that I feel obliged to put it on this list. And what do I know about film anyway? Part 2 coming soon! Books for students, a.k.a. books you might consider reading/recommending to your own students. Labels: film, inspiration, list Jonathan posted at 8:42 PM - Comments (2) Book Recommendation - The Film Club I love to read anything, but I've really gotten into books about teaching since I started ConEd. In fact, I just put in a rather hefty order with Amazon and the various (used) books are trickling in from bookstores all over the country. Two have arrived so far-- Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol, which I chose for an upcoming assignment, and The World is a Class: How and Why to Teach English around the World by Caleb Powell which Amazon recommended to me after I chose a book about teaching ESL which has yet to arrive on my doorstep. That Amazon recommending feature really works, since I bought about 4 books as a result of its suggestions. I'm not spending as much because I buy used, so I don't need to worry about feeling too guilty. It's professional development, after all! Anyway, it's funny these books should arrive today, because I just started re-reading one of my favourite gems of teaching wisdom, The Film Club by David Gilmour. This isn't a teacher's guide, or even a traditional memoir about a teacher's life. This book is about a man who allows his son Jesse, who is utterly disengaged from academics, to drop out of high school. Gilmour gives two conditions for this deal: His son is not to do drugs, and they must watch 3 films a week together. The Film Club chronicles a father's journey to educate his only son in a way that won't bore him or push him away. There is so much to take from this book. First of all, it's great writing, straightforward and quirky. You are immediately drawn into the lives of these people. Secondly, the entire structure of the book revolves around the amazing films that David and Jesse watch. This book would keep your Friday movie nights stocked for months, even years. But mostly, this book speaks to me as a teacher looking for new insights on how to motivate the unmotivated. And it gives hope to those of us who might plod along, trying desperately to reach those sullen teenagers. I don't feel I can do The Film Club justice will my meagre descriptions, so you'll just have to go out and read it yourself. You can buy it used or new on Amazon for about $14, or grab it at your local library-- it won the Governor General's Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (not sure how it can be both, but whatever), so if you're Canadian you'll definitely find it. To conclude this nice light Thursday evening post, I'll include some quotes I found particularly gripping. Let me know what you think of one, some, or all of them. On The Bicycle Thief (1948): "... we sometimes calibrate our moral positions, what's right, what's wrong, depending on what we need at that particular moment." On appreciating a story: "You need to know how it ends before you can appreciate how beautifully it's put together from the beginning." On university: "'You know what I think,' I said. 'I think you belong in university. That's what they do there. They sit around talking about stuff like this. Except unlike a living room where there's just your dad, there's a zillion girls.' At that he cocked his head. 'Really?' And like that first day-- it seemed like ages ago-- with The 400 Blows, I knew to leave it there." On film: "There's a certain effect films have on you when you're very young, I explained; they give you an imaginative experience in a way that is hard to recapture when you're older." And my very favourite: "How little I can give him, I thought, just these little apple slices of reassurance like feeding a rare animal at the zoo." And since I know Jon adores films of all kinds, I'll let him have at it. Labels: books on teaching, David Gilmour, film, getting them motivated, inspiration, reassurance Courtney posted at 7:28 PM - Comments (2)