HW 49

Section A’s class film was different from all the other films we have been watching in class( Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds, Blackboard Jungle, etc.) in the sense that in the end the teacher wasn’t able to “save” the students. The teacher wasn’t able to reach his students in the way he would have liked. The students didn’t seem interested in learning. This ultimately led the teacher to give up on his students.

Unlike the films we watched in class the teacher didn’t try to get his students to quite down and pay attention to him by yelling or anything like that. He waited for the students to quite down before beginning his lesson. He didn’t seem to inspire them with his lesson either leading him to give up . This led him to turn to drinking openly in the classroom while the students sat around and engaged in conversation with each other. Probably because he felt like he was hopelessly failing as the “savior” teacher. Not realizing that he couldn’t magically inspire the students or get them to care about what he was teaching if they didn’t want to or weren’t interested. The students seemed more into socializing with one another instead of giving the teacher respect. The teacher also brings his personal problems (drinking) into the classroom. The teacher also takes his frustrations out on the students. He puts them down instead of trying to uplift and save them. The students in the end don ‘t wind up being saved by the teacher or develop a sense of respect for him either. The teacher didn’t drastically change the lives of the students in any way or was seen as inspiring to them.

Like the films the students don’t acknowledge his presence in the classroom with all the chatter taking place. The students seem disrespectful and like they would rather be someplace else. The teacher tries to engage them in learning what he has to teach.

Teachers in my opinion want to be saviors. They want to help their students in some way or another. Teachers want to inspire their students to want to learn and they want to be successful doing so. Their desire to be saviors is satisfied if they get to make and see a change in the students. If they can successfully get them to care about their education and the lessons they are learning in school. Our society sees teachers as heroes who help the youth better themselves and get the students to apply themselves in order to be successful in school and ultimately in life.