Gabi and Her Top 5 Teacher Films

I was in the Teaching Certification Program to teach high school English or Reading. I got out… for various reasons.  I blamed it on my most recent field work experience. The teacher I was shadowing was pretty much an out-of-the-closet bigot and put her students down every chance she got, whether behind their backs or right in front of the class (i.e. calling them out for stuttering or ranting during presentations, complaining about them being dyslexic and the nerve of them to reflect her teaching skills on their AP essay scores, and finally, putting a student on the spot for being Muslim and for defending Pakistan for being “not exactly the way it is portrayed by American media”).

I dreaded showing up to that class for my field work, and I couldn’t dare to call her out for any of it due to the grade hanging over my nose, being intimidated as hell, and if I’m being honest, for me having low self-efficacy as a result of personal crises I was suffering from brought on by someone I’ve only recently cut ties with for my own sake.

Still, I didn’t only reach this self-awareness until now. So, I just thought I didn’t want to teach anymore, without analyzing how I came to that conclusion. I could write a manual on self-denial and repression. So, I changed my major to just English and applied for late graduation for the fall and started searching for internships (Blue Star was a big contender, but I eventually had to turn down an interview, though I would’ve loved that). However, taking this summer off was the best thing I could’ve done for myself because I really started to scrutinize my goals, pursuits, and priorities. In the end, with a lot of persistence from my dad, help from friends, and enough time with myself, I decided to continue with the program. Now I feel good about it. I feel great about it. I’m enthused again; in fact, more than ever before. It’s funny how it took so much self-doubt, effort, and frustration to get back on an original track, but I guess distractions and divergences can be more complex than the words themselves.

I’m still nervous about teaching. It’s the perfectionist in me; she makes me anxious and self-conscious, because I want to be the best and I’m competitive even when it’s just me against me. However, that’s just something I’m gonna have to work through, because I know this is something I feel very strongly about.

So, in celebration of me being back on track in the Teaching Certification Program, I’ve created a list of the Top 5 Teacher Films Ever Documented, according to me and the few I’ve actually seen from beginning to end; so, this isn’t the faculty, just my own little narrow critiques of film, which I am in no place to be judging to begin with. Now, anyone who expects to see Freedom Writers here just please leave this page; I’d rather have no readers than you as a reader. The only reason I have so much animosity towards that film is because a professor actually made us watch that film in one of my education courses. A professor! This is college, and all of her students are working on their Secondary Teaching Certification looking for real teaching instruction! This isn’t Hollywood; this is reality, and I am paying a lot of money to learn classroom management and how to create substantial curriculums/lesson plans, not watch a flatly scripted film with a single Good Vs Evil conflict (the teacher being “good” and the students being the “evil” from the “bad” neighborhoods that the teacher “straightens out” with her big heart and good humor)! NO, I am talking about films that give as much respect to the students as they do to the teachers, respecting that both are human and complex, and there is more grey in the classroom than just black and white. It’s not “Me teacher, you student.” It’s “We’re both human; therefore, we’re both tired (b/c life is tiring); so, how can we make this work (b/c no one can teach you how to teach, not even college. Trust me)

                                                              1. Half Nelson

One of the most inspiring independent films I’ve ever had the pleasure of streaming online. The film follows an eighth grade history teacher from the Bronx, ambitiously trying to teach his class the succession of history through dialectics, a theory that sums up change as a result of two opposing forces in constant clash, with a crack cocaine addiction. Eventually, as it consumes him, a student of his discovers this secret, as she struggles to deal with her own personal turmoil at home, her own coming-of-age, and the constant pressure to become involved in a lifestyle her own teacher partakes in. Eventually, they become friends and, despite their teacher-student relationship, realize they can help each other more than initially thought. Plus, the soundtrack is pitch-perfect. The final “transaction” scene of the film, with “Shampoo Suicide” by Broken Social Scene playing in the foreground is probably one of the most emotionally dense scenes I’ve ever witnessed in a drama.

                                                              2. Stand and Deliver

I remember watching this film for the first, second, third, and tenth time. Edward James Olmos really makes this film transcend any clichés because he’s such a brilliant actor. Actors that brilliant are most likely just brilliant people and can’t possibly contain it in front of the camera even if they tried. It’s a great story, great dialogue, great acting, mostly by Senor Olmos. Basically, it’s the story of a high school math teacher struggling to get through to his students in an urban school of Los Angeles. It’s realistic, sympathetic, and inspiring, revealing that there is a fine line between being teacher and being baby-sitter. Turns out, if you wanna be a good teacher, well you’re probably going to have to work harder than most others. It’s a tough reality that many people don’t realize, thinking teachers only “follow the outlines given to them and not much else,” much like a baby-sitter. Sure, you can do that, unless you actually want your students to graduate high school with the education of a high school degree. There are a few sub-stories within the film that follow the lives of the students, but the film really captures our attention when Olmos is on screen. Woh, can you tell I’m a little obsessed with the guy? I’ll reel it back in a little; sorry you had to see that.   

                                                              3. Happy-Go-Lucky

Okay, this film is purely teacher-oriented, but her concern for her students and the socio-politics of the education system hover over the film pretty much the entire time. She parties, she celebrates, she stays out late, she dates, she’s sarcastic, she dresses cool, AND she’s a teacher who actually cares about her students??? I love it! The title pretty much says it all without exaggeration. “Poppy” is an optimistic, outgoing, peppy woman, who literally sees the best in everything and everyone. She contrasts against everyone in her native city, London, as they try so hard to appear as tainted as they think they should be in order to be “cool.” She’s obnoxious, she doesn’t shut up, but she is so happy all of the time that you envy her for her constant sunny disposition. You think she’s just out-of-touch with reality or has been sheltered or something for her to be so cheery all of the time. The film leads you to believe Poppy “lives in her own little world.” However, the point of the film is that we are the ones who live in our own little worlds, consumed by our problems and struggles, and then projecting them onto everyone else. It’s only Poppy though who really is a part of the bigger picture, able to interact with others, sympathize with others, without just thinking of herself, even though she has problems too. She’s not selfish, she’s self-aware, and secure enough in her own skin to not let her faults consume her. Overall, she’s as forgiving with herself as she is of others, allowing her to connect with different people and places. Teaching is, above all else, a job where you’re constantly interacting with other people, tuning in on other people’s reactions in order to figure out where they need help, building relationships and networking within the classroom, home, and state realms. Poppy’s my teacher role-model, man. I love this film!

                                                                   4. School of Rock

Everyone wants to be a Jack Black teacher. He’s made some pretty cruddy movies, but this one’s good in my book. Sure, he’s a terrible core-subject teacher, but he’s a great music teacher.

                                                                       5. Le Classe

Probably one of the most realistic depictions of a “classroom” film, Le Classe follows a teacher and his students throughout a school year in an urban middle school in Paris, France. There is no home-life depicted; it’s all school. The teacher is frustrated, the students are tired, the teacher gives up, students give up, teacher tries again, some students respond, some don’t. The film doesn’t have a grand, happy ending. The school year ends and the new one starts. It’s an interesting film, depicting the cycles of education, with its social and political flaws within the classroom. More than anything though, the film follows teacher-students interaction, and surely, everyone who watches the film has their own opinions as to how the teacher could’ve done his job better, just like the real people in the real world.