Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
~Bill Withers~
Another true story? REALLY? This Joe Clark fellow must be the drill sergeant of miracle workers if ever there was one.
The students in the movie were more interested in making drug sells and fashion statements than their studies. In the first five minutes of the movie we see a girl's clothes ripped off in plain sight of everyone and a teacher's head bashed in by a student. That is NOT the dream school I had in mind.
Then Mr.Clark came into the picture. Returned to school as principal and maintain control of the students and the staff members. He comes in full-blazing to try and change the school. He focuses on raising the achievement tests score of the students. He turned a rough high school into a nice, clean place of learning. Story perfect. I wonder if there is any educator in our education system that can do that, force that needed change in our schools.
His methods to clean up the school are not exactly orthodox. First he cleaned up the school by getting rid of the drug dealers and those who didn't care about learning. Lectured the faculty staff by telling them the reason why the students are failing is because they fail to see if they are learning. It made me wonder, if our principles are like Mr.Clark, our teacher would be more serious into educating students and not just teaching them stuff. Mr.Clark’s demands were extreme, but that is what he needed to enforce to get to the point that he was asked to. If our principles are that extreme, our schools would be a real centre for educating future leaders of the world.
Mr.Clark shows tough love to students who plan to stay there and further their education. Being that the school is placed in one of the worst neighbourhoods in North Jersey, Mr.Clark's goal was to keep the students and the staff members focus on passing the basic skills test. Although he's demands were extreme and interfered with the law, he still accomplished what he wanted. That is to make the students feel good about themselves by having self-respect, a sense of morality, and continue their education so they can have a future with various opportunities.
Mr.Clark spends most of the movie yelling at people. Most scenes feature him either berating students or teachers. The character of Clark is not a man without fault. He is portrayed as a strong and energetic individual who sometimes hurts the feelings of others due to his lack of finesse when dealing with other adults.
I particularly enjoyed one sequence that has Mr.Clark screaming at a kid to jump off the roof of the high school, because if he keeps on doing drugs, he will be dead soon anyway and at least this way is quick and painless. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.
This movie is worth watching if you are interested in teacher-flick. I cannot say this movie was good, but I enjoyed it. Though it was jam packed with issues scene after scene, it came to a point where one can literally guess what will happen next and made the story bland. Nevertheless, this movie has its own twist of moral issues educators must face in schools and the message reaches out to all. Mr.Clark for one inspired me. It is ok to be strict and stern with your student, as long as you know how to reach out to and for them.
Monday, 20 September 2010
The Ron Clark Story
The Ron Clark Story is based on a true story? REALLY?
The Ron Clark Story is an exceptionally inspiring movie. I felt like The Ron Clark Story gives the audience hope for a better tomorrow, if we would only step out on faith
The film is based on the true-life story of Ron Clark, a remarkable teacher who takes on the challenge of a rebellious Harlem school. He teaches his students to dream big but it takes a lot of effort and patience on his part as he chips away the stone and begins to see the first small cracks of light and hope.
The kids disobey Mr. Clark, vandalize his classroom, bully other kids, gamble, and bet on when Clark will quit. But the students eventually learn to treat Clark and themselves differently. They learn to believe in their academic abilities and to dream big. Clark's students have difficult family lives. One child is in foster care and gets abused by his foster parent. Another child is the de-facto mom to her younger siblings, as her mother works multiple jobs. The children have bigger problems than not knowing grammar. The same is relevant towards our student. So how do we make learning relevant to these problematic students? What can we do?
The steps he takes, the approaches he makes, the energy he extends and the devotion he shows produce a wonderful outcome. He reaches the children that everyone, including their parents, had written off. He successfully brings out their strengths: the artist, the scientist, the math wiz. Best of all he makes each of them aware of their own self-worth. He gives them more than an education and a desire to keep on learning; he gives each one the knowledge that they do matter, and that when they put their hearts and minds to it, they can achieve anything.
We find a compassionate teacher who truly is there for his students and leaves his fingerprints on their lives in a positive way. And the entire class changes by film's end. He stands by his classroom rules which eventually are respected by the students.
There are several times in the movie in which Mr. Clark almost seems superhuman and lives, eat and breathes being an educator. That in and of itself is not necessarily bad, however, I think it sets us up to have unrealistic expectations from those who have never stepped foot in a classroom to teach. Teaching is tough, even more so when you choose to teach in an environment such as the one that Mr. Clark was in, however, does it really require us to be extraordinary? Is it not enough for us to go into our classrooms, give it our all and simply teach?
All teachers make a difference in students' lives, good or bad, in any part of the world. The important thing is to change their lives for the better, that's the main point of "The Ron Clark Story"
The Ron Clark Story is an exceptionally inspiring movie. I felt like The Ron Clark Story gives the audience hope for a better tomorrow, if we would only step out on faith
The film is based on the true-life story of Ron Clark, a remarkable teacher who takes on the challenge of a rebellious Harlem school. He teaches his students to dream big but it takes a lot of effort and patience on his part as he chips away the stone and begins to see the first small cracks of light and hope.
The kids disobey Mr. Clark, vandalize his classroom, bully other kids, gamble, and bet on when Clark will quit. But the students eventually learn to treat Clark and themselves differently. They learn to believe in their academic abilities and to dream big. Clark's students have difficult family lives. One child is in foster care and gets abused by his foster parent. Another child is the de-facto mom to her younger siblings, as her mother works multiple jobs. The children have bigger problems than not knowing grammar. The same is relevant towards our student. So how do we make learning relevant to these problematic students? What can we do?
The steps he takes, the approaches he makes, the energy he extends and the devotion he shows produce a wonderful outcome. He reaches the children that everyone, including their parents, had written off. He successfully brings out their strengths: the artist, the scientist, the math wiz. Best of all he makes each of them aware of their own self-worth. He gives them more than an education and a desire to keep on learning; he gives each one the knowledge that they do matter, and that when they put their hearts and minds to it, they can achieve anything.
We find a compassionate teacher who truly is there for his students and leaves his fingerprints on their lives in a positive way. And the entire class changes by film's end. He stands by his classroom rules which eventually are respected by the students.
There are several times in the movie in which Mr. Clark almost seems superhuman and lives, eat and breathes being an educator. That in and of itself is not necessarily bad, however, I think it sets us up to have unrealistic expectations from those who have never stepped foot in a classroom to teach. Teaching is tough, even more so when you choose to teach in an environment such as the one that Mr. Clark was in, however, does it really require us to be extraordinary? Is it not enough for us to go into our classrooms, give it our all and simply teach?
All teachers make a difference in students' lives, good or bad, in any part of the world. The important thing is to change their lives for the better, that's the main point of "The Ron Clark Story"
Smile Mona Lisa Smile?
In a world that told them how to live, she taught them how to think.
Watching Mona Lisa Smile I could not stop thinking that it is the female version of Dead Poet Society. What is with the title anyway? I can’t seem to connect the title with the movie at all. Casting those thoughts aside, the movie really has something worth watching. The message it tried to portray is really straight forward, DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT.
Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) encouraged her students to strive for a more enlightened future then to conform and settle to the rigidly defined women’s roles of that era. It is not easy to change one’s perspective of life, especially when the rest of the community stands true to that kind of thinking. I just could not understand why the females of that era study so hard just to let it all go to waste and marry off. From the first day of Watson’s class we can see that the students are book smart, the whole class actually memorized the whole syllabus or so it seems. By the students being there and studying so hard, we would had thought that they want to change their lifestyle to something better, in other words continue to study in the university and actually be somebody in the future. Sad to say, the women in Wellesley College main concern is not where they can go and further their studies but who they are going to get married to. Of course, females being females we do worry about who we finally settle down with, but to let go of all that potential and just settle as a mere homemaker is a total waste of energy and life.
Ok, enough with the feminism babble; let look at the movie in a teacher’s point of view. One glaring issue is that teachers must be ready in all circumstances. In the movie, the students actually studied the whole syllabus before the semester started, thus the teacher need not to teach them each and everything from the book, and basically the teacher ran out of material to teach the student. Luckily in the story, the teacher was creative enough using other resources to teach the same topic or theory; the students had not learnt or read about the subject item but had learnt about the concept of the whole theory thus their minds are not tied to follow what others think but to come up with their own interpretations of the subject item. A teacher always needs to be creative and prepared for all circumstances. Another issue that I can see from this movie is the teacher’s role as a motivator and thought provoker. Teachers should be aware of their student’s capabilities and be the initiator and motivator for the student to strive towards what they can achieve and be better than they already are.
Mona Lisa Smile is worth watching if you are interested in chick/teacher-flick. I cannot say this movie was good, but I enjoyed it.
~ Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image.~
Betty Warren
Watching Mona Lisa Smile I could not stop thinking that it is the female version of Dead Poet Society. What is with the title anyway? I can’t seem to connect the title with the movie at all. Casting those thoughts aside, the movie really has something worth watching. The message it tried to portray is really straight forward, DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT.
Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) encouraged her students to strive for a more enlightened future then to conform and settle to the rigidly defined women’s roles of that era. It is not easy to change one’s perspective of life, especially when the rest of the community stands true to that kind of thinking. I just could not understand why the females of that era study so hard just to let it all go to waste and marry off. From the first day of Watson’s class we can see that the students are book smart, the whole class actually memorized the whole syllabus or so it seems. By the students being there and studying so hard, we would had thought that they want to change their lifestyle to something better, in other words continue to study in the university and actually be somebody in the future. Sad to say, the women in Wellesley College main concern is not where they can go and further their studies but who they are going to get married to. Of course, females being females we do worry about who we finally settle down with, but to let go of all that potential and just settle as a mere homemaker is a total waste of energy and life.
Ok, enough with the feminism babble; let look at the movie in a teacher’s point of view. One glaring issue is that teachers must be ready in all circumstances. In the movie, the students actually studied the whole syllabus before the semester started, thus the teacher need not to teach them each and everything from the book, and basically the teacher ran out of material to teach the student. Luckily in the story, the teacher was creative enough using other resources to teach the same topic or theory; the students had not learnt or read about the subject item but had learnt about the concept of the whole theory thus their minds are not tied to follow what others think but to come up with their own interpretations of the subject item. A teacher always needs to be creative and prepared for all circumstances. Another issue that I can see from this movie is the teacher’s role as a motivator and thought provoker. Teachers should be aware of their student’s capabilities and be the initiator and motivator for the student to strive towards what they can achieve and be better than they already are.
Mona Lisa Smile is worth watching if you are interested in chick/teacher-flick. I cannot say this movie was good, but I enjoyed it.
~ Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image.~
Betty Warren
ale...who?
Don't call my name, Don't call my name, Alejandro
I'm not your babe, I'm not your babe, Fernando
Don't wanna kiss, Don't wanna touch
Just smoke my cigarette, hush
Don't call my name, Don't call my name, Roberto
I'm not your babe, I'm not your babe, Fernando
Don't wanna kiss, Don't wanna touch
Just smoke my cigarette, hush
Don't call my name, Don't call my name, Roberto
And so we listened to Lady Gaga’s Alejandro in class.
Though I had heard of it over and over again over the radio, it never made any sense to me. This time however I had to be critical of the song. I had never watched the MV of Alejandro, and Dr.Jaya decided not to put it up on screen, because it is full of explicit scenes and also because it’s the fasting month. Wise decision. After listening to the song, it got me wondering. Ok, so the song is about this dude named Alehandro, whom in my mind could have been a homosexual; but who is Fernando & Roberto?
So, after class I googled the video. Goodness gracious me. It is brilliant and all, but rather disturbing. It is not just about the vagina formation moving across the screen as mention by Dr.Jaya, but the whole symbolism used in the MV itself.
In my point of view, it was like Gaga was fighting with herself and a higher being, and by a higher being I mean God. Alejandro? Fernando? Roberto? Can be just anybody. what is the message of the song really, and the MV..is it supposed to send a message to somebody? Too many questions unable to be answered.
Out of curiosity, I really wanted to know what the producer of the MV had in mind when he worked with Gaga on the MV. Was it wholly his bright idea? Or was it Gaga’s? So I googled again. I found out that before working with Gaga on "Alejandro," famed fashion photographer Steven Klein had never directed a proper music video. In terms of what influenced the clip, he stated that
"It is about a woman's desire to resurrect a dead love and who can not face the brutality of her present situation. The pain of living without your true love."
It is more of a combination of cinema and theater if you ask me. Yet still my question is still unanswered, who is Alejandro, Fernando, and Roberto? Gaga’s ex-lovers?
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