Final Comparison Stand & Deliver & Dead Poets Society

After watching both movies in class, i feel as though there is alot of similarities between the two movies. I think that Mr. Keating and Mr. Escalante both have ver unqiue ways of teaching, and they both try to have some fun on a lecture or on some kind of reading. They also get to know they're students by talking about they're family, friends, ect. They both use some humor when teaching, along with some amount of wittiness, to keep there kids intregued. The big difference is the ending between the two movie. In Stand & Deliver, it is a happy ending where the students got a's on all the tests, and everyone was happy that Mr. Escalante did it. Mr. Escalante always told his students to believe in what you can do, even if its somewhat out of reach. Don't listen to what the other people have to say, just do youw job. However, in Dead Poetys Society, Mr. Kealing is constantly questioned about his teaching habits, and is labled as the "new teacher", basically saying he doesnt know what he's doing.He is always preaching to the boys that you need to have your own view on things, and not always listen to what other peoples opinions are on that particular subject.  Mr. kealing gets fired in the end becasue of the boys, but he is happy about it because of the boys evident respect for him. In Stand & Deliver the students actually achieved something because of a great teacher. The students in Dead Poets Society didn't really accomplish anything, and one of their best friends committed suicide. This is a very sad movie, because his dad pushed him to his limit. His dad will forever have the guilt that he deserves for putting so much pressure on his son.

Thesis & One Paragraph From my Paper

Mrs. Quam had high expectations, pep talks that taught me a lot, and was personable to any student that looked past her reputation has a tough teacher. 

I got a lot of pep talks that year from her, and I found that all of them are very true. I felt like she was my counselor at school, and I could talk to her about anything. In example, during my freshmen year I started talking to a guy on the football team, who at the time was MVP, and who drove the nicest truck in school. All the girls wanted him, but I got lucky and had a small fling with him. I talked to Mrs. Quam about it a lot, and she always told me the same thing. “He might like you, but he will never commit to you. It’ll drag on for years you guys, but he’ll never commit, he is a 17 year old boy.” I wish I had listened on that one, because to this day that boy has never committed to me, but has always came running back to me when a relationship fails. The last time I talked to her, I told her that he came back yet again, and that I got rid of him. She laughed, and said that I should of done that back in freshmen year! We got laughs out of it, and we were both glad we didn’t have to hear about him ever again. But boys aren’t the only thing we’d talk about.

I had learned that we had more in common than I thought.

Day one Observations for Dead Poet's Society

·         Day one - Observations

·         Day Two – Observations

·         Very stern, not flexible, everyday late is one point late. It’s an all boys school called Helton. They had to see one of the teachers after lunch because they weren’t eating properly. They get in trouble badly for misbehaving.  One part in the movie when one boy in the group submits an article in the newspaper, and they get in trouble for it. They are brought into the commons area, and are talked to by the headmaster. They want girls in their school. And that is what the article was about. When the guy came forward, he got 5 whips from the wooden board.

·         Had pillars Discipline, Excellence, Tradition, ?

·         They have dorms, and are teenage boys. They all try and get together for study groups, but it looks to me as though their goofing off

·         They separate from their parents to go to school. The boys have big shoes to fill because many of their brothers went there. Toad Anderson’s dad was valedictorian. He wants his son to be just like him. For Toads birthday they gave him the same as they did the year before, but him and his friend laugh it off, then through it off the roof.

·         The parents are however still there for their child. They want the best for them, because they are paying for the schooling. Toad goes against his fellow peer when he says that he wants to be an actor, because that goes what his father wants. However sometimes the kids are so disciplined that they can’t talk to their own parents, and become somewhat defiant towards the parental rule. Neal finally got the part for the play, and is going to send a letter to his head master so that he can do it. He is going to forge the letter so it looks like his parent wrote it. Neal’s dad comes to the school, and yells at him for forging the letter to his headmaster. Neal’s dad looks like a fool, and a liar, and he takes it out on his son. His dad felt like he took way to many scarifies to get Neal into that school, and he didn’t want him to be distracted by extracurricular activities. The parents are strict, and the only thing they want their child doing is being successful. Throughout the movie this kind of gets in the way of their parent to child relationship.  Neal then gets to play in the play, and does an excellent job, after his dad shows up. His dad makes him go to Harvard to be a doctor. He doesn’t want to go because it’s 10 more years. His dad is extremely controlling and lives his life through his son. Neal eventually commits suicide.  All of his friends are very sad, especially Toad. His old teacher was very sad too.

·          When the bell rings, the boys go down to their first class

·         The students are very respectful. They pray before every meal, so it has to be a Christian or Catholic school. Then after the movie plays a little more you notice a change in the way that they act. They are still respectful but looser. They are growing into not following the rules, therefore went to the cave and smoked tobacco. They start drinking and going to parties.

·         The teaching is very awkward, strict, and the teachers are not to be tested, he took them out to the hallway, and told them they are all flowers that are being fertilized at that school. Robin William’s makes them look at things in a different way. He has them stand on the desks to see things from different angles. He has fun lectures, and has them write poetry, and have them read it out loud.  The students are kind of freaked out. Then he took them outside so they could kick the ball after reading a stanza in the poem, then he has them listen to music, kick a ball, and read the stanza. The teacher takes them outside and has them play a ball game to have some fun. He has them take a stroll outside of the school, then they chant, which will help them with their poetry. He describes that everyone is different in their strides. It’s maintaining your beliefs.

·         The teacher tells them to make their lives as extraordinary as possible. Sometimes they get in trouble from the headmaster by the way they are teaching their students

·         Dr. Hegert & Max went to see Mrs. Danberry, and they said Max looked like his father

·         Max comes back after dinner, and is in a bad mood because he is in love, but she is engaged to Chat Danberry. He finally sees her again as a cheerleader, and yet again gets depressed because of Chat. He finally decided to call her, and then hangs up. Then he calls back, and talks to her. She gets invited to a party with her. However it’s for a party for Chat. They all get drunk, and he sees her passed out on the couch. As he kisses her forehead, Chat’s friend finds out, and he tries to kick that guys butt. To apologize, he brings her flowers, and writes her a poem, but she rejects them to save her boyfriend, and also her reputation. But he doesn’t take no for an answer, so he goes into her class and reads her the poem. All of his friends were happy that he read it to her. But he wouldn’t tell them what she said after. Chris comes to his school, and tells him that he cannot be in her life anymore. But he told her he loved her, a she said she could care less about her. But eventually she says yes to going to the play with him so they can watch Neal. They both enjoy the play, and hold hands.

·         They are looking at Understanding poetry, and he uses a graph to show the importance of the poem, then he has them rip out the entire page of “Understand poetry” Then another teacher comes in and saws “What the hell is going on in here?”  then the other teach comes out and says that he doesn’t hear enough ripping. Learn to think for themselves, words and ideas can change the word. But when the headmaster finds out that the teacher is teaching them to in their own way, he goes to his students, and says that they need to straighten up. Because they have respect for him, they agreed to not get expelled from school so they could attend his classes.

·         Because the school is so strict, when the teacher tells the students to do something that would go against the school rules, they get shocked and don’t do it because they think they will get in trouble. Other teachers yell at them, and make them be quite and behave, they say things like “Oh shut up!” or “Cut out that racquet in there!” But his English teacher takes time to get to know his students so that they come to him for advice. And eventually Neal doesn come to hi for advice, and the teacher tells him that he needs to talk to his dad before the following night so that his dad would allow him to do the play.

·         The group of boys is like the jocks of school. They like to frink and smoke, and do stuff that is against the rules.

·         They decide to go to the cave that their teacher was talking about. They want to know what the Dead Poet Society was, so he told them it was a club that they read Poetry. They are getting all the things they need in order to prepare themselves for the cave. They leave in the middle of the night, the dog starts barking, and the teacher comes out to see what’s going on.  They dress in black coats, and run away from the school. They reunite the Dead Poet Society They make fun or the Poets by acting like Indians.   They play around with each other to try and scare each other. They frequently go to the cave to recite poems. Then the smoke there and have girls there.

·         He knows that it scares the hell out of Mr. Anderson to recite the poem. He gets humiliated when the teacher asks him to recite his poem, and he doesn’t have one. Since he doesn’t have a poem the teacher makes him “Yawp” in front of the classes. The teacher figures out that he does have a poet in front of him. Then He tells him to yell out every single thing he is thinking, and eventually it becomes a poem.

How it is different from Stand & Deliver

·         Well, instead of using firm teaching methods, and point out the kid that is struggling in the class, he points out that the entire class needs to loosen up and live a little

·         He wants them to read and write poetry so that they can find the different angles on a subject view instead of just seeing it broadly

·         The Similarities are that they use humor in order to teach their students, but they are still firm on what their goals are for the students, and their class as a whole.

·         They also point out the weakest link in the class, and makes sure that he embarrasses them to motivate them to try hard.

·         The children are defiant in both movies, but in different ways. In Stand and Deliver they don’t want to do their homework, nor follow direction. In Dead Poets, they don’t want to rip pages in books,  and they don’t want to stand on the desks.

·         They are very reluctant in following direction

·         Because of the teacher that taught he to think for himself Neal wanted to follow his dream, not his dads dream. This made him inspire to be an actor, but since his father said he became defiant.

·         This movie is very similar to Stand and Deliver because both teachers believed in their student. They fought for their students, and believed that they could achieve anything.

First Draft Paper- 2ND ESSAY

Jessica Jeu

Professor Begert

English 099

Favorite Teacher Paper

            It was back in freshmen year, when I developed a favorite teacher. But it didn’t come quite as easy for me, as it may have others. I got my schedule for second term, and was excited to see what teachers I had. By this time the reputation of the teachers are evident, so I was hoping I didn’t get ones with the bad image. I looked at my schedule and everything seemed exceptional, except first period. Health & Fitness was my first class of the day, which I didn’t mind one bit. But the teacher was Quam, and I had heard she was a really tough teacher that made her students run a mile everyday. I tried to get out of that class the best I could, but the other classes were full. I was lazy and even though I was a student athlete, I felt as though I was getting enough of a workout at my own practice. It wasn’t until during the class that I really saw how great of a teacher she was, and to this day I’m glad all the other classes were full. It wasn’t because I was teachers pet, because I wasn’t. It was because she had high expectations, pep talks that taught me a lot, and was personable to any student that looked past her reputation has a tough teacher.

            As a freshmen, Mrs. Quam expects you to follow some basic rules, and achieve some standard things. She trains you to be mature in and out of the classroom, as well as in other classes. She also expects you to follow her rules, and also expects you to put in an extreme amount of effort into everything she assigns. You’ll realize quick in her class, that she’s not there to fool around, she wants to get right down to business, and get the job done. Another expectation is you have to give quality to earn quality. Therefore, if you leave your project to the last minute, she notices it, and give you a grade you might not be happy with. Like other teachers, she doesn’t just give out the grade because you suited up, she gives it to you based on you efforts in that workout on that day. She wants to see the passion, instead of the laziness, which isn’t very common today. She has you set goals at the beginning of the term, and asks you to do the necessary steps possible in order to reach those goals, and in the end expects you to reach them. She asks you to set the goals where you struggle, but still strive so that you feel good after you complete them, both mentally and physically. She encourages you all through out the class, and is always there to be supportive. She told me once that, in order to achieve way beyond your standards, you have to set your standards reasonably high, and just keep working at them until they are completed no matter how long it takes.

            I got a lot of pep talks that year from her, and I found that all of them are very true. I felt like she was my counselor at school, and I could talk to her about anything. In example, during my freshmen year I started talking to a guy on the football team, who at the time was MVP, and who drove the nicest truck in school. All the girls wanted him, but I got lucky and had a small fling with him. I talked to Mrs. Quam about it a lot, and she always told me the same thing. “He might like you, but he will never commit to you. It’ll drag on for years you guys, but he’ll never commit, he is a 17 year old boy.” I wish I had listened on that one, because to this day that boy has never committed to me, but has always came running back to me when a relationship fails. The last time I talked to her, I told her that he came back yet again, and that I got rid of him. She laughed, and said that I should of done that back in freshmen year! We got laughs out of it, and we were both glad we didn’t have to hear about him ever again. But boys aren’t the only thing we’d talk about.

I had learned that we had more in common than I thought.

            One thing we had in greatly common was our athletic ability. She was a natural athlete and got into sports right away. Like Mrs. Quam, I got into sports too, and was on three soccer teams, and didn’t have much time for anything else. Because I was a busy soccer player who didn’t have time for anything else but soccer and sleep, I started slacking on my homework and on my eating habits. The homework was an easy adjustment, which I changed by doing my homework in the morning. However, the eating habits were hard to change. Finally, not eating resulted in me passing out, which I recovered from quickly. The following day I went and told Mrs. Quam what happened, and she took me up to the closed cafeteria to get me some food. I got a sandwich and some Cheetos, and sat in the corner of the gym to eat. After class, we talked and she said that I have to intake more calories so that passing out wasn’t in my near future.  She also told me this happened to her once at a basketball game, and she had to be carried out by an ambulance which was embarrassing for her. She said I was lucky enough to pass out at home instead of in public, but the next time I may not be as lucky. This was yet another pep talk and this time I took her seriously and started planning out my meals everyday which was a big change from the week prior too. Since this situation, we have gotten even closer than before, now that I know she went through the same thing, and completely related to where I was coming from which was definitely refreshing. It was nice to know that she went through this same thing, and taught me to not make the same mistake.

             Most teachers aren’t like that, they don’t take time to get to know their students. They preach to them, but they don’t know who they are as a person, and not just a student. I believe in order for the students to be successful they have to know and trust who they are working with, whether its peers or teachers. Obviously, peers are a little more relatable, since they are your age, but teachers are a bit different. Teachers would love to come to school, and have all the kids happy. You can achieve this by just knowing who that person is, and relating to them, in some way or another. School is such a fun place, but with teachers who can relate, and give you pep talks but still hold high expectation from you, it would make it all the more easier to come to school.

           

THESIS

Mr. Escalante was a potential-seeker becasue he used humor to motivate the students instead of anger, he pushed the students so they could reach their goals, and he also took time out of his personal life in order to make sure the students reach their full potential.

                Mr. Escalante was a great teacher for many reasons, but one of the reasons that stuck out to many people who watched it was that he took the time out of his day in order to make sure that the students reached their full potential. In one scene, in the classroom, Mr. Escalante made his students sign a contract saying that they have to come in for summer school 6 days a week as well as in the Fall they have tutoring right after school for two hours, plus Saturdays.  All the students looked at Mr. Escalante in disbelief, as they read it. They couldn’t believe he was putting them though this, and most said “It’s my senior year, we should be slacking.” He looked at them, and explained that if you want results you have to work and put in the time for them. The students had to sign it as well as have their parent’s sign it so they all acknowledge what kind of work the students will be in for that following year. Most had a extremely hard time having their parents sign it, because the parents weren’t exactly supportive to putting in all that time and effort, and to not get paid for it. Mr. Escalante knew that this would be a difficult task to get the contract signed; however he knew if he could do it then he could proceed closer to the Advanced Placement Test. This obviously takes a lot of time from his personal life. Because of his students, he was not as close as he could have been to his family, and he frequently got in a small qualm with his wife about this issue. Although he lost touch with his family for about a year, he regained in after the year was over and all the students passed.

My Comparisons To PART ONE & PART TWO Of Stand & Deliver

Well part one, you could tell that he really cared for this kids, but the kids didn't really care for him. Part Two was that the kids really did show that they cared about him, becasue when he has his mild heart attack, they were upset and missed him.
In part one he tried and tried and tried to get the students involved by using real life senarios, such as the apple, or the pimp thing. Since in part two they were more ahead obviously, he had to use more basic senarios, since it would be kind of hard to relate a pimp to calculus.
Thoughout the whole movie it was evident that the teacher had a lot of humor, But in part two he was still full of humor, however he was more serious about the chilren reaching their goals, and taking the advanced placement test.
He only taught from 7-3, (a.k.a. a regular school day) and would go back to his family and have dinner. Later in the movie he becomes more devoted to his students becasue he works them from  7 to like 5, and also does saturday school. He has evening adult classes to teach English to the immigrants, and doesn't have much time to see his family.
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Similarities
He always stays positivie thoughout the entire movie, and he definitely never gives up on his students, nor doubts the abilities of the students.
He remained humurous thoughout the whole movie, and kids took it offensively all thoughout the movie.
He believed and had faith in his children, that they can pass the advance placenment test.

Day 2: Add on with more information

• ·         Part 2 Day 2
• ·          Attitude From Students:
• ·         They are inter-racial children, mostly Mexicans, some Asians, and some African Americans Downtown
• ·         He was trying to be firm, however the kids were deficient
• ·         The kids were interested in fighting, having sex and drugs.
• ·         Definitely not math or even school in general.
• ·         He see’s the children vandalizing the school. He got his car radio stolen, which was probably from the students
• ·         The teacher came in with a positive attitude but they didn’t
• ·         His uses apples to show percentages
• ·         He makes them laugh
• ·         They are working on multiplication, and percentages
• ·         The children are very disrespectful
• ·         He had his “DOMAIN”. He had a contract where they came early and went home at 5.  Even on Saturdays.
• ·         He focus on the people that are struggling
• ·         He does easy math in order to teach
• ·         He uses verbal structure to get though on his lectures
• ·         He can be personable, but he is more like a disciplinarian.
• ·         He is tricky and witty
• ·         He out smarts the students by far.
• ·         He starts the class period with a quiz, and also every Friday has a test
• ·         By his teaching instruction, he will get production
• ·         He helps the children outside and inside of school
• ·         He uses the strategies of humiliation in order to get the children to do their own way
• ·         The kids really look up to him
• ·         He went outside of school in order to meet with one of the students parents to try and convince  them to let her stay in school so she can graduate and go to med school
• ·         He uses real life scenarios in order to keep them involved and also to keep them interested
•  
•  
• ·         At first when he showed up to this school, the kids were wild and only interested in sex, drugs, and drinking. Hey stole stuff from him like his radio in his car, and eventually his entire car. He came to an inter-racial school with mostly Mexicans, and mostly immigrants. They were in the downtown Los Angeles area, and the kids were defiant, and not willing to work. He came with a positive attitude, but the students didn’t. In the first couple days, he used a knife to show how when apples are missing structure, there a percentage is gone. The uses real life scenarios to make them more interested in math.
• ·         By teaching and instructing, he will get productions, as the students promise.  He uses humiliation in order to get the kids to learn, and for them to be motivated to DO and KNOW their work, as well as be able to do it. Some children really look up to him; however some really do not like him.  He is the type of teacher that they will appreciate later in life, when they realize he was right. He is a disciplinarian, but he gets personal with the students as well. He is smart and witty, and always gives the children a fair try at an answer. He makes them laugh.
• ·         He takes his personal time in order to meet with parents outside of school. For instance he had to go to one student’s restaurant to meet with her dad to convince him to let her stay in school. He explained to him that she has dreams of going to college and she is a really great student. He ultimate goal is to go to Med School, and become a doctor. He also started an Adult Evening School in order to teach English to the Mexican Americans of the Los Angeles region.
• ·         18 students took the Advanced Placement Math test, and all 18 passed. It was because he had control of his classroom and it was his “Domain.” He made a contract so that the students wouldn’t bail. He added more school hours so that they would excel. He passed out worksheets everyday for the students to student. He had quizzes at the beginning of class everyday as well.
• ·         The children really look up to him as a teacher and they have the upmost respect for him. When he had a heart attack, they had a sub that was a music teacher. As soon as he was conscious the teacher came back to teach his calculus class, and they class was definitely happy to see him. He only became weak and vulnerable when he had a heart attack, while teaching. He left the room so that the students didn’t have to see that happening. He is always super strong in his student’s eyes.
• ·         When finding out that his students all passed he was very happy and got rewarded a plaque for his outstanding efforts. When the state looked at the names of the people that passed they claimed that the students cheated their way through the test. They have to review the entire course in one day. He gives them advice on how to make it though without being called cheaters. I.E. not wearing clothes with too many pockets, don’t let your eyes wonder, be focused, don’t bring anything. They are studying at his house and he is making them dinner.

Final Assumption Of Their Teacher:
Well, Mr. Escalante was a very fun and humurous teacher who was out to complete his goals, and finish business. He used his humor in order to motivate the children to study and do the Advanced Placement Test. I think he is a extraordinary teacher because he was determined, by giving the children contracts to insure that the time he was taking out of his personal life was for good reasons. He was willing, and took numerous hours out of his own time in order to prepare them for the test. For instance, he met with Anas father to convice him to let her stay in the class, he gave books to a boy who was willing to do the work, he just didn'y want his friends to see. Mr. Escalante did after school hour programs to ensure passing grades, and he also started the adult evening courses for immigrants to learn English. But the most oustanding thing i saw was when he had to work with the students over the course of the day in order to prepare for the following days test. He motivated them all to prove the others wrong, and they stayed up pretty much all night to study. That by far is an outstanding teacher.   

Day ONE: Stand & Deliver

Stand & Deliver is about a new teacher who comes to a high school to teach computer education but instead teaches math. He come to the class the very first day, and realizes there is more to this high school then he thought. With an inter-racial class, gang violence, sex, drugs and drinking are all that consumes their minds. Some students don't speak English, and some don't have seats. So, the teacher has no choice but to adapt to his enviorment. Luckily, he can speak Spanish to them, so that they can do some learning.He tells them to move up front, which they don't like, but they do. One the second day of school, he brings a knife in, and a couple apples to show instances of fractions. He gives each individual student many chances, and some get it, but some don't. He realizes that he needs to make them interested, so he uses "real life" instances that the high schoolers would be interested in, instead of using, "if you have 5 pencils and you subtract 3 you have?" Not only does he help out the entire class, but he helps individuals as well. For instance, there was a girl in his class that needed to help her father out so they could run the family business. The teacher went and talked to her dad in order to try and change his mind. He was not open to the idea at first, however he finally let her go back to school, and maybe have hopes for going to college. In another example, The teacher takes Lou in the back where the books are, and gives him books so that he could study. He gave him, two to bring to class, and one to leave at home so that he doesn't get caught by his friends holding a book. I believe that we need to have more teachers like this. Teachers that are firm, and want you to learn, however will still help you out in any way, shape or form. I think that we would have a lot more people wanting to do their school work. Then, if they do their school work and WANT to learn, there will be a huge change in grades.

Movie Notes Part One Movie Notes!

• ·         Interracial children

• ·         Downtown or in the suburbs

• ·         He was trying to be firm, however the kids were defiant

• ·         The kids were interested in fighting, having sex and drugs. Definitely not math or even school in general

• ·         He got his car radio stolen, which was probably from the students

• ·         The teacher came in with a positive attitude but they didn’t.
• ·         His uses apples to show percentages
• ·         He makes them laugh
• ·         They are working on multiplication, and percentages
• ·         The children are very disrespectful
• ·         He had his “DOMAIN”
• ·         He focus on the people that are struggling
• ·         He does easy math in order to teach
• ·         He uses verbal structure to get though on his lectures
• ·         He can be personable, but he is more like a disciplinarian.
• ·         He is tricky and witty
• ·         He out smarts the students by far
• ·         He starts the class period with a quiz, and also every Friday has a test
• ·          By his teaching instruction, he will get production
• ·         He helps the children outside and inside of school
• ·         He uses the strategies of humiliation in order to get the children to do their own work
• ·         The kids really look up to him
• ·         He went outside of school in order to meet with one of the students parents to try and convince  them to let her stay in school so she can graduate and go to med school
• ·         He uses real life scenarios in order to keep them involved and also to keep them interested.