Father to Son & Son to Father...

I happened upon this as I was looking for an article and stopped to watch it. I couldn't stop it in the middle though—had to finish it. At first it looked like it was going to be a cheesy little video about a father and son and I thought that mostly because of the music choice, but it moved me by the time it was over. The choice of music followed the images so well that it was almost manipulatingly emotional to watch. I thought about the relationships I have with the members of my family, or the relationships that I have had with those who are disabled, and I felt a twinge of guilt for not having the faith that this father has had. With only the video to watch, there seems to be so much of the story missing. So much we have yet to know about the boy and his father and what all they have done together and for each other. I found the article first, but I didn't read it until after the video. The article is what put me to tears. I was impressed of course at the writing of this simple story, being the graceful words of one of my favorites: Rick Reilly. He beautifully crafts an image of the two men and how normal and simple their lives are. But yet they are anything but ordinary.

In a classroom, this would be an interesting lesson about how we understand stories and what we do as creators of media to initiate understanding in our audience. In this case, the use of music and a wonderful editing job is what communicated the theme of the story. The actual story, was written by a clever writer who obviously admired the men in the story. I wonder how it might have turned out if the story were written by a long-time neighbor of Rick and Dick who was indifferent. What if Rick could make the video? What would he have wanted us to see about his story? Interesting to think about.

Freedom Writers -(Semi) Old School Movie Review #6

So- I will be honest, I was a little wary of watching this movie, only because I knew it was a difficult subject to swallow for some. Admittedly, it was a bit of a discouraging view of what teaching could be like at first, especially in an inner city school. I loved the story and I loved the performances-- something about it felt so honest to me. I loved also how well set up each character was in the story-- every student had a voice, even in the movie. The screen writer used their words and let the characters speak for themselves and that to me stood as a remarkable story of speaking out.

I thought the story had a more practical and personal use for me as a teacher because it made me think of specific classroom management techniques and how to create a democratic classroom. One of the most important things I believe teachers have the power to do is to create an environment where the students feel as one and can be themselves. It can be a powerful learning experience for them if they care about what they are teaching. Mrs. G. really tailored the lessons and projects to the students to make that possible.