Formal Paper #2 Final Draft

Dedication to Inspiration

The two teachers that we have studied in the second unit of this class have contrasting teaching styles, yet they desire to inspire similar lessons upon their students.  Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" are both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They had a profound impact on the lives of their students.  They were both positive examples of good teaching.

Mr. Escalante was an exceptional teacher because he was inspiring.  During a class, Mr. Escalante asked his students, "Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero?  It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero."  He goes on to tell them that they have math in their blood.  He wanted his students to know that people just like them had the ability of making strides in the world of math.  During a staff meeting at the school he says, "Students will rise to the level of expectation."  He believed that if he instilled value to what his students were trying to accomplish, they would certainly meet or exceed expectation.  Later he tells his students, "There will be no free rides, no excuses.  You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion.  Because of these two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do.  Math is the equalizer...You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else."  He tells them that the only thing that he is asking from them is desire.  He had enough desire to share and was willing to do what he could to help his students succeed.  He believed in them.

Professor Keating also used the example of history to inspire his students.  On the first day of class, he led his students to the foyer of Welton Academy and told them to look at pictures of former students.  As the boys took a closer look, he told them, “They're not that different from you, are they?...They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable?…But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it?”  He then whispers, “…carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.”  This exercise was Keating’s way of telling the boys that they did not have to wait to have extraordinary lives, they could work towards extraordinary at that moment because it was already in them.  This is an exceptional lesson for anyone to learn, especially at a young age.  Professor Keating knew his students did not have to wait to be great.

Mr. Escalante was not afraid to let his confidence in his students be known.  He did whatever it took to convince others of his desire of having his students succeed.  When Ana announced that she was dropping out school, Escalante took action.  Mr. Escalante decided to have dinner in the Delgado’s Mexican restaurant with his wife.  Ana introduced Mr. Escalante to her father as her math teacher.  Escalante used the opportunity to tell Mr. Ramirez about the importance of Ana going back to school.  Escalante invited Ana’s father to sit with them at their table.  Without skipping a beat Escalate said, “You should get another waitress.  Ana can be the first one of your family to graduate from high school, go to college.”  Delgado pointed out that Ana’s mother, sisters and brothers all worked for the family business.  Escalante told him, “She can help the family more by getting an education…she should make her own choices…Ana could go to college, come back, and teach you how to run this place.”  Ana’s father did not take the advice too kindly.  He told Mrs. Escalante, “Your husband comes into my restaurant, eats…and insults me!”   She quietly replied, “Excuse my husband, Mr. Delgado.  He just wants what is best for Ana.”   The meeting worked because Ana returned to class.

Professor Keating also had confidence in his student’s abilities.  In contrast, Professor Keating did not pursue his students outside of the classroom, his students pursued him.  In one example, Neil Perry went to Keating’s small, crowded office for advice of a personal nature.  He began by saying, “I just talked to my father. He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall. Acting's everything to me.”  After some explanation from Neil, Keating inquires, “Have you ever told your father what you just told me? About your passion for acting? You ever showed him that?”  Neil desperately tells Keating that he can’t talk to his father.  Then Keating advises, “Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. Now, I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is!”  Neil pours his heart out to Keating, doubtful that his father would even take his feelings into consideration.  Keating encouraged him to try to talk to his father, to prove to him how much acting meant to him by telling him, “It's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion! You show that to him, and if he still doesn't believe you - well, by then, you'll be out of school and can do anything you want.”  The play was set to take place the next day and Neil was nervous about talking to his father.  Neil desperately asked, “Isn't there an easier way?”  Keating told him, “No.”  I believe that Professor Keating gave Neil good advice about living his life in a way that he could be true to himself.  This showed his concern for wanting his students to succeed.

Mr. Escalante had high expectations that his students would try hard to accomplish their goals by making decisions of their own.  He had his students sign a contract specifying terms for spending extra time working for his class which included time in the morning, after school and weekends.  He wanted to make his expectations clear and made sure that each student had their parent sign it so he could hold his students to his rules.  As each student entered the classroom, Escalante collected the forms.  Pancho did not have his paper signed.  His excuse was that he was going to be busy during the weekends working for his uncle.  Later, Escalante drove Pancho’s car and used the opportunity to teach him a lesson.  Escalante told him, “No one cruises through life, Pancho. Wouldn't you rather be designing these things than repairing them?” He drove his car roughly saying things trying to make his point.  At a certain point in the ride he calmly asked Pancho, “Right or left?”  When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he asked him again, this time in desperation, “Right or left?”  Pancho hurriedly yelled in a panic, “GO RIGHT! GO RIGHT!”  Escalante turned right and screeched to halt in front of a dead end sign.  He told Pancho, “All you can see is the turn, you don't see the road ahead...”  He wanted him to see the big picture, not just what was in front of him.

As an exercise to teach his class about having the strength to be themselves, Keating stood on his desk and asked the classroom full of boys, “Why do I stand up here?...I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”  He added, “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’  Don't be resigned to that. Break out!”  The students took turns climbing onto Keating's desk to see a new perspective as he told them, “Now, don't just walk off the edge like lemmings! Look around you!”  The message Keating repeatedly tried to teach his students was to look at life through fresh eyes.

Mr. Jamie Escalante from the movie "Stand and Deliver" and Professor John Keating from the movie "Dead Poets Society" were both dedicated teachers.  Their goal was to open the minds of their students and instill lessons that they could use in their lives beyond the classroom.  They produced new ways for their students to see the world.  They taught their students that they can overcome hardships, arise from struggles, and do extraordinary things to create something better in their own worlds.  In most instances, I believe the students learned much from the lessons they were taught.