Dead Poets Society Notes Day 1

• Students don't have much freewill 
• Students are expected to be the best
• Made class interesting and got students involved
• First day already wants students to realize their own potential 
• Wants students to think for themselves
• Has class moving around
• Tells group of boys about Dead Poets Society
• Made things typically not interesting more enjoyable
• Teaches something seemingly unimportant to the class to explain something important
• Shows class that people conform and wants them to learn not to

Group Notes for Dead Poets Society Day 1

Mr. Keating very clearly wants his students to be free thinkers. He has a teaching method that is not conventional, especially in that time period. It's shown that the Latin teacher at the school simple said a word and had the class repeat it to teach them. Mr. Keating has the class moving and learning lessons by showing them rather then just telling them. Like when he took the boys outside to walk around and showed that Gerard, Richard, and Knox eventually started walking the same. Even the class conformed to clapping along. He then told them to not conform and walk however they wanted to. He teaches lessons that aren't just going to be needed for school then never thought about again. He makes each day interesting. He gets Todd to stop thinking, which may be the biggest problem for his poetry, and he was able to come up with a great poem in seconds. The students don't get much of a say in what they do. Neil for example was told by his dad he couldn't join an activity because he had too much to do. Later he decides to audition for a play without his father's permission, I think this is a choice influenced by Mr. Keating's lessons in free-thinking.

Similarities between Mr. MacFarland and Mr. Escalante

Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland are quite similar. One of the things I find most important that the two teachers share is there love of teaching. They both want to teach. They both took initiative in there classes to bring there students beyond what was expected. Mr. Escante chose to teach his students calculus, when other teachers, and even the students themselves, didn't believe they were able to learn. Mr. MacFarland fashioned his on English class and taught it to only three students. Both teachers also taught students after hours. The two teachers could also keep their students in check. They made sure that their students got what they deserved. Mr. MacFarland got Mike Rose into a college even though he wasn't a perfect candidate on paper. Mr. Escalante confronted a students father to make sure she would continue schooling. He also fought for the students when they were accused of cheating. Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland, also, seemed to keep there students interested in the subject they taught. Mr. MacFarland reignited Mike Rose's passion for writing. Although the two teachers methods of teaching were not entirely the same, the motifs behind their teaching was much the same. They wanted their students to learn and become the best they could be.

Stand and Deliver Notes Day 2

• Wants to push students to take calculus 
• Wants students to be able to get college credit
• Sees whats wrong with student after she leaves his class
• Gets easily frustrated
• Teaches English classes to adults with no pay
• Wants to continue teaching right after he has a heart attack 
• Is excited to see students when he returns
• Wants to proof his students didn't cheat. Believes they didn't
• Gets students to retake test and helps them study for it

Notes from Stand and Deliver part 1

• Mr. Escalante gave up a better paid job to teach- he wants to teach
• He made lessons hands-on and fun, frequently making jokes
• He makes sure the class is behaving but isn't too forceful
• He gets all students to participate, sometimes through humiliation, but the method works well for the particular group of students
• Told other teachers he is not doing the best he can (believes there is room for improvement)
• "students will rise to their expectations." -Mr. Escalante
• Goes to a student's father's restaurant to convince him that his daughter showed stay in school. 
• Makes class fun to be in
• Wants administration to believe in students
• Wants to show administration the students can succeed
• "they aren't stupid, they just don't know anything."- Mr. Escalante 

Scenes from Stand and Deliver (1/4)

Chair Scene:
The class is taking a quiz in Mr. Escalante's class. Three students refuse to take the test. One Loka, Gets caught by Mr. Escalante. The class starts chanting "CHAIR! CHAIR!" and Mr. Escalante puts a chair in the center of room in the front facing the other students. He was Loka sit in it and tells her "Now you got a ticket to watch the show." The two students that were not going to take the quiz before flipped their papers over to take it. Mr. Escalante told Raquel to go back to her seat and take the quiz.

I thought this was a good method of teaching for the class. It showed them he made the rules. It's obvious this wasn't a one time thing. They class knew what to expect when a student was disruptive. Mr. Esculante knows how to get everybody to cooperate with him, which is definitely a quality of a good teacher.

Lorde's Illustrations

Lorde illustrated Sister Mary as a strict person by describing that she asked Audre's Mother "not to dress me in so many layers of clothing because then I couldn't feel the strap on my behind when I was punished."

This show how much she thought the young girl needed to be punished and it was probably a lot more then needed. Audre later says that Sister Mary "hated either teaching or little children." Which is something no teacher should feel and no student should need to think a teacher feels. In fact, I think the opposite should be true to be considered a good teacher.

Her teacher before this one, Miss Teacher, didn't embrace that she had a more advanced student. She tries to dumb her down so she's at the same level as everyone else. I think students that are more advanced should be cherished. I'm glad that now they are.  Miss Teacher also doesn’t try to help Audre understand what she’s done wrong just tells her she isn’t doing it right. She also turns the class against Audre which is never right for a teacher to do. I would not consider this teacher a good teacher at all.