Have you had a teacher like Mrs. Gruwell?

In a way I have a had a teacher like Mrs. Gruwell. My choir teacher throughout high school, Mrs. Cauter, was someone who truly cared for us. She didn't just treat us like students, she treated us like a family. She was always concerned about our well being and if someone needed financial help for trips, she would help them out as much as she could. She had a heart of gold and would never let anyone down. She was the glue that brought our entire choir together. On the choir trips where we had to stay over night, that's when we really got to have deep discussions with her. She would give us advice on what was going on in our lives and would make sure our personal lives were doing good. Of course she wouldn't get too personal but she was always making sure we were okay. In choir class if she noticed a student wasn't doing well, she'd have someone run the class while she talked to them in her office to make sure they were okay. She is an amazing person who will remain in my life forever for everything she's done for me. 

Rought Draft- Good teacher?

What makes a good teacher? Is it the amount of homework they give you? Is it how easy going they are? Or is it the fact that you actually passed their class? What do I say makes a good teacher? Passion; it is the most important trait when it comes to teaching. If teaching is not what you love, then your student's will not love what you teach. A good teacher puts their heart into every class and is passionate about helping students and educating others. When a teacher loves what they're teaching and loves teaching it, it really shows through to the students and makes them excited about learning more. Both Sylvia Cauter and Stephen Pagaard are two teachers from my high school who had so much passion in teaching. Passion is what makes the difference between a good teacher and an incredible teacher.

When it comes to never giving up, Sylvia Cauter takes the award. She was my choir teacher throughout all of my years at North Kitsap High School. Of course, she made choir an amazing experience for everyone who took choir as a class. She always strives her hardest to make sure we got the most out of our education. Many could say that music has no educational value to it but that’s where they’re wrong. Sylvia Cauter took music and made it mean something more to her students than just getting a grade for a class. With music, she taught us team work and to really strive for goals. Every morning she was always in her office bright and early getting ready for her classes for the day. She would always take work home with her. She would even stay after school to voluntarily help us with our music and to help those who needed extra help and special attention with their vocals.

It may be hard to see what goes on behind the scenes with teachers, but sometimes it’s necessary to know what they’re really going through. The arts is always the program that suffers the most when it comes to budget cuts, because it’s not a priority to schools. Sylvia was so passionate about her job that to keep the arts program, which they were going to cut, she told the board to take the whole budget and that we would raise the money ourselves. If she wouldn't have done that, our choir program would be completely erased. She was truly passionate about music and the effect it had on her students’ lives that she was willing to do anything to keep it. Her salary was dropped quite a bit, yet she refused to quit. The fighting spirit she had in her was passed down to her students because we were right there backing her up the whole way. When they had board meetings we would go to them and volunteered to speak to defend our case on not cutting the choir program. Sylvia is truly a diamond in the ruff. She never left us and I don’t think she ever could. With all the odds against her, and no faculty to really back her up, she fought and fought and prevailed. Our beloved choir program wasn't cut. Yet, she did have to adapt to some changes, but she made it work. She was the backbone to our defense. She wasn't just a teacher; she was a role model who showed us to not only strive for our goals, but to fight for what we believe in.

The other teacher that, in his own words, “strikes my fancy,” is none other than Stephen Pagaard. Now, Pagaard was quite an odd teacher. The first day we walked into class, he referred to us by our last names. An example being me, Ms. Hughes. Now, we were all a bit confused by this, but it was his class room, so his rules. Now, if you met Pagaard or heard the rumors around school about him being an insanely strict teacher, you might be a bit intimidated. Yet, I cannot speak for every student, but Pagaard wasn’t strict, he was actually very fair when it came to grading and homework. Now, what makes Pagaard such a great teacher? Well, Pagaard was a man who could tell you anything you wanted to know about history. He could give you a complete tour around the world pointing out every statue, land mark, and historical area, and give you a complete back story on it. He is without a doubt one of the most intelligent history teachers in this world. When you came to class, you could tell he was ready to teach, and he always did so with a huge grin on his face. He always got so enthusiastic when he went into detail about any certain topic he talked about. He always involved us in the topics and asked questions to keep our minds open. He didn't ask just generic text book questions, he asked questions that truly made us think and really analyze the subject. Pagaard gave a full analysis and review of any subject we were on. He wasn't just a good teacher because of how smart he was and how much knowledge he gave us; he was a good teacher because he was passionate about what he does. You could tell that man truly loved history and teaching it. What also made Pagaard a great teacher was he didn't just give us a text book and tell us to answer the questions from the chapter or make us take copious amounts of notes, he gave us the information we needed and elaborated on it. He even won an award for best history teacher in the state of Washington. He really knew what he was doing when it came to educating his students.

The differences and similarities between these two teachers are quite tremendous. The differences are, well for one, they teach completely different subjects. Comparing their teaching styles would be night and day. Sylvia teaches verbally through music and is very hands on, while Pagaard is more visual with his teaching. Another difference is Pagaard is a little more traditional with his teaching, while Sylvia is more modern and “out there” with hers. Now, for their similarities, they both love what they do. In fact, they both have awards for their teaching. What makes their classes stand out to me is that they didn't just make class regular and boring; they always added excitement and enthusiasm in their teaching, as well as a lot of humor that always made the lesson more fun. Another huge similarity they have is they both have the one thing that is most important when it comes to teaching; passion. Without passion, there is no true education.

Both these teachers are completely different yet share one thing that makes them come together in a way only a student could see. The fact that they both have such enthusiasm and passion for teaching shines through to the students and make the students passionate about what they’re learning. Although there may be many teachers who go unnoticed by faculty for the effect they have on students’ lives, they will never go unnoticed by the life of the student that they changed.  

Differences and Similarities Between the Teachers

The differences between the two teachers from Mona Lisa Smile and Freedom Writers are quite slim. They are both great teachers who really care about the education about their students and are very passionate about their students. One teaches at a college and one teaches at a public high school. If I had to pinpoint a difference, I would say that one teacher is almost forcing her beliefs about education on her students, Mrs. Watson, and one is letting the students express themselves, Mrs. Gruwell. The similarities are, what I said earlier, they are both passionate teachers who care about their students and their educations. They both went against the faculty of the school to reach to their students to bring out their full potential. They risked their jobs to do what they loved. They also both split up with their significant other, not that that's a huge similarity but it's something. Something I think Mrs. Gruwell did differently than Mrs. Watson was she went a little further and took her teaching to another level and making them feel at home. Both the students did end up loving their teacher in the end. Yet, in the end Mrs. Gruwell stayed and Mrs. Watson left the school. 

Incorporating Multiple Sources into your own Essays (not finished)

1. In the movie Freedom Writers, Erin Gruwell is an excellent teacher who loves what she does. She's very passionate about her kids, which is the main reason why I think she's a great teacher. She lets her passion drive her to go above and beyond the call of duty to reach out to these so called "helpless" kids. You can see how passionate she is when she gets two extra jobs just to pay for new books for her kids and to pay for a trip to a Holocaust museum followed by a dinner with some Holocaust survivors. Gruwell succeeds at giving these kids hope for their future. Something admirable she says in the film is, "When I make sense of these children's lives, they make sense of mine." This statement really shows her passion and how she won't let anyone get in the way of her teaching even though so many tried to bring her down.

2.

Differences Between the Two Schools

The differences between the schools in the movies Mona Lisa Smile and Free Writers is almost night and day. The school in Mona Lisa Smile is first off, a college. It's very mature, better education, and everyone there actually wants to learn. The students were all female, and they were prepared to learn. They were all obviously well educated and came from well kept and wealthy families. On the other side, The school from Freedom Writers were obviously from a more poor area and were surrounded by gangs. The students had gone through so much and some of them were even homeless. The faculty basically only cared about teaching the "smart" students instead of the "dumb" students. The school wasn't well organized and things would get out of hand fast. Again, this is a public high school so things weren't as orderly as they were in college. Some kids wouldn't even show up to class, whereas in college you show up to your classes because one, you pay for them, and two, you actually want to be their to further your education. The schools are very different and it's very easy to see the differences between the two of them. 

Reaction to Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile is kind of an odd movie. Although it had a lot of my favorite actress' in it, it's a movie that didn't really capture my interest. I feel like they tried too hard to make the teacher look like she changed those girls lives when in reality, I feel like she didn't do a WHOLE lot. Now, I'm not saying she didn't do anything, because she did, but from what I saw I didn't see a whole lot. To me, the movie was more just about their lives and all the drama that was happening in them. I wouldn't strike this as an incredibly touching movie. Now, it was a good movie overall, it just didn't strike me as a movie about a teacher who completely changed her students lives. Did she make an impact? I'm sure she did. But it didn't occur to me that these girls' lives were totally changed and influenced by Mrs. Watson. I'm not bashing on the movie, it's just my personal opinion.

Is Mrs. Gruwell a Good Teacher?

Is Mrs. Gruwell a good teacher? In my opinion, I would say yes. Mrs. Gruwell never gave up on those kids even though they didn't even respect her in the beginning. Yet, Mrs. Gruwell's determination was as strong as ever and she tried to reach the kids on a personal level. She tried to teach the children poetry through the rap artist, Tupac, someone they were very familiar with. Even though they turned her idea down, she still didn't give up. She got a second job yo buy them new books because she though they were capable of so much more then the worn down and old books that were provided for them. Then she got a third job to pay for a field trip for them to learn more about the Holocaust because none of them, except for one student Ben, didn't know what the Holocaust was. She devoted all her time into those students and went above and beyond the call of duty to reach to them. In the end, she gained the students' respect. Mrs. Gruwell was someone who truly understood them and wanted to help them. All the other teachers were completely against what she was doing, but she didn't give up. Her passion for teaching really showed.