Film Favorites - Renaissance Man

Renaissance Man -  

a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.

Jack of all trades.

Master of None.

Bill Rago is a divorced advertising executive down on his luck. When he loses his job in Detroit, the unemployment agency finds him a temporary job; teaching in the U.S. Army training base, Fort McClane.

Initially unenthusiastic about this assignment, Rago finds that he has only six weeks to teach the Double D’s, a group of "squeakers", who are especially low achievers, the basics of comprehension and use of English language. Most of the soldiers are only semi-literate and equally unenthusiastic.

Unable to connect with his pupils and desperate to spark their interest, Rago quotes from his favorite play, Hamlet by  William Shakespeare, which they have never heard of. A small initial spark of interest is generated.

Rago further introduces them to Henry V, which generates further interest. Despite the disapproval of their hard-as-nails Drill Sergeant Cass, and the loss of one of the trainees, who is revealed as a drug dealer hiding

under an assumed identity, he sets them an end-of-term examination, which his Captain friend doesn't expect them to pass, adding that if they fail, they will be discharged. However, they succeed.

The climax comes as one of the soldiers proudly gives Cass the St. Crispin’s Day Speech by King Henry V while in full combat gear in the middle of the rain during a night exercise. Rago realizes that he has finally achieved success.

Rago also does some investigation, as a result of which one of the soldiers is awarded the medal his father was to have been given posthumously, after he was killed on duty in Vietnam.

As the proud soldiers march at their passing-out parade, Rago signs on for a further period of teaching soldiers-in-training.

This is a great movie to generate the discussion of everyone can learn given the proper environment to learn. That learning takes place in a multitude of methods.  Rago uses several methodologies throughout the movie to generate interest and comprehension amongst the Double D’s including: character reading of the play, acting out the play, firing squad Q &A.  The “squeakers” surprise Rago with a rap to demonstrate their understanding of the play.  The lessons culminate with the students seeing the play and then taking and passing an “optional” final exam.

Invariably though it is Bill Rago, "The Teacher", who learns the most.  This is not lost on my students as they understand that learning is a two way street.  You only get out, what you are willing to put in.  

Film Favorites - No Impact Man

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. 

And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."  

                                                                                           -  Eleanor Roosevelt  -

The documentary "No Impact Man" provides tremendous opportunity to explore with students, the choices they make and the impact that those choices have on an interconnected world.

"No Impact Man", follows the lives of the Manhattan-based Beavan family. Writer Colin Beavan decides to write about a year of abandoning their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle and try to live a year while making no net environmental impact.

I really enjoy monitoring my students impressions of the Beavans from start to finish of the film.  Most of my students begin the movie with the notion that this guy has lost his mond and what the Beavan family is taking on is impossible.  However, student impressions change as they see how this no impact lifestyle not only impacts the family in an environmental sense but truly brings the family together as they eliminate many of the daily activities, such as television and computers, that detract from the relationship of family.

 At the end of the film Colin's message to bring about change is a simple one, VOLUNTEER!

It is through the act of volunteerism that the building of a community takes place.  This message parallels the Lasallian principle of service and our motto of "Enter to Learn. Leave to Serve." 

Too, often our students feel that they are powerless as individuals to make change and have an impact.  Plain and simple the message to our students needs to be make the choice to become involved. Because, it is in the development of community and the act of volunteering that an understanding of the power that individuals can have when their ideas have a positive impact on the world we share.

To learn more about Colin Beavan and the No Impact Project, go to the website at http://www.noimpactdoc.com/index_m.php

For information packets for educators, go to the No Impact Project at

http://noimpactproject.org/educators-middle-high-school-environment-curriculum-html/

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

                                                                   -  Edmund Burke  -

Film Favorites - 12 Angry Men

There is a distinct difference between showing a movie to take up class time and utilizing a movie to enhance your curriculum.  It should be clearly understood that movies shown in class have a defined purpose within your curriculum.  There are several movies that I incorporate into my classroom to introduce a topic, create discussion and support the curriculum.

There are a few movies that provide great possibilities in a variety of subject areas.  One of my favorites for this is 12 Angry Men.  I will only show the original with Henry Fonda, in black and white.  After the initial shock of seeing a movie that is not in color students do settle in and can focus on the content of this film. 

The jury of twelve 'angry men,' entrusted with the power to send an uneducated, teenaged Puerto Rican, tenement-dwelling boy to the electric chair for killing his father with a switchblade knife, are literally locked into a small, claustrophobic rectangular jury room on a stifling hot summer day until they come up with a unanimous decision - either guilty or not guilty. The compelling, provocative film examines the twelve men's deep-seated personal prejudices, perceptual biases and weaknesses, indifference, anger, personalities, unreliable judgments, cultural differences, ignorance and fears, that threaten to taint their decision-making abilities, cause them to ignore the real issues in the case, and potentially lead them to a miscarriage of justice.
Fortunately, one brave dissenting juror votes 'not guilty' at the start of the deliberations because of his reasonable doubt. Persistently and persuasively, he forces the other men to slowly reconsider and review the shaky case (and eyewitness testimony) against the endangered defendant. He also chastises the system for giving the unfortunate defendant an inept 'court-appointed' public defense lawyer who "resented being appointed" - a case with "no money, no glory, not even much chance of winning" - and who inadequately cross-examined the witnesses. Heated discussions, the formation of alliances, the frequent re-evaluation and changing of opinions, votes and certainties, and the revelation of personal experiences, insults and outbursts fill the jury room. (http://www.filmsite.org/twelve.html)

Topics and Themes

• the judicial system and trial by jury
• analysis of information and data
• critical thinking
• collaboration
• communication
• standing up for what you believe
• consensus building
• prejudices
• cultural differences
• fears
• racism
• just vs fair
• stereotypes
• psychology of man