Chalk

The mocumentary Chalk is a funny movie for film for an aspiring teacher to watch for a variety of reasons. For one it deals with issues that I, myself, have thought about and worried about. The one male teacher that is in his first year and has little classroom control is the exact opposite of what I hope to be in my first year, obviously. I generally do not feel too uncomfortable in front of people talking about something that I feel I have a lot of knowledge about, but watching him panic and freeze up made me worry for myself a little bit. I can remember teachers that I had in high school that were fresh out of college and watching them struggle to maintain focus in their classroom. Although I may have, at times, helped contribute to the lack of focus, after that movie and after ED 185 I truly regret doing this. For some reason standing in front of students, I have found in my small piece of experience, can be far more intimidating than standing in front of adults and trying to tell them things. I think as a teacher, you are passionate about your subject and hope that your students are able to gain an interest in it too, or at the least appreciate the fact that you care about what it is you are trying to teach them. However, watching this movie made me realize and remember all of the kids that truly did not care about some of the things their teachers were trying to tell them.

The film also reminded me that although teachers are alone in their classes as they teach, they still have co-workers. I have a really hard time with petty behavior and the example from the film where the PE teacher stepped into the classroom to retrieve the student that ran in late to class really annoyed me and made reminded me that, again, although I will most often be alone in my classroom with my students, other teachers will be watching and will be talking. Although it was a semi-comical scene it really annoyed me that the PE teacher would undermine the other teachers authority in front of her class.