Emulating Lorde's, Rose's and Malcolm X's texts

"My homeroom was supervised by Brother Dill, a troubled and unstable man who also taught freshman English."
The 5th Grade classroom was watched over and taught by Mr.steed, who pushed the 9 year old students to act as adults.

"Mr. Montez was a tiny man, slight, no taller then 5 foot 6, soft spoken and delicate."
Ms. Gruwell was a young women, with a lot of determination and ability to unify a divided classroom.

"Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I tried to emulate him."
Ms. Gruwell taught with great compassion and understanding, qualities the students began to mirror.

Mona Lisa Smile

I think Mona Lisa Smile was a decent movie. I don't think it was as interesting as "Freedom Riders", but I think it did a good job of personifying a good teacher with positive intentions. I think Ms. Watson gave a good visual on how a teacher should have a want to inspire her students. I think the entire school she worked at was very snobby and stuck up.

Teacher like Ms. Gruwell

I've had teachers that were similar to Ms. Gruwell in that they were dedicated to helping their students learn. Ms. Gruwell also made it clear she wanted to get to know each of her students, which is exactly what my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Steed did by standing in the front door of his class and shaking each students hand. Both teachers made it clear that they intended to get to know those who they were teaching. Also, during student conferences Mr. Steed had a set of ideas that he proposed to the parents, to not only help them be successful that year, but what issues he could see possibly arising throughout the rest of their years in school. This is similar in a way to what Ms. Gruwell did in that she showed that the actual learning of her students was important to her.

Ms. Gruwell and Ms. Watson

The two teachers seem different in that their environment is entirely opposite. Ms. Gruwell struggles with getting her students motivated and helping them see, to a degree, their potential. This is not the case with Ms. Watson entirely, she deals with very overconfident students that almost seem to believe they're free of flaw.
The teachers of both movies have a great deal of similarities as well. Ms. Watson and Ms. Gruwell both have a unique way of teaching. Both teachers are extremely dedicated and stress the concept of helping their students look at things in a different light.

Comparing schools from the movies

The school that Ms. Watson teaches at is very high class and prestigious, very unlike the low budget school in "Freedom Riders." Ms. Gruwell taught a group of students who seemed to lack ambition, study habits, and mostly a home environment that complimented good grades. Ms. Watson's students seemed to be the exact opposite, all coming from wealthy families with a history of academic success.

Ms Gruwell

Ms Erin Gruwell is a great teacher. Throughout the movie, "Freedom Riders" Ms. Gruwell showed her dedication to her students and her teaching. Ms Gruwell fought for her students in many ways, such as demanding they get the books they needed as opposed to the old, outdated, and damaged books her class had been receiving prior. Erin also spent much of her time off the clock to get the resources to get her students what she believed they needed to learn and be the most successful. Another quality Ms Gruwell had to personify her want to help the students was how hard she tried to get to know her students, such as learning each individuals names and how to pronounce them, such as her student, Ava.

Audrey Lorde's Essay

Audrey Lorde had multiple teachers that played roles in her life.
The first of her teachers to make an impact was Mrs. Baker the librarian. This instrumental teacher in her life taught her to read and in Lorde's words "Saved her life, if not sooner, then later (22)."  The ability to read, Lorde describes as sometimes being "The only thing I could hold onto (22)."

The second teacher to enter Lorde's life was Mrs. Teacher. Mrs. Teacher seems to be very strict, and seemingly the worst kind of person to teach kindergartners. Lorde immediately notices that she is not given the standard items for learning to write, as she was handed a black crayon and a lookalike of her sisters music notebook.

As Audrey Lorde transfered to the Catholic school across the street, she was greeted by her new young teacher, Sister Mary of Perpetual Help, where her mother immediately gives the nuns direction to spank the unruly Audrey whenever need be. Lorde describes the new teacher as "Hating either teaching or young children (27)." And quickly divided the class into two sections, Fairies and Brownies.

What makes a good teacher

I believe that the attributes of a good teacher are ones that really consider the learning of their students as a large priority. I think that this can come in many different forms, but always behind that central idea.
I think its also very important for the teacher to be able to understand the students which in turn will help the students understand the teachers perspective, making learning on both ends much easier.