Have any of you HSers seen this film?

Question

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/touchofgreatness/teacher.html

If so, what did you think of it?

If not, do you think it would interest you as a non-traditional teacher?

Answer 1

Until now I cannot say that I have heard of, or have read any of his works, so commenting on them is not what I can do.

From the information I did see however, I would be interested in checking out his so called "unorthodox methods" as they referred to his introducing Shakespeare in the 5Th grade.

Sounds to me like he understood that dumbing kids down with the standard curriculum was not doing them any favors, and he was going to challenge them.

That does sound like he too was a non-traditional teacher with a non-traditional approach.

Answer 2

Sounds like an amazing teacher!  I found the film on netflix, but our local library doesn't carry any of his books.  In fact, our university library doesn't have any of his books and it has a rather large education department.  That is truly sad!

I can't wait for this to inspire my homeschooling.

Answer 3

I love learning online!  Watching video like this inspires me.

I have never read any of his books but will do a search at library website as soon as I get through answering this question.

It sounds as if he was a good teacher.   I think that it sounds as if he made a connection with the students beyond just the academics.   That is one reason why homeschooling is successful.   We bond with our 'students'  on an emotional level.    This teacher apparently cared for his students beyond just in making 'the grade'.    Our public schools have suffered with the bureaucracy  and pressure of schools striving to meet the goals set for them by government.

I know a few good teachers but most of them are limited in what they do because of time schedules.   The government mandated curriculum must be done and must be done in 180 days.   It doesn't work like that in our home.