Topical Teaching

Robin Williams was an incredibly talented man. He could make us laugh one second and cry the next. I will miss him and his genius dearly.

I always thought that Robin would have made a great teacher. Whilst some so-called experts argue that teachers should refrain from using humor in the classroom, I can think of few more powerful tools for engaging students, developing relationships and cultivating an enthusiastic environment.

I give three film examples to prove my point:

1. Dead Poets Society:

This film is a favourite among teachers, and while I enjoyed it, I had some reservations about the overall message. One scene I absolutely adored however, was the scene where he encouraged his students to rip a mindless, pompous, introduction from their poetry text books. A good teacher has to be able to buck trends and allow their students to make their own assessments and form their own opinions.

2. Patch Adams:

Patch Adams is a good movies for teachers to watch, because the same inhibiting rules that are confronted by doctors apply also to teachers. Both doctors and teachers are taught not to get emotionally involved with their subjects. But, this is what can happen when they do:

3. Good Morning Vietnam

One of the most overlooked areas of teaching is the importance of teaching in an engaging manner. Worksheets, mindless activities and classroom tasks abound. Students really appreciate it when a teacher takes the time and energy to make lessons exciting. I apologise for the swearing in this clip, and of course I would never teach my students curse words, but the technique is still valid. Avoid the text book and make your lessons real, alive and relevant:

Rest in peace Robin!

Click on the link to read Failure is Part of Success

Click on the link to read Apparently Cool Kids Really Do Finish Last

Click on the link to read Is there Any Better Feeling than Graduating? (Video)

Click on the link to read Stunning Homeless Experiment Revealed (Video)

Click on the link to read Teachers Need to Have High Expectations for all of Their Students

Tags: Education, how robin williams died, News, Robin Williams, Robin Williams dead poets society, Robin Williams good morning vitnam, Robin Williams most memorable movies, Robin Williams most memorable scenes, Robin Williams patch adams, Robin Williams rip, Robin Williams suicide

This entry was posted on August 12, 2014 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Education Matters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.