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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Lean on Me

I just finished watching the movie Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. The movie is about an inner-city high school plagued with gangs, drugs, and violence. Their test scores are dreadfully low, and the school faces being shutdown by the state. Morgan Freeman's character is recruited by the superintendent to come in as principal and turn things around. The movie was made in 1989, but I think the challenges Freeman's character faces, while far more extreme, are very similar to the ones we face today.

It was interesting for me to watch in light of all the discussions I have been having lately with Mr. Meister and other teachers in the building about how to improve our school. Some of the biggest things that we have talked about is community involvement, parental support, and student buy-in. In the movie, those are exactly the areas that Freeman's character focuses on, as well. He goes to extraordinary lengths to show the students that he cares about their future. He visits the home of a student whose mother says she can't take care of her anymore and offers to help the mother find a better job and a better place to live so that she could provide a better life for her daughter. He is a tough, demanding, unwavering disciplinarian, and at one point, almost his entire staff is on the verge of walking out on him because of his harsh approach towards motivating them to do better for their students, but he gets results.

I guess the biggest thing I got from the movie was a sense of motivation to try harder to reach my students, to impress upon them the importance of education, to continue to hold them to a higher standard, and to continue to push them until they meet that standard. Everyone in the movie thought he was the meanest, most selfish scoundrel imagineable to begin with, but when the school went from being a battlefield where no learning took place to one where students were excited to learn, it was all worth it.

19 comments:

  1. asMy dad was the one person I have seen in real life who had the talent to motivate kids who were turned off of school. I think that is because he had dropped out when he was in 8th grade and came from a horrible family. He could relate to exactly what the kids were thinking and feeling. He loved the "bad" kids most of all. There are many days I wish he would make a ghostly visitation to my room and tell me what to do.

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  2. I can relate to this by thinking of my grandpa,because he always is trying to make things better,like Morgan Freeman was.He is also looking for the good in everything, and always seems to make things better.

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  3. I can relate to this by thinking of my grandpa,because he is always trying to make things better,like Morgan Freemanwas.He is also looking for the goodin everything, and always seems to make things better.

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  4. I also seen this movie. I thought it was a really good movie. It was kinda long i thought. But I like shorter movies. My favorite movie is Benchwarmers. Its about grown men playing baseball against younger playerss.

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  5. i seen this movie. it was pretty good. our school is also like the one in the movie only not as bad and it doesnt have to be shut down. when i watch movies about sports i am in the movie makes me try harder in those sports.

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  6. I think I have seen this movie in the past also. Morgan Freeman's perfomance was great as usual, and it's come to be expected. "Lower Learning", a movie somewhat like this, only in an elementary setting, depicted a school whose test scores are awfully low, the administration, for the most part, was corrupted (i.e., stealing from the district funds without their knowledge of it), and the teachers weren't too enthusiastic, one of which took out her relationship problems with her students, and smoked in front of them. Eventually, an actor whose name I cannot currently remember, straightened out the school, and saved it from being shut down, as well as bringing the corrupt principal to justice. So in a way, it resembles Lean on Me a bit. (Also, isn't there a song called Lean on Me?)

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  7. I agree with Sean this movie is a awesome movie. It was a long film. I like Karate Kid 2.

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  8. i seen this movie to. our school its kinda like that but ours doesnt need to be shut down. when i watch movies about sports i am in it make me try hardr in those sports.

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  9. I agree with you on this. I believe that holding students to a higher standard will eventually pay off and allow students to be better people later in life. Students may find it "mean" now but they may eventually realize that it was for their own good.

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  10. i can relate to this by thinkimg of my father, he is always trying to motivate myself and others near him to do the right thing when they dont want to or just simply cant.

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  11. My dad is like Morgan Freeman, because he always pushes me harder to things until he thinks its perfect. He tells me to never give up on things becuase they will pay off soon.


    I'm anonymous..... Kristina Wilson Englsih 9L 5th hour...peace

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  12. Cool Mr. Ogle I like this it shows that teachers really care about us Just like in the movies!

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  13. This movie can relate to a lot of kids i know today. They have no real motivation or guidance. They are kind of growing up by themselves. They don't want to be in school because there is no one who can make them realize the greatness that they can accomplish just by working hard and achieving their goals.

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  14. I have not seen this movie but i do understand and approve of the way that morgan Freeman takes on the challenge of helping these kids. To me the only reason most kids get bad grades is because they don't try. Some may be slower at learning and can not keep up but that is usually an excuse. So as Freeman did in the movie, kids need motivation and the correct environment to think and learn in. Most kids do not take someone trying to motivate them as help though thay think they are trying to make them do something and usually push themselves farther away. SO if sommeone were to take the approach that Freeman did they would have to do it with caution and take the right steps.

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  15. I have not seen this movie but i do understand and approve of the way that morgan Freeman takes on the challenge of helping these kids. To me the only reason most kids get bad grades is because they don't try. Some may be slower at learning and can not keep up but that is usually an excuse. So as Freeman did in the movie, kids need motivation and the correct environment to think and learn in. Most kids do not take someone trying to motivate them as help though thay think they are trying to make them do something and usually push themselves farther away. SO if sommeone were to take the approach that Freeman did they would have to do it with caution and take the right steps.

    Will Ormiston- Sorry forgot to put it the first time.

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  16. Okay, so I feel like a student makes a decision pretty much each year on how much effort they are going to put forward. Some want all A's, perfection. Some want to try sometimes and not have to care other times. And then there are the ones who decide that they aren't going to try all that much, and if anyone tells them different,then they might just try less. I know that not everyone is capable of achieving even their own goals, but as long as they show interest and effort, I would say that they would be called a good student.

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  17. This movie sounds like a good one to watch,and even though our school isn't that bad, we do go through bad things to a certain extreme. Also I do believe that motivation is a key part in trying to accomplish anything, especially when trying to learn. Taking out distration from a leaning environment can help.

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  18. I'm sorry but the only reason i read this post is because of the title. After i read "Lean on me" i automatically started sing the song "Lean on me, when you're not strong
    And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on." Then as i had kept on reading i got disappointed because your post had nothing to do with the song at all, but i mean the movie sounds interesting too, maybe i'll have to watch it sometime?

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  19. This movie sound like a good one to watch because i like the movies were there is a come-back or a obstical they have to overcome. This sounds like a good one to show in class.

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