Tough choices....but I could watch "Stand and Deliver" over and over again - especially when I need inspiration!

James Belushi in The Principal has been one of my favorites. I know it's totally fictionalized, but I liked it.

There are so many! I'm a sucker for the sappy ones. "Mr. Holland's Opus" has me tear up every time. I love the arts and music (I was a band geek and a choir queeb in high school)- it really does pain me to see how it's being eliminated in our schools. "Lean On Me" is another good one. I've often said we needed Joe Clark to come out of retirement!

OK, don't hate me: I can't stand Mr. Holland's Opus. And I am as big a Richard Dreyfuss fan as there is, ever since The Goodbye Girl.

Think of how many kids he bored or damaged while still discovering himself? I growl at depictions of teaching as a sloppy second. (see Sideways) Yes, I guess that's the point, that he learns just how rewarding it can be, but the guy is so selfish, that when he finally gets his Act III tear-jerking finale, I just wanted to ask if he really deserved it.

And what's with the midlife crisis drooling over the talented student? That's just creepy under any circumstances.

And don't even get me started on the deaf son whose father can't connect to him because he can't appreciate music like he does. It should have been called "Me, Me, Me, Me, Me Opus."

I had a chance to ask an online community of teachers (with lots of middle school folks involved) to name and explain/defend their favorite "teacher movie." Of course many named a bunch and there were as many stories about movies they hated as movies they loved. But boiling it all down, this was their Top 10.

Any of your favorites here? Or movies you can't stand and can't wait to tell us why? :)

#1 Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
#2 Stand and Deliver (1988)
#3 October Sky (1999)
#4 Dangerous Minds (1995)
#5 Freedom Writers (2007)
#6 Chalk (2006)
#7 To Sir With Love (1967)
#8 Dead Poets Society (1989)
#9 Remember the Titans (2000)
#10 Teachers (1984)

Sorry about that #1, Heather!

I can handle the disagreement. no. really.

:-)

Freedom Writer

OK. It's true .. I do love the sappy, heart-warming, tear-jerker movies about teaching. But, I have to say, I do get frustrated by the savior-come-to-rescue-those-poor-urban-kids movies. (Can we say Freedom Writer, Music from the Heart, Dangerous Minds, etc.?)

...and they always involve teen pregnancy as some plot twist, right? I agree. As far as teacher movies go, I"m not a big fan of the "savior movie" either, but I can't deny that it can be an easy "based on a true story" pitch. After all, we do make an impact on kids' lives every year, and those plots are out there, unfortunately, all the time.

But if we broaden our definition of teacher movie to enclose "School Movies," I would also say that I remember loving Mark Harmon in, wait for it...

SUMMER SCHOOL

It's true. I'm saying it with pride. And then there are a lot of movies that are less about the teacher and more about the kids which are also effective:

THE BREAKFAST CLUB
CLUELESS

Any thoughts, fellow middle schoolers?

-Heather WG