Stand and Deliver Part 1 Oct 25 2012

     Don’t you just hate it when someone says something and for the next five minutes, repeats him or herself with the same point, just in a multitude of ways? I know I do and that’s why I will spare you the ‘movie review’ of a movie all of us are watching together. Because in all truthfulness, it’s my opinion, there’s not much more to add to the observations about the movie itself that our classmates are blogging about and, perhaps it’s the over-stressed mood I’m in right now, but I just don’t think I’ll offer any further ‘insight’ without sounding patronizing. However, that’s said, I will contribute my thoughts about the movie thus far and in doing so, perhaps ‘brainstorm’ some of the qualities I would like to compare in my up-coming Thesis driven paper.

     When following up on the first half of the movie with a little research on my own, I came across a review that eloquently summarized the plot and I don’t think I can write it out any clearer then Murray Chapman did when he wrote, “Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a Hispanic neighborhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods, help gang members and no-hopers pass the rigorous Advanced Placement exam in calculus.”  

     Through the use of creative solutions to varied challenges that arose for the students in his classes, Escalante build a level of trust with the students and in return, the students felt ‘safe’ enough to let their defenses (physical, emotional and mental) down. The end result was the student’s willingness to rise to the challenges set before them.

*** I responded to a fellow students blog regarding the 'contract' Mr. Escalante had his students sign. I read her post after I had written my own and I realized as I was responding  to her with something I truly felt about the beginning part of the movie so I wanted to add it to my own post. ***

"... You have made an interesting point when you brought up the ‘contract’ that Mr. Escalante drew up for his math students to sign. I think that putting his words, expectations and consequences down in written form, he left little room for 'excuses’ and a lot of room for ‘potential.’

He knew and understood that these young adults all had one thing in common and that was: they all felt like their ‘power’ was always being taken from them. Someone was always dictating the outcome of their lives and by offering them something they could control, he was offering the world, but it had to be the students choice otherwise, he knew what he offered to them was little more then lip-service. By signing the form, they took responsibility for their: classwork, education, extra-curriculum activities, input into their educational experience and in the end, their futures.

He empowered his students to make a choice and then to follow through with that decision, regardless of what challenges may arise. He outlined and detailed what his expectations were and then left it in the hands of those who he had enough faith in to make a decision they would benefit from for the rest of their lives."