Paper # 2 - Which Two Teachers and Why...

Mark Twain says, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” This is a very meaningful quote, and it really applies to this assignment. Education leads to knowledge, and as everyone knows, knowledge is power. Education is a gateway to a better life, and a better understanding of oneself. As the gatekeepers of this great power, teachers play an extremely important role. The role of teachers is to not only teach their students about traditional education, but also about values, about life, and about themselves. Their job as educators is to help these children reach their full potential, and in some cases the kids don’t believe they can do it. While some would argue that it is not the teacher’s job to be their therapist or their friend, I would have to argue that the teacher should be whoever that student needs them to be. I have chosen to write about one teacher from my own experience, and one from a movie. My eleventh grade English teacher, Mrs. Partington, was by far the best teacher I’ve ever had. She reminds me a lot of all the teachers we have read about so far, in the way she inspired me as well as my fellow classmates. The second teacher I have chosen to write about is from a movie, but not one we’ve seen in class. I saw the movie “Dangerous Minds” when I was about ten years old. It stars Michelle Pfeiffer, and she plays the role of LouAnne Johnson, a young white teacher starting out in a run-down high school in California. Even though she is an ex-marine, she has serious struggles with her students, who are mostly of African-American and Hispanic descent. The reason I have chosen these two is because they both went above and beyond to ensure that their students learned everything they possibly could. They were both inspiring, encouraging, tough when they needed to be, and a shoulder to cry on when their students needed them most.