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Wednesday, April 5, 2006
The Get Schooled Summer Reading List (Movies, Too!)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A random list of books and movies with school settings. They are in no particular order and, while I have read or watched most of them, I’m not endorsing them as worth spending your valuable time and money on. If you’re into education, you might like them.
Please note this list does not include tomes on what’s wrong with or how to improve public education. Nor did I include academic works on teaching methods. There are thousands of such titles out there - a large number of which are collecting dust under my desk. Feel free to mention your favorites in the comments.
This list is by no means The Last Word on what’s available. If you have a recommendation to add, especially in the fiction category, shoot me an e-mail at pghezzi@ajc.com.
Thanks to the Get Schooled readers who contributed to this project.
BOOKS
Nonfiction Narratives
“Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference,” Mark Edmundson
“The Water is Wide,” Pat Conroy
“Up the Down Staircase ,” Bel Kaufman
“Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year,” Esme Raji Codell
“Among Schoolchildren,” Tracy Kidder
“Shut Up and Let the Lady Teach,” Emily Sachar
“Teacher Man: A Memoir,” Frank McCourt
“One Day All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way,” Wendy Kopp
“Front of the Class: How Tourette’s Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had,” Brad Cohen with Lisa Wysocky *
“Another Planet: A Year in the Life of a Suburban High School,” Elinor Burkett
“Not Much, Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers,” Linda Perlstein
“School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School,” Edward Humes
“Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School,” Michael Bamberger
“Dangerous Minds,” LouAnne Johnson (Originally written under the title, “My Posse Don’t Do Homework.”)
“Inside Mrs. B.’s Classroom: Courage, Hope and Learning on Chicago’s South Side,” Leslie Baldacci
“A Hope in the Unseen,” Ron Suskind
Fiction:
“A Separate Peace,” John Knowles
“Good-bye, Mr. Chips,” James Hilton
The “Harry Potter” books, J.K. Rowling
- Full disclosure: I worked on this project in the very early stages. The teacher works in Cobb County.
MOVIES:
“Akeela and the Bee,” Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett
“Stand and Deliver,” Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos
“Dead Poet’s Society,” Robin Williams
“Lean on Me,” Morgan Freeman
“Coach Carter,” Samuel L. Jackson
“Dangerous Minds,” Michelle Pfeiffer
“Rushmore,” Bill Murray
“October Sky,” Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern
“School of Rock,” Jack Black
“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” Sean Penn
“Cheaters,” Jeff Daniels
“To Sir, With Love,” Sidney Poitier
“Mr. Holland’s Opus,” Richard Dreyfuss
“Finding Forrester,” Sean Connery
“Ferris Beuler’s Day Off,” Matthew Broderick
“Conrack,” Jon Voight (This is the movie version of Pat Conroy’s memoir, “The Water is Wide.” )
“The Breakfast Club,” Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
“Pay It Forward,” Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt
“Election,” Reece Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick
“Kindergarten Cop,” Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Mona Lisa Smiles,” Julia Roberts
“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Maggie Smith
“The Browning Version,” Michael Redgrave
“Educating Rita,” Michael Caine
“The Blackboard Jungle,” Sidney Poitier
“Music of the Heart,” Meryl Streep
“Summer School,” Mark Harmon
“Teachers,” Nick Nolte
Documentaries:
“Spellbound,” Kids and their parents freak out at the National Spelling Bee.
“Mad Hot Ballroom,” Kids compete in ballroom dancing.
“Paper Clips,” Students learn about the Holocaust.
“Hoop Dreams,” Southside Chicago kids get to go to a private school because they can shoot hoops.
“Country Boys,” Kentucky teenagers swimming against poverty and unstable families go to a small alternative school.
“Born Into Brothels,” Filmmaker teaches Indian children of prostitutes about photography, but realizes what they really need is an education.
“Rock School,” Ex-rocker teaches kids to play rock music in Philadelphia.
Your Name in Print
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some Get Schooled contributers have notice their wise words in the newspaper on Mondays. The real paper. The one made out of trees that I wish more people would take the time to pick up and read even if you get some ink smudges on your hands.
My editor came up with the idea to pull together some of the best Get Schooled comments for the Monday paper. I compile the list just before I leave on Friday.
How do you get your “name” in print? I’d say stick to the topic, have a fresh perspective and pay attention to spelling and grammar. (Words in print really need to be spelled correctly.) Brevity is a plus.
How do you make sure your comments are not included? Well, you can’t. I pick them somewhat randomly.
Thanks to everyone who posts on Get Schooled. You do my job for me, and I appreciate it.
Almost Gifted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This story is about Clayton’s attempt to identify bright children who don’t quite qualify as gifted and provide them with gifted-like courses. Heather Vogell reports that “high potential classes” … are “small with a global flair. They combine multiple subjects, involve hands-on projects and place the teacher in the role of guide instead of lecturer.”
For more information about gifted education and a chart showing what percentage of students each metro district considers gifted, go here.
Should the almost-gifted be in their own classes? And how does it make sense that in the Decatur school district, 23 percent of students are gifted but in Clayton that figure is just 3.5?
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