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February 13, 2020,
Whoever said that experience is the best teacher apparently had a lot of time on their hands.
For those of us who don’t want to wait until we can see the address printed on the front door of the assisted living facility that has a room inside with our name on it, we would rather learn the important lessons and obtain the effective answers to guiding our life in the right direction while we are still young.
Very young.
We are all looking for great teachers and mentors in our life and for some of us they are really hard to find.
If your initial circle provided you with the right direction and encased you in a circle of influence that pointed you in great directions and introduced you to people who had the ability to substantially help you in life, you should feel extremely happy.
It doesn’t happen to many of us.
What makes for a great teacher?
As shared by the team at greatschools.org, “Great teachers are warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. Teachers with these qualities are known to stay after school and make themselves available to students and parents who need them. They are involved in school-wide committees and activities, and they demonstrate a commitment to the school.”
Teaching can be one of the most complicated jobs today.
It demands a broad knowledge of various subject matters, curriculum, and standards.
They often display enthusiasm, a caring attitude, and a love of learning.
In our own personal experience, while we have met some very bright people who became our mentor, one of their greatness weaknesses was their priority to get what they wanted out of the situation.
A truly great teacher makes it a priority to make sure the needs of the student is the priority.
Ironically two of the greatest films that spoke to the profound importance have having a good teacher and mentor that brings color to your life were presented in black and white.
The first is a story about the epitome of a great teacher, when you are young and operating from a position of weakness, is found in the tale so beautifully and powerfully told on celluloid in the film titled the Miracle Worker.
Have you seen it? You really should.
The Miracle Worker is a 1962 American biographical film about Anne Sullivan, blind tutor to Helen Keller, directed by Arthur Penn. The screenplay by William Gibson is based on his 1959 play of the same title.
Mr. Gibson’s original source material was The Story of My Life, the 1902 autobiography of Helen Keller.
The film went on to be an instant critical success.
The Miracle Worker was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Director for Arthur Penn, and won two awards, Best Actress for Anne Bancroft and Best Supporting Actress for Patty Duke.
For those of us who watched it for the first time, it was a break through film.
Here is the story line.
Blind and deaf after suffering a terrible fever as a baby, young Helen Keller (Patty Duke) has spent years unable to communicate, leaving her frustrated and occasionally violent.
As a last chance before she is institutionalized, her parents (Inga Swenson, Andrew Prine) contact a school for the blind, which sends half-blind Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) to teach Helen. Helen is initially resistant, but Annie gradually forms a bond with her and shows Helen ways of reaching others.
Understandably it changed Helen’s life forever.
Another timeless film displayed in black and white was also packaged with a hit that penetrated the hearts of young people and adults alike.
Here are some of the lyrics:
Those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind I know they will still live on and on
But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn’t easy, but I’ll try
If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high ‘To Sir, With Love’
While it lasts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVQ4vAmM7Y
To Sir with Love is the theme from James Clavell‘s 1967 film To Sir, with Love.
James Clavell was born on October 10, 1921, in Sydney, New South Wales, as Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell. He was a film and TV writer and producer.
During World War II, he was a British soldier and a Japanese prisoner on Java and in Singapore, which lead to his great interest in things East Asian and Japanese, and the experiences of prisoners-of-war. Clavell is very well-known for “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Satan Bug” (1965), “King Rat” (1965), “To Sir, with Love” (1967), “Tai-Pan” (1986), “Nobel House” (1988), and especially “Shogun” (1980).
Our favorite James Clavell film was so little known but absolutely brilliant. It is The Last Valley, starring Michael Caine.
The To Sir With Love song was written by Don Black and Mark London (husband of Lulu’s longtime manager Marion Massey).
It was released as a single in the United States in 1967 and in October reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for five weeks.
The movie was equally popular and just as effective in touching the heart.
To Sir, with Love is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and singer Lulu making her film debut.
Now for the storyline. Think about this while you listen to Lulu’s sweet and mellow song.
Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier), an immigrant to Britain from British Guiana via California, applies for an engineering job, but learns that it will be a long time before a decision is made. He also applies for and is offered a teaching post at North Quay Secondary School in the tough East End of London, which he accepts as an interim position.
The East End school is populated mostly with troublemakers who were rejected from other schools for their behavior. While the students at first see Mr. Thackeray as just another teacher open for ridicule and bullying, his calm demeanor and desire to see them succeed gradually earn him their respect.
When you watch both films, it can teach you what qualities to see in a really good teacher and mentor.
What we analyzed from both films is that the teacher is very patient and is truly interested in what is going on in your life and has a solid plan, with your input, for which direction you would like your life to take.
It is also a reminder of how different life was in the 1960s.
True as that may be, while we can’t control how the world has changed, we can control how we respond to it. We can still keep our standards high as we related to others.
We can also look to a teacher who seems to live their life by higher standards.
“One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes change a delinquent into a solid citizen.”… Philip Wylie
Do you feel you need direction in your life?
Enjoy the two films described above. Next? Ask the teachers that you know if they have watched either film. Ideally both.
Then asked if they enjoyed them and more importantly why they enjoyed the film. Do they see themselves in the important teachers involved and why?
Of course you would not ask them like a detective. Just casually. We sense their answers will be revealing.
Finding a great teacher or mentor in life while you are young is essential to helping you live a life closer to what you desire, even if you don’t know it yet.
While your life may initially feel like you are plodding through it in black and white, a great teacher can propel you to paint your future life in bright colors.
~ ~ ~
Opening photo fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, grapplingstars.com United Artists photo credit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_Worker_(1962_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Sir_with_Love_(song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Sir,_with_Love
https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/what-makes-a-great-teacher/
https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/good_teacher
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0165412/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
