Stand and Deliver

I recently watched the movie Stand and Deliver, and although I feel it fits the cliché of an 80’s movie, it was inspirational to see a teacher’s dedication in working with students labeled as incompetent in a Latino urban setting. I chose this scene because it shows his individual creativity in delivering instructional strategies that would engage his students. As you can see in the clip, he’s vibrantly singing while informing his students that they will now embark upon their next difficult task in the classroom, which was passing an AP Calculus exam to receive college credit. Throughout the movie he uses these creative, comical, and bold approaches (“scaring us into stuff”) to ensure that students gained a sense of accountability for their education. Specifically in this clip, Mr. Escalante distributes “Student Contracts” that had to be signed and returned to have continued being part of the class. I feel that the contracts not only continued to strive for individual student commitment for their learning, but it was also an opportunity to provide awareness to their parents and families. It was very interesting to see the responses that came from their parents. Some were apprehensive and didn’t see the need for such commitments. Mr. Escalante’s dedication to his students was far grander than their families could have anticipated and he used his unique approach to even get their families approval. His actions were clearly a reflection of his lifelong commitment to not only educating his students, but their families, and the community as well. Along with his commitment to students, he allocated time before and after school, extended the class for two periods, and Saturday morning sessions to ensure they had enough time to be successful. Mr. Escalante once again made the individual efforts to provide supports for his students beyond the means of a normal school day. It was obvious that he used a strength based approach to developing his relationships and rapport with his students. The conversations they had were evident of the trust and comfort they had, hence the “whats calcooooolus?” question.