Yeah yeah. Two posts in one day. I know it's a bit much, but...I'm doing it anyway. And I'm not going to talk about the fact that the Packers just lost their first game of the season...to the Chiefs.
I've been working on painting Christmas presents all day and I have the movie Coach Carter playing the background. I love this movie. It blends two of my favorite kinds of movie (epic sports comeback and the education of at-risk kids) into one perfect combination. I've stayed away from all my teacher movies this Fall though, because I read in an article that it's sometimes depressing instead of encouraging for new teachers to do. But I decided it was okay to watch this one, and a lot of the themes are hitting me in a new way through new eyes. So many of the stats that are thrown out about the population of the kids in the movie are so similar to the stats of my own students, and I wish I could communicate to them the importance of school and their work ethic in a better way. Honestly, I wish I could use all the same methods Coach Carter uses, but my boss would probably frown on most of them. My absolute favorite scene, though, and some of the most incredible words ever spoken, is taken in part from a speech made by Nelson Mandela:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were all meant to shine as children do.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated by our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
...Sir, I just want to say thank you. You saved my life."
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