The True Story of Stand and Deliver essays

The True Story of Stand and Deliver essays The movie I watched in Mr. Franklins class was "Stand and Deliver". The story is about a high school mathematics teacher who takes a class of undisciplined, unmotivated and rebellious students and helps them through a year of school Garfield High in Los Angeles, California. He helps them graduate and succeed. The kids learn so much in that year that eighteen of them are able to pass a very hard college credit calculus exam. The exam is so hard that only 2% of American students pass it. The movie is based on a true story. As I was watching the movie, the teacher named Jaime Escalante gets challenged on the first day. Many students yell out to him in Spanish and in English to see if they can test him in any way. He doesnt confront them; but he reaches out to them. He befriends many students including a troubled teen named Angel. At one point, Angel asks Mr. Escalante if he needs more than one book and says that he wants to learn but his "homies" must not find out. In return Mr. Escalante is promised that he will get protection, but tells Angel instead to just come to class. The students are astonished to see, that a teacher can hang in there. So as days go on, he starts adopting ways to get the students to pay attention to him. The next day he is dressed as a chef with a meat cleaver. He slams the meat cleaver, slicing the apples in half and gets people to stop talking. He asks various students what they have. Eventually they are asked individually to answer. This is one of his tactics into having a group discussion. As he eases his way, he starts teaching by using examples out of the everyday lives of his student making them think things out for themselves. The students then learn to realize he is serious. Jaime Escalante tells his students if they want to learn they must all follow his rules. He starts by announcing that the punishments for not working hard in class are to be banished from the class....