Chalk Movie Notes

Morgan Spurlock grew up surrounded by teachers. 50% of teachers quit in the first 3 years of teaching. Morgan said that teaching can be very funny, that is so true kids will do and say the funniest things.

It shows the differences in the classrooms on the first day, the way that teachers teach and what they do on the first day of school. Some teachers are funny, nervous, and more. You can tell how the students like the teacher or not within the very first day of school. Mr. Lolwer doesn’t know anything as a first year teacher, he is so nervous and when he talks to the students he rambles a lot.

It shows a fight in the school yard, the one woman teacher us freaking out and over reacting. Then after breaking up the fight, students start making fun of her. Mr. Lolwer has no control over his classroom; he needs to learn how to teach his class discipline. The class is acting like a bunch of wild animals. The funniest thing is that I have had teachers like this, were they have no control over there class and the other respectful students normally just laugh.

An older teacher gives a newer teacher advice, “the most important thing about being a teacher is caring for your students.”  

The teachers are inconsistent with the school rules and one teacher approaches another teacher about letting the student come in late.

Mr. Lolwer leaves the classroom because he is disrespected, they hide his chalk, then he said “I’m going to leave and when I come back in I will see who is going to lead the classroom.” Well when he came back in there was a student “leading” the classroom. Now he decides to change the way he is going to run the classroom, he is going to try to use more humor. But, he tried to show that humor and it was really horrible.

There is a P.E teacher and the students think she is gay. Which I can understand because sometimes the things she says can be taking the wrong way; she wants to hang out with the teachers like work out with them before school and stuff like that.

The P.E teacher found a crush at work and now is “I found myself enjoying work more now.”

One of the teachers asked some of his students not to act so smart, so that he would look more intelligent in front of the class.

Mr. Lolwer is having a fantasy about the P.E teacher (Coach Webb). Then the advisor asks him if he is in a relationship or something and he feels like the subject of dating keeps coming up and he doesn’t think he can handle it right now.

“They say 6/10 kids walk about with a college education.” Mr. Lolwer gets really angry with one of his students because his cell phone and he kind of loses it and goes all off on the students. He is having a really hard time having patience with his students and earning respect. I honestly feel bad for teachers sometimes because I can’t imagine being that patient all the time and trying to teach a group of rowdy kids.

One of the teachers is talking to the students about being teacher of the year. So I think he is going to convince his students to win the teacher of the year. He says that he wants to take the other teacher down basically. This teacher is now having students make posters for him and also making them do some undercover work for him. I think it is crazy how much he is taking charge, he wants it for the name not so much for the actual position. He is letting it all go to his head. When he doesn’t win teacher of the year he asks his students to tell him the bright side. He ends up throwing a desk because of his anger; he is acting like a child. Then in the end he says “a grandma beat me.” He is being disrespectful to other teachers.

“He doesn’t have to respect me, but he has to act like he does.” That is true. But, I think that the teacher has to be the bigger person and I think that he has a lot to learn. He goes over to talk to one of the student’s moms about his behavior and then the mom ends up giving him advice about how to teach. Then he gets drunk and he needs a cab to get home.

Ms. Webb and the AP keep fighting about changes that Ms. Webb wants. The AP is missing when she gets to teach. She feels like she has been focusing so much on the children with discipline problems and knows she wants to focus on the students who actually want to learn.

They are having a “spelling hornet” which is for the teachers to spell slang words that the students always say. Mr. Lolwer wins the spelling bee.

All the teachers go and play sports together and hangout. It is cool to see how Mr. Lolwer starts to make a better bond with his students by getting involved with the student’s language/speak and the spelling bee. All in all at the end of the year, the students and the teachers I think both learned something. They learned that you still have to be the strong and mature one. Lolwer said, “That being a teacher is a gift and maybe it can be something you can learn… but no one’s taught me.” He ends up quitting after his first year I believe.  

My Thoughts: I think that this helps me think about education that some of these situations are true. I mean yes at times they were over the top, but there were some truth to them also.  That students will make fun of some teachers and that some teachers don’t know how to “handle a class,” But, overall I think that they were ok teachers like underneath all the silliness and exaggeration, most of these teachers really did want to teach and be there for their students. I think that there was lots of improvement that could have been made. Like the way that teachers talked with each other that it needed to be on a more professional level. The way that they talk with their students also it could have been more respectful with dealing with the discipline and different things, and for sure the cursing at their student’s right back at them was not necessary. Some of these teachers needed to practice self-control.