Name: Nguyen, Lan Phuong

09/10/2011

FYS: Liberating Arts

A good teacher

“A good teacher is like a candle- it consumes itself to light the way for others”

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, translated from Turkish

The movie “ To Be and To Have” directed by Nicolas Philibert and the movie “

Mad Hot Ballroom” by Marilyn Agrelo has shown how a good teacher could light the

way for students. Ms.Reynoso, the dance teacher of Washington Heights in “ Mad Hot

Ballroom” lights up her shy, talented elementary students with their love for dancing,

their ability to do what they believe in. Mr. Lopez, the teacher in one-room schoolhouse

in France’s rural Auvergne teaches his kinder-garden kids, his elementary students with

his warm-heart to show them step by step to the real world. They teach their students

with different methods, they encourage them by different ways and they are strict with

their students in different levels. Despite their differences, they both love and care so

much for students. They want to bring to their students chances to well- educated,

confidence to become a successful person, certainty to have bright future.

Ms. Reynoso and Mr. Lopez come from different countries but they are admired

for their devotion for the children. Mr.Lopez, a teacher in one-room schoolhouse in

France’s rural Auvergne shows himself as a strict teacher but he is really kind to the

students. His school house locates in a beautiful, peaceful countryside area and it helps

his student’s chances to play around, to learn from the world easier. Mr. Lopez’s students

have chance to explore the nature while students from big city do not have that chance

because they have to be in the school most of the time. He has students at different ages

from 4 years old to 9 years old. It will make his jobs difficult because the kids are very

wild, un-mature and uncontrollable. If he concentrated teaching the students preparing for

middle school, he could not keep his eyes on kinder garden kids. The director has done

such a good jobs to captures the kinder garden kids’ moment while their teachers are not

there. They can not focus, they think about other things and they do not follow their

teacher’s instruction. Mr. Lopez does not ban or shout at the kids. He patiently asks them

to do the work, teaches them if they do not understand. When two students are fighting

with each other, he tells them to sit down to talk with each other. During the movie, Mr.

Lopez is rarely angry with the students but they are afraid of him. He is strict in a kind

way that helps them understand what their problem is. His kindness, generosity teaches

the kid the first step to the real world: open your mind, listen to friend, treat people

nicely, and study hard. He prepares for the students coming to middle school with

knowledge, confidence and his love.

Ms. Reynoso creates for her students their own fairy tales about hope, dream, and

passion in “Mad Hot Ballroom”. She has brought to the students who come from

different backgrounds, have different characters the love for dancing and the belief for

themselves. She has broken all the limitations inside those students, showed them how

good they are and let them shine in the ballroom. Her 5th grade students face with harsher

reality more than students from other schools. Their communities are poor communities

where people live below the poverty line. The students who have been grown up in these

communities will be easily affected. They seem to be really shy of themselves and they

are willing to give up so easily. Ms. Reynoso will never give up on them, she commits to

her students with her love and her dedication. She loves them so much even they are

street kids and are difficult to teach. In one monologue, she wishes she could reach

inside her students “minds and give them the strength to resist the lures of the street, to

make something of themselves as individuals”. She finally reaches those students who

are greatly inspired, who have talent and ambition to make the best team. She pushes

them not only in practice but in their mind. In one dance scene, she asks her students

whether they want to win in the competition, no one answers it. She tells them the goal of

winning because they are winners. They have to practice a lot, they are tired but Ms.

Reynoso never lets them stop when they complain. One of the boys misbehaves and Ms.

Reynoso dismissed them immediately. She is helping them reach the ultimate satisfaction

in doing their best and the experience at the highest of perfection. Her 5th grade students

win the competition against a professional elite school not only because of their breath

taking dance at the end but also their perfection, passion in dancing. Ms.Reynoso cries

when she watches them dancing. She cries because she has achieved the biggest

happiness to become a teacher: looking at students successful.

Ms.Reynoso and Mr. Lopez teach the students with different methods but they

both bring passion for students to makes them successful. They teach students at different

ages so they have different ways teaching students. While Mr. Lopez diligently answers

the kinder garden students, Ms. Reynoso always pushes her primary school students to

practice. Mr. Lopez gives more flexible time for the kinder garden kids; he just gives

them some drawings and more time to play outside. When one boy does not want to

complete his work before playing with his friends, Mr.Lopez asks him why and tells him

that he should do it. Mr.Lopez is very patient with his students especially when they get

trouble with math or reading. The students respect him and always call him “Sir”.

Ms.Reynoso always pushes her students to practice dancing. When they are tired, she

turns on different music. She dances with the students like a partner. It helps them dance

faster and makes her more closed to students. Both Mr. Lopez and Ms. Reynoso go into

their students’ memories with their patience, the eagerness to teach the students.

Mr. Lopez and Ms.Reynoso always encourage their students and prepare them for

a better future but in different ways. When some students in Mr. Lopez‘s schoolhouse

prepares to go to middle school, he takes them to visit the new middle school. He spends

all day taking them to see new school, showing how classroom will look like. He

encourages students who are not confident about their skills that they can do it. On the

last day, he talks with a girl, who is going to middle school that he will miss her and she

will do well in her middle school. She cries, she thinks she can not handle but he hugs her

and tells her to come and see him every Saturday. That is such beautiful scene because it

shows the longtime connection between a teacher and a student. Besides, Ms. Reynoso

also encourages her students by preparing them carefully before the competition. She

takes all students to pick up dresses so that they could have the same dresses, clothing’s,

hair styles. She prepares for them not only the dress code and but also manner for their

adult life. The new dresses and clothing makes them look beautiful and feel confident.

They dance into the audience’s heart, mind with the swing move in each dance. They

may come from different families but dance is a joy that connects them together. They

dance like no one is watching; they write their own fairy tales as everyone admire their

strength. They deserve the highest rank for their unstoppable achievement. Their

teachers, Ms.Reynoso has pushed them with that achievement by her love, her caring.

It will be time for students to say goodbye to their teachers but they will instills

wonderful teachers like Mr. Lopez, Ms.Reynoso for their unique encouragement that

bring the students to new level.

All teachers, not only Mr. Lopez, Ms. Reynoso should be honored for what they

have done. Teachers play an important part on students’ success because they are the first

people who can open the door of knowledge, manner for students. They are the heroes of

the world for what they have done for the future generations. They teach the students

with all the love they could give, all the time they could spend to bring for students better

future. Around the world, there are millions of candles like Mr. Lopez, Ms. Reynoso are

lighting up their student’s lives, future with their patience, their strict, their devotion.