A video that proves education can have heart.

DVDs:


	• The Hobart Shakespeareans Michael York, Ian McKellen New Video Group, 2006 average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Great DVD

I'm glad someone made this on such a great educator. He is very inspirational and I like to read about teachers who really care about their students and the educational process. I hope more get to see this DVD or read his books.

Educating the broader child...

The truly inspirational aspect of this film and the teacher it presents is not that it is a cookie cutter mold for all teachers to follow, but that it demonstrates how teachers can bring their individual passions to bear in a classroom to ultimately achieve much more than high test scores. More impressive to me than the fact that this teacher achieves unabridged Shakespeare productions with 5th graders is that he helps his students learn to be self-disciplined, hard-working individuals, motivated from within, rather than without. This is his greatest achievement in my eyes. I have seen him in person, along with his students, and was impressed by their mutual authenticity. He is very candid with respect to his own shortcomings and his opinions of things around them, which may offend some. He is understandably proud of his achievements as a teacher, and does not try to propose that all teachers copy him. For those that are interested in understanding and learning from what he does, he is happy to share.

for more information click here

A video that proves education can have heart.

The story in The Hobart Shakespeareans is remarkable and touching. A great video for teachers, all those in education, for parents who want their children to succeed as both students and human beings.

For teachers, administrators, and parents

It is really quite amazing to watch what Rafe Esquith does in his 5th grade classroom with students from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

The interviews with the kids themselves are enlightening. One boy recalls his fourth grade teacher's impatience with his inability to understand certain points and contrasts Esquith's willingness to explain and reteach it over and over again. The kids call him "Rafe" not "Mr. Esquith." Tears roll down the cheeks of fifth graders who are moved by the lines of Shakespeare or the predicament of Huck Finn.

College pennants from Yale, Harvard, USC, UCLA cover the walls of the classroom as proof of what his former students have achieved and as encouragement for his current students. Esquith's attitude and classroom personae are uplifting but he is realistic. While talking to a group of teachers in Houston, he discusses "No Child Left Behind" and the effort that is required from the kids, themselves, and the fact that some of them are unwilling or unable to give that effort.

Then there is the annual Shakespeare play. Classroom visits from Michael York and Ian McKellen have the students rapt and wide-eyed. York tells the kids that in Shakespeare's time an audience attended a performance to "hear" a play, NOT "see" a play.

If you are connected to schools as a teacher, an administrator, or as a parent, you must see this program.

for more information click here

Work hard and be nice

Rafe Esquith has two rules in his classroom. They are not "raise your hand to talk" or "keep your hands and feet to yourself," but, "work hard and be nice." I first heard Rafe's story on NPR when a friend emailed it to me. She loaned me her copy of The Hobart Shakespeareans, and I have since purchased several copies myself. Why several copies? Because I have loaned it or given it to other educators on several occasions. I teach pre-service teachers at the college level, and I teach classroom teachers at the graduate level, and I have not met one who did not find inspiration in this story. Rafe creates the most positive classroom environment I have ever seen. We all hear about setting "high expectations" for our students, but what good are expectations when there is no support provided? Rafe provides incredible support, but as he readily admits, he was not always this type of teacher. However, he was willing to learn from his mistakes. Rafe clearly cares very deeply about every single student. His investment of time, energy, and yes, money, is the hallmark of every excellent teacher out there (and, yes, there are many!), so it is thrilling to A) see him recognized on behalf of all excellent teachers, and B) view him as a role model for all teachers who seek to become even more effective. When you view the DVD, keep your eyes on the classroom walls. You will see pennants from top colleges and universities from around the country. My first thought was, "Oh, that's nice and encouraging," but look closer... you will see students' names and graduation dates posted under each pennant. These are Rafe's former students, and look what they have achieved! Those high expectations paid off because they also received the support necessary to succeed. Rafe takes his students on field trips to college campuses, to Washington D.C. and to Gettysburg. He instills pride in them to work hard and be responsible for themselves. He teaches them how to play baseball, how to play guitar, and how to balance a checkbook. In addition to this DVD, read his books, There Are No Shortcuts (also his class motto) and Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56. As one who loves Mark Twain and spends all of my spare time trying to help teachers to teach Mark Twain, my favorite scene in the film comes in the first ten minutes when these wonderful 5th graders are reading the famous scene from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Modern Library Classics) (chapter 31) where Huck is making his fateful decision. The students are crying and clearly distraught that Huck, who is doing such a noble deed, should be seen by society as a "bad boy," as one student puts it. Clearly, 5th grade students can handle Huck Finn when taught by a teacher who knows what he is doing. These kids read To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, and other American classics. They also know their Shakespeare as the title indicates. You will watch this over and over, and you will continually be inspired. For teachers, for parents, and for anyone who loves a real life hero.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS is a delightful profile of one phenomenal teacher and his eager students who together touchingly demonstrate the power of education. What happens in Rafe Esquith s classroom defies the odds. With genuine passion and ironclad conviction Esquith turns the Asian-American and Latino children of a violence-stricken central Los Angeles neighborhood on to the wonders of Shakespeare Mark Twain and mathematics. The Hobart Boulevard Elementary fifth-graders respond heartily rattling off the names of Shakespeare s thirty-seven plays or doing rapid-fire arithmetic in their heads. The children are refreshingly engaged as Esquith takes them to Washington D.C. to visit national monuments leads them on tours of college campuses and implores them to work hard and believe in their own self-worth. At the end of the semester they pull together--with a little help from famous actors Ian McKellen and Michael York--their final triumph: a student production of Hamlet. Through tears and laughter this endearing troupe casts aside the conventional wisdom about the failures of education in the United States. Academy Award-nominated director Mel Stuart deftly probes the secrets of Esquith s winning strategy in a story as inspiring and rewarding as it is exceptional. DVD Features: Filmmaker Interview; Filmmaker Biography; Interactive Menus; Scene Selection Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 767685976234 Manufacturer No: NVG-9762

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Not too cool for school--movies about school
Resource Library for Spanish Teachers
Teachers and mentors
Best Documentaries
dvds

search for DVDs
hobart, shakespeareans

Impressum / about us