Top 9 Teachers on film!

There are many things that inspire someone to become a teacher. One of those, in my case, was  movie teachers. So I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you. They're most certainly not all good examples of what a teacher should be by any means, but I have soft spot for them all.

9. Mrs. McClusky, head mistress of Grange Hill from the BBC TV series of the same name. She spent her school years battling both unruly teachers and students and dealing with a huge variety of problems. Click here for a tribute to her.

8. Jack Black as Dewey Finn, a failed rock guitarist posing as Mr. Schneebly, a substitute teacher in School of Rock. This is a loser-makes-good movie. Jack Black loosens up the unnaturally mature children of a snobby preparatory school and their lives suddenly take on meaning. The great thing is that Black's character is also on the learning curve.

7. St. Trinian's Headmistress Miss Millicent Fritton (played by Alistair Sim in drag) from the 1954 film The Belles of St. Trinian's, has to be one of my earliest memories of a film teacher. Despite being absolutely useless at trying to rein in hordes of screaming, hockey stick waving school girls, (most likely due to her gin drinking and total indifference to the surrounding chaos) she always ends up on top.

6. Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Kimble in Kindergarten Cop (1990). He's an undercover agent who replaces a kindergarten teacher colleague. With absolutely no experience in dealing with small kids, Kimble has the tots marching in line in no time. I'll tell you, there's a few classes where I could put such skill to good use!

5. & 4. The duo of teachers in the life of Matilda The Good, and the Bad and Ugly of teaching, Miss Trunchpole and Miss Honey are polar opposites in teaching. 'The Trunchpole', as she is known literally tortures her charges with chocolate cake or swinging them around her head by their pigtails, where as Miss Honey is sweetness and light, who loves reading and brings joy to learning. There were few who didn't know how to spell difficulty after this movie.

3. Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid is the epitome of patience and virtue, the teacher who just knows that composure and determination are the way to get what you want. If you have never seen the 1984 original version of the movie, it is a cult masterpiece; wax on, wax off my friends!

2. Then, of course, Robin Williams' performance as John Keating in Dead Poets Society, comes in a very close second. Here is a teacher that inspires his students to 'seize the day' and do what they have thus far only dreamed of! Do not be food for worms!

1. Those of you who have ever seen me dressed up for Halloween, will not be surprised by number one on my list. Minerva McGonagall, like many other favourite teachers here was first introduced to the world through the pages of a novel (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), however Dame Maggie Smith's portayal literally brings the character to life just as I had imagined her. I really hope that I have even half the skill and talent, the fairness and strictness as a teacher.

Do you have a favourite fictional teacher? Comment below and let me know!

Back to School after Lockdown

Whether you are raring to get back into the swing of things, reluctant, cautious or scared, we are going back to school. May 18th 2020, here in Greece at least, we're restarting school. Whichever reaction describes yours, there's one thing that is true, this school year has been like no other any of us have experienced.

I've got a few pointers for your academic progress and performance in English. Please bear in mind that I am assuming you have done nothing since March 11th when school closed. (If you are diligent then this blog post is probably not for you!)

All students:

Make sure you have all your equipment in your bag: course books, exercise books, pens, pencils, hand-outs. Throw away the mouldy sandwich that has been festering there for 2 months! Add hand sanitizer, masks and optional single-use gloves.

Young learners:

What do you remember? Have a look at the course books you've been using. Do you remember the character names? Can you still read the dialogues? How many words do you remember? Do you still know the grammar rules? If you have ebooks listen to the recordings again.

Pre-Intermediate + non-exam takers: 

Read all the texts again to familiarise yourself with both the grammar and vocabulary. Catch up on the homework you left until after Lockdown. (That time is now!) 

Pre-Intermediate + exam takers:

Revise vocabulary and grammar. Re-familiarise yourself with exam style tasks. Check the website or social media sites for your exam board, see if there are any online revision exercises or sample tests you can do. Find a friend who's taking the same exam as you and do some mock interviews from your course book or test book. Record the 'interview' and then be your own examiners; what did you do well? What could you have done better?

Most of all, stay safe, study hard and focus on the task in hand. Wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your distance. You can do this!