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=Leadership Video Activity: //Mr. Holland's Opus//: The Sleeping Giant Who Sleeps no More=

Rubric Information (Target: 3)

 * Publication Information
 * Target: complete information provided (determined by class and instructor)
 * Summary of Video: content, focus, theme(s), style
 * Understandable summary with sufficient details re: content, style, focus, theme(s), etc.
 * Quality of film related to teacher leadership qualities studied in readings & class
 * Complete Discussion of the film's quality and the leadership qualities represented by the film
 * Quality of portrayal of teachers; message for teachers, viewers
 * Brief, but specific, explanation of film's message about teachers for viewers

Notes from instructor:
I can access the video through netflix (that's the way that I did it last semester, and it worked well) Sounds good. I will attach an actual word document so that you can just print it and make copies. If I have it completed by the morning will that be soon enough? (I'm shooting for tonight but will want a final edit...)

HANDOUT Background Information: "Mr. Holland's Opus" Released on January 19th, 1996 Publication Company: Hollywood Pictures Directed by Stephen Herek Richard Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar (Best Lead Actor) for his role as Mr. Holland

Summary: The fictional movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" centers around the life of Glenn Holland, who after working as a professional performance musician, decides to fall back on his teaching license for a few years in order to spend more time pursuing his passion, musical composition. The story begins in 1965 as Mr. Holland accepts a job teaching high school music classes at John F. Kennedy High School. He and his wife, Iris, agree that he will teach for four years, at which point they will have saved enough money for him to quit teaching and pursue composition full-time. Of course, life throws the Hollands a curveball when Iris becomes pregnant. Though Mr. Holland has found that teaching allows him none of the free time he thought he would have to compose, he commits to staying in the classroom to support his family. A few months after the birth of their son, Cole, named after jazz musician John Coltrane, Glenn and Iris discover that is deaf. While Iris centers her life around Cole, learning sign language and fighting to send him to a school for the hearing impaired, Mr. Holland distances himself from his son, with whom he had dreamed of sharing his love for music. Though Mr. Holland had entered the teaching profession reluctantly, he quickly changes from a careless, disinterested teacher who barks orders at his students into a dedicated, passionate professional who mentors struggling or especially talented students. He spends 30 years in the classroom and much of the movie centers around his interactions with specific students, including a motivated but hopeless clarinetist, a hardworking wrestler who needs to learn an instrument to secure academic eligeibility for wrestling, an intellectually gifted but perpetually stoned young man, and a talented vocalist who stars in his Gershwin revue and invites him to run away to New York with her where they could both pursue their musical careers. (He doesn't.) Through the years, Mr. Holland finds himself constantly at odds with school administrators who question the relevance and appropriateness of his musical instruction. Finally, in 1995, his former nemesis turned principal decides to cut the entire arts program in the name of district-wide budget cuts. Mr. Holland fights the principal and school board, but eventually accepts that his career is over at age 60. On his last day on the job, his wife and son draw him into the school auditorium, which he finds filled with former and current students and faculty members. To his surprise, a group of his students ask him to conduct them in the debut performance of the symphony he has spent so many years composing, but never was able to share.

Teacher Leadership Qualities Portrayed in the Film: (I will add to this part and make connections to the texts) Passion Dedication to learning Competent in classroom (K & M, ch. 1, p. 6) Works with others in school (football coach, drama teacher, etc.) K & M, ch 1, p. 8 Accepts responsibility for achieving outcomes/ follow-through on leadership responsibilities (K & M, ch. 1, p. 10)

Quality of the Teacher as Portrayed in the Film: Mr. Holland is clearly a fictional teacher. In his first months in the classroom, he starts out as a grumpy teacher who calls out individual students for playing poorly and makes no effort to design lessons or engage his students. However, in true Hollywood style, he transforms overnight into the type of teacher who comes before school and after school to mentor students, who uses rock and roll to teach students about Bach, and who sacrifices his own dreams in order to meet the needs of the students.

The Take-Away Message: ~Title, Date of Release, Publication Company or Source, Director, Actors/Actresses if they are famous ~Summary of Film ~Quality of film related to teacher leadership qualities ~Quality of portrayal of teacher ~What is the message for teachers and non-teachers

I think between the two of us we'll be able to wing it on the talking :) Presentation: ~Set up context of the clip ~Tell what to watch for ~Show the clip ~Discuss the teacher leadership characteristics and how these are achieved in the film - how are they represented in this clip and in the film as a whole