I just got back from seeing a new mockumentary film, Chalk, which was filmed at a high school here in Austin.   Think of the program “The Office” set in a school, and you get the general idea.

While the school portrayed in the film certainly wasn’t what we’d call a “21st century school” or an example of best practices at all, the film did get some things right about the humanness of teachers, about teaching being an art, and about the little arcane aspects of working in a school, like copiers that are always broken, old water fountains, eating your meals in a lounge, mail slots in the mail room, etc.

And it was definitely painful and touching watching the new teacher’s awkward efforts to comprehend his job.    He poignantly comments that no one really taught him to teach, and it does seem true that much of the time in education that you have to find your own way.   I do believe as he says that teaching is a gift, and perhaps not something you can entirely be taught.

I’d recommend seeing it–I find it hard to relate to many “school” movies because they are so inauthentic–too cliche and feel good.  This was just a quiet, humorous, film that humanizes teaching a little bit, even the worst parts of it.

(P.S. Sorry for the slow pace of  posts lately.  Edublogs has been changing servers and it’s been slow.  I’m hoping to be blogging from the NECC conference starting on Saturday, so I’m hoping it gets faster by then.)

I’m looking forward to meeting many teachers who are leaving a mark on their students and their schools and libraries.   See you next from Atlanta!