Chalk

Watched an interesting movie the other night on the Sundance Channel.

Called "Chalk", the movie follows three high school teachers and an assistant principal through a school year.

The first teacher, from the world of "business", is now teaching history, with very little response from his students. They sit stonily on the first day of class, the teacher's frustrations pretty evident.

As time goes by he finally goes to the school library to see how to teach a class. He checks with other teachers and eventually begins to feel comfortable. It takes him most of the year.

The next teacher is vying for teacher of the year, competing with a teacher who has more experience. He gets his students to start "campaigning" for him but ultimately loses both the election and his cool in the classroom, knocking a desk to the floor and breaking down.

The third teacher is a female phy ed teacher who wants to know why, because she has short hair and is a physical education leader, is considered to be gay. She actually has a thing for the history teacher but can't seem to get his attention.

Finally, the assistant principal is a former teacher who has been elevated to the new position. She quickly regrets all the hours she has to put in plus the loss of friendships from her former colleagues.

The movie points to all the horrible things that teachers have to deal with and kind of got me thinking about what a rough job this can be. It was done in a documentary style.

However, at the end of the film, as the credits rolled, it showed that the film was not a documentary but that the teachers were cast for their roles. That was disappointing. It made me feel a little used.

I'm sure that teachers have a really difficult time. But the movie was offset by a series that's showing up on MTV, "The World's Strictest Parents". A couple of students, unknown to each other, are thrust into a family where mom and dad don't allow smoking, cussing, no body piercing and very little privacy.

Watching the two try to deal with these new rules, I started wondering how they got to where they were already. When seeing their backgrounds, it appeared that their parents saw themselves more as "friends" than parents. It's not surprising that teachers are having a hard time with their students.

Both shows worth a watch. And then, what do you think?