We watched Remember the Titans today. This came from a discussion we were having as I read Jackie's Nine to the class. Jackie's Nine was written by Sharon Robinson, the daughter or Jackie Robinson. She takes nine character traits that her father possessed. For each one, she writes a story from his life where he exemplified this trait. She also adds stories of others who exemplify this trait. Recently, we read about the first trait in the book: courage. She told the story of when her father met Branch Rickey, manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branch tested Jackie to see how he would handle the pressures that would confront him as the first black player in the major leagues. Jackie was infuriated, but kept his cool... even to the point of clasping his hands behind his back so he wouldn't lash out at Rickey. Rickey was enormously impressed with Robinson's composure. When asked, "Mr. Rickey, do you want a ball player who will fight back?", Rickey responds, "No, I want a ballplayer with the courage NOT to fight back." That's a really hard thing for students to ingest, especially since they get a lot of mixed messages in their lives. We discussed the difference between prideful fighting and defending yourself from physical attack. The discussion made me think if Remember the Titans. The students really wanted to watch it Friday, so we did.
Remember the Titans was based on the true story of Coach Boone, an African American football coach brought to be head coach in a community in the early 1970s where the football team had no African American players. It shows the struggle of two coaches who eventually become good friends. It shows what Coach Boone endured to create a team from students who hated each other for no other reasons than that is what society had taught them to do. The team went on to win the State title, with a 13-0 season, despite the team captain becoming paralyzed in a car accident. The students loved this movie, and it is one of my all-time favorites.
The students left today with a few things:
- book orders need to be returned by February 27 if you wish to order
- mark charts need to be signed and returned Monday
- parent-teacher conferences will be held next week; if you wanted/needed a conference, I write a note to you on your child's Home Communication form (sent home Wed.) to confirm at date and time; otherwise, you do not need to worry about having an additional conference with me
Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks to all for the generosity of treats for the party!
