Sam's Blog on The Hobart Shakespearians

 This film made me think about many things. The one thing that stood out the most was the teachers idea that he was teaching these children not only for today, but for the rest of their lives. The teacher whose name is Rafe, accomplishes this by setting high expectations for his students and a lot of hard work. Rafe uses the recurring theme, to be nice and work hard. Not only does he preach this, he also practices it. He sets the example for the kids to follow, and eventually all the kids end up following his example. He calls this feat a a numbers game. The few kids that are not initially interested, find themselves alone and want to be apart of the class and fall into line. This achievement of having all of the kids involved, showed me that great thing are possible when a class is functioning as a team. This is when real learning can take place.

  Rafe uses two methods that pedagogy that I found were encouraging. He uses the money system as way of rewarding the children for  their hard work and doing their job. He also uses this system as a way of punishment for not doing their work. I like this method because it goes along with his idea of having influence on the children in the future. This method of showing hard work pays off can stay with these children forever. The other method that that Rafe uses is no tolerance for bad behavior. He has a banner in his class that reads, "There are no shortcuts." He stresses to the children that when they cheat, they are only cheating themselves. This is another life lesson that can go with these children long after they leave his class. However, he does not just preach to these children about right or wrong. Nor does he only reward or punish them for their work. He has fun with the class, he recognizes there potential and even more important, he helps the kids recognize their own potential. As the class leaves at the end of the year, he leaves them with this line, "This is the beginning, not the end." I liked this quote because it shows the kids that they are just starting their journey and to keep the ball rolling.

  My goal for 2014, is to be less selfish with the very limited free time that I have. Between college and working full time, I do not have much quality time with my family. There are many things that I like to do for fun, but my family is much more important. I should spend every second I can manage with them