A terrible movie if you are an educator

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I'm not a music teacher, so I claim ignorance of most of the technical aspects of music and of education from an educator's point of view. However, what I want to know is -- how did they (the former students) get together enough to be able to practise The Opus enough to get it perfect the very first time that Mr. Holland conducted it? These people had gone on to various lives in various parts of the country, and they were not for the most part concert musicians, so I find it hard to believe that they could just pick up their high school instruments and play such a grand theme without practise.

MENC is the Music Educators' National Conference, the subtitle is the National Association for Music Education... it's a little tricky, since both titles mean the same thing.

This is one of my favorite movies. Keep in mind that this is foremost a 'people story', and therefore I appreciate it as such. If I wanted to view an educational film I would turn on the public television channel.

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How can you say that it's a "terrible movie if you're an educator" ?? I mean, yah, in some places it's really cheesy and contrived, but all in all, it's a great flick. I saw this movie when I was 14. A friend of the family at the time is a sign language interpreter and recommended the movie. I was instantly in love not only because the music was awesome, but because initially, this guy DID NOT want to be a teacher and in the end, fought to STAY a teacher. He had a passion for his music and for his teaching and he wanted to continue to share his passion with more students.

If you asked me, teaching is not a job you go into for the paycheck (though it sure is nice to have!), you're in it because you LOVE what you teach, you have a passion for it and you share that passion with your students and inspire them, even if it's just for a year while they are your student, to love it as much as you do. The guy has a passion for his music and that's something that some teachers really need. As Mrs. Jacobs said in the beginning, "...you have two jobs - to fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but also to give those minds a compass."

As I think back over my life, alot of the people who have shaped my life have been teachers. And you know what, those teachers loved what they did and they just wanted to see their students do their very best. Seldom if ever do these men & women get the grand send off that Mr. Holland's character did, but they deserve it. They often spend their own money to get supplies for their classrooms, they spend hours at home grading tests, quizzes, & essays, they often spend their summers furthering their education. Many go on to get masters degrees (or more!) in their line of work. These hardworking ladies & gentlemen work their tails off for not alot of money because they have passion.

I know I've been on my soapbox long enough, but I'd like to close in saying that this movie, though you may need some wine to accompany its cheese, inspires me to want to go into the teaching profession. Mind you I want to teach computers - my passion - but regardless this movie is part of why I want to teach. Yes, there are other reasons, I'm not that gullible, but this goes to show you that YES you do make an impact. It's alot of hard work being a teacher, but if you inspire even ONE kid to nurture their passion and to be the best they can be, then you've just seen your "opus" and you've done your job to the best of your ability. I'm proud to say my gramma is a retired teacher, my mother in law has been a teacher for nearly 30 years, my little brother is in college to be a teacher and I want desperately to join their ranks next fall when I plan to finally go back to college (seven years after graduating high school) and study education.

"Mr. Holland had a profound influence on my life and on a lot of lives I know. But I have a feeling that he considers a great part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his. And this was going to make him famous, rich, probably both. But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. But he would be wrong, because I think that he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life. "

I think this stands above most movies (or television shows) about teaching for two reasons. One is that Mr. Holland doesn't enter the classroom and immediately become a great teacher, nor does he find himself in a terrible crisis situation with dangerous, delinquent students. Like most real teachers, he needs time to figure out how to communicate with, and really educate, his students, and as he discovers this, he also discovers a real love of his job, finding, to his own surprise, that it has become a calling. The other thing that is superior about this movie is that the lead character is not a lone dedicated teacher among a bunch of uncaring slobs who are only there for the paycheck, as we so often see in presentations about teaching. The other teachers and administrators are really concerned about their students, and constantly go the extra mile to help develop them. Even the "bad guy," Mr. Walters, acts out of his own honest opinions about what will most benefit the students. I found this aspect of the movie both realistic, and refreshing in contrast to so many other films about teachers.

That´s your opinion because you see my two aunt are educators and they loved this movie, my old piano professor also loved it.