Bridge to Terabithia

Just this evening I saw the movie Bridge to Terabithia. I know it's a kids' film, but it really was incredible. Wonderfully colorful and creative, with a lot of deep characters portrayed by some talented kids. Remember the girl from Because of Winn-Dixie? She plays Leslie, one of the main characters, and I was blown away. She and the other main character, Jess, together created a unique sense of reality and true happiness that I haven't felt in a movie in a long time. Sometimes I think that movies made for kids are the most profound of all.

Anyway, I'm writing about this in my Ed Pysch blog because there were several scenes in the movie centering around the K-8 school's music teacher, Ms. Edmonds. Of course, she was the cliche pretty, younger teacher that all the 6th grade boys had a crush on, but I found her teaching style really unique. She used popular songs that she taught to the kids to train their voices and they sang together as a sort of choir. She led them on acoustic guitar and handed out percussion instruments for the to play along with. These scenes really struck me--the kids looked so happy and fulfilled when they sang. Perhaps I'll use this method in my classroom someday. How cool would it be to just jam with your students for a while, rocking out to your favorite late 90s songs?

This teacher, Ms. Edmonds, also struck me because the main character, Jess, was quiet in class and never really spoke out. One Saturday morning she invited him to come to the art museum with her because she knew that he kept a sketchbook that he drew all sorts of things in. They spent the day at the art museum, and she just stood back and watched him as he was inspired by all these famous artists' work. This is a quality in a teacher that I think is very important--a certain eye for each individual's strengths and passions, and looking for ways in which we as teachers can bring those out and in turn bring out the true happiness and personality of each kid. I don't think there will probably ever be a more rewarding experience as a teacher than seeing that awe-filled, eager smile of a student that has just learned or discovered something that we teach them that will probably change their life.

You should probably see this movie.