7. There are no videos in English classes.

There are no videos in English classes. Or if there are, I've been signing up for the wrong ones. Almost every other subject shows videos in their classes. I don't care if the video is about baboon mating rituals or the proper ways of delivering a speech. Films are a great way to break away from the everyday school routine. Even when there are movie adaptations of the book we are reading for English class, teachers opt to stick to the text versions only.

Dead Poets Society is a great movie. If I had it my way, I'd integrate the film into every high school curriculum in the nation. For those of you who have never seen the film, it is about an English teacher (Robin Williams) who challenge his students to rethink their perspectives on life through his teachings.

A must-watch for all English students

Not only does the film provide valuable lessons in English, but it helps students become better people as well. The movie has noble ambitions and carries them out in a far more enjoyable manner than most of the other teachings methods found in schools.

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is the reading of Walt Whitman's poem, "O Captain! My Captain!" The poem is as follows:

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

It is the first literary work read by the students in the English class and it stays with them. As the movie draws to a close, the students salute the English teacher by referring to him as "my captain!" On that note, I think I'm going to download the movie and watch it against for old time's sake. Or better yet, Jay, if you're reading this, I think it's time for you to become our Captain and show us the film in class.