The Scoop on: Finding Forrester

This past week my class watched the film, Finding Forrester.  This movie from 2000, tells the story of a young black male, Jamal, played by Rob Brown, and his relationship with a presently withdrawn Pulitzer-Prize winning author William Forrester, played by Sean Connery.  The strange and unlikely relationship between this 16 year-old student and famous author begins when Forrester discovers Jamal has secretly sneaked into his Bronx apartment as a joke with the neighborhood kids.  Jamal, a talented athlete and student, leaves his backpack full of writings behind in the apartment by mistake.  The two meet when Jamal is in need of getting his belongings back and a relationship forms between the two.  Jamal and Forrester are an unlikely pair based on age, race, and socioeconomic status.  However, Forrester soon becomes Jamal's biggest fan and mentor as he is recruited to one of New York's most prestigious private schools after his academic giftedness is discovered through national testing at his high school.  Jamal, on the other hand, becomes Forrester's motivation and inspiration in leaving his private, secluded life to which he created after experiencing loss and also criticism from the public.  Both characters are writers but in different stages of life. While Forrester encourages Jamal to write, Jamal encourages Forrester to trust and "let go".

Throughout the story, we see many examples of challenges in society relating to race, socioeconomic standing, and giftedness.  Jamal, not only an excellent student, is also a talented basketball player.  With many attributes in his life in his favor, he had many other things going against him as he fought to be accepted.  Here are a few examples of the struggles the character Jamal faced:

• Talented basketball player vs. He did not want to be stereo-typed for being black and good at basketball.
• High achieving student vs. He struggled to fit in with the other athletes who were in less challenging classes.
• Was recruited an accepted to prestigious school vs. was reminded of "where he comes from"/neighborhood in the Bronx while there.
• Was a talented writer vs. was accused of plagiarism I.e. his talent and integrity were questioned.
• Befriended a white girl (Claire) vs. skepticism about inter-racial relationship, especially with a faculty member's daughter.
• Jamal experienced a teacher wanting to help vs. a teacher wanting to hinder.

In taking this movie and relating it back to my classroom, it made me think of those students who struggle with trying to fit in, lay low, and be under the radar.  For some kids who are far above their classmates, it may be easier to take this route, so they do not have to experience the awkwardness of giftedness.  This awkwardness could lead to advanced classes away from friends, a change in comfort zone, and new opportunities that are scary to some students.  What we can do for our students is to pay attention and connect with our students so we can see their talents, skills, and giftedness in areas at school.  Some may be obvious, but some talents may be hidden by acting out, laziness/boredom, etc.  In this film, Jamal's teacher was invested in the success of her student that she immediately made contact with the parent and her principal about Jamal.  He went on to experience an educational environment that challenged his true capabilities, and he attended classes that pushed him further than he would have on his own.

I think the best thing we can do as educators is to be fully present in our classrooms to understand and connect with our students.  In inspiring them to be the best that they can be both academically and as people in society, we should reward and nurture their giftedness with positive reinforcement, avoiding assigning tasks as busy work.  By channeling what areas they both excel and lack in, we can boost skills that need boosting, while challenging them in other areas.  We can avoid situations where we have boredom with our gifted students, by actively seeking out resources, tools, and activities so that our high-achieving students do not get overlooked, or worst case, feel punished by their giftedness. 

How do you avoid boredom with your gifted students?  I'd love to know how you avoid boredom and positively keep gifted students engaged.

Reference:

[Finding Forrester image]. Retrieved April 10, 2014 from: http://www.daleelak.tv/uploads/photos/14/Finding_Forrester1.jpg