Some of the values and personality traits that characterize successful teachers in the classroom include persistence, patience and flexibility. All throughout the featured documentary, I observed the different teachers, particularly when serving special needs students or other underserved youth demographics. Those that tended to make more significant breakthroughs continued to persist through difficulty, particularly regarding poorly communicating students and aggressive demeanor. Miss Carter especially set down boundaries in relation to certain students, both for the sake of their future wellbeing and her own.

I believe that not only are salary and work-hour issues hindering teachers from being adequately poured into today, but student and parental aggression also pose a challenge. As seen in the video, police were involved in several of the cases that occurred, and many of these risky predicaments can prove themselves to be emotionally detrimental for teachers even as they do their best to remain calm and consistent in the workplace. From the child that had his hand intentionally slammed into the door to those acting out for reasons teachers are yet to decipher, education is a field full of emotionally taxing situations that require healthy boundaries and levels of investment.

Teachers can look to community and authority for support- at times. Oftentimes administration and leadership fall short and forget to use their power to "pour into" those around them, under their supervision, and under their care, but there are other sources from which teachers may derive care if necessary. From relying on one another to supportive student families, therapy services, and those in other fields working with children, other opportunities are available when it comes to receiving help.

After having watched this documentary, I found that my emotions regarding teaching have not changed, despite my eyes now opening to a multitude of negative facets in teaching that I previously hadn't considered. This being said, much of the video also captured my attention in a positive way, such as Merlin/Marlin's gratitude and pride exchanged between him and his teacher towards the end of the video, and other beautiful bonds between students and their teachers being demonstrated. I still hope to continue in my pursuit of the profession, though the harrowing reality that can come with teaching has certainly reminded me to stay alert and continue to pray about whether this is or is not a calling from Christ.

Some personality traits some teachers have are being the type of person they want their kids to be Maurice a kindergarten teacher says "If somehow you connect with them make them feel like you're in their favor they'll bend over backwards for you." Genevieve on the other hand wanted to make a difference on African-Americans and latinos she says, "What really caught my attention was seeing how so many African-Americans and latino students were doing so poorly I mean for me it was like wow somebody needs to do something about this". These are essential to a teachers' success because you need to have a reason to be motivated to teach.

Some of the biggest challenges teachers face in the US are for example opportunities for special needs classes like Andrew a special education teacher said, "I think a lot of the reasons why they get placed here is because they're dumped in this class because they don't know what to do with them". In most cases they don't have enough students to complete a whole special education class so they get mixed with a regular education class, which prohibits them from learning at their pace. Another challenge is students not feeling like they are worthy of becoming successful. George states, "a lot of these kids do not see themselves as ever being able to make it". Most of these kids are not from the U.S so they struggle adjusting to a different lifestyle than the one they grew up with and are used to.

Some teachers depend on speech therapists to help their students be able to communicate better. Genevieve works with the kids that other people don't want to teach and that's what motivates her. This is important because teachers have the ability to set an example to their students and teach them about real world problems, life outside of school and shape these people's lives. As well as families of the students who are supportive of the teachers and want to help their kids as well like when the grandfather let his grandson stay after school 3 times a week to work with the teacher extra.

After watching the video which was truly amazing to watch opened up my eyes to all the different kinds of students you can possibly encounter, deal with, problems you may have in class. I think a lot of the times it's talked about how difficult it can be to manage a class as a teacher, but to see examples really helps put it into perspective. I also feel like I related to the teachers that talked about wanting to be that role model for their students, and give students opportunities that they deserve because that makes me excited to become a teacher and support my students through anything and help them succeed.

One of the biggest challenges teachers face today in the US is dealing with students who have violent or hostile living conditions at home. At 07:12, we are introduced to Marvin, who is described as a “fabulous fella” who unfortunately has “a lot of anger in him.” As a result, he does not speak, which can present as a challenge for a teacher to handle. In addition, at 09:45, we are introduced to a young student who’s mother purposely slammed a door on his finger. This causes the teacher to have to call a jeopardy program. Lastly, we see another student at 16:45 who’s father spit in his brother’s face and a massive fight broke out at his house, resulting in police action. Many teachers in the US did not grow up in households that had frequent violence, so dealing with students from these types of backgrounds can be unfamiliar and challenging. When entering a teaching job, teachers are often focused on their lesson plans and curriculum, but don’t consider the challenge of dealing with students from violent households that may require additional treatment or attention.

Some of the biggest issues that teachers are facing today are the lack of interest in parents of guardians in knowing how their student is doing. We can see an example of this 5:58. One of the teachers is concerned about one of this students and was trying to contact family but was ignored 4 times. another issue that teachers face today is discipline problems. We can see and example of this on 6:50. the teacher explains how overwhelming it can be because at some point it can turn dangerous. More issues that teacher face is the violence at home.

Some of the values that characterize successful teachers who thrive in the classroom include having a heart to want to see their students succeed, and meeting the students where they are in their teaching, so that they are able to get the most out of their learning in the classroom. It was clear when watching the documentary that these teachers shared the personality trait of wanting to encourage their students and help them out in any way that they can. One teacher had said,“And that’s my job to tell them I’m happy that you’re here at school today, I’m really happy to see you (Teach, 14:42). Additionally, these teachers are working in schools where there are challenges with funding from the school board, unmotivated students, students with various home lives, possible outbursts of violence/acting out, and students with different levels of learning comprehension. In the midst of all these different challenges, these teachers are resilient in working with the resources that they have to foster a classroom environment where they have empathy for their students and hear what their students have to say.

One of the biggest challenges that US teachers have to face today is that they have to be equipped to work with students who are unmotivated in succeeding in school,based on the low standards that they have set for themselves. This was seen throughout the documentary “Teach”, as one of the teachers had said, “Kids are given labels, and intentionally or not intentionally, the kid picks up on that label, they begin to feel that label and then they believe in that label (Teach, 26:08). If these students are told that they are well below average, they would therefore, perform accordingly. More specifically, this teacher voiced her opinion that the classroom is just one setting where these students reveal to their teachers the inability that they believe they possess. Working with students who are underperforming in school (due to their low self esteem), leads to the teacher having to teach much more than the mandatory curriculum and state standards that is being asked of them. In light of this challenge, teachers have to “give” to their students in so many other ways in areas such as patience, love, empathy, and compassion. 

The Teach Documentary made me think about how influential being a teacher is. For example, some of these teachers poured so much more time and effort just so then they could teach their kids well. When one of the teachers in the video was explaining that 10 out of 17 people in her class had a failing grade, she immediately started reaching out and wondering why her method of teaching wasn't resonating with them. This is a good reminder to never stop learning and my way of learning might not be everyone's way of learning. Therefore, I need to be able to teach multiple ways so that the students can understand the content. One other takeaway from the video was that if teachers get good at their job, they have to power to give these kids a better future, or the life they dreamed of. Being a great teacher can push these kids to higher levels, and it can set them up for their future careers.

One of the biggest challenges that US teachers are facing today has to do with parents. I believe that the process of students learning starts at school and finishes at home. However, if the parents aren't willing to cooperate and help the students at home, then the students will struggle. This was evident in the video, when one of the teachers reached out to the parents 4 times concerning a student. Yet, the grandmother didn't respond. It was until the teacher asked if he can make a visit home in order to talk with the grandmother, that they had the opportunity to talk about the student's progress at school. Another challenge teachers are facing is unmotivated students. It really stood out to me when the videos said "A lot of these kids do not see themselves as ever being able to make it." Teachers should be encouraging the students to persevere and that these challenges and obstacles are just part of the process of success.

One of the biggest challenges that teachers face in the U.S. today are students who have a history of violence at home and when they bring that violence and anger inside them to school, it makes for a disastrous outcome. When we see Marvin at around the 7 minute mark, he does not say anything when the teachers were saying he was a "fabulous fella", he did not respond to it and just kept silent. This can be a very difficult situation for a teacher because they have no way of helping the student if they don't cooperate with them. Many teachers don't know how to handle with students who are growing up in violent homes since they likely didn't grow up with frequent violence so it's a hard situation for them to try and help the student. When people become teachers, they are fully prepared to focus on the curriculum way too much and are just astounded when they are met with these sorts of issues. They are just not ready for the amount of patience and understanding they need to have with students who come from these backgrounds.

Some of the values that characterize successful teachers who thrive in the classroom are those who have a passion for teaching, patiences, compassion, and love for their students. After watching this video, I was able to see how each teacher carried these kinds of characteristics, and there were examples given where you see these teachers trying to go above and beyond for them. There was a part in this video where you see the teacher trying to get in contact with his students family to go over how the student has been doing in school. He gets no response, so he decides to go out of his way to go to them to their home and discuss about the student and find ways to help him. Having this care for their students brings them success to the classroom because students can grow the desire to learn if they are being taught by someone who makes it in environment where nurture and effective learning is created.

I think that one of the biggest challenges facing teachers today in the untied states is that there is a lack of help at home. In the video there were multiple examples of students who were unable to complete homework successfully or grasp concepts fully because they didn't have the extra help at home. This is so sad to think about especially with how young they were in the video. If a student doesn't have support at home and the student is sent home with homework they don't understand it will only hinder the student because they will be missing an assignment and not able to get the extra practice that the homework is designed to give them on content. With that in mind students in the upper grades who have to help out around the house and contribute financially may not have time after school to complete homework efficiently and it will begin to hinder them at school as well and teachers often dismiss it as the student being lazy when that isn't the case at all. I think teachers need to be open to ever student and understand that each student comes from a different home background and they need to meet the student where they are in their studies to help them to the fullest.