I did a search for a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow for this post and wow! I wish she could sub at my school, in the classroom next door, and come by and ask for help working the overhead or vcr some other archaic piece of technology that every school has and few teachers can work properly.
Ever since she had her head cut off in Seven, Gwyneth Paltrow has been one of my favourite movie star fruit. Like a shiny red apple you just want to bite into. Wasn’t she in the English movie about Shakespeare that was pretty good? Her character in this episode made her even sweeter because she played that “Hey, I’m cool too” teacher that is good for a one or two class stand but quickly becomes cheap and a push-over.
The kids need the Schuester wisdom rather than the flighty “tweet-style” teaching she represents. She’s barely more than a student it was good writing to see her whole teaching philosophy collapse around her leading to her break-down and a string of blubbering “whatever, I don’t know, whatever…”
Sure the education system is seriously out of date, riddled with faulty pedagogy, and in serious jeopardy of having creativity squeezed out of it by bumbling bureaucrats. But it’s what we have and kids need role models, not more “buddies.” I am Schuester fan and I’m glad he got some props. The songs were pretty weak and out of place which was disappointing, but I think it was more for Gwyneth to strut than anything else. I’m okay with that.