Teby Sam

Carl L Huf
Lindsay Collins

Coach Carter
Teachers in the Media: The Master
Teacher Project

"I will do everything in my power to get

you to college and get you to a better
life." - Coach Carter

Synopsis
This is a film, which dismisses the
notion that not everyone can be
successful. A coach, who works in
retail is asked to become the
basketball coach of a group of
talented basketball players who
have never been challenged
academically. He believes in
them and teaches them to
believe in themselves.

Brief Trailer Coach Carter

The four domains

Domain I: DESIGNING INSTRUCTION AND
ASSESSMENT TO PROMOTE STUDENT
LEARNING .
Domain II: CREATING A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT .
Domain III: IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE ,
RESPONSIVE INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT.
Domain IV: FULFILLING PROFESSIONAL ROLES
AND RESPONSIBILITIES .

Domain I: DESIGNING INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT TO

PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING
Coach Ken Carter inspires the basketball players to be
conscious about morality and their sense of right and wrong.
The Coach plans instruction and learning mile markers for
the students. They must accomplish certain academic goals in
order to continue to be on the basketball team.
The coach explains to the players that choices are more
important than environment in forming their character.
Coach Carter demonstrates how important character is when
he refuses to let the players continue playing, no matter what
the cost to him personally.
The Coach demonstrates leading by example.

Domain II: CREATING A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Demonstrating an uncompromising
confident and moral character.
The academic goals set for the players
are not left to chance. Choice Carter
monitors the students progress and
provides encouragement whenever
necessary.
The Coach has no trouble
communicating with and understanding
the players and their social and
economic conditions.
Carter uses strategies of compassion and
uncompromising discipline to motivate
and drive the students to success.

Domain III: IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE , RESPONSIVE

INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT.
It seems that Coach Carter did a better job of seeking out the assessment student learning than some of the teachers. He asked for progress reports and
it seemed that he was waiting on this from the teachers. One of the teachers even complained getting progress reports to the coach caused them more
works. As a Master Teacher, the teachers in the movie should have already have progress reports, so I dont see why it is difficult to print them or email
them to Coach Carter.
As a Master teacher, you should be constantly assessing your students and yourself as a teacher. In my Balanced Literacy class, they stated teachers
should quickly assess the struggling teachers daily and all students at least weekly. Coach Carter assesses his students often if not daily. As teachers, we
should know where our students are, as well as their attendance.
Regarding communication, a master teacher should help lead teachers to their own solutions, and I feel Coach Carter was very authoritarian. He had
clear, accurate, and appropriate communication but it was a little my way or the highway although he did not protest when the students wanted to
do the push-ups for the student that wanted to come back on the team. He wanted students there, but if they did not participate the students were off the
team, this is not something a general education teacher can do. Coach Carter as well as Master Teachers communicate with respect and humor.
Engaging students in active learning is something extremely difficult for teachers. Coach Carter did not have that issue because the students were
highly motivated to be on the basketball team, and I have always believe that general education teachers should inquire about the motivations of their
students. He used various behavioral approaches of reinforcement.
Teachers in all grades should encourage higher level thinking and Coach Carter did this by his questioning strategies of the student and principal. He
made them think higher on the Blooms scale.
He was an inspiring teacher because he believed in the kids and raised all their self-esteem by telling them they could all play basketball on the college
level. Six of his students received scholarships and went to colleges and graduated. This was no small task because, only graduates 50% of students
and 6% goes to college. The stats say AA are 80% more likely to go to prison than college. He said, I will do everything within my power to get you to
college and to a better life and he did. Masters teachers help their students believe in themselves so they can be successful in life!

Domain IV: FULFILLING PROFESSIONAL ROLES AND

RESPONSIBILITIES.
Coach Carter did attempt to communicate with parents and fellow educators, but at times he fell
short. He did require a contract from parents to get their buy-in early on. Additionally, he
communicated with other educators to assist him by providing progress reportsand additional
tutoring hours. As master teachers we need to work with our vertical, horizontal teams. It
sounded like his communication was infrequent to the parents and very one way. As a master
teacher, we need to touch basis with parents often on the status of their students so there are no
surprises. We need to take into account the diverse needs of families when making these
communications. For example , if most of your parents do not have internet and cell phones that
frequently get disconnected, a class website is not going to be the best tool for daily
communication.
We also need to know the laws, ethics and structure of education in our state (Texas in this
instance) and school. Coach Carter did not keep his principal abreast of all that he was doing
and he required a GPA higher than the established district, school or state policy of a 2.0 GPA. As
Master teachers we have to know every rule and follow the chain of command or our certification
or job could be in jeopardy. We have to get 150 hours of Continuing Professional Education every
five years, so we have no excuse not to be informed, professional teachers. Coach Carter took this
risk and it paid off because he was looking out for the best interest of the students. In his case, the
rules and policies were not producing success and he changed them!

Sources:
Dir.Carter, T (2005) Coach Carter. Perf. Samuel Jackson. Paramount
Nath, J., & Cohen, M. (2011) Becoming an EC-6 Teacher in Texas. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.