The style of teaching from the art professor in The Mona Lisa Smile, Ms. Watson, and the style of teaching proposed in the extract are very different. Ms. Watson's method of teaching reached a deeper level of understanding because it drew in not only factual information, but a personal connection with the material at hand. She wanted her students to grasp the big idea, not just the facts. The author from the extract implies that creativity is useless and of no value in the classroom. He states that facts should be the only thing planted in the mind's of the students, and to root everything else out. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. It leaves room for interpretation, it makes one draw one's own opinion without a skewed bias from the teacher, and it has the potential to make the student dig for more information about a subject if only facts were presented. However, if practiced, the academic success of the students would not be present because of various factors. The "progressive" way of teaching has evolved from the professional/traditional methods that were typically used in past education systems. The progressive style encourages individuality and creativity. It has shown to be very successful and effective in classrooms, even in Ms. Watson's. 

I liked the movie a lot. It's one of my favorite movies because I like everything about it. One of the main themes of the movie is individuality. It could be confused with feminism, but I think individuality is deeper than feminism throughout the movie. One of my favorite parts was when the class studied a painting by Jackson Pollock. He's one of my favorite artists. And I liked the relationship between Connie and the guy with the glasses because he's cute and I'm glad they ended up together. I liked the time period the movie was set in because of the style and class that women had back then. Also, Kirsten Dunst is one of my favorite actresses. Rachel Mcadams would have been a good actress too. Overall I liked the movie a lot. 

The Mona Lisa Smile

I think the movie is about how a new art professor at a university has to over come challenges with her students. She will have to change how things are usually done in art classes. The students at first will probably be reluctant to the changes and not want to be involved with it. However, they will start listening to her and what she has to say eventually. By the end of the movie, I think the students will be transformed by the art professor. Not only will they learn about modern art, they will learn life lessons along the way.

I think the exams in high school are by far way easier than college exams. In high school the teacher almost always gives a review sheet before the test. Studying is then easier because you know what exactly to study for. In college, however, the professor does not give review sheets before the test. You have to look over all of your notes and be familiar with just about everything written down because there's a possibility that any of the material in your notes could be on the test. Another difference is that tests are given more frequently in high school. In college, tests are given once a month or once every other month. So if you do bad on an exam in college, there's not much to help that grade out like in high school. For example, you could do bad on one test in high school, but make all 100's on your other tests and the bad grade then does not hurt you as bad. College tests forces you to be on top of your work and notes. It also forces you to be more responsible because you payed a lot of money and you want to make good grades for the money you had to pay. For these reasons, college exams are harder than high school exams.