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Dream:
Miracle of a Math Teacher -- Idea for a Movie
April 28, 2002
Copyright © 2002 Greater Things
I had a dream last night, which, though I can barely remember this morning,
I do remember enough of the feel of it to know that it could easily form the basic idea for the
development of an outstanding feel-good movie about overcoming.
The setting was an inner city, low-achiever, math class for dummies of near and early teen age to
around 16 years old, many of whom were repeating the class for the third or fourth time. In this
class, normally none would get above a D and most would get an F.
By the end of the semester (in the dream, I was given to know the outcome, though the dream was only
the first two scenes of the movie), every single student gets an A, not only learning how to do that
math, but learning it so well that they would never forget it.
The teacher is a flower-child type, who doesn't care for the normal way of teaching but has a style
all her own, which willfully captivates the children because of the love and uniqueness it
possesses. She does things like singing very silly songs with the children, walking freely through
the classroom. She is a natural entertainer, doing so without even think about it. All eyes are
glued on her because she is such a bubbling personality.
Another main character in this plot in my dream was a nobody man of fairly good looks, but who is an
unkempt drifter, with no purpose known to him in life, who wanders into the classroom, is welcomed,
and is also transformed by the teacher. He ends up being the teacher's aid.
[As I think about it now, I get the idea that the way he happens into the classroom is that he had
met the teacher the day before, they had struck up a "opposites attract" type of whirl of
a whim relationship, and she had invited him to come to the classroom to observe. Actually, here is
what I envision. This is her first time teaching. She is a newly hired teacher, hired out of sheer
desperation for lack of qualified and willing candidates. She is nervous, and she thinks her
new-found friend being there will help sooth her.]
She ends up dying of cancer in the end (also made known in the course of the dream, though not part
of the first two scenes that were given in the dream). [One of the things I thought about when I
woke up was how that was too bad, because cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. It is usually
meant as a wake-up call. Now as I think about it with the understanding of people like JJ, I
envision a scene near the very end of the movie where the teacher's aid explains a principle of
Karma that was in play here. This teacher's death was a sort of personal atonement that motivated
her to make such a difference in these children's lives. She had worked in an abortion clinic in her
previous lifetime, contrary to her conscience. This experience of touching the lives of these school
children was her redemption.]
Scene One: Unruly beginning of the first day of class. Teacher begins doing her antics and almost
immediately gets the children's amused attention. A young girl saunters into the class with her head
down. The teacher goes to her and asks what is wrong. The child says she doesn't think she can learn
math. Teacher promises her that she will not only learn math, but she will love math. The child
feels the love of the teacher and is drawn to a hope that what the teacher has just told her will
come true, bringing her a much needed experience of triumph in her life.
The man drifts in, and children wonder what he's doing. The teacher makes it know that he is
welcome. He kind of helps entertain the class and keep things calm. The chemistry of the two is as
if they have been working as a team for years.
By the end of that first class, the children are motivated by the teacher, and actually believe that
they will be able to learn math, and they are curious to see just how this teacher is going to pull
this off.
Scene Two: Second day of class. The children are getting restless. The teacher hasn't shown up yet.
Ten minutes pass, and they are becoming despondent, beginning to loose hope in the promise the
teacher had instilled in their hearts that they could learn math -- another let down in their life.
The teacher's friend comes into the classroom and explains to the class that the teacher will not be
coming to class that day.
She had found out that she has terminal cancer, and she was off pouting somewhere. He didn't tell
them the last part -- about her pouting -- nor does it seem he came right out and told them she had
cancer; but is seems somehow he conveyed to them that she was very sick.
The dream did not show this, but the idea was conveyed that this man speaks to the teacher, and the
result is that she rallies to focus her remaining days on the success of the children. This would be
her first and only class, and she would love them as if they were her own children.
That's basically all I can recall of the dream. The teacher was in her 30s, as was her newfound
opposite friend. The year wasn't important. It could have been any time from 1970 to today (after
God was chased from the public classroom around 1963). It was long enough after the 60's that the
teacher's being a flower child type was a matter of unique appeal to the children.
I suppose other plot items could be invented from this basic idea. Surely the teacher would be faced
with opposition from the school because of her unorthodox methods; and having the uncertified,
unhired friend in the class would also raise eyebrows and be opposed by those stuck in the status
quo.
As I awoke this morning, I realized that this was really quite an amazing plot, and that I shouldn't
just discard it as another dream. I wondered if other scenes of the plot would be shown me in other
dreams. I was curious how this teacher would teach math in a way that all these hitherto
low-achiever children would grasp it so well. If this plot idea is to be turned into a movie,
someone is going to need inspiration about this; and the movie itself could even serve as a mini
math class, to help break through some of the mental barriers that are common for those who struggle
with the subject.
My purpose in writing this up is that perhaps someone will read it who has a talent for screen
writing, and connections to bring it to fruition.
Sterling D. Allan
See also
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