Pay It Forward vs.Coach Carter Essay

Edith Ann once said â€Å"I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. † I agree with this quote because it pertains to Coach Carter in the movie â€Å"Coach Carter† and Mr. Simonet in the movie â€Å"Pay It Forward†. Coach Carter and Mr. Simonet are similar in the way they approach their students. In both the movies, both teachers want more out of their students, they encourage them to do more, and to push themselves harder. In the movie â€Å"Pay It Forward†, Mr. Simonet tries to teach the kids that anything is possible. So he gives them an assignment to think of an act that can change the world. He tells them that â€Å"The realm of possibility exists within you†. This means that they can change the world only if they believe that they can do it. The whole purpose of him giving his students this assignment was to try to get them to set high expectations for themselves, to teach them not to settle for less and that even a big assignment like changing the world is possible. Just like Mr. Simonet in â€Å"Pay It Forward† Coach Carter also teaches his team to set high standards for themselves. He stresses that his vision, is for his players to be successful on the court, in the classroom, and in life. He lets them know that only they can make that happen. He makes them sign contracts that require them to maintain a certain GPA. When the players fail to uphold this responsibility, he locks down the gym, and cancels their games until they get their grades up. He did this to prove to the players that everything in life doesn’t come on a silver platter, they have to work for it. In Conclusion, both Mr. Simonet and Coach Carter are alike in the way they teach their students. Both of them teach the kids to set high expectations for themselves. They both teach the students to never settle for less. At the end of both movies it’s pretty clear that both of their teachings paid off. In â€Å"Pay It Forward†, Trevor comes up with the pay it forward system which becomes a world wide sensation. In â€Å"Coach Carter†, the basketball players learned a life lesson. Although the school board chose to go against Coach Carter and end the gym lock down, the basketball players refused to play. Also at the end Coach Carter realizes that he impacted the players more than he expected to. Not only did they graduate high school but most of them went to college and even won scholarships. Both Coach Carter and Mr. Simonet gave their students something to take home and think about.