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CNN Live At Daybreak

"The First Year" is About First Year Teachers' Lives

Aired September 06, 2001 - 08:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As students settle in to the new school year, so are thousands of new teachers. And Public Television is airing a documentary that follows five first-year teachers in Los Angeles. The PBS program is called "The First Year." Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so easy to sit in a college, university classroom and then just say, well teachers need too do this, this and this, and everybody will be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really know how to take attendance. I haven't picked up my roll sheets from my mail box. I don't know where to send kids if they're tardy. Some kid asked me, where is this room; I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: The director of "First Year," is documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. And Nate Monley is one of the teachers in the film. He teaches elementary school in East Los Angeles. And boy, are you guys up bright and early in L.A. What good role models. Good morning.

NATE MONLEY, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER: Good morning.

DAVIS GUGGENHEIM, DIRECTOR: Good morning

LIN: Nate, let me start with you. Have you seen the final product? Did you think it really accurately portrays a lot of the stress and the hopes that young teachers have?

MONLEY: I have seen it a few times and it's very accurate. I think that they did a tremendous job in summing up the experience of first year teachers in urban settings, especially here in Los Angeles.

LIN: What are some critical moments that you think are really going to drive the point home, or what it's like for you out there?

MONLEY: Well, I think that Davis and Julia did a tremendous job of showing both the joys and also the struggles that you go through. And there are five stories in the film, and each of the five stories has their moments that are difficult. Yes, I think that there will be something for everybody, for people that have taught for a long time and people that are new to teaching. Everyone can, I think, relate to something in the film, for sure.

LIN: Davis, you picked a moment about Nate, and you talk about how he goes above and beyond to earn the trust of a 10-year-old boy.

GUGGENHEIM: Yes. There's this wonderful scene where Nate take this little boy Juan out for a hamburger. It is a small intimate scene, but you see this teacher who, up to this point, can not reach this kid, can not gain the trust of this kid. In fact, Juan draws a picture of a rat sitting on a toilet, and it says: Mr. Monley. And it breaks your heart. And you see how hard Nate is working to reach this kid.

Then suddenly, as Nate sort of confesses his own life to this kid, the kid opens up to him, and you see this sort of opening, and it's a beautiful, beautiful experience. We know the hardships about teaching, but what we don't get to see usually are these wonderful, beautiful moments. I hope we captured that in the documentary.

LIN: And how do you capture that? How do you capture a spontaneous moment without it being really staged for your cameras?

GUGGENHEIM: We were there every day. We shot 110 days, and the cameras are getting smaller and smaller. We just felt lucky that these teachers let us into their lives.

LIN: Nate, when you were growing up, what were the impressions that you had about your teachers, and what did you learn not only from your own experience obviously, and you're only 25 years old, but just watching this film and the collective experience?

MONLEY: Well, I come from a family of teachers. There are some 14 of us, just on my dad's side, and I'm a fourth generation on my mom's side. So I had just a ton of respect for teachers. I had some fantastic teachers growing up that were big parts of shaping who I am now.

LIN: Because people want to know why you do it. I mean you could make a lot more money doing something else, and this is like a 24/7 kind of a job.

MONLEY: Definitely. My mom says that teaching is a calling, and wherever that comes from. I was inspired by a Jesuit priest who works here in Los Angeles to want to come to East L.A., who's an amazing guy.

But, yes, I think that if you're going to put your heart and soul into teaching, it's definitely a calling. People have been doing it for years and years and years, and I have a ton of admiration for them. It was awesome to be a part of this film and to see -- well, people like my mom who's been teaching for 26 years was next to me last night watching it, and I have so much respect for her and all that she's done. And she got to see, once again, just the nobility of our profession and how much it means to the kids, and be appreciated for that.

LIN: Yes. Well, Davis, I'm really looking forward to seeing it myself, because for a long time I wanted to be a teacher too. I hope that I get to a little of that in the job that I have.

GUGGENHEIM: Well thank...

LIN: Davis Guggenheim, Nate Monley...

MONLEY: Thank you.

LIN: ... thanks so much.

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