Freedom Writers

1/17/2011

I think Freedom Writers gives an extreme version of an inner city classroom. I don't think it would be easy to find a classroom where every student has been shot at; with the exception of the one white student. It would also be difficult to find a class that is as hostile over skin color as the students were in the movie. I know that these issues are present in the classroom in many different schools and I believe that the strategies that Mrs. Gruwell used to defuse these problems are good examples. Her methods could be used in real classrooms. In the movie, the students believe nobody cares about their education. Therefore, they lack the motivation to learn. Mrs. Gruwell sees that the student beliefs are true when the classroom is refused new books and parents do not attend parent teacher conferences. The administration blames integration for ruining the school. When Gruwell was refused books by the school, she decided to buy them on her own. She strategically chose the book that would compare to her student's lives in order to get them engaged in the reading. Once the students were engaged, they started to apply themselves more in class and the environment became less hostile. In turn, they connected as students. In the end, the once mortal enemies in the classroom are friends and they all know that they can make the future they want for themselves.

Unfortunately, we do have schools full of students who have no motivation from parents or family to do well in school. That's why I think that anyone looking to go into a career in education should be prepared to get every student motivated and involved in class. Gruwell had her own way of getting that particular group engaged in the classroom. The well chosen book she handed out and the journal her students wrote in about their lives were her tools for student success. All teachers should have their own bag of tricks so that their students don't get disinterested and thus unmotivated. In the movie, the kids were considered unteachable. In real life, we know that no person is unteachable it's just a matter of finding a way to teach them.