Freedom Writers Review Essay Example

apparent through shifts in their attitudes, as they begin to actively engage in asking and answering questions. Over time, they progress to offering suggestions, utilizing the library, and demonstrating genuine interest in their education.

The scene of the toast for change, where the student reads from his journal and expresses feeling "home," demonstrates that Gruwell has successfully established a safe environment for her students, fulfilling their need for safety and belonging. According to Erikson and Maslow, meeting these needs is essential for effective learning. Moreover, Gruwell employs effective teaching methods, functioning as an authoritative figure who earns respect by giving and expecting it. She also forms a genuine bond and affection with her students.

In her teaching, she employs reflective techniques to enhance her pedagogy and adapt lesson plans when opportunities for learning arise. This is evident when she comes across a racist drawing, prompting her to draw connections between gang mentality, discrimination, and the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. However, this endeavor to connect new knowledge with pre-existing frameworks proves futile as none of her students were familiar with the Holocaust. Aside from ensuring safety, she only makes commitments that she can fulfill, and she goes beyond that by granting these children two invaluable qualities seldom found in the conventional society: respect and a platform to express their voices.

Gruwell employs social and humanistic approaches to establish motivation, emphasizing the significance of their personal narratives and her compassion. In doing so, she concentrates on fostering trust, self-perception, and self-realization, ultimately enhancing interpersonal connections and instilling a drive for personal and communal betterment. Visible instances of this transformation are evident in a student's proclamation during

a toast for change, vowing to reject mistreatment from any individual, as well as in the comforting support provided to a student who experienced homelessness. Additionally, cognitive learning techniques are applied, incorporating active learning and hands-on projects.

To foster the growth of proficient readers, she selects literature featuring adolescent protagonists facing the trials of war and navigating moral dilemmas. By reflecting the real-life conflicts experienced by her students, these stories serve as powerful examples to emulate and enable the integration of fresh knowledge. The teacher's exposure to the Holocaust, coupled with her students' restricted mobility due to racial segregation and their encounters with gang violence within the school premises, compel her to embark on a new path.

She understands that meeting basic needs (Maslow) such as safety is necessary before learning can occur. Additionally, she works towards helping students overcome feelings of learned helplessness, lack of motivation, and poor self-efficacy towards school. To promote unity within the class, she uses the line game as a means to discover commonalities among the students and learn more about them. Furthermore, she provides journals for students to record their thoughts and experiences, which are effective in generating situational interest and disrupting the status quo.

The game offers a visual and interactive experience, while the notebooks demonstrate her dedication and curiosity towards their stories. Since the assignments won't be graded, students are given the freedom to express themselves in any format they prefer. Gruwell expresses her interest in reading these assignments, but respects her students by only doing so with their permission. Having established a foundation of trust and community within the classroom, they embark on a field trip to the Museum

of Tolerance. Additionally, Gruwell organizes a dinner with Holocaust survivors who share their experiences with the students.

This expands on the knowledge gained at the museum and allows students to witness the impact of intolerance, hatred, and violence on someone outside of their own social circle. According to Vygotsky, this can be seen as providing support and guidance to develop the necessary background information for reading The Diary of Anne Frank, which is the next book that Gruwell assigns to her students. The Diary of Anne Frank strongly impacts Marcus, leading him to suggest that Gruwell write to Miep Gies, the person who hid Anne Frank from the Nazis. Gruwell modifies the assignment from an essay to a letter addressed to Miep Gies, but does not make any promises about getting the letters delivered.

The students' initiative leads to Miep Gies speaking to them as a result. Gruwell's decision to "give in" to the students allows them to practice goal setting and achievement concepts, which engages and validates them, serving as a significant form of praise. The process of organizing and fundraising for the visit offers various teaching and learning experiences, exemplifying flow and engagement motivation. As the idea originates from the students themselves, it provides personal interest motivation.

The importance of this goal to all of them required cooperative work and mutual assistance. Essentially, it encompasses facets of various learning theories, particularly cognitive, social, and humanistic. The pivotal aspect that allowed them to achieve this was the gradual progress made by Gruwell in instilling emotions of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal motivation. Ultimately, these factors empowered the students with a sense of high self-efficacy and the ability to

master their goals in taking on such a project. Gies's remark about doing what was right prompts Eva to reflect on her moral dilemma regarding her testimony during the shooting trial.

This woman, who is their hero, is admired because of her hard work in saving someone who shares a similar background. Consequently, her words carry a significant impact. When Eva bravely admits the truth during her court testimony, she must face the consequences of her actions and is subsequently sent to live with her aunt. Gruwell, the teacher, supports Eva by staying after school to accommodate this new arrangement. The "Toast for change" activity serves as both an exercise for setting goals and an opportunity for self-reflection and taking control. This is highlighted by Gloria's toast, where she pledges not to become pregnant and drop out before the age of 16, and Brandy's toast, where she declares that she will not tolerate abuse.

Each member of the class sets the goal to graduate high school in this way. By making it a toast, it also becomes a sort of contract, which is a great strategy. I have not done my IPT yet so cannot speak to the methods employed from a classroom point. However, as both a parent and a mentor, I have used these methods with my own children and with my mentee. Gruwell's line about only making promises she could keep really resonated with me because I learned from Big Brothers Big Sisters that it is difficult to reach at-risk kids who have been let down so often that they do not trust easily.

In my experience with my children, it is more preferable

for me to admit when I am uncertain rather than committing to something that I might not be capable of accomplishing. I have found that showing respect, establishing reasonable boundaries, and exemplifying good behavior are crucial in both my role as a parent and as an authority figure in the classroom. Employing activities or examples to cultivate interest in specific situations also proves successful in parenting. One of the most effective approaches is to introduce changes regularly, as this consistently generates fresh enthusiasm. Additionally, I have observed that teenagers generally desire to push boundaries and exert control, or at least provide input.

However, students may be reluctant to express their opinions because they don't want to stand out from their peers. I appreciate how Gruwell addressed this issue by involving the whole group in debates. When teaching science, I will face constraints in selecting reading material and speakers, and journaling may not be feasible. Therefore, my challenge will be to make these facts interesting and relevant to the existing knowledge base. Similar to Gruwell, I will adopt a self-reflective teaching approach. Moreover, I will encourage student participation and ask them to evaluate both my work and their own progress. Additionally, I have pondered on incorporating games to make lessons more engaging during particularly challenging or dry moments.

For my first assignment, I plan on asking the students to express their personal definitions of science in any format they prefer, similar to Gruwell’s journals. These responses will help me gain insight about my students and assist me in creating more effective lesson plans. It is my intention to create a safe, healthy, and respectful classroom environment that fosters

the development of internal motivation. In terms of teaching methods, I am capable of providing hands-on learning experiences through experiments. If the school lacks the necessary facilities, computer simulations can be utilized instead. To keep things interesting and diverse, I am actively seeking field trip opportunities that are appropriate for secondary students. Additionally, I am interested in discussing scientists who were once considered poor achievers, such as Einstein and Darwin.

I might ask my students to research and present reports on various scientists, giving them the freedom to choose their preferred method of delivery, such as posters, presentations, songs, or movies. The goal is for them to connect with science and observe the success of others who are like them. This approach also promotes self-directed learning. To enhance their understanding, I will link the subjects we study to their personal lives or surroundings, allowing them to build upon their existing knowledge and mental frameworks. Additionally, I will use computers to facilitate "in-class field trips" by visiting websites of scientific importance, such as the Nobel site. Students will have the opportunity to select which sites they want to explore.

In addition to what the textbook suggests, utilizing computers for scientific modeling is another approach to conducting experiments that may be too challenging or unsafe for a classroom setting. I plan on incorporating this method into my teaching toolkit. Additionally, since kids are fond of their computers and iPods, I will encourage them to bring these devices to class and explore ways to utilize them for scientific purposes. In doing so, they will take the lead in their own learning, similar to how Gruwell incorporated hip hop into her

teaching, helping to boost their self-esteem as they progress towards self-actualization and independent learning.