REFLECTION TASK

Freedom Writers is based on a true story. A young teacher Erin Gruwell, starring Hilary Swank, assigned to teach freshman English at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Woodrow Wilson High School was high-graded school before the voluntary integration program. After the voluntary integration program, it lost its successful students and its success was declined. However, Erin chose this school on purpose because of its integration program. Erin was unprepared for the nature of her classroom. Many students were in gangs and almost all of them knew somebody that had been killed by gang violence. The class also divided into groups such as Blacks, Latinos and Asians. Idealistic teacher Erin applied her own curriculum to try to get the kids to learn more about themselves and the world around them. When she wanted students to write a diary which would be not graded, the students began opening up to her. At the end of the movie, inspired by Anne Frank, Erin and her students collected journals in The Freedom Writers Diary. 

In my opinion, Erin Gruwell loves her job very deeply. She makes learning meaningful and joyful. She tries to accommodate herself the class environment. For example, she plays music on the tape and she tries to dance with the students. She also makes learning proper to the students' differences. She tries to connect lessons to students’ difficult lives and experiences. She encourages her students, motivates them. I think the most important part is that Erin Gruwell helps her students to trust themselves by believing them first. It is very significant because by doing these students feel themselves special. Erin also organizes her lessons according to the class environment. She thinks where students are coming from, what their lives are like outside of the school and how that affects their willingness to learn. In the movie, Erin accepts her students, however, the students initially do not like her, shows them respect and work hard to understand them. She is also a very devoted person. She finds a second job to meet students’ needs. She inspires students with trips to the Museum of Tolerance, Juvenile Detention Centers, and bringing speakers such as Elie Wiesel. At the end, the whole class becomes a family.