Freedom Writers
¯
Background of the film
The storyline with the movie takes place between
1994-1996, beginning with scenes from the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Swank plays the role of Erin Gruwell, a new, excited schoolteacher who leaves
the safety of her hometown, Newport Beach, to teach at Woodrow Wilson High
School in Long Beach, a formerly high achieving school which has recently put
an integration plan in place. Her enthusiasm is rapidly challenged when she
realizes that her class is all "at-risk" high school students, also
known as "unteachables", and not the eager-for-college students she
was expecting. The high school students assimilate into racial
groups in the classroom, fights break out, and eventually most of the high
school students stop attending class. Not only does Gruwell meet opposition
from her high school students, but she also has a difficult time with her
department head, who refuses to let her teach her high school students with
books in case they get damaged and lost, and instead tells her to focus on
training them discipline and obedience.
¯
The role of the teacher
Is like a counselor. She involves students’ problems
and feelings in the learning process. She also understands students’ situations
and difficulties.
¯
How is the teacher interaction?}
At the beginning the interaction is
hard because students are imperative and they do not respect the teacher. After
students know the intention of the teacher is to help them, students change and
open their life with the teacher.
¯
Behaviors
Teacher Erin Gruwell
Ä
She
broke rules to get benefits to students.
Ä
She
sacrificed even her marriage, getting two extras –jobs to pay new books.
Students
Ä
At the
beginning, they were aggressive, disrespectful and hopeless.
Ä
They
did not care about their future, they just tried to survive and defeat their
similar.
Ä
When
they accepted Erin’s help, they became conscious of their abilities. They got
aware of their possibilities to graduate, creating a chance in their
lifestyles.
¯
Characteristics
Ø
Erin
is a young professor. It is the first time she teaches.
Ø
The
teacher is passioned and hopeful in her students’ abilities.
Ø
Even
students, at the beginning, did not want to work in class, she caught their
attention and developed a respectful environment, in which students felt
secure.
Ø
Ms
Gruweell used literature, show students that everything could be overcome.
¯
Method
Is academic, but
also advice "." Instead of going to talk about something and say this
is how things can be fixed, you can really begin to open the discussion and
take a lesson from it.
¯
Classroom activities
X
Play of the
line: It consisted on
a series of questions that the teacher formulated the students, if this
question was related with the life of them, these they should approach to it
lines her and if the following question was not part of its life, these they
should go away of it lines her.
X
The diary: It consisted
on filling a notebook with bad or good things of their lives, songs or poems,
but they should write daily in that notebook.
X
Durango Street
and The Holocaust: They were reading books, with which it
was looked for to implement the literature and awakening the curiosity of the
students.
X
Museum of the
tolerance: It was a trip to a museum where the students could
appreciate a movie related with the Holocaust.
X
Hotel Marriott: This prize
that its teacher's students obtained was where they shared in a dinner with the
survivors of the Holocaust.
X
Letter to Miep
Gies: With the elaboration of this letter what was sought
was that the students practiced and they corrected their orthographic and
grammatical lacks.
X
Freedom
Writing: The final project that consisted on the publication
of its newspapers or histories of life was.
¯
Problems of the teacher, social, spiritual, economic…
The professor's problems:
Ä
No
support from school’s authorities, because nobody believe on room 203 students,
so, that they did not provide the necessary materials. It is noticed when Ms.
Gruweel asks for books on the library and they offered books of other
linguistic advanced levels.
Ä
Erin Gruwell, fought every day with fights, insults,
depressions, unrespect on the part of their students inside classes.
Ä
Erin was frustrated when seeing that its husband
didn't understand it and this he decides to get divorced of her, because all
its attention has it its classes and its students.
Social problems:
Ä
The division of gangs that they fight for territory
and they killed for pride, race and respect.
Ä It was not believed in the
capacity of the students to be overcome academically and personally.
Ä
The politicians of the school didn't allow the
students to use the books of the library, because they lined them and they
broke them, for that reason they were given books discontinued for their
use.
Economic problems:
Ä
The school denied its support to these students,
because according to the administrative meeting; these students were the
culprits that the school lost its academic prestige.
Ä
The institution Wilson High School had many
inequalities in its educational system and it excluded the students of low
resources of the other ones.
¯
The classroom material, atmosphere…
The teacher in the movie believes that a good
relationship is the good way to obtain respect, but, at the beginning the
students did not respect her. All of them suffer different social problem also
provoke the situation in the classroom.
Erin Gruwell thought that the form to help the young people is first
because then can be late for them.
First the relation between students was hostile
because the gangs and the separation of the classrooms was present at the
beginning of the movie the students were divided into several groups with
people to similar them.
First Ms Gruwell tried to find the way to catch the
attention of the students with a song and the lyrics that have an interesting
meaning but the students take this like offensive, also she tried to made them
understand about the situation with different stories but se sew the lack of
information and knowledge the they had. She looked for some activities their
values and union, one of the activity use was the line game in which the
students could understand better their classmate and all the things that they
have in common. Then she gave them a book where the students could wrote
whatever that they want; their experience, their pain, the dreams all this to
express their feelings and emotion. After that Ms Gruwell bought books that are
about similar situation to make sense in the life of the students and made some
educative trips to museum all this for change the perspective of the students.
Also the teachers used other materials such as debate, movies and talk with
people with suffered the same problems.
¯
What is the message present in the film?
The message present in the film is never give up no
matter if the situation are difficult we have to continue fighting for our
dreams and help the people to find an exit for their problems and not ignore
the others because they suffer bad experience and the color of the skin or
their customs are not a problem and they have rights like others.
¯ What
are values, ideas … are been promoted in the film?
v
Respect: Erin teaches them the important
thing that it is the respect and that they respect you, all this it happens
soon after that Tito draws Jamall to make fun and to hurt its feelings.
v
Tolerance: When they don't want Ben Samuel to be
white, but, that at the end of bills they don't insult him neither they
mistreat, but rather they incorporate it to the group.
v
Friendship: In half of the movie, when the group
becomes unified totally and they begin to improve its attitudes, they become
but responsible and they share its adventures day by day, forgetting the gangs
and being themselves.
v
Honesty: It is presented in two scenes of the
movie first, when Eva in the tribunals of justice testifies that her boyfriend
Paco went who shoot the boyfriend of Sindy Ngor. Second, when Scott tells to
Erin that can no longer support the situation in the one that this living and
this he requests him the divorce.
v
Love: This present along the movie, when Erin
works day with day so that its students learn and stand out in the projects
that they will carry out. The maternal
love is also reflected when one of the students requests to its mother that
accepts it again that wants to change and that he needs of her to achieve it.
¯
What idea let
the film for use in our class?
The ideas to implement in our classes is help students
to obtain self-confidence and good relationship with their classmate and make
the students understand the important of each life also some materials and
activities can be important to catch the attention of the students.
