Name: ESPINOSA, SHEILAMAE BUEN C. Course, Yr.

& Section: BSE-SCIENCE 2A

REFLECTION TO THE MOVIE: “FREEDOM WRITERS”

Over time, it is believed that learning is a never-ending process. No matter how old
we are, there is still room for learning in a person’s life. Teaching isn’t that easy, as an
educator you have to prepare yourself in dealing with different students of different races,
cultural backgrounds, beliefs, life outside the school, and struggles they’ve been carrying
inside. The movie was based on the true story of Mrs. Erin Gruwell also called Mrs. G by her
students. She was a first-time teacher with the passion to bring out the best in her students by
being inspired by his father. As soon as she entered Wilson High School, things were about to
change not just in her life but for the students she will be handling.

This movie is a roller coaster of emotion as you start to watch it. Not only that it
touches on the reality of different school systems not just in America but all across the globe
but also touches on the challenge of being a teacher and how you’re going to deal with your
students and your personal life. The teacher in the movie is Mrs. Erin Gruwell, she is often
described as an idealistic first-time teacher. On her first day at work, as soon as she arrived at
the school, her expectations were not met. The school's system was to segregate students
according to their performance, hence there are classes imposed on academically good
students and there will be a class composed of “stubborn and hard-headed students”. She is
going to handle a class who are a diverse group of teenagers that have different life outside
the school. Her students were from different races, some were gang members, homeless,
delinquents, and students who are in the lower class of society who are trying to survive
every day hoping to make it day to day. As expected, it would be a chaotic class, each student
is fighting and does not go well with one another. As I watched it, I felt challenged and tried
to put myself in her situation, truly it was not that easy. Mrs. Gruwell at first was stunned by
the situation in the classroom. The students were also aggressive and did not pay their respect
to her at first. They saw on the first meeting that Mrs. Gruwell is not that familiar with her
job and at that point, they knew they wouldn't listen to her. From their perspective, there is no
point in having an education and learning when their life every day is already a war they are
obliged to fight and survive. As the day went on, students just didn't care about Mrs.
Gruwell’s existence inside the classroom, they don't participate and paid no respect to her.
The thing that amazes me about the movie is the motivation that Mrs. Gruwell has, she at first
was figuring out how to manage a class that is composed of different students. She tries to
understand what is the underlying factor to be able to connect to them and hopes to build a
connection with her students. The first strategy that she did was to connect through Music,
she mentioned to her students if they had heard about 2Pac’s music, and although it
seemingly creates a conversation with the students it doesn't go well. At the next meeting, her
students were mostly fighting and arguing even over the smallest thing because the class is
often grouped in their seating arrangement based on their race like African Americans,
Latinos, and Asians. Tensions are always present because of that and Mrs. G decided to
change their sitting arrangement to lessen it but ended up still choosing to sit with their
group. As I was watching the movie, I was thinking about how to facilitate a class like this, it
is challenging and I was asking myself what would I do if I were Mrs. Gruwell.

The next thing that happened in the movie depicted a scene of bullying and racism
when one student named Tito drew a picture depicting mockery to one of his students and
passed it to everyone and lastly passed it to a student named Jamal who was their target that
day. It made Jamal upset but he just hid his head the turning point happens because Mrs.
Gruwell saw it and it paved the way for her to talk about the Nazis and the Holocaust. How
one drawing created a massive genocide. Towards the movie, Mrs. Gruwell decided to have
an ice breaker where she put a tape across the room and asked questions and if you relate to it
then you have to step on the line. As the questions continue, Mrs. Gruwell realized that
although these students are different in different aspects and did not go along with one
another, they are just victims of abuse, violence, fear, and the system of how society works.
That game gave the teacher the idea that they can have freedom by writing their journal
everyone got notebooks surprisingly, they let Mrs. Gruwell read them and with that, she saw
the perspective of every student on how their life goes with the use of that journal. Students
also watched the movie called Freedom Riders. The movie depicted the different situations
that every student has, and how they fight every day to survive each of their lives. She
wanted her students to be able to read Ann Frank’s Diary but the school wouldn't allow her
to, while working three jobs to afford the books and resources for her students, his husband
decided to leave her. As I was watching, I realized how challenging it is to become a teacher
whose heart is in the passion of educating his/her students and at the same time seeing their
differences and understanding their situations at once. Students were able to continue writing
and they were also able to explore museums showing the Holocaust and they were moved to
talk with some of the survivors. Mrs. Gruwell gave each of them the Diary of Anne Franks
and made a toast for change. They wrote a letter to Miep Gies who was the one to help Ann
Franks during her time. They created events to gain funds to invite her and show their
appreciation for her heroic act towards Ann Frank during the holocaust. They tell her that she
is a hero but Miep Gies replied to them: “You are all a hero”. After that, the students together
wrote a book The Freedom Writers containing their entries to their journals.

The movie made me mad, confused, amused, cry, and wonder if I can become a
teacher like Miss G/Mrs Gruwell. It was a remarkable story not only inspired the viewers but
also made me realize how a single teacher can touch students' hearts through her passion and
dedication to teaching. Indeed teaching is not easy because you are not just teaching them
lessons from the book but interacting with them amidst the diverse characteristics each one
has. For an effective learning environment to happen, you must not just consider yourself or
the lessons you are about to teach, the most important thing is to understand your students.
Learner-centered teaching was applied in the movies because instead of giving lessons
regardless if the students want to participate or not, Mrs. Gruwell first looks into each of her
students, trying to find ways to assess their affective domain. Teaching is a noble profession
because it entails giving knowledge to students & inspiring them for higher achievements in
life.

The greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.― Jacques Barzun