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A review by jodiesackettbrown
The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher's Guide by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers
2.0
I picked this up to finish it after I had originally started reading it a few years ago. (I never like to leave a book unfinished!)
Overall, this book really left me feeling frustrated, in part because of the numerous grammatical errors and typos that were left on purpose, to lend a sense of "authenticity" to the voices of the teens who wrote the diaries. Additionally, this book frustrated me because of the disjointedness of the stories. I respect the desire to maintain some anonymity for these teens due to the highly sensitive nature of some of their experiences, however, the point of the diaries is to bring "real life" stories to the surface and anonymity obscures the "real life" nature of this.
I think another aspect of this book that frustrated me is that I, too, teach and work with at-risk high school students who share similar stories with these kids. Nearly 15 years after the Freedom Writers, nothing much has changed in school systems to account for the diversity of life experiences, learning styles, and student interests that speak to kids who aren't cookie cutter students. Sure, there has been a lot of talk about "connecting with kids" in meaningful ways to enable them to have access to a strong, rigorous curriculum with someone to help facilitate their learning and finding connections to their lives. However, the reality I learn from my students each quarter when they arrive in my classroom is that they have found disinterested teachers who hold themselves too aloof to make meaningful connections with them. In reading this book, my own students' faces kept popping into my field of vision and my memories of their life stories and my connections with kids came to the forefront.
Further, through both this book and my own personal experiences, what really smacked me in the face is not how much impact a good, committed teacher can have on a student, but how much impact really bad parents can have on their kids. There is an awful lot of talk about what teachers can do to help students, but let's start at home...
This book certainly has value as a cautionary commentary; however, much work still needs to be done to alleviate the situations the Freedom Writers experienced as there are thousands of kids still struggling in the same way more than 15 years later...
Overall, this book really left me feeling frustrated, in part because of the numerous grammatical errors and typos that were left on purpose, to lend a sense of "authenticity" to the voices of the teens who wrote the diaries. Additionally, this book frustrated me because of the disjointedness of the stories. I respect the desire to maintain some anonymity for these teens due to the highly sensitive nature of some of their experiences, however, the point of the diaries is to bring "real life" stories to the surface and anonymity obscures the "real life" nature of this.
I think another aspect of this book that frustrated me is that I, too, teach and work with at-risk high school students who share similar stories with these kids. Nearly 15 years after the Freedom Writers, nothing much has changed in school systems to account for the diversity of life experiences, learning styles, and student interests that speak to kids who aren't cookie cutter students. Sure, there has been a lot of talk about "connecting with kids" in meaningful ways to enable them to have access to a strong, rigorous curriculum with someone to help facilitate their learning and finding connections to their lives. However, the reality I learn from my students each quarter when they arrive in my classroom is that they have found disinterested teachers who hold themselves too aloof to make meaningful connections with them. In reading this book, my own students' faces kept popping into my field of vision and my memories of their life stories and my connections with kids came to the forefront.
Further, through both this book and my own personal experiences, what really smacked me in the face is not how much impact a good, committed teacher can have on a student, but how much impact really bad parents can have on their kids. There is an awful lot of talk about what teachers can do to help students, but let's start at home...
This book certainly has value as a cautionary commentary; however, much work still needs to be done to alleviate the situations the Freedom Writers experienced as there are thousands of kids still struggling in the same way more than 15 years later...