Looking For Inspiration?

Through years of learning, studying, late nights, early mornings, meetings, homework, and jobs, we tend to sometimes lose sight of what we are working towards in the first place. I am the same way, I have wanted to give up so many times, wondered if teaching will be worth it all. When I need an inspiration boost to remember why I want to be a teacher in the first place, I think about the difference I could make, the teachers that made a difference in my life, and the future students I will have that will need me as much as I need them.

My second book review was on the book, "The Freedom Writers Diary" by Erin Gruwell and her at-risk English students. I love this book in particular because Erin Gruwell is the model of the teacher that I hope to one day be. She is my hero, my role model, my inspiration. After the book was written, the award winning film debuted and captured the hearts of every teacher. Erin Gruwell wanted to make a difference, and she used her teaching abilities and talents to do that. She used the diversity in her classroom, a class of misfits that no one else even took the time to think about, and made them into an example that will set high expectations for teachers all over the world for years to come.

The story is about Erin Gruwell, a fresh new teacher with high expectations and loads of motivation. She is placed to teach a freshman at-risk English class full of culturally and ethnically diverse inner city students. These students all belong to some kind of gang or clique, and for no reason but that, they all hate each other. One day during class, Erin intercepts a crude drawing of one of the students in the class, drawn by another student. She introduces the class to the topic of the Holocaust. None of the students, aside from one, knew what the Holocaust even was. She used this momentum to catch their interest by relating it to their lives. She introduced them to "The Diary of Anne Frank" which could relate to the students' lives. She had them create journal entries everyday. The students told their stories through these entries. They named themselves the Freedom Writers, a named credited to the Freedom Riders after they learned about them in class.

Erin Gruwell put her heart and soul into teaching and loving those students. She took on three jobs to pay for the books and trips herself. She spent countless hours with them, helping them, talking them on field trips. Her fellow teachers despised her and what she was trying to accomplish. Her marriage failed because of her dedication to the classroom. Was it worth it? Yes. She loved her students and her students loved her. All 150 students graduated from high school, some even going to college, the first in their family. She made a difference in those students' lives that mattered. She changed the world one student at a time. That is the kind of teacher I want to be. So, if you ever find yourself doubting the worth of your hard word, time, and effort, read this book. Watch this movie. And there will be no doubt in your mind the wonders you will accomplish.