1. Video Clip
1.1. About 8:30 into the movie, we see Erin Gruwell, a fresh-faced, first-year teacher, eagerly (and anxiously) awaiting her class to enter the classroom. The bell rings and there is no one in class. A moment later, a man escorts her class into the room, and they all take their seats.
1.1.1. As the students take their seats, they immediately turn their desks to face each other, completely disregarding the Ms. Gruwell, at the front of the room. Ms. Gruwell is unsure where to start and loses her excitement quickly.
1.1.1.1. Ms. Gruwell starts taking attendance, while the students are talking amongst themselves, cracking jokes, and making a scene. Two students eventually break out into a verbal argument that starts to turn violent quickly. A student is seen with a gun tucked in the waist of his jeans. Other students circle around the two as the fight becomes louder and more intense. Ms. Gruwell runs out to get help.
1.1.1.1.1. In the next scene, Ms. Gruwell is getting coffee in the teacher's lounge, visibly shaken up from her first day in class. The other teachers in the English department invite her to their table, and they discuss her rough, first day. The two senior teachers scoff at her enthusiasm, telling her that her students will be gone by junior year. Ms. Gruwell is determined to make a difference in her students lives, and this exchange with the English department is another reminder of her struggles as a first-year teacher.
2. Problems with the Depiction of the Classroom
2.1. This movie plays too much on the white-teacher-rescuer complex (almost white-saviorism).
2.2. It gives an unrealistic view of the classroom because it's very dialed in on one specific classroom, with a very specific community of students.
2.3. This movie overemphasizes the stereotypes of students of color.
2.4. Good classroom management is made out to be a miracle, but the act of setting up the classroom for a positive, efficient, maintained classroom was not there.
2.5. The movie is a dramatization,.
2.6. The adults in the students' lives are essentially non-existent for the three hour movie.
3. Classroom Management Development - In the Beginning
3.1. The Good:
3.1.1. She is determined to try anything that will make it work for her classroom.
3.1.2. Ms. Gruwell remains overly-positive despite having a rough first week.
3.1.3. She is becoming more familiar with the student community, which she later uses to her benefit.
3.2. The Bad:
3.2.1. 14:20 - "Settle down," she says as her back is turned away from the classroom. She isn't utilizing the power of eye contact, and she hasn't even established any rules or expectations. Simply telling her students to settle down, while she isn't even talking directly to them, is ineffective.
3.2.2. She is overly-positive. This is listed as both a good and a bad aspect, because she harbors the passion and desire to teach her students, but it backfires at times. She doesn't understand why her students aren't engaging as well as why the school system, especially the English department, is placing all the at-risk students into a less-than category, tracked into dropping out or failing out.
3.2.3. Ms. Gruwell didn't start off her first day with any sort of rules, procedures, routines, or expectations. The students overran her classroom, and she was immediately not taken seriously.
3.2.4. She works on the assumption that her students are supposed to come in with knowledge at their grade level.
3.2.5. She lacks cultural competence (2). Ms. Gruwell is one of two white people in the room and has no way of connecting with her students' identities.
3.2.6. Ms. Gruwell lacks support in both her personal life and career. The English department does not support her methods and deems her as naive.
4. Classroom Management Development - At the End
4.1. The Good:
4.1.1. She fights to get her class to graduation. This includes her fighting for the interest of her students, like keeping her students past freshmen year.
4.1.1.1. Ms. Gruwell continues to advocate for her students inside and outside her classroom.
4.1.2. Ms. Gruwell finds uses differentiation well. She offers multiple mediums for her students to learn through, and allows her students to choose how they complete their work and what type of work to complete.
4.1.2.1. Ms. Gruwell uses positive reinforcement to increase student participation and engagement. For example, she had students read books about historical events and take them to museums, art galleries, etc. that showcased the events. At the end of the field trip, they would eat a dinner, and she would invite speakers or others to participate.
4.1.2.1.1. Ms. Gruwell brings in speakers that the students.
4.1.3. She is transparent with her expectations, and on top of that, she has high expectations for ALL of her students to succeed and graduate.
4.1.3.1. She teaches her students how to act and behave in public settings by giving them the opportunity to succeed (let them try and have faith in them, instead of assuming they can't behave)
4.2. The Bad:
4.2.1. In doing her work and going above and beyond to teach her class, she ends up playing into the idea that her class can only succeed in her classroom.
5. Classroom Management Development - In the Middle
5.1. The Good:
5.1.1. Ms. Gruwell starts to take charge of her classroom as she learns her teacher voice and teacher gestures. The tone in her voice and her confidence start to develop, and her students begin to respect her.
5.1.1.1. Ms. Gruwell builds rapport with her students, which is crucial in teaching in urban classrooms (2).
5.1.2. Teacher-student relationship --> Ms. Gruwell shows her students that she actually cares and genuinely wants them to succeed. Her students begin to open up. She encourages her students to come to her if they need anything. Ms. Gruwell is able to foster genuine relationships with her students, getting to know them beyond the surface level.
5.1.2.1. She is very real and authentic in her classroom management. She uses compassion and a lot of ethos to get her students to get along and behave well in the classroom.
5.1.3. Ms. Gruwell finds a way to get students to participate in class lessons by using pop culture references. Student interest grows and her classroom management develops at the same time.
5.1.3.1. Ms. Gruwell allows her students to be heard. She makes it known that they all have a voice in creating the classroom environment.
5.1.3.2. She makes herself more familiar with her students' needs. Although most of the gaps in their learning and obstacles in their lives are shocking, she pushes through and uses her students' rich, cultural background as a stepping stone instead of a barrier.
5.1.4. The administration begins to see the positive side to her methods and begins to be more flexible as ms. Gruwell's students begin performing better in class.
5.2. The Bad:
5.2.1. Ms. Gruwell spends A LOT of her own money to afford basic classroom supplies. This isn't so much bad classroom management, but in spending a lot of her own money, she doesn't really make her classroom sustainable on a one-job salary.
5.2.2. Ms. Gruwell still struggles with balancing her emotions and the classroom. It's very visible to her class when she is distressed in any way.
5.2.3. Her students use cuss words freely when expressing their feelings, and she doesn't have a solid system of consequences or expectations set up.
5.2.4. In trying to understand her students better, she singles out the only white, male in the room.
5.2.5. The English department is still very against her methods. The teacher's lounge is a very dangerous and unwelcoming place for Ms. Gruwell.
6. Plot
6.1. A white, middle-class, first-year teacher begins her job at a high school teaching freshmen English to students deemed "at-risk." Ms. Gruwell eventually gains her students' respect and is able to get through to them. Her goal becomes getting her students to graduation, as she learns about the horrors of her students' daily lives. Her work in her classroom of "Freedom Writers"is somewhat of a miracle because she makes a real difference in her students' lives.
7. Main Takeaways
7.1. Classroom management needs to be set up on day one.
7.1.1. Rules and expectations must be created and discussed on the first day.
7.1.1.1. It's okay to clarify and reiterate rules throughout the year and during specific activities (2). Students need reminders too.
7.1.1.2. Students thrive on routine (1).
7.1.2. A reward/consequence system needs to be explicitly set up as well as consistently used. Students thrive on kept-promises and routines.
7.1.2.1. Reward students for positive behaviors. Positive reinforcement works better than punishment in a culturally responsive classroom (2).
7.1.2.2. Start with the smallest consequence first (1).
7.1.2.3. Never punish the whole class (1). This doesn't help the situation and only incites more negativity.
7.2. Students need to have a voice in how their learning environment is set up.
7.2.1. Student need to be heard and know that their opinions, work, and effort matters.
7.2.2. Student involvement in any degree in the classroom improves classroom management because students are more likely to stay engaged and participate.
7.2.2.1. Pick curriculum that makes sense for the particular classroom (1).
7.3. Students come with very rich and diverse cultural backgrounds, which offers the classroom a vast range of knowledge and experience.
7.3.1. Engage their cultural wealth knowledge in classroom content.
7.3.2. Avoid blanket assumptions and get to know students' differences (2).
7.4. Have (reasonably) high expectations of students because it's much more productive to give students the benefit of the doubt. Assumptions are unhelpful and take away from the learning in the classroom.
7.4.1. Students can only expect of themselves as much as the teacher expects of them.
7.4.2. Give students something to look forward to in the classroom.
7.5. We need to take time in developing our teaching methods, teacher voice, teacher stare, etc. It doesn't happen in one day, one week, one month, or even one year.
7.5.1. Learn to be creative. Creativity in classroom management is important in keeping students interested (1). Each teacher should have their own flare.
7.5.2. Enthusiasm can be a good tool. It's better to be more positive than to be more negative (1).
7.6. Be direct, concise, and explicit. Students with different cultural backgrounds may not respond well to vague directions or questions (2).
7.6.1. Start with one directive versus overloading. Be patient and wait for student response, compliance, etc. Students are more likely to do one thing than a lot of tasks compiled together (1).
8. Citations
8.1. Finley, Todd. “19 Big and Small Classroom Management Strategies.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 6 June 2017, www.edutopia.org/blog/big-and-small-classroom-management-strategies-todd-finley.
8.2. Finley, Todd. “Relationship Building Through Culturally Responsive Classroom Management.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 14 Aug. 2014, www.edutopia.org/blog/relationship-building-culturally-responsive-classroom-todd-finley.
8.3. Tanase, Madalina. “Meeting Student Needs in the Freedom Writers Movie: An Activity in a Classroom Management Course.” Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, vol. 19, 2013.
8.3.1. Although the movie is a very dramatized depiction of the classroom and the power of one teacher, there are a lot of benefits to utilizing the strategies and models employed in Ms. Gruwell's classroom. Students have basic needs, including a sense of belonging, independence, and mastery (3). These basic needs need to be fostered in the classroom environment. Freedom Writers exemplifies the method of the Circle of Courage, which is "based upon theories of motivation, agency, and initiative" (3). If students needs are met, they have more capacity to succeed in the classroom.
8.3.1.1. Going on field trips shows the students that learning can happen outside the classroom as well (3).
8.3.1.2. "Toast for Change" is a great way for students to claim their autonomy in the classroom because they set their own goals and are rewarded when they achieve them (3).
8.3.1.3. It's incredibly important to create a positive learning environment for students (3).