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 freedom writers 
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Have any of you seen Freedom Writers? I watched it last weekend in Raleigh, and I thought it was very relevant to our class discussions about race, class, and tracking in school. It's about a middle class high school English teacher who is a beginning teacher in a school that has a very mixed student population (she teaches the lowest class, full of gang members, etc.). The movie shows how she struggles with the school administrators because she wants the best for her students, unlike the school administrators who underestimate the ability of her "low achievers." The teacher really pours herself into her students though, buying them new books that would interest them, taking them on trips, etc. She really made an effort to understand them and their perspectives on life. It was so neat because she really changed these student's lives (they all graduated, for example). The even cooler thing is that is based on a true story. I just thought it was so great to watch how a teacher overcame the stereotypes and prejudices of the school system in order to reach her students. I think it is so important to really try to understand our students, especially if they come from a different background than we do. When students see that you are really making an effort to understand them, they will be open to what you have to teach them.

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Leah Brown


Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:42 pm
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I have not seen this movie yet, but I look forward to watching it. I think that one of the most important things for teachers to understand is that our students backgrounds' have such an important role on what these students will be like in the classroom. I am experiencing this right now in a kindergarten class. The teacher has told me stories about the student's parents and some of the tough situations that these kids are in. One little girl craves for attention 24-7. The reason she craves for this attention is because her parents are going through a divorce right now. It is evident that divorce is taking a toll on her. Its hard to separate home life from school. Our job is to try and understand these children enough that we can give them the best educational experience possible. I think my knowledge of how important it is to learn this about students, will help me suceed even more.

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Meredith Kemper


Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:41 pm
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I also have not seen this movie yet, but it just reminds me of Dangerous Minds that had Michelle Pfeiffer playing the teacher. It may not be the exact same plot, but she fought against the odds and helped her class that was seen as the "stupid" class learn. I watched this movie in my CI 2800 class and I think it shows a great deal about stereotypes. Another thing that I thought was interesting was that she gave all of her students an A from the beginning and they just had to strive to keep their A. I have heard about this technique from more than one source and I believe it can be effective in an appropriate setting.

I know I went on a tangent, but I feel like there are probably a lot of similarities between Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers.

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Krystal Tarnaski


Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:44 pm
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I have also watched Dangerous Minds in one of my education classes and have often thought about the movie during discussions about race, class, etc. I think it can be very helpful for students to watch movies that tell stories about real-life circumstances of different social constructions. I have not seen Freedom Writers, but it sounds like it would be both interesting and informative.


Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:52 pm
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