Mrs. Gruwell is described as an exemplary teacher who was dedicated to motivating her diverse students despite their differences. She handled her class in an outstanding way by fostering peer relations and unity among her students. The students in her class came from various backgrounds and held racist views towards one another when the class began. However, Mrs. Gruwell used various activities like journaling, debates, and trips to help students express themselves and realize they could change their views. Her teaching strategies helped make her class successful by bringing the students together.

1. FREEDOM WRITERS
Directed by: Richard LaGravanese
Subject: ED105B Section/Schedule: JSED/TFr-10:30-12:00
Date: February 26, 2018 Instructor: Mr. Ricky Bustos
1. Describe Mrs. Gruwell as a teacher. How did she handle her class? What
are her qualities that made her a teacher of yesteryear? A 21st
century
teacher?
- Mrs. Gruwell as a teacher is incomparable. Her dedication and passion in
teaching just show what a true teacher really is. She is an epitome of what an
aspiring teacher should become. Handling a class with different perspectives in
life might be a great obstacle, but for her it will never matter as long as a teacher
has an optimistic vision towards his/her class. This is the reason why she
handled her class outstandingly. Also, she focused more on the context and on
how to motivate her students despite their actual differences. She is a great
leader and a communicator as well. That best decribes her as a teacher of
yesteryear. As a 21st
century teacher, Mrs. Gruwell can be described as venture-
player because she could risk her function as a wife for the sake of her students.
Most of all, she could foster peer relations that made her and her class united.
2. Describe the composition of Mrs. Gruwell’s class. How is racism
manifested in the movie?
- Mrs. Gruwell’s class is one of a kind. Students who belong in her class in Room
203 have diverse views about each other. It is just a sad thing that what students,
like Eva Benitez, bore in their hearts and minds were merely the idea that black
people should always be separated from the white ones. That what history tells
about the relation between each other is plainly never-changing. That in the eyes
of everybody, up to these days, white people must be treated specially and the
black ones must be maltreated because the color of their skins reflect what are
inside them. A class with such diversity is very rare and difficult to handle. But for
Mrs. Gruwell, if this kind of racism as viewed in the movie is not to be solved by
her, then she thinks no one would ever dare to.
3. Describe the principal and Mrs. Gruwell’s coordinator. How would you
relate their characters and views in real life?
- The principal and Mrs. Gruwell’s coordinator could be described as mediocre.
They settle for something that is already been practiced, might it be good or bad.
Just like what the Wilson High School’s condition wherein students are mostly
members of gangs and other affiliations which distance them from each other,

2. they think of these circumstances as something to be dealt with and not to be
solved. They think of it as there is no more solutions to help students realize that
they are capable to build strong relationships with each other. That for years of
gang wars and any other abusive conducts, everyone must be used to it. That is
their perspective. In real life, these things could really happen. Some teachers
out there are thinking that students who are naturally doing misconducts would
never change. In short, teachers already surrender where in fact, they must be
more challenged and grateful at the same time because what students will mostly
remember from the teachers are not just the knowledge and values that they
teach, but how these teachers affect their students’ lives along the way.
4. What are the strategies and activities she used to her class? How did it
help in making her class successful?
- Different activities and strategies have been used in Mrs. Gruwell’s class. First,
she was able to use the essence of writing a journal wherein her students must
write something about what is happening in their lives for everyday. It is a very
good activity because her students could express their feelings, even though
they themselves are the ones who can read. Second, she applied the debate
where students are grouped in two and are given time to speak what they want to
speak. Freedom of expression really takes place in her class and it is a very
good way to heal the wounded hearts and minds of her students. Third, she
prepared a toast for everyone in which anyone could take one at a time and
speak what she felt or had been through. To make students see the real view of
what they are experiencing, she toured them in a museum where they have
encountered different happenings of the past which affect them for today. They
were able to realize so many things – one is to change for the better. Lastly, she
instructed them to read a book, The Diary of Anne Frank where a 13-year old girl
faced baseless hatred, bigotry, persecution and a system out to destroy her. This
book is merely related to them that is why her students grasped the real lesson of
the story. These strategies made the students successful in a way that they
became united after all the things that had happened.
5. Are there uses of technology in the class? Elaborate.
- Although, Mrs. Gruwell mostly used the traditional way of teaching wherein her
approach focuses on books, direct instruction and teacher-centered in general,
she was able to integrate technology when she toured her class in a museum.
They have watched there a more comprehensive view of what happened in the
past in terms of different conflicts between races and how racism took place and
affected the lives of the many. For us, that was the best technology Mrs. Gruwell
used for her class to realize and learn such things.
6. If you’ll be assigned with a class or students in conflict, how will you
handle it?

3. - Every teacher has their own ways to teach and handle a class. For us, if students
have difficulties in building firm relationships in the class due to some personal or
racial factors, we could handle it by helping them realize that conflicts in life are
natural. They happen and will always be possible for everyone’s life. The most
important thing for us, mentors of the society who guide the path of the students
is that, we must not surrender immediately in times of struggles in disciplining
diverse students. Mrs. Gruwell will be a motivation for us to never quit imparting
knowledge and values to our students. We must take our own path, build our
own bridges in order to extend it to everyone. We must inculcate in the minds
and hearts of our students that unity begets true essence of learning as alifelong
process.
7. What are your insights and learnings after watching the movie?
- After watching the movie, we have realized so much things that we are confused
of before, especially in terms of whether teaching profession will really be our
right path. It answers so many questions running around our heads. We have
come to realize also that being a teacher might not be a lucrative position, it is
the noblest of all the professions that are ever been made. We are able to know
that it requires a lot, including sacrifices, perseverance, patience and
determination in order to be successful. The movie itself is a lesson to the
teachers out there who consider teaching as a low profile job. At the same time, it
is also a motivation to students like us who aspire to be future mentors.
8. What is the symbolism of Room 203? How did it help the students?
- The Room 203 symbolizes change. It just shows that everything happens for a
reason and every change is influenced by any person. Room 203 itself is a
reminder for everyone to never quit dreaming and aspiring for the betterment of
everything. Settling for mediocrity has no good. If people in general would not
accept the fact that change is a constant thing, it would never be possible for
them to be fulfilled in life. The class inside Room 203 came to realize that even
though they have different bakgrounds and perspectives in life, they all have one
goal – to change the pessimistic views about each other and to clear
misconceptions between their races. For us, the true meaning of change helped
students know that they must be united first despite differences so that they may
put in mind the true meaning of learning.
Prepared by:
CARCERO, JOHN CARL P.
DELOS REYES, ABBYGALE JADE P.