Film Review - Asuncion, Alwin C.

Asuncion, Alwin C.
September 23, 2022

BSED- MATHEMATICS 4A
Principle and Strategies in Teaching Mathematics
FILM REVIEW
FREEDOM WRITER
Submit your review regarding the film.
Guide for reflection and review.

1) Identify the kind of learners.
- Some of the learners were forced by the Government to attend school
while others were on the brink of dropping out. Some students witnessed
their parents being unjustly killed by police brutality, while others despised
their lives of poverty. Many are in gangs and almost all know somebody that
has been killed by gang violence. The Latinos hate the Cambodians who
hate the blacks and so on. The only person the students hate more is Ms.
Gruwell.
2) What kind of school and community situation do they have?
A once highly acclaimed school that has declined since voluntary integration
had been enforced and where racial tension has increased since the Los
Angeles riots two years before. Teachers have struggles to form a connection
with their students and observes numerous fights between some of them, who
are in rival gangs. It is a school and community with a high rate of racism and
prejudice against various racial groups, which leads to moral degradation, a
lack of interest in studying, and involvement in various crimes or disturbances.
3) What kind of teacher is the lead actor portraying and give the characteristics
of her colleague?
Erin Gruwell is an idealistic teacher who starts her first teaching job as an
English teacher at a high school which two years earlier implemented a
voluntary integration program. The program is the reason why Gruwell
wants to teach at this particular school, and the classes Gruwell teaches
consist of teenagers with different backgrounds and experiences.
Some of her colleagues don't care that students are committing crimes.
Only candidates in good academic standing and intelligent students are
given consideration. does not know how to accept failure and has a high
opinion of himself. He equates the color of the skin to the status of life.
4) What are her strategies in managing the class, teaching and assessing
students?
Erin Gruwell used the three Main principle of Freedom writing:
Engage – approach students with materials that speak to them, adapted

to their interests, regardless of their situation.
Enlighten – provide a diverse set of tools that convey the information
effectively, stimulating curiosity and social interaction while acquiring new
knowledge.
Empower – help students create their own projects, demonstrating the

practical benefits of learning.
5) Did she employed various instructional materials, identify and discuss how it was
used?
Yes, all of the students receive student journal from Ms. Gruwell in which
they are instructed to write all of the happenings in their lives, happy or tragic
as well as good or bad. She needs to raise the instructional materials she uses
as a learner-centered instructor so that her students completely grasp the
value of learning no matter where they are in life. This journal served as a
springboard for them to begin talking about their experiences and accepting
the fact that they are victims of many forms of violence in a violent society.
Through the teaching of literature with which her students could identify,
as well as having her student’s journal as a way of dealing with their emotions
and thoughts, Gruwell was able to transform the lives of both her students and
herself. For one of their first excursions, Gruwell’s students travelled to Newport
Beach one Sunday to view Schindler's List. Soon after, her students were
checking out books that were not in the curriculum to help satisfy their
emerging love for reading. She was both amazed and encouraged how she
was able to get the students to bring their parents to an after-school event
because they were excited, and they wanted their parents to understand their
newfound excitement.
Gruwell always had her students write because she saw that as a
necessary technique of being a classroom teacher. Also, because she used
student journaling; the writing students did promote their thinking and this
eventually connected them to their classroom readings. Whether the examples
of stories from the books Gruwell chose such as "The Diary of Anne Frank" or the
many other books Gruwell had them read her students learned that there was
power of not just one voice, but also a collective voice. The power of writing,
especially when it was a collective experience that involved her students
sharing their personal stories, quickly became a focus in Gruwell’s classroom.
6) Reflect on the movie in general and relate it to your situation.
Freedom Writer teachers believe that everyone has his own story. They
encourage students to find their own and present it to the world. In the
process, Freedom Writers acquire general academic and life skills while
becoming responsible for their own lives and happiness, overcoming social
disadvantage. Everybody deserves a second chance at life. People aren’t
always what they seem to be. Just because you’ve had a traumatic past,
does not mean you don’t deserve to have a bright future and the movie
‘Freedom Writers’ is proof that sometimes people with the worst pasts
create the best futures.
Throughout the movie, we learn the story of each and every character.
We understand the reason behind their anger and hatred. We understand
their pasts and analyze the way they were brought up in underprivileged
households. Freedom Writers is a movie that is promised to pull unto your
heartstrings, teaching you the difference between right and wrong, making
you believe that if there is cruelty in this world, there is also happiness, and
there is also love, you just need to have a little faith and keep your hopes
strong.
When I was young, I also dealt with a variety of criticisms in my situation.
Additionally, my teachers discriminated against me. But rather than making
me give up on my studies, this strengthened me and allowed me to
graduate and fulfilled my dream. Freedom Writers taught me that it did not
matter where I came from, or what my past circumstances had been, if I
had the willpower to better myself, to change myself, to change my
situation, and to make my life better, I could do so with the right hard work,
commitment, and dedication.

Film Review - Asuncion, Alwin C.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Film Review - Asuncion, Alwin C.

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Film Review - Asuncion, Alwin C.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Asuncion, Alwin C.

September 23, 2022

Submit your review regarding the film.

Guide for reflection and review.

2) What kind of school and community situation do they have?

Erin Gruwell used the three Main principle of Freedom writing:

Engage – approach students with materials that speak to them, adapted

Empower – help students create their own projects, demonstrating the

6) Reflect on the movie in general and relate it to your situation.

You might also like