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Teaching Hope: Stories From The Freedom Writer Teachers And Erin Gruwell (2009)

by Erin Gruwell(Favorite Author)

4.07 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0767931726 (ISBN13: 9780767931724)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Broadway Books

review 1: A former colleague of mine wrote pieces of this book. We graduated from Michigan State's College of Education together, and were great friends for a while. We're not anymore; we lost touch, and I'm not that broken up about it. She was always quite the drama queen - even in college and through grad school and student teaching experiences. Tears abounded, scenes were made, she stormed out of the classroom at least twice. I read this book because she had made news headlines with her choice to teach The Freedom Writers' Diary in her classroom, and I wanted to see if her stories were as dramatic as her life had always been (and still is).I was not disappointed. I won't make any references that give her away, but the stories she tells in this book disturb me, mostly becaus... moree she makes some bold implications about her colleagues, the school in which she used to work, and her former community. After listening to some of her press conferences and interviews with the media, I am not surprised, and am disappointed in her.My former colleague/friend is a good teacher. She cares about her students and isn't afraid to be honest, and to teach bold material. However, her stories (and the story of Erin Gruwell, to be honest) made me wonder why some people become teachers. Teaching isn't about saving kids, or telling heartwarming stories, or conducting press conferences and book signings (both of which my colleague/friend did). Sometimes, after meeting so many different kinds of people throughout "teacher school," it's hard to believe that some of these people didn't become teachers as an alternative to becoming famous, hoping that someday someone would make a movie of their story, starring Hillary Swank.I mean...I find it ironic that the Freedom Writers situation (with Erin Gruwell) occurred during the exact same time that the movie Dangerous Minds was out. I don't have anything against unconventional teachers, or famous teachers, or teachers who publish books and conduct conferences and have movies made about them. But sometimes, it has to be about the kids and just the kids. Right?I have mixed feelings about the Freedom Writers, and the subsequent group of Freedom Writers teachers. There are a lot of truths at the heart of many of the stories in this book. But, at the same time, I cannot take the stories of my colleague/friend seriously, because...I KNOW her - very well. I can't take everything she says at face value - I just can't. This makes me wonder how many other stories in this book might be the same. Maybe some of them - maybe none of them. Either way, I found the book equally sketchy and inspiring.
review 2: Those familiar with Erin Gruwell's The Freedom Writer's Diary will recognize the format and themes presented in this book. However, rather than entries from students these stories come from teachers who have used Freedom Writer's methods with success in their classrooms. Although many of the educators are inspiring it does seem to focus on the extreme hard cases, perhaps leaning a bit too much towards the shock factor. less

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