Ok, so I just watched Freedom Writer's Diary, and I have mixed feelings about it. I haven't read the book, and I'm sure I would have a very different reaction to reading their actual writing . . . because who can deny the words a person writes?
However, watching the movie, I focused more on the character of the teacher. I say "character" because who knows how much the real Erin Grunwell resembles the Hilary Swank version? But I think my reaction was a very personal one--I'm a teacher and I could never do what she did. And by that I mean, I could never take two extra jobs and sacrifice my marriage for my job. And watching this movie makes me feel kind of guilty for that fact, even though I know that most humans can't do what she did--and really, do we want our teachers to give their entire lives over to their jobs? Yes, she did AMAZING things for her students . . . but is this sort of personal sacrifice what it takes? And if so, can we really expect on a larger scale?
My first teaching job was a Michelangelo Middle School #144 in the Bronx. I started in January of 2003, after student teaching in a southwest suburb of Chicago. M.S. 144 was something like Woodrow Wilson High (the school in the movie), junior version. Students called me profanities, there were fights in my class, and Curtis, a lovable boy with a violent streak, liked to throw dictionaries at people when he got bored. I did not have the breakthrough that Erin Grunwell did. And so my reaction to her sacrifices in the film are probably a reaction to my inability to have a breakthrough with my students in the Bronx.
I think the film portrayed her as too perfect . . . I understand that they have to smush a lot into two hours to cover two whole years, but it made it seem to easy, too quick. Like all the sudden they were singing Kumbaya together and holding hands. I would have like to see more of her failed lessons, times when she missed the mark. But that's the teacher in me, wanting to commiserate, I think. Who said my reactions have to be fair?
Ms. Lechtenberg! You are so busy! Here I am trying to chisel out time to finish Eat, Pray, Love, which I've been working on for about a week now, and you are zooming through things daily - and with a new born!
ReplyDeleteI do agree that its agitating to watch teachers instantly change the lives of all of their students. It makes normal teachers seem "not up to par" Of course there are incredible, inspirational teachers out there, but do they need to make a movie about all of them?
Thanks for commenting Ms. Mundy! I'm so happy to have my first comment...
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