Freedom Writers = Good Movie!

Saw this one last night. Very uplifting. Only thing that made me less pleased was finding out about the teacher at the end that

the teacher in question quit working at that school after the kids graduated, and moved on to work at a University; makes one think that maybe she was afraid of trying to work her magic with more than one group of kids

Based upon a true story, though like many such things, I suspect a bit over-dramatized. But very worth the money to go and see in the theater. :slight_smile:

What the hell?

Its like you think she is in some way morally duty-bound to “work her magic” on high school kids? Like this (“working her magic”) is what she would naturally do unless she were “afraid?”

To that, “nuts” I say! “Nuts” I say to that!

She can teach whoever she wants to teach, and there’s no expectation to be had, certainly no moral obligation to be ascribed, either way.

How long did she

teach at the High School anyway? I gather she’s quite young, so I’m guessing just a couple of years, or maybe even just one year. And then she goes on to teach at a University. Clearly her goal was never to be a High School teacher in the first place. As with many young teachers, it was a temporary job til she found something better more in line with her career goals.

Along the way, she happened to help some kids. Yay for her! And now she gets to do whatever she wants. End of story, no?

-FrL-

Um, before posting, it’s wise to educate one’s self. :rolleyes:

[spoiler]She taught for four years before moving on.

She is presented in the movie as having requested her placement at Wilson High specifically to allow her to teach at-risk youngsters, what she considered her life’s mission.

The movie has an antagonist who asserts when the “heroine” wants to continue to teach the same children for two more years that she is afraid to teach others, which implies that she has no faith in her unorthodox methodology, and shouldn’t be allowed to gain special privileges (ignoring seniority rules) for having simply bonded with one group of kids. It’s a shame to know that this accusation may have had some truth to it.

The heroine has started, with the help of some of the kids, an organization for teaching other teachers the Freedom Writer method of teaching. I’d be a lot more likely to consider it a valuable method if it had been successful with a series of freshman/sophmore students, rather than with just one group of kids.

Finally, I don’t know why she went on to teach at college, but it certainly leaves the students who were enrolled at that high school with a lot less in the way of potential to succede, with her gone.[/spoiler]

Sorry for the extensive spoiler; this response to the prior post would give away much of the movie, which isn’t my intent.

“um,” okay. " :rolleyes: "

In fact, I thought I knew, and had good reason to think I knew, everything relevant that I needed to know about the story. Turns out I was wrong about that, though, see spoiler below, not as wrong as you seem to think.

I also thought it was possible I was missing some information. For this reason, I intended my comments to come off as both offering arguments, but also couching these arguments in phraseology suggesting the possibility that I am playing the role of a comically rash and argumentative reactor. (“Nuts I say to that! To that I say nuts!”) This was to designed to invite correction regarding the facts. I didn’t pull that bit of irony off very well. I shouldn’t have even tried it. I’m too stupid for that kind of thing.

Point is: I am glad to have had the points you brought up explained to me, but I do not feel your chastisement of me in your first line is a successful one.

Anyway…

I’m still not seeing the “she must have been afraid” type of reaction. [spoiler]What do you do when you’re offered a teaching position at a University? What did she go on to teach, btw? My guess is that she’s now teaching people how to teach poor kids, which would be right in line with what she is reported to consider her life’s mission. But perhaps I have guessed wrong. Seems like a likely guess, though.

You have a valid point when you point out that to judge her method reliable based on a single test case is iffy at best. But there’s nothing in that point relevant to the question of whether “she must be afraid” is a valid reaction to her actions even prima facie

[/spoiler]

-FrL-

I’m sorry if I missed your attempt at lightening the tone of your post. I read it as a relatively severe reaction to my relatively mild comment.

My fault entirely.

-FrL-

Erin Gruwell ran for Congress in 2000, but didn’t make it out of the Democratic primary.