So…what was Erin’s secret? She introduced the concept of writing to her students via low stakes assignments. She provided them with journals to write in and would not read the actual content of them unless students volunteered them to her/granted her permission to…and astonishingly they all did. Another writing assignment which she gave them allowed them to have authorship of the stories of their own lives by turning their journals into actual publications. She understood that each of them had felt and survived experiences unique to them and she wanted them to be able to use writing as a means of healing.
Erin Gruwell’s success became well-known and the methods and ideas she used echo those of which we have both discussed in class and read about in Kelly Galllagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers. Just as Gallagher expressed the importance of helping students understand why writers write, Erin used various activities that helped her students to see relevance in what and why they were writing (Gallagher, pg. 122). Gallagher discusses the various purposes for writing, which include expression and reflection, inquiry and exploration, and informative and explanatory. By taking the various purposes and creating assignments that students are interested in and want to invest in, they will take agency and better see themselves in the role of author!
The following is a link to the Freedom Writers website. It includes a clip from the movie, tips and tricks, lesson plans/curriculum aids, and the story behind Erin and her original class!
http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/