The Freedom Writers Diary & Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell

The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell

You think you know the story: teens in an intercity school who give their first year teacher a run for her money. Actually that isn’t this story. True, the 150 teens in Ms. G’s class are mostly disciplinary referrals that will probably never finish high school, “the unteachable”. They are more colorful than a box of crayons and most are part of a gang. Nearly all have witnessed a murder and are living below the poverty level. They are only in school because the other options are prison or the grave. This isn’t a story of how a teacher tries to reach her students and fails. The Freedom Writer’s Diary are the narrative accounts of the 150 students that Erin Gruwell believed in. Students that decided to pick up a pen rather than a gun to prove to themselves and the world that anyone can change and rise above their circumstances. Students who opened (and read!) a book and saw themselves in the lives of Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic. 150 students who walked across the podium to receive their high school diploma and became the first in their families to attend college. Students who have now gone out into the world to make their own differences.

Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell

Teach With Your Heart is Erin’s follow-up to her students’ book The Freedom Writer’s Diary. Erin describes her decision to teach, her struggles in the classroom with both students and fellow teachers, the demise of her marriage, and her determination to make a difference in the lives of 150 “unteachable” students. Erin takes readers along with her to the office of Steven Speilberg, on trips with her students to Washington D.C., New York City, and to Europe to visit Anne Frank’s attic. Erin illustrates how she captivated her students with visits from Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank’s family, and Zlata Filipovic, a 15-year-old Bosnian refugee. This book is a wonderful selection for current and future teachers. Erin expresses hope to those highly motivated and creative individuals who truly want to make a difference in the classroom.