Mrs. Gruwell believed in these kids when no one else did. She had the patience, the passion, and the bravery to speak up to truly change these students lives. Unlike most teachers at the school, she gave these troubling students a voice, told them that their lives were not a waste, and that no matter what their story was, it mattered. Mrs. Gruwell was so successful in her way of teaching these students because she did not go by a set in stone academic curriculum. Instead, she observed and strived to understand and taught her class according to those unwritten guidelines. Instead of ignoring the individual issues every student had, Mrs. Gruwell made an effort to work through these problems, created exercises for the students to overcome these issues, and ultimately helped guide students in the right direction of becoming the person they desired to be and not the person violence, racial hatred, and gangs had made them become. The racial divide in the class caused multiple issues at first but Mrs. Gruwell motivated the students to overcome their differences and explained that they only way they could be free from the violence and hate would be to go through this process together. The audience is expected to learn a lot of important lessons while watching this movie. For one, students and young adults need to feel like they matter and that someone believes in them. Many teenagers go about their lives with such a  lackadaisical attitude because they have no motivation to impress anyone. Students long for that desire to learn and to show someone how important they feel and are, but if no one is there along the way for that little push, it is a hard thing to do on their own. Mrs. Gruwell was not just a teacher to these students; she was a mentor. She taught these students more than just a math equation; she taught these students how to treasure the gift of life.

Ms. Gruwell did an amazing job teaching her students, because she focused on what was best for the students. She realized that they had no passion for learning and that is the first thing you need to receive an education. I think we all agree that you cannot truly receive an education unless you want it. Continue reading →

Even though there seems to be no apparent direction in the film, “The Class,” a very interesting story is told.  Throughout the movie your heart goes out to the teacher, Messier Marin.  The teacher shows how he cares for his student’s lives and futures, and does everything in his power to help these troubled kids.  The unique way in which this film was created gives the viewer a chance to see a true classroom setting without a Hollywood style script.  To me the main focus was showing show difficult it is to be a teacher.  Messier Marin shows an amount of patients toward his students that is uncanny.  Only once did the teacher’s patience crack; however, this one slip up seemed to cost him all of his student’s respect.  Messier Marin, lost control of his restraint and insulted two of his student.  This is certainly a no-no but, to me it wasn’t his worse offense.  What was worse was not apologizing to the students he had wronged.  If he expects his students to ever ask for forgiveness he must do the same.  Instead of an apology, he tells the girls he insulted that there are things a teacher can do that students cannot!  This made me change my mind about the type of teacher Marin is; a teacher should lead their class with the example of class and respect, not hypocrisy.

What I did not understand about the movie, is why there were student representatives at what should have been private teacher meeting.  It seemed outrageous that students were involved in personal disciplinary and academic conversations about students.  All the issues at the end of the film would not have happened if those meetings were kept private.  For me, what made this movie so different and powerful is the realness it projected.  The story was not concluded with everything tied together with questions answered; this made it much easier to relate to life.

To be quite honest I didn’t like this video at all.  I felt that it had no specific plot. That being said,  there are certain aspects of the movie I did like.  The acting done by Mr. Marin seemed so honest and sincere I really do believe this video did a very good job of accurately portraying what actually occurred in the classroom.  The way that the movie portrayed Mr. Marin definitely showed that he tried to have a more friendly relationship with his students rather than a more authoritative relationship, but at the same time it was obvious that he really strives to be a good teacher at the same time.  The audience is also shown how  large of a struggle it is to teach these kids so we feel sympathy for Mr. Martin and his struggles.  Although I do not believe that his tactic was very effective but it shows that he really believes that his approach is really the most effective one.  My favorite part of the film is when Mr. Martin expels the kid because I feel it gives a realistic view of the problems these teachers must face every day.  Even thought it made me mad at Mr. Martin for a while I think it made the video better and gives and supports their argument.

I had never seen that movie or even heard of it, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the documentary feel of it. I feel like Mr. Marin wanted to portray it that way in an effort to make it feel as real as possible. There is no way really to fully understand what it’s like to be in that position until you’re actually put there, but being able to see as candidly as possible the events that unfolded is the best attempt. I think it would be really interesting to see how much of the script was actually followed and how much of it was the actors add-libbing. I was impressed by a lot of the quick wit of the students. It further enforced for me that they really are bright kids, just unmotivated and easily discouraged.

Mr. Marin playing himself also added to the credibility of the movie. Knowing that he was physically present during the actual events allowed the viewer to trust that the movie was as real as possible. Not entrusting the role to someone else made the movie more powerful. It showed me that the correct portrayal was extremely important to Mr. Marin and he would rather act himself (even though he is far from an actor) than let someone else have free reign.

Overall, I think there was no better way to cast or film this movie. Making it feel as real as possible was a necessity and is what made the movie so successful.

After reading Katherine’s post, I have to say Im pretty much in complete agreement to what she’s saying. At first I found myself very confused while watching the movie, I didn’t really get the purpose or understand why we were watching a movie in French in the first place. As the movie progressed however, I got into the plot and grew to start liking the characters and Mr Marin as well. Throughout the movie though I found myself extremely disappointed with Mr Marin’s attitude and teaching, yes, I do believe he made a slight impact on the kids but I think there was a lot more potential for where his progress could of gone. It did really irritate me that he referred to those two girls as skanks because I think as an educator and role model that was very out of line. Additionally, the students in the class had absolutely no respect for him and although he demanded respect the students never really gave it to him in return which was disappointing on their part.