In the beginning of the film you saw Ms. Gruwell's department head suggest that she not to wear her pearls to class. The English teacher commented on them as well. Later we notice that she wore them to class on the first day of school. Why do you think she was given the advice and why do you think she ignored it? Also, you heard Ms. Gruwell ask her students if they were aware of the Holocaust after she saw an ugly picture being passed around the class. Why do you think almost none of the students had ever heard of the Holocaust? At one point she is having a conversation with her department chair about giving her students new books. What was the importance of that discussion? You will make a reflective comment to these questions and then make a comment on at least one other student's post.
44 comments:
She was given this advice because the other teachers and workers at the school have an image of the kids, for being gang members and they assume that they will try to steal the pearls. Ms Gruwell ignores these comments because as we have seen she is not a judgmental person and isn't scared or worried about her pearls being stolen.
The students in her class had no idea about the Holocaust because their teachers seem to just let them do what they want because the other teachers in the school see these students as a waste of there time.
This discussion was important because it makes the viewer realize how poorly these students are treated, they dont get books or materials needed to learn so how are they suppose to get an education. This scene also shows Ms. Gruwell's dedication to the class because she fights for them and is in disagreement with her department head about the students she is teaching.
I was absent from school
i agree with brian. The teachers are very narrowed minded in a sense that they believe that every kid is out to hurt THEM. the problem the teacher and the head of the school has is their selfishness. selfisness is also what makes Gruwell so radical to them because she wears her "rich" jewlery and stands up even when everyone in the room hates her because she is white. i think the kids in this movie dont know what the holocaust is simply because they have been so absorbed their entire life on there problems and hasnt been sat down to be taught. other teachers say just sit there. all that is helping with is having kids sit in a room they dont want to be in thinking of their dire situation. this new radical teacher has the kids moving and talking and even arguing over their points and self experiencing which already is amazingly better. this really shows how ignorant and pathetic some people and even the majority of people are. when talking to a fellow teacher about her problem, he laughed and rudley made comments INFRONT of someone of race. this shows the viewer the true depth of the situation these kids have been put in and how unbelivable it is.
She was given the advice about not to wear her pearls because the other teachers at the school figured that her students would try to steal them. The other teachers dont have the same view of the students that Ms Gruwell has because she is the only teacher who has gotten something out of the kids. Ms. Gruwell trusted the kids enough to continue to wear the pearls to school everyday. The students in her class did not know about the Holocaust because no teacher has ever put in time and effort to try and teach the kids. Ms. Gruwell is the first teacher to care about the students and hope that they will succeed. The discussion between Ms Gruwell and her department head is important because it shows how hard she is fighting for these kids to just be treated like everyother student in the school. All she wants is some books that she can share with her students. The other teachers dont believe that the students will succeed in the class or even care about it in general. Ms. Gruwell shows how much effort she is putting towards these kids by fighting for them and trying to get them new books.
I think that the teachers may have been conditioned to say what they said. I dont think that these teachers were racist in a sense, i think its more that there probably had been alot of things that had happened to the teachers before hand that we never got to see. In a place like long beach there is known to be tons of gang activity and im sure that most of the kids if not all the kid have little to no respect for the faculty. and im sure that there are kids who wouldn't think twice about stealing a teachers stuff. We dont know the whole story to why the teachers are acting that way, but we cant just merely assume that they say the things they say just because they're racist. Thats simply not true.
I feel like most of the kids dont really know what the holocaust is because they have much larger things to worry about. one of the guys in the class talked about how every day they were graduating because they made it though the day. they obviously aren't going to care much about history and school for that matter if they're constantly worried about getting killed.
She was given the advice not to wear the pearls because the students at the school are viewed as criminals and they thought they'd steel them. She ignored them because she didn't want to go in listening to everything everyone was telling her she didn't see them as bad kids just as troubled kids who needed help. I think that almost none of the kids heard holocaust because they were so wrapped up in their problems that they didn't really know what was going on around them and they were never really educated because what the school was mainly focused on was getting the children's test scores up not really the material they were teaching. The importance of the discussion about the books was that the department chair was saying that the students weren't capable of reading those types of books and that they got the more " condensed" ones. Also she told Ms. Gruwell that she'd have to perches them her self if she wanted her students to read the books or else they'd get ruined. So pretty much she wasn't getting any support from the school.
I agree with Caroline with the fact that all the teachers besides Ms. Gruwell are very narrowminded. They have never given these kids a fair chance. They dont know their potential because they have views about them before even getting to know them. They dont think any of the kids in her class have the right to have the same materials that the honors students have. They have never tried to teach the students like Ms. Gruwell is doing. I think that if the teachers gave the students a fair chance and actually tried to interact with them, then they would be impressed with the amount of potential they all have.
I agree with Jenna's post. Ms. Gruwell was starting to get treated like the students because nobody paid attention to them because they weren't "good" students, she wasn't getting the respect, support, or help from the school to get the materials she needed to help the students so she went out of her way to get what she needed and put a threat to her marriage to do so.
I think the teachers do not see the progress that these children have made, like she has. The head of the school ignores Ms. Gruwell because she has not faith in these children. The head of schools has not ever gotten anything out of these kids, but she has. That is why nobody supports Ms. Gruwell because the lack of belief that these children will actually be able to suceed. It shows how unfair these students are treated. They can't have new books because nobody believes that they will be able to read them. They do not get new materials so how are they supposed to get a good education? This shows Ms. Gruwells strong dedication to these children
I agree with Brian that these students have no idea what they are doing to each other because they do not now about the past. They do not know what the Holocaust is and they don't know behaviors such as little drawings is where it can all start
I think that the department head and the English teacher advised Mrs. Gruwell not to wear the pearls because they have a bias image of these kids, a very negative image that is. Mrs. Gruwell still wore her pearls because she did not know the kids and wanted to give them a chance and not assume things. Turns out, that she makes a connection with the kids and continues to wear her pearls without any doubt.
I believe that none of the kids, except the white boy, knew what the Holocaust was because the school did not bother giving the kids materials to learn from because they thought the kids would just ruin the materials and waste the schools money. Also, the kids are so driven to "protect their own" that they do not care to learn about the past, they are just concerned with surviving every day.
The importance of the conversation that Mrs. Gruwell has with the department chair was to portray how the school does not care about the kids education. The department head says she rather have the books sit in a closet untouched than give them to the kids and have them ruin them, causing the school to pay to replace them. In result of this, Mrs. Gruwell is upset and buys books with her own money which showed the kids that she actually cared about them.
I agree with Caroline when she wrote about the other teachers in the school being selfish. All the teachers in the school do not believe in these kids and do not give them the chance or respect that they deserve. Mrs. Gruwell is the only teacher to have an open mind and who wants to connect with these kids and do more than just "babysit".
I believe she wore her pearls to class because she got them from her dad and they were special to them. Also she believes the kids wouldn't try to steal the necklace from her anyway. I think she also believed in the kids at first and she wanted to make a difference. I think none of the students have not heard of the Holocaust because none of the teachers before her didn't even care about the kids. The teachers didn't believe they were going to understand such a hard thing in life. Also that none of the other teachers didn't even bother trying to teach it to them. The importance of giving the kids books and the discussion of it was because Anne Frank's life was just like the kids life. Struggling to live and having cops come after them all the time and living on their own wondering if they would live or die the next day.
I agree with Laura of how the department head has a bias image of the kids and won't give them a chance. Also don't pay attention to who they are. Also they never gave them a fair chance to learn.
I think she was told not to bring the pearls because the staff speaks very negatively of that class and thinks they would steal them. I think she ignored this advice because she is her own person and will do what she wants, and wont take no for an answer. I think they havnt heard of the Holocaust because they never talked about it in school. She discusses the new books, and the department head says no. The importance of this is that the department head didnt believe in them, and thats all she had to do for them so succeed. Because thats exactly what Ms. Gruwell believed in them and they began to respect her and learned alot from her. I believe she changed their lives forever.
I agree with what Jenna said, that they didnt know what the holocaust was because no teacher cared enough to teach them it. I also agree Ms. Gruwell is the only teacher that cared about that particular group of kids.
I think the department head told Ms. Gruwell to not wear her pearls to class to actually try to prevent even more initial conflict in class. The department head knows the situations of many of the students and knows that a lot of them do not come from families with a lot of money. If the students can not afford many things and then see their teacher wearing pearls it may make Ms. Gruwell seem even more different from them. These pearls may only help emphasize the negative feelings the students have about their teacher initially.
Although Ms. Gruwell is given this advise to not wear her pearls I think she chooses to wear them anyways on the first day for more than one reason. First she mentions they were given to her by her father and therefore mean a lot to her. She may also be used to wearing them and feels that they are almost apart of her. I also feel that she did not entirely expect the type of students she would receive so she did not know she may be offending some of them by wearing the pearls.
I do not think any of the students had ever heard of the Holocaust because up to this point they had never really cared nor tried in school before. This is also the first time for a lot of these students to have a teacher who actually cares about them and wants them to learn. This combination of not putting much effort in and their teachers giving up on them lead to them all never hearing about the Holocaust.
The conversation Ms. Gruwell had with the department head about books was important for more than one reason. It was important because this is where she realizes that the students think they are too stupid for new books. This idea of not being good enough for new books is degrading and influences the students to not want to learn. Also this conversation is one of the first instances where Ms. Gruwell meets resistance on her journey to help these kids. At this moment she begins to continue on to help these children with out support from anyone. She begins her fight for what she believes in even though she is fighting alone.
I agree with Kate's point about "They do not get new materials so how are they supposed to get a good education?". I agree that up until Ms. Gruwell no other teacher showed as much dedication to these children.
When the teacher and department head gave her to advice to not wear her pearls, they thought they were helping her out. They figured that she was new and didn't understand the types of kids who went to the school, which in reality was the real reason for her choosing the school in the first place. She ignored it because she was determined to not just be another one of those people telling those kids that they couldn't do things and taking precautions expecting them to screw up.
Most of the students didn't know about the Holocaust, I feel, because they had never cared enough in school to actually learn about it. They were too busy fighting their own war to learn about wars that other people had fought.
I thought the discussion about the books was important because it showed that Ms. Gruwell was going to get no help from anybody, and if she wanted to get what she wanted, she would have to do it herself.
I agree with what you're saying, Andy, in the sense that the administrators were not just blatant racists saying not to wear the pearls. Obviously some of the kids that were in that school had zero respect for the whole establishment and fought back against it in anyway they could. On the first day there were already numerous fights. Trying to break up a fight could result in the breaking of her pearls. Not that the administration was right in assuming that they would steal them or anything, but they were just telling her to take the precautions that they would take based on prior experience.
I agree with Jenna, Mrs. G wasn't receiving any form of help or support from anyone in the school. Mrs G shows so much dedication to the classroom and would have been more successful in a shorter amount of time if only she had some form of support. Mrs G was helping these kids find out who they are because it was the right thing to do and this is clearly showed through her dedication to the class.
I think Ms. Gruwell was given this advice about her pearl necklace because the other faculty members thought the students in her classroom would steal them from her. I think she rightfully ignored them because they were stereotyping her students. I think most of the students have never heard of the Holocaust because their families have not heard about the Holocaust. I also think the school system was at fault for not teaching this to them. In the discussion about having new books for the students, the department chair said that the non-honors students would destroy them as an excuse to not give them good books to read. She does not think they can learn because she is a racist. She wants to stay on top in the position of power, and I think this is her way of doing so.
I agree with Matt DeRusha’s comment. I think that if one person believes in the students it will give them the hope that they need to succeed.
I think the department head told Ms. Gruwell not to wear the pearls to class because she thought that the students would try to steal them. I think she ignored the advice because she was not going to prejudge the students when she didn’t know them. The students did not know what the Holocaust was because they were too busy with staying alive each day, and the teachers didn’t care to teach them. I think the importance of the discussion on getting new books was to show that Ms. Gruwell would not stop just because the department head said no to her. Ms. Gruwell said that she would by her own books because unlike the department head she cared.
I agree with Jenna. The students did not know about the Holocaust because the teachers never tried to teach them about it. This is because the teachers did not think the students could learn or would want to learn about the Holocaust or anything.
The department head told Mrs Gruwell not to wear the pearls because she assumed the children would try to steal them, because the staff thinks the children are hopeless criminals. Mrs Gruwell ignored this advice because she had standards for the children and did not believe they would try to steal her pearls. Almost none of the students had heard of the Holocaust because their teachers did not think they were capable of learning about it. Furthermore, they did not think the Holocaust was relevant to the students.
The importance of the discussion is that it shows how unwilling the other teachers are to invest in their students. They have such low standards for the children that it's almost impossible for a caring teacher to be a true teacher. Mrs Gruwell must overcome many obstacles in order to be a teacher who actually teaches.
I agree with what Caroline said about the teachers being selfish. The other teachers refused to invest in the students at all because they believed it was a waste of their time and energy. However, this is extremely unfair to the students.
The department head and the other teachers told Ms. Gruwell to take off her pearls because they felt that she was going to get robbed for them. she ignored their advice becuase she wanted to give the students the benefit of the doubt. I felt that she did not want to mnake any aussumptions unless it happened.
I felt that the students were never given the chance to learn about the holocaust. the reason why is that the teachers felt that they werte too out of control or too dumb to teach them about it. I felt that the importance of the discussion between Ms, Gruwell and the department head was to show that everyone deserves a chance of equal educaiton. The teachers already were giving up and decided to "babysit" instead of teach. Ms. Gruwell said herself that the students would only get rewarded if they worked hard and did their assignments.
I agree with Jesse Blackwell. I believe that teachers should've take more time to try and understand the student's situation and try to work things out according to them. Instea the teachers chose not to, and they just babysit rather than actually tech them.
Mrs Gruell was given this advice because the teachers at this school already have such a stereotype in their minds about these students. By givingher this advice, the principal is assuming that since they come from gang life and the projects that they will steal her pearls.Mrs Gruell opted to not take her advice and still wear the pearls because she didn't know the kids yet, therefore she felt she couldn't assume they would steal them if she didn't know them yet. This discussion is very important because it helps us realize that these kids aren't really being taught if the staff and teachers don't care about them enough to take give them the benefit of the doubt that they can learn and be good students.
I also agree with Brian that it wasn't fair how poorly these students are being treated. They aren't getting the books or materials needed for them to properly learn new material. Mrs. Gruwell shows in this scene that she is the only one who truly is a teacher because she is the only one willing to fight for the class and be dedicated enough to teach them to learn and change.
When given the advice to not wear her nice pearls to class, the teachers warning her were judging every single kid in there by what they've heard or guessed, and Mrs. Gruwell refused to do that. She would not allow herself to judge these people that she has never met before just because of the color of their skin. Most teachers did just that and wouldn't even bother attempting to educate these kids because they figured it would be a waste of time. That is why when Ms. Gruwell brought up the holocaust nobody had heard of it, because they were never taught it in school. When having the conversation with the school board chairman, her dedication to this cause is shown, and the lack of caring by the other teachers is also shown. Most other teachers thought it was completely pointless to even attempt to teach these kids, but she thought otherwise.
I agreed with Jimmy Gross when he said "she was determined to not just be another one of those people telling those kids that they couldn't do things and taking precautions expecting them to screw up." She thought that every single one of those kids had infinite potential and she wouldn't let anybody tell her otherwise.
The department head clearly thinks that the students will steal her pearls, but ms. Gruwell ignored it because she already knows the kids are better than that. I think none of the students knew about the holocaust becuase they all thought school was a waste of time and teachers thought ALL the students were incompetent and wouldn't be able to understand such a concept. The importance of the conversation between the department head and Ms. Gruwell shows that most authority think so little of the student they won't even use their resources on them. The students having teachers that don't give a bout them, make the student hate school even more and want to destroy school property to retaliate.
I agree with Erica that the teachers already have the students stereotyped, so they won't care at all about them because they already think they are all juvenile deliquents, who shouldn't be in school at all.
Always other teacher judged them as bad, poor students and didn’t care them at all. And always there were cautiousness between them and they made racial border. However, Ms. Gruwell didn’t give up her students. She listen them and understood them continuously. I think that Ms. Gruwell letting them writes their true mind and story freely, made her student minds be open. Also letting her students know about the Holocaust made them think the importance of people around them and reform their minds and spirits. I think that Ms. Gruwell broke the all prejudice from the students. Her strong belief, patience and effort changed her student perfectly.
I believe that the other faculty members told Mr. Gruwell to not wear her pearls in class because there is this ignorant image of these african american students being gang members, and thieves. She made the right choice by wearing them, it proves that she is not like the other teachers, she has faith in the kids and knows that they are better than the image projected upon her by the other teachers. In terms of the holocaust, the kids probably did not know about it because they never gave school a chance. Once Mrs. Gruwell got the students to buy into being an active classroom, they realized how significant the Holocaust is, and that it was truly a time of struggle, frustration, and hurting beyond any one persons imagination. As for the discussion about the new books, Mrs. Gruwell is showing that she can reach out to her students on a different level than what is "normal." By that I mean that she has grabbed the attention of the students and has shown them that learning is vital and by having new books she can help teach the students more efficiently. It shows her dedication and willingness to provide a good education to the young minds in her classroom.
I agree strongly with Evan Thur, the other faculty members saw room 203 as a lost cause and a waste of time and money. Mrs. Gruwell saw the potential in the students and stopped at nothing to help make a difference in their lives. Props to you Mrs. G!!
Ms. Gruwell was given this advice because the other faculty members viewed the students in her class as violent, gang-affiliated thieves. However, she still did wear the pearls, probably to prove a point that she will not judge these kids based on their reputations by other adults. She wanted to show the students that she trusted them and would give them respect in return for respect. The students probably had no idea about the Holocaust because no teacher ever invested the time into teaching them about it. The discussion she had with the department chair once again displayed the way all the other faculty members view the students in Ms. Gruwell's class. She recognizes this popular belief, yet still refuses to accept it and finds ways to still connect to the students.
I agree with Brian. Since no teacher ever bother dedicating their time to the students, they never learned about the past and events significant to history. For example, if the students had an understanding of the Holocaust, maybe they would think twice before passing around a disturbing picture of a classmate.
I was absent from school.
I think she was given the advice to not wear the pearls for they would most likely be stolen or damaged, or perhaps that they would indicate a class difference between the students and her that would only provoke the students despise her even more. I think she ignored the advice out of both a respect for their sentimental value and a respect for her students. I think the class hadn't heard of the holocaust because they hadn't been presented with the opportunity to learn about it, and they have little exposure to literature on the subject. The significance of Gruwell's conversation with her department head about new books is in that these students aren't trusted or respected with new books, and the lack of respect is exactly what evokes the student's rebellious behavior in the first place. I also agree with Jesse Blackwell in that this is one of her first obstacles in helping these students to learn.
She was told not to wear her pearls because the other teachers viewed the students as if they would not respect Ms. G. Ms. G chosse to wear them however on the first day because she believed they should respect her if she respected them. She wanted to trust that all people have good in them. She didn't want to subject to judging the students before she actually met them. I think most of the students didn't know about the holocaust because they hadn't learned it in school, either becuase they weren't in school to have learned it, or their teachers thought it was an innapropriate subject to teach. The conversation Ms. G had with her department head was significant becuase it showed how determined Ms. G was to educate her students and be a positive influence to their lives. Ms. G fought for her student's rights as if they were her own rights; she wanted to be a effective teacher and provide opportunities for her students. The school had the ability to provide for their students, but they didn't becasue they assumed the students wouldn't treat the property with repsect. This judgemnet is what Ms. G stand up for her students.
I agree with Heather when she stated the teachers' judgements and unconcerning attitudes towards the students resulted in the students rowdy behavior and retaliation to the school.
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