Sophmore Year

Gruwell enters this semester for the first time as a sophomore teacher, and more importantly the first time teaching without Sharaud and Melvin’s class in the school. So it was only appropriate that her old freshman class, now sophomores, start the year off with a toast. Gruwell had finally broke down, and decided that it did not matter what her colleagues thought of her, she went and bought four new different books for every student in her class. These were books that she felt the students could relate their lives too, and felt that a toast would be the first step in taking the time to read them. What happened was not a change of attitude towards reading, but one toward bettering their lives. Most of the students spoke up and stated changes they were going to make with their life during the toast. A few of the students were less than excited at first, but by being punished with nothing to do, all the novels got read. This lead to a new revolution in the class; suddenly Gruwell was really starting to understand her students, and them of her as well. Students were so excited about the novels, and the connections they made with the characters, that they started writing amazing papers. The students were so engaged that they all worked to bring the heroes from the novels to their class; Miep Gies, a woman who helped Anne Frank, and Zlata Filipovic’, a war torn girl from Sarjevo. These events gave many of the students a safety net in a classroom where they were able to work as a team, and feel good about themselves. All the students even were able to make a positive connection with their parents by teaching them about Zlata Filipovic’, and taking them to supper to meet her.
This semester by far had the most turning points in the student’s lives, but there are two that really stand out to me. The fist one is the very beginning when Gruwell has the class make a toast. Though it was not what she expected, it was much better. These students do not have opportunities to enjoy the small things that a lot of us take for granite. Making a toast was a special occasion for them and it really set the tone for the rest of the semester. The students started reading the books, and opening up to Gruwell. With Gruwell’s abilities, she took advantage of this right away and did whatever it took to keep them engaged. The second major turning point was at the end when Gruwell made her students bring someone special to the dinner for Zlata, and teach them her history. Gruwell hit several important aspects with just that one assignment. The first is that she got to meet the special people of her student’s lives. She also let the students have a moment with that person that was special to them. They got to make a connection that they have never done or felt before. The final thing it did was unit the class even more. They all worked together to achieve a common goal.
There was one moment that really hit home for me during this semester. When Miep was explaining how Anne had no idea how much Miep was doing for her, and Gruwell thought in her head that she was in the same boat with her students. She put so much time and money into the class, and they probably had no idea how much she did for them. It just made me think about all the stress, pain and work that I will do for my students some day, and they will never know. There is no doubt in my mind that’s exactly how I want it to be. It’s like being a superstar athlete, except without the publicity. It just made me proud to think about being a teacher, someone who will quietly put everything together for all these youngster and help set them in a path that is their lives. Even though we rarely get recognized, we are more important to people’s lives than any superstar or rock star will ever be.