Freedom Writers iMovie Project

I really enjoyed doing this iMovie project. I thought it was a lot of fun to learn how to use the iMovie program and then to see all of our ideas come alive in the form of a movie. Our group worked together very well. I think that everyone's ideas and input was used throughout the course of the project.

The book itself was very interesting and a fast-read. The book is a compilation of student diary entries written by students in a first year enlgish class taught by Erin Gruwell. She began her career by teaching at a school in California full of previously deemed “throw-away students.” As a first year teacher she was given the most troubled underclassmen. No one, especially her students, thought that she would make it through the semester. But Erin Gruwell was not the average teacher. She showed that caring, patience, and respect trumps experience. She motivated her students to make changes that conformed them into hard-working students who have hopes and dreams of a successful future away from “the streets”. Reading this book through the lens of a teacher nade me really appreciate all of Erin's experiences and stories from the mouths of students. It wasn’t like reading a textbook, but I think I learned a lot about “textbook terms” like how she improved student self-efficacy. She also used extrinsic motivators at the beginning of the school year to motivate students, but by the end of the year these tangible items were unnecessary because students were motivated by intrinsic values. She also used flexible grouping and had extreme aptitude for classroom management. After talking about these concepts in class, it was interesting and educational to read about them being put into practice in Erin’s classroom.

Overall, this project was very time consuming but also very worthwhile. It took a long time to put together a concept for the video, do the filming, and then finally cut and edit clips for the iMovie. But I feel like I learned a lot from the experience. I think using technology like an iMovie in my classroom could be very beneficial for the students. I definitely need a little more practice working with the program, but as a teacher in the future I could see this kind of technology being a real asset to the classroom.