The teacher, Erin Gruwell, found herself more or less forced to base her teachings on the stories of the living conditions of her students. When she became aware of these stories and managed to relate the content of the curriculum to them, her students started to find interest in the subjects of the school – and they began to learn.
This book is the result of a Freedom Writer course during the spring-semester 2015. During the course the students were faced with different writing exercises as well as hand-on art-making ranging from drawings over photos to videos. The texts, pictures and other contents of the book are made anonymous to protect the participating students as these products might be very personal. And personal it has to be, when you become aware of whom you actually are!