paper 2 rough draft

My paper still needs to be shortened up a bit. It falls at 1800 words. I am not quite happy with my closing paragraph either...Open to constructive criticism and input! thanks!

Educators Roles

There are many important things that a teacher does for their students, many hats they wear so to speak. These teachers spend their free time planning lessons, and preparing themselves to make the best for their students. Their jobs are very multifaceted. Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Gruwell were faced with a very different set of students who existed in very different times. They were on opposite sides of the country teaching students of the upper class versus students of lower class. They were discouraged in their missions due to different kinds of hurdles.  Teachers are our guides through school, they help inspire our thoughts, and if they are doing their jobs well the information sticks with us forever. In school, from elementary through college the most important role played by our teachers is advocate for the student; Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson have represented this role throughout both movies.

Both women were unspoken activists of their time. They were mentors to their students in a way the students had not seen before. Mrs. Watson was a revolutionary of her time. She exposed the girls at Wellesley to think outside of their norm. She showed them modern art, helped them to see their futures consisted of more than just a wedding, and was at Wellesley to make a change. These were the smartest women in America and some of them had not even considered that they had more options other than marriage and what was expected of them in those times. They were expected to conform, and please their husbands. As well as retain major amounts of etiquette and poise while studying math, language, arts, history and writing. Mrs. Watson had come from California where she had seen other women as well as herself go through college and have a career for themselves. The life she knew and had seen other west coast women obtain was not one entirely focused around marriage, and that was the message she was bringing to the girls at Wellesley.

When we examine Mrs. Gruwell in her environment, we see the same characteristic there. She was also a revolutionist of her time. She was an activist more for equal opportunity of all people, not just women, or the elite like we saw in the last example. She spoke for the students of Long Beach and really represented their needs. When Mrs. Gruwell was told her students could not have certain textbooks and reading materials because they could not be trusted to take care of them, she went out and bought them for her students with her own money. She wanted these students to be challenged the same way other classes were challenged. The students in her class had no desire to learn English because they had never been shown dedication, or desire to be taught. Mrs. Gruwell invited them to share their life stories with her through diary writing and in turn she learned just HOW to teach them. In later years she continued teaching these particular students and even went on to work at the colleges they attended. Mrs. Gruwell fought for this right by going straight to the school board and superintendent to be granted permission to stay with her students, and allow them more learning opportunities than they ever knew possible.

Mrs. Watson was a very clever disciplinarian in her students’ lives. When she was first brought in to teach Art History at Wellesley, she was "welcomed" into a classroom of know-it-all women. They managed to embarrass her on her first day of teaching. All the women in her class had memorized their syllabus; they knew every slide she showed, leaving Mrs. Watson feeling very defeated. She set the tone of her classroom by returning to class with new and more challenging material. The women she taught were caught off guard and responded by having to work harder and learn new things about art history they had not been introduced to before. When Mrs. Watson was asked to forgive Betty for her absences and grant her an A for work she did not do, she instead questioned that system that had been in place for quite some time. She sternly told Betty that she was required to earn her grade and must make up the work. She also made the women feel disciplined when she read an article criticizing her for asking her students to think outside the box. She brought into class more slides that showed them how the rest of the country viewed their life choices. She was able to make the women understand and see what she was trying to teach them all along, that there were other options besides marriage and conforming to that role.

The characteristic that Mrs. Gruwell holds of disciplinarian is what got her class to come together in the first place. Without that, her students would not have the core discipline required of them throughout life. Mrs. Gruwell entered a classroom of students who already spent their early years struggling with authority, not being motivated by teachers, and not expecting to graduate at all. Mrs. Gruwell had a discussion with her students where she was able to point out similarities between all the different races in her classroom, she made the students move their desks and re-define their self-inflicted "borders" between the races. There was an instance where one student drew a very demeaning picture of another student who was African American. The picture circulated the classroom; it depicted black men with big lips and ears. Mrs. Gruwell got the entire class's attention by drawing a connection to the Jews and how Jewish people were depicted. The students were forced to see the wrong in racial discrimination and hate. Mrs. Gruwell was able to bring behavioral modification into her classroom by setting up a reward system for her students. If they did their work and showed that they were responsible enough then they would get rewards, like being able to go on trips, eating out with their teacher, being treated equally, and having a say in what they would study.

Mrs. Watson was an ally to her students once the students became more open minded to the way Mrs. Watson did things. She had come from California where women had careers and a family at the same time, so her outlook on life was very different than that of her students. Yet they managed to become a team at some point. When the girls held a secret gathering at their school they invited Mrs. Watson, made her feel welcomed and shared things with her about their personal lives. She in turn did the same, shared her stories with them allowing a bit more insight into the person she was. They were able to trust her since she kept this meeting a secret. One student, Joan, had told Mrs. Watson that she had an interest in Law school. Mrs. Watson was probably the only adult teacher that Joan could share this information with since women who worked were frowned upon by her society. Mrs. Watson helped her to apply and shared her joy when she was accepted. Joan had to let Mrs. Watson down when she informed her that would not be route she would take, instead she was married and that was truly what she wanted. Joan was able to explain her feelings to Mrs. Watson because she trusted her.

Mrs. Gruwell became an ally to her students when they allowed her into their lives by sharing their personal stories with her. She was able to get a firm sense of what they had been through and that led her to be able to teach them better. She read their stories that contained gang violence, abuse, drug use, and betrayal and survival that they had all endured. By taking her students out to see things in real life they knew they could rely on her to teach them, which was her first step in gaining their trust. Mrs. Gruwell was confided in by her students. They had not had a teacher before that they felt so safe with and respected by in the past. She worked hard to show them that she was going to go the distance for them. One student was able to connect with Mrs. Gruwell and take her advice to finally go home to his mother instead of living a life of homelessness and sadness. Another student was able to confide in Mrs. Gruwell about a court case that she was a witness on. She told the truth and was then in danger of being hurt physically because of her honesty that had put someone in jail for a serious crime. Mrs. Gruwell helped her out by allowing her to stay after school and then driving her home each night. At first they viewed her as another "white woman" trying to understand their lives, in the end they viewed her as a friend and confidant, someone they trusted and admired.

While both Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson had arrived at their new schools to make a difference, they had no idea what kind of difference they actually made. They both came together with their students to show them the true potential they had. They guided their students through this process in a very profound and admirable way. Both teachers were at first discouraged and they rose above this by truly speaking and acting on behalf of their students. Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson were exemplary advocates for their student body, the most important role they could have played.