Quotes by Erin Gruwell

About Erin Gruwell:

Erin Gruwell is an American teacher known for her unique teaching method, which led to the publication of The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them (1999). The 2007 film Freedom Writers is based on her story.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

It would be easy to become a victim of our circumstances and continue feeling sad, scared or angry; or instead, we could choose to deal with injustice humanely and break the chains of negative thoughts and energies, and not let ourselves sink into it...

Erin Gruwell

Because if they grow up holding on to such terrible feelings, it could lead to another war come time in the future when the fate of the country is in their hands.

Erin Gruwell

It sounds strange, somewhat on the line between irony and absurdity, to think that people would rather label and judge something as significant as each other but completely bypass a peanut. ... World peace is only a dream because people won't allow t...

Erin Gruwell

Fights don't solve matters, they just make things worse. (Diary 19)

Erin Gruwell

I have always been taught to be proud of being Latina, proud of being Mexican, and I was. I was probably more proud of being a "label" than of being a human being, that's the way most of us were taught.

Erin Gruwell

Evil prevails when good people do nothing.

Erin Gruwell

Hoping they'd been inspired by the examples of Anne Frank and other teens who had turned negative experiences into something positive by writing about them, I handed out notebooks for my students to journal about their lives. There was some initial r...

Erin Gruwell

Some teachers feel that if they ask for emotional help, they're a failure. But teaching is a team sport.

Erin Gruwell

That's the beauty of education, kids taking lessons out of the classroom and back into their own world where they can positively affect their family, their friends, and their greater community.

Erin Gruwell

Writing is powerful. Whether it's a little girl hiding from the Nazis in an attic, or Amnesty International writing letters on behalf of political prisoners, the power of telling stories is usually what causes change.

Erin Gruwell

I realized if you can change a classroom, you can change a community, and if you change enough communities you can change the world.

Erin Gruwell

I believe that all students, when asked to be accountable for their actions and to be socially aware citizens, will become agents for change!

Erin Gruwell

Education is such a noble profession, it's a wonderful way to serve.

Erin Gruwell

I grew up in a very progressive family and with a great educational system, and I asked myself, 'Why doesn't everybody have these opportunities for a good education? So why not give back to these kids who didn't grow up with the same privileges I had...

Erin Gruwell

I believe that education is the greatest equalizer; thus, I will continue to fight to equalize the playing field in an educational atmosphere that is not always level!

Erin Gruwell

I have learned that, although I am a good teacher, I am a much better student, and I was blessed to learn valuable lessons from my students on a daily basis. They taught me the importance of teaching to a student - and not to a test.

Erin Gruwell

The stories my pupils told me were astonishing. One told how he had witnessed his cousin being shot in the back five times; another how his parents had died of AIDS. Another said that he'd probably been to more funerals than parties in his young life...

Erin Gruwell

When you're too robotic and scripted, the students tune you out. So I always tried to use different learning modalities - kinesthetic, auditory, visual, whatever might bring learning to life.

Erin Gruwell

Writing really evokes empathy in a way very few things can do.

Erin Gruwell

Schools are not equal. There are still the haves and the have-nots.

Erin Gruwell

Author Bio

  • NameErin Gruwell
  • DescriptionAmerican academic
  • BornAugust 15, 1969
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionAuthor; Teacher