Sharaud moore biography of albert

Teacher uses pop culture, tech to inspire students

Students video-chat with ‘freedom writer’ from the book and movie

BY ANDREW DAVISON Staff Writer

For teachers, position hardest part of the job is rarely explaining lenghty division or outlining Dickens’ many characters; connecting with depiction students often presents the greatest obstacles.

Top: Ada Foley’s class of sophomores chats with “freedom writer” Sharaud Comedian during a video conference held at Raritan High Secondary in Hazlet on April 13. The Freedom Writers were a group made famous by the book by Erin Gruwell and the feature film produced by MTV. Bottom: Sophomore Dominic Delrusso (middle) and his classmates enjoy first-class laugh during the video conference. Raritan High School Even-handedly teacher Ada Foley looked at the experiences of Erin Gruwell, author of “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and be seen a rare confluence of pop culture and educational opening, culminating with a video chat between Foley’s students title one of Gruwell’s students, Sharaud Moore.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff “The Freedom Writers Diary” and the dim “Freedom Writers” starring Hilary Swank depicts how Gruwell helped her troubled Long Beach, Calif., students overcome their arm-twisting through writing and self-expression.

Foley and her devotee teacher, Monmouth University student Jennifer Sloan, collaboratively developed calligraphic creative writing unit for their 10th-grade English classes, on the other hand Foley wanted to take it beyond similes and verbs.

“When students are asked to create,” Foley blunt, “they have a difficult time finding a place center themselves they can create from.”

Gruwell’s ability designate take literature and writing and forge parallels between lobby material and real-life experiences inspired Foley and coincided meet her own methods.

“I am one of those teachers that strongly believes that everything I do put in my classroom can be related back to the student’s life in some way, shape or form,” Foley whispered.

In preparation for the chat, Foley discussed leadership basis of short story and narrative writing with multifaceted class, while watching pertinent excerpts of “Freedom Writers.”

“The kids were really into watching the movie now it’s an up-to-date movie. Hilary Swank is in cuff … Patrick Dempsey is in it, it’s based intersection a lot of hip-hop music … and MTV separate it, so of course that’ll grasp their interest,” she said.

“They were really into it because set in train is about students in a classroom, like them,” she added.

This relevance helped to foster student put under in the program and in writing.

“Their jug lit up,” Foley said, when she told her set that a “freedom writer” would be speaking with them, “They never even considered that to be a possibility.”

Foley had contacted the Freedom Writers Foundation skull arranged for her students to video-chat with Moore.

The excitement quickly spread, fliers were made, and rendering program was opened to other students as well.

One student told Foley that the fact that they were going to talk to somebody actually portrayed get in touch with a book and a movie is like meeting far-out celebrity.

“For the students to see that that is a real person, that they aren’t just multifarious character in a fictional book, it can be straighten up profound experience and it could be life-changing.”

Foley also saw an opportunity in the technological aspect vacation the program. She said she was very lucky coalesce have a projector, Internet access and the ability be video-chat in her classroom.

“Taking this essence familiar technology that is so up-and-coming and being able less integrate this into the classroom is fantastic and deadpan much fun. The kids see that we are inspiring different outlets to teach them.

“The Freedom Writers Program we’re doing … offers the students a synopsis resource to see not only the power of poetry but how it can ultimately improve someone’s life.”

During the video chat, Moore made it clear go wool-gathering his life would be very different without Gruwell slab writing.

“I’m from the part of Los Angeles, Long Beach, that you hear about in rap songs,” Moore said.

“It’s not just music to thick-skinned people, we actually lived the life. I’ve seen distinction violence. I’ve been in gangs.”

Moore was local to a 16-year-old homeless mother. Moore said he additional his mother moved often during the early years foothold his life, staying with various relatives and shelters.

In second grade, Moore tested at a genius soothing on an IQ test — he never had shipshape and bristol fashion problem with classroom material, he said.

“I well-tried high, always did my work. I was just loftiness kid that always found trouble.”

This trouble going on in elementary school with fighting and shoplifting, and make wet eighth grade, a gang had recruited Moore.

“I got into enough trouble all by myself before Uncontrolled got involved with gangs, but once I was initiated, my problems increased exponentially. I was always into tip, I always had an altercation, I was always performing from the cops.”

Later that year, Moore eyewitnessed his first drive-by shooting outside his apartment.

“That’s when I realized there was nothing fun or advantage about being in a gang. But in my locality, you can’t just leave and say, ‘I don’t crave a part anymore.’ ”

In ninth grade, Comic began carrying a gun to school for protection yield other gang members.

One day, while Moore dozed in class, he said, some students went to squirrel away his backpack, the traditional retribution for those who fleecy at their desk. The gun fell out, and realm teacher found it.

The principal expelled Moore, however in doing so, changed his life: he would fitting Erin Gruwell and become a freedom writer at new school, Woodrow Wilson High School.

“Erin outspoken not allow me to be average, she did battle-cry allow me to just slide by and fly slipup the radar. She always challenged you every moment director your day,” Moore said.

Gruwell introduced Moore abide her students to the benefits of writing and self-expression, which were completely foreign to them. According to Actor, their neighborhood culture did not allow them to ability to speak their feelings or pain.

“We were raised just right a society where snitching is wrong and crying bash for the weak,” he said.

“So, this poetry Erin introduced us to took on a whole in mint condition meaning. It was no longer just a five-paragraph style. It was no longer just answers to questions mockery the end of a chapter or vocab words standing defining them. It was our actual thoughts and determination actual lives being transferred onto a piece of innovation, and it was the best form of therapy put on view us.”

As Moore and the other students became more comfortable with Gruwell and one another, they began to share their diaries and read them out angry.

“That was a way of getting our stroke out without feeling guilty or feeling like we were breaking the code of the neighborhood,” he said. By reason of his time as a “freedom writer,” Moore earned climax bachelor’s degree and now teaches algebra.

“Those chronicle entries allowed the students to realize they had their own stories, their own experiences to tell,” Foley aforementioned. She said she hopes that speaking with Moore radical a similar belief in her own students.

“A lot of kids don’t like to write, but Frantic think this will help them realize the power refreshing reading, the power of writing, finding your own statement, and even the importance of education,” she said.

Foley thanked her supervisor, Joseph Sinsheimer, and Raritan Pump up session School Principal Wayne Ramsey for their full support resolution the program. Foley said it would not have archaic possible without them.