Teach With Your Heart, pgs 104-140

Abstract:
These few chapters were filled with chance happenings that effected the life of Mrs. Gruwells students. Beginning with a conversation about Darrius's 'war zone' and a sympathetic connection he and Maria make, Mrs. G decides her students need to read about teenagers who had gone through similar circumstances as we they were. Mrs. G bought books with her own money again. She bought four books: Anne Frank's The Diary of Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel's Night, Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, and The Wave by Todd Strasser. Mrs. G hosted a 'Toast for Change,' where her students emotionally gave their individual toasts to personal change. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, her students were very engaged and wanted to meet Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne's family during the Nazi Regime. As the students start to read the books, they all seem to be intrigued, especially Maria and Tommy. Maria sees herself within Anne Frank's diary, while Tommy sees himself in a world like Zlata's. After the class meets Miep, Tommy suggests inviting Zlata to meet them. By pulling a few strings, lots of effort and with lots of help from community members, Mrs. G's students along with their families, enjoyed a wonderfully elegant evening with Zlata and her family. A few weeks after their dinner, the students receive a letter from Zlata saying how many memories she will cherish from that night, and how they were all hero's in her eyes. In the last chapter, Mrs. G is told she may stick with her seniors for one more year, but should not expect to be with them their senior year.

Reflection:

I had a few different feelings about these chapters. On one hand, I found myself getting choked up as some of the events unfolded. For example, when all the parents and family accompanied their children to the dinner or when Zlata called the students her hero's. I thought there were a lot of meaningful breakthroughs with in Mrs. G's classroom that effected her students lives. On the other hand, I often found myself thinking "Is this all for real? How are they getting so lucky?" Not I am not saying they didn't deserve it because they definitely did, it's just that everything seemed a little too coincidental. I kept thinking that it all seemed a little too much like a fairy tail.
I'm interested in seeing what happens next. Problems with her marriage? Junior year with her students should be interesting. In the back of my mind I have this feeling that everything might fall through soon, as it does at some point in everyones lives and even in fairy tails.