New teacher Erin Gruwell stumbled into responding to her students' lack of information by referring to Nazi depictions of German Jews in the 1930s and 1940s.

The stumble came about because she tried to follow the conventional rules of classroom discipline. (If you do not have a rule or pattern to follow, you cannot know what constitutes an exception.)

As a response to their ignorance, she had them read and discuss Anne Frank's Diary, then other true stories until until students started writing their own stories, similar in violent ways to stories they read about other people in other times and places.

These students (labeled in schools as “unteachable,” “below average,” and “delinquents”) eventually compiled their stories into a book titled The Freedom Writers Diary. Having hit No. 1 on the New York Times Best-Seller List, Their diary is now the subject of a movie starring Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank. Gruwell said the proceeds from the movie and book deals will go toward helping all 150 Freedom Writers earn their college degrees.

How have you stumbled into something that worked for your students? Did the stumble include using a Tablet PC or a UMPC? Many of us would like to know about such accomplishments, in order to adjust our classroom work to help our students.

The March, 2007, issue of Edutopia has an interview with Ms. Gruwell.

Tablet PC Education Blog