Ron Clark

I first heard of Ron Clark during one of my classes my junior year of college.  We watched The Ron Clark Story.  I would recommend any teacher, or even anyone for that matter, to check this movie out!  It is an inspiring movie, has a really great message, and it's on Netflix!  So after watching the movie in class I found out that Ron Clark himself has written a few books.  I finally got around to reading The End of Molasses Classes, which has 101 solutions for parents and teachers to help get kids unstuck.  Basically the book is full of ideas and tips from Ron Clark that they have used at The Ron Clark Academy, or whenever he is teaching.  There are so many cool and amazing ideas, but I was sitting there thinking how would I pull that off where I live, or there is no way kids would do that.  Well Ron goes ahead, and gives you starting steps to pull it off, or ways to do the activity in your classroom if your administration isn't up for the idea and doesn't want to implement it school wide.  Ron also has another book (which I haven't read yet) called The Essential 55, where he talks about 55 guidelines for students.  The guidelines range anywhere from how to say thank you to interview tips.  The Essential 55 came out before The End of Molasses Classes, so I will be reading a little out of order.  I definitely recommend the movie and both of the books.  Basically what I'm trying to say is that the books, and Ron Clark's story is something every teacher needs to read and know about! 

While reading The End of Molasses Classes, I decided that I want to visit The Ron Clark Academy.  You can visit the academy to get ideas and for professional development.  The coolest part, is that you get to become slide certified when you visit.  I'm not going to tell you what that means...guess you will just have to read the book or visit the website to find out!  Once I start working again after student teaching I will start saving my money so I can visit The Ron Clark Academy!  I hope everyone checks out the movie, and the books they truly can make a difference in your teaching and give you that extra passion to be the best teacher ever!