Whitney Cavanaugh
Setser
English 9H
31 March 2014
Ron Clark and His Impact on Education
Education is a very important thing here in the U.S., but there are also a lot of problems that come with it. More and more students are failing their classes and are not getting the knowledge that they deserve. There are very few teachers who will go out of their way to make sure that the kids are learning what they should, but Ron Clark is the exception. Ron Clark is known for jumping on tables and singing songs to get his students’ attentions, but that’s not all. He has received prestigious awards for his teachings, has been on many talk shows, and even has a movie based on his misadventures in Harlem. He is nothing short of an excellent teacher, who has impacted the way many teachers teach, and how many students learn.
Ron Clark began his teaching career in a small town in North Carolina, but after five years teaching there, he wanted to take his career to new heights. Clark moved to Harlem, New York and began to teach a tough middle school class, in which none of the students were excited to learn. He knew that he had to get their attention somehow, so he came up with a new set of classroom rules, which he wrote about in his first book The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. He had strange rules like “When asked a question, ask a question in return”, and “Say thank you within 3 seconds of receiving something”. While these rules were unusual and different, they got the point across (Essential). But his students were still having trouble with their class work, so he fought harder. He started making learning exciting for the children by doing things like jumping on the desk...
... middle of paper ...
...changing the way people looked about teaching, and about the children they taught. He respected the kids he taught and treated them like people, and in return he expected them to treat him with respect. He loved them all as if they were his own children, and wanted them to achieve greatly. Ron Clark overcame and impacted the world with his teaching.
Whitney Cavanaugh
Setser
English 9H
31 March 2014
Clark, Ron. The Essential 55: An Award-winning Educator's Rules for
Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. New York:
Hyperion, 2003. Print.
Clark, Ron. "What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents." Cnn. N.p., 14 Mar.
2014. Web.
“Ron Clark.” Newsmakers. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Biography in Context.
Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
"The Ron Clark Story." TNT. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
"Video Gallery." Ron Clark Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
His teaching style deviated from verbally sharing the material or writing on the board alone. He resorted to punishments. He created a different culture that the students would have to follow. Through this, he increased class
Marzano, R. J., & Brown, J. L. (2009). A handbook for the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
I am determined to become a teacher not only to teach various skills and academic lessons to student, but also to help guide them to achieve his or her goals in their lives. According to an article in the Black Collegian, by Nat LaCour, “Teaching require enormous patience, and th...
To help students to feel capable, connected and contributing (or the three C’s) Linda Albert asks us to make five fundamental changes to our classrooms, or what she calls “Paradigm Shifts in Cooperative Discipline” (see figure 2). Firstly, we need to move away from a “hands-on” or “hands-clenched” approach to discipline, which is an authoritarian style of classroom discipline, to a “hands-joined” or democratic style of classroom management. Secondly, we need to recognize that student behavior is a choice, and not caused by some outside force, though these forces may influence student behavior it is ultimately the student’s decision on how they will act in your classroom. Thirdly, she asks us to abandon our long list of classroom rules and replace it with a concise code of conduct; shifting the classroom atmosph...
I have spent many hours researching, discussing, and experiencing different ways to manage a classroom. Cleveland State University has given me the opportunity to focus a lot of time on developing my own philosophy of teaching and how I will manage my own classroom. I will incorporate my personality into my classroom, while focusing on concepts from theorists Jacob Kounin, Fredrick Jones, Rudolf Dreikurs and Linda Albert, Lee Canter and Marlene Canter, William Glasser, B.F. Skinner, Haim Ginott, and Thomas Gordon. I have taken ideas from each of their models to form my own theory on managing a classroom. I believe in showing students that I care about them and their success as well using basic classroom management techniques to create a positive classroom environment.
Each year, as a new group of students enter my classroom, I will encourage them to be expressive of their imaginations in their favorite subjects, whether it will be art, literature, math or music. We all have rules and regulations to follow, and each student will know that there is no exception in the school or the classroom. Another goal in my classroom will be to keep the students excited about learning, not to treat school as a game or a social event, but to encourage a unique and fun atmosphere to learn.
In other words, his argument deems that all teachers should be able to implement these components in their own classroom. He goes on to state that data shows “both this nurturing behavior and these technical skills are recognized as important teacher attributes by both parents and students” (Goodlad, 2004). With that being said, Goodlad also states how evidence shows that the use of these two aspects drastically decreases from elementary grades to secondary grades. More specifically, “there was increasingly less use of teacher praise and support for learning, less corrective guidance, a narrowing range and variety of pedagogical teaching and declining student participation”(Goodlad, 2004). With this evidence present, secondary teachers must work on adapting their pedagogy in order to reach more
Through exploring multiple learning theories and reflecting on my own teaching beliefs, I have developed my own theory of learning. As I developed my theory, I wanted to consider what it takes to be a highly effective teacher. An effective teacher must have mastery of instructional strategies, classroom management, classroom curriculum design, and use assessments as feedback (Laureate Education, 2010a). By using a variety of instructional strategies, teacher’s can meet the learning styles of all the students in the classroom. Effective classroom management can lead to students feeling safe and more willing to take risks. When a student feels comfortable to take risk, then learning will increase and the students’ confidence will grow. Classroom management also creates order in the environment, which will allow effective learning to occur. By understanding curriculum, the teacher can target skills and causes learning to take place. Teachers need to deliberately plan lessons around standards and specific goals based on curriculum and the school’s mission (Marzano, 2010). Assessments need to be use to guide instruction and used as a “method for improvement and mastery,” (Marzano, 2010). While determining my own theory of learning, I believe that I need to consider what effective teachers demonstrate in the classroom.
Upon entering the field of education, I am faced with many questions. Will the students like me? Will I have a large class? Will I be a good teacher? A few of the questions that definitely need to be answered before I enter the classroom, are what methods should I use to teach? What aspects of which methods will work best for me? What philosophy best exemplifies the way I want to bestow the learning process to my students? In my quest to become an elementary teacher I shall use a variety of aspects from past philosophers of education. As long as each child is learning, I feel that I am fulfilling my goal, and a difference is being made, I am on my way to a successful classroom.
Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
On April 1, 2010, I was welcomed into Mrs. Smith’s all day kindergarten class at the O’Dea Core Knowledge Elementary School in Fort Collins Colorado to observe and note the classroom conditions, interactions of the children among themselves, the teachers or other authority figures and the manner in which learning takes place.
Over the course of observations, I learned that there is no one way to do anything in teaching. After a few weeks of observing, I was relieved because I thought that I could stop worrying so much about doing the “right” thing with the students. I saw a successful teacher doing, or neglecting to do things that went against what I had been taught. I incorrectly assumed that the choices the teacher made about how to organize the day, approach a lesson, or manage the classroom were mostly a matter of personal preference and that several approaches would produce equally desirable results.
...sionate professors who helped shape the type of teacher I would like to be. They found ways to talk to me in a manner that motivated me to want to improve, all while honoring the work that I have already done. I would like to bring this same moral into my classroom, when a child is motivated, passionate,and self-aware of their needs, strengths, and weaknesses, they can and will push themselves to improve. Students do not solely care about how much knowledge an educator has, but they care about how much these educators truly care. We shouldn't judge a person on how educated they are based only on test scores. The most educated person may not be the most suitable person to teach children. I may lack the test scores, however, I do not lack the passion and motivation needed to be a great teacher. If we cannot celebrate small successes, the final outcome is less weighted.
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
Pike, B., & Bradley, F. (1997). The philosophy of teaching: Developing a statement that thrives in the classroom. Clearing House, 70(3), 125. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9703092460&site=ehost-live&scope=site