As with his previous books, there are many suggestions offered by Clark that are fabulous and groundbreaking, but he also has ideas that are not very realistic. He is the founder and principal of his own school and can therefore set his own rules. I am not sure that I could choose a student from my class each year and give them a complete bedroom makeover with the help of community members... (maybe I could but it also seems to cross some lines and boundaries to me). He also writes of the necessity of opening your house to students and having them over for dinner (with other staff members of course) and of visiting students at their homes. If a student is struggling, Mr. Clark will go and have dinner at that kid's house and tutor them one on one. Who has the time or energy for that?
To foster a love of reading, Clark recounts reading a mystery novel to his class who were disengaged. He decided to inspire them by inviting students to come to the school at night where he had a donated limo waiting to whisk them away to a friend's mansion where he had set up a whole ' who done it' murder mystery night. That sounds like an amazing time for those kids, but again, the time and field trip paperwork involved in something like that just to get kids into a novel study is a bit much. I inspired my kids this year by bringing in a guest speaker and a live owl. I still had to to paperwork for that! Perhaps I have a bad attitude saying that this is unrealistic, I can feel Ron Clark frowning at me and saying that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!
On to the wonderful parts of this book. Clark has included a "Role of the Parent in the Success of the Child" chapter in this book. This part of the book is gold! I am tempted to copy large chunks of his tips to give to parents on conference nights or throughout the year. (I will email him if I do decide this to get his written permission). In this golden section, Clark gives sage orders such as 'don't be a helicopter parent'. One of the best pieces of advice that I think all parents would benefit from hearing is " Realize that even very good children will sometimes lie." Clark explains to parents that they need to trust the teacher and not always their child. I'm sure every teacher has been the victim of an angry parent who has listened to a half truth at home and is eager to pounce on and blame the teacher for a problem that their child has lied to them about. He writes " Listen, teachers have no reason to lie. They are not at risk of being punished. We are telling you about a problem in order to help you and because you need to know what your child has done. Unless you have a concrete reason to think otherwise, believe us and then please handle it at home." (148). "Trust your child's teacher. They are with them every day and they have no reason to lie." (150). GOLD!
More gold from the chapters that are more for teachers in point form:
- The importance of checking out what other people are doing in their classrooms "If we are never learning from one another, then we are performing in a bubble and denying ourselves the opportunity for growth." (184).
- The pointlessness of stressing over test scores and "sending students the message that the purpose of learning is to take a test". Ron believes that students should be learning because it is a joy! " Saying that the students are preparing for a test takes the entire heart and soul out of the school. It cheapens our system and belittles our teachers and students. (195).
- One of the best parts of the book is under the heading " Not every child deserves a cookie." Clark echoes from his 55 Essentials when he explains that if he is rewarding students for good behaviour or anything else, he only gives the treat or reward to the students who actually deserve it. He says to parents who scoff and say that it damages their child's self-esteem to not receive the treat that others get:
Has it really gotten to the point that we are so concerned
with our child's self esteem that we aren't realistic with them
about their performance and abilities? If we give a cookie when
it is not deserved, then we are telling our young people that they
do not need to work hard to get rewards. We are sending the message
that the cookie will always come. That is why we have so many young
people in their twenties who have no idea what it means to work hard. And
that is why they are still looking to their parents to provide support
(And to give them the cookie).
( 10).
I could go on and on about the gems in this book but I am getting tired of typing! Pick this one up at your library or buy it, you won't regret it. You will be inspired, your practices will be affirmed, and you can always smile at some of the more outlandish suggestions.
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