Pages: 317
Rating: G
Summary:
I often say I am a schoolteacher with the heart of a parent. I’ve made it my mission to make a difference in the lives of all of our children. I have traveled throughout our country, visiting schools in all 50 states, seeking out remarkable teachers who inspire our children to greatness.
Sadly, I have also witnessed classrooms that seemed sapped of all energy, filled with students struggling to stay awake and teachers in desperate need of inspiration. These “Molasses Classes” broke my heart.
I had to do something! I decided to leave my classroom in East Harlem, New York, and devote my time to this audacious dream: to create a revolution in our country, starting from the ground up. The heart of this change would be a school, unlike any in the world. It would be full of passion, creativity, energy, and an unparalleled freedom to do whatever it took to lead every child to success. The parents and teachers of this school would forge a true partnership with the intent of providing the best learning environment possible.
I am proud to say that dream—the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, is now a reality. We welcome educators from all over the world to visit and learn from our methods and techniques so that they may take them back to their schools. I am still teaching, every day, and I feel honored to have hosted more than 10,000 educators in my classroom. This book is filled with the magic, the successes, the heartbreaks, the mistakes, and the triumphs that are the Ron Clark Academy. These are the 101 most successful strategies we have used to help uplift our children and enliven our classrooms. My hope is that you will find ideas here that will help you ignite a passion for learning in your children—and together we can get the molasses out of all our children’s classes.
My Thoughts: This book was awesome. I honestly want to gift-wrap this book and give it to every teacher and administrator and parent in the world. Even though it's a book mostly about a school, there are some awesome ideas in there for parents as well. In fact, there's an entire section of the book full of tips that are specifically about "The Role of the Parent in the Success of the Child" and all the tips are about how you personally can help your child succeed. It also raises a lot of important points about how busted the education system in this country is, and I feel like it inspired me to push for changes in the schools around me, even if they are just small changes. When I have my own children I'm sending to school, I will keep in mind a lot of the ideas in this book, and try not to send them somewhere where their creativity and confidence will be squashed.
Some of my favorite tips from the book are:
-Teach children to believe in themselves and don't destroy the dream
-Not every child deserves a cookie
-Uplift other adults who play a role in the lives of our children
-See the potential in every child.
-Accept the fact that if kids like you all the time, then you're doing something wrong.
I actually have some hope in the fact that my middle school had a few things in place that the book suggests. My middle school had a mural on every wall. It was awesome. My band director had pictures pretty much wallpapering the back wall of the bandroom. Pictures from years past, trips, students, everything. It was every kid's hope to eventually have their picture on the wall. So...there are schools out there that are better than others. Just knowing what to look for helps.
I recommend this book to EVERYONE who ever plans to have a child in their life at some point. It's really thought-provoking, even if you don't think all of the ideas will work for you, some of them definitely will.
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