Ron Clark Teaches With a Twist
Award Winning Teacher Raps While Teaching Manners and Respect
Ron Clark, award winning educator, manages to command respect and have fun with kids at the same time. He inspires children to learn manners and respect in unique ways.
Ron Clark, award winning grade six teacher and author, became famous with his unconventional teaching methods. Although he has fun and makes up rap lyrics to popular songs to enhance learning, Mr. Clark has a serious side too. He wrote the book The Essential 55 - it was on Amazon’s top ten list for many months. It is not only a great teaching tool, but according to Clark, 80% of the rules can be used for parents as well.
He believes in teaching the whole child and not just the curriculum. Ron Clark also believes there is a cycle of disrespect between teachers, students and parents. Teachers blame the parents for having no manners and say it is not their job to teach them that. Parents then blame the teachers for student’s behavior.
Manners, Rules and Respect
Some of the simple yet effective rules he suggests are to answer with "Yes Sir" or "No Ma'am", which shows respect. Another common sense rule is to look the person in the eye when speaking. While he agrees that you can't necessarily teach pride or self esteem, you can teach the behavior that people exhibit that have it. His rules help enhance children's academic performance as well as improve communication and social skills.
Ron Clark specifies that it’s not just the poor kids that are disrespectful and stresses both rich and poor children come to class with poor manners and disrespectful attitudes. He is a rare breed of teacher who manages to enforce strict rules while having fun and teaching kids in the process.
One of the ways he does this is with music. Mr. Clark has rhythm and makes up words to the tune of popular rap songs while dancing and before you know it, the kids have memorized songs and learned something. You can also find him playing double dutch along with them and really making an effort to get to know individual students.
He first taught in North Carolina for five years, but after that was ready for a challenge. He saw a news segment about a school in Harlem and decided to go. Harlem is a neighborhood in New York associated with a reputation for its crime and poverty.
Ron Clark Won Teaching Award and Inspired Students
The Disney Teaching Award was presented to him after he was chosen from 70,000 entrants. He has been on the Oprah show twice, the Today show and numerous other news segments.
Some of the students he taught in Harlem commented on how he helped make a difference in their lives:
- “Mr. Clark gave me the strength to hold on and be somebody. That’s what I’m going to be. Somebody. I’m not going to be nobody. I’m going to be somebody.”
- “Other teachers, they give up on you and say, you’re a bad child. Who wants you! Get out of my class! Mr. Clark, he took me for two weeks and he changed me. He brought out the inside of me and brought it right outside. Other teachers say you have to try. Mr. Clark didn’t. He’s the only one who believed in me. That’s when I just started reaching out. He just really touched my heart and I liked that.” (Quotes obtained from Oprah show clips) The clips are emotional and inspiring to watch and see what a difference he made in so many people's lives.
Ron Clark's Books
Book royalties were used to open the Atlanta-based Ron Clark Academy, serving students from the 5th to the 8th grade in low wealth areas. The academy uses state of the art facilities and integrates his unique curriculum with trips around the world.
- You can purchase his books, The Essential 55 and the Excellent 11, on the Ron Clark Academy website. All proceeds go towards scholarships for students. He generously autographs each copy. There is also a movie available for purchase called The Ron Clark Story starring Matthew Perry and Antonio Banderos, as well as his Essential Raps and other learning materials.
Parents are pleased with their children’s progress in both their test scores and their behavior. Knowing someone cares, motivates and wants the best for their children helps give them added security, and they’re happier sending their kids off to school.
Source: Ron Clark Academy, 2007
