Education Edge » Ron Clark Shares ‘55 Rules’ with SOE Students

 

Ron Clark Shares ‘55 Rules’ with SOE Students

by UM School of Education on September 20, 2016
skb_2918-as

Clark speaks to UM students at the Oxford Conference Center.

Ron Clark, a celebrated educator, author and founder of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, met with SOE seniors and education mentors from UM’s World Class Teaching Program (WCTP) on Monday, Sept. 19 at a special event at the Oxford Conference Center.

During the event, Clark, who has worked in critical-needs schools in North Carolina and New York City and is a former Disney Teacher of the Year, shared a series of anecdotes from his career which included the educator’s “55 Rules” for being successful as a teacher.

“Children need to see that you will go above and beyond for them,” he told the group. “If they see that you care, they will let you teach them and let you discipline them.”

In a charismatic performance where Clark often jumped on and off tables throughout the room, the educator engaged the audience with a series of “How to” tips to address his 55 rules, including how to: dress, shake hands, speak to parents, communicate with administrators and more.

“(At the Ron Clark Academy), our performance is never dressed down,” he said referring to professional attire for teachers. “It’s important that people see educators as professionals, as CEOs.”

Clark is best known as the founder of the Ron Clark Academy, a non-profit middle school with a unique curriculum that attracts students from various socioeconomic backgrounds from the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Academy operates as a “demonstration school,” where visiting educators come to observe best practices for educators. Since 2007, more than 22,000 educators have participated in this type of professional development, according to the school’s website.

The educator is also the author of four books including “The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child,” “The Excellent 11: Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire, and Educate Children,” “The End of Molasses Classes” and “Move Your Bus, a philosophy on types of employees/educators and how to motivate them.”

The event was hosted by WCTP, a professional development program for educators who wish to seek national board certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). The event was part of the program’s effort to expose both SOE students and professional educators to Clark’s ideas and experiences in education.

During his speech, Clark addressed the five principles of quality teaching that are promoted by the WCTP and the NBPTS as part of the national board certification process.

These five “core propositions” include:

Teachers who are…

Committed to students and their learning

Know the subjects that they teach

Responsible for managing and monitoring student learning

Systematic at about their practice and learn from experience

Members of learning communities

The professional development program funded Clark’s visit with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“(Mr. Clark) was phenomenal,” said Tammy Kirkland, WCTP director. “As a former classroom teacher, I was often inspired by his story and I wanted our mentors and pre-service teachers to have that experience, as well. His speech aligned perfectly with the five core propositions we support.”

By A. Abernathy