Ron Clark (1) (1971–)

I really liked this book. Though I did not completely agree with all of his rules ( I think the Doritos one is kind of stupid) , I did like a great many of them. He makes the reading fun and really interesting. I hope that once I start teaching I can use some of his ideas as well as be as easy going as he seems to be.

Very interesting book! This is a good one for parents, teachers, and even for people who just want to improve the lives of children, if even just in small ways. As a library student I found this one really interesting. I don't know where I am going to end up next, but I will definitely keep a lot of these rules and Mr. Clark's philosophy about approaching students in mind. This book is a quick, enjoyable read with a lot of good advice and guidelines.

Although there are things that are unfeasible for a single teacher to do, there are many positive ideas with examples of things teachers, parents, and administrators can try. I liked that Clark thought about taking some of his bold ideas and tuning them down for a small group of teachers or even single teachers.


As I was reading, I thought about the contrasts from Ron Clark's Academy to where I am. Would I want to be there? His school looks brilliant, and it's obvious there is a lot of show more wonderful learning and teaching happening. But, it comes at a price - I don't know if I'm at the age anymore where I could pay that price. Clark typically sleeps only 4-5 hrs. a night, lives on his own and his school is his life. When you have someone else in your life to think about, and your overall health to think about... it looks like a magical place to visit as a teacher's Disneyland, but I don't think I would want to 'live there.' show less

Generally an easy and worthy read. In general, this book has a lot of good ideas embedded in it. I have some qualms that irk me slightly. Some of his tips on how to be a "runner" (top-performers) that he describes are descriptive, not prescriptive. For an example, it is possible to be there early and dressed in white tie, and be a "rider" (contributes very little to the organization). Also, I did not notice much in the way of a "runner" being someone who applies their efforts in a thoughtful show more and conscientious manner. (Actually, I have heard some high achieving people describe a programmer as someone who is lazy in a sense. That is do not do something again and again if it can be programmed. A good programmer will do this rather than do completing a task many times over.) Finally, I was disconcerted by including multitasking as part of the regular nature of a multitasker. Multitasker can be fine at the right time and a place, but I am wary of doing it as a matter of course. show less