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    Ron Clark Academy

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    api-352851954
    The author visited the Ron Clark Academy and observed several classes. While the school seemed very positive from what was described in books and movies, the author observed that it operated much like a regular school with some added positivity. Some things the author saw matched the descriptions, such as students standing to answer questions and using hand signals, but other things were different, like a lack of handshakes between students. The author was interested in implementing some of the techniques at their own school, such as using houses and points to encourage good behavior over time rather than just weekly.

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    Ron Clark Academy

    Uploaded by

    api-352851954
    328 views4 pages
    The author visited the Ron Clark Academy and observed several classes. While the school seemed very positive from what was described in books and movies, the author observed that it operated much like a regular school with some added positivity. Some things the author saw matched the descriptions, such as students standing to answer questions and using hand signals, but other things were different, like a lack of handshakes between students. The author was interested in implementing some of the techniques at their own school, such as using houses and points to encourage good behavior over time rather than just weekly.

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    The author visited the Ron Clark Academy and observed several classes. While the school seemed very positive from what was described in books and movies, the author observed that it operated much like a regular school with some added positivity. Some things the author saw matched the descriptions, such as students standing to answer questions and using hand signals, but other things were different, like a lack of handshakes between students. The author was interested in implementing some of the techniques at their own school, such as using houses and points to encourage good behavior over time rather than just weekly.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    328 views4 pages

    Ron Clark Academy

    Uploaded by

    api-352851954
    The author visited the Ron Clark Academy and observed several classes. While the school seemed very positive from what was described in books and movies, the author observed that it operated much like a regular school with some added positivity. Some things the author saw matched the descriptions, such as students standing to answer questions and using hand signals, but other things were different, like a lack of handshakes between students. The author was interested in implementing some of the techniques at their own school, such as using houses and points to encourage good behavior over time rather than just weekly.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The author observed that while the Ron Clark Academy seemed very positive from what was read and seen in media, it operated much like a typical school with high expectations for students. Some techniques like using houses and points for rewards were notable.

    The author had questions about how teachers control bad behavior, how multiple students answering at once would be handled, and how 'Love and Logic' is used with non-cooperative students.

    The author noticed that sometimes multiple students would stand to answer at once, and it took one student time to let the other speak. Hand signals like thumbs up were used to give feedback to students answering without interrupting.

    Brown 1

    Edrienne Brown

    Dr. Wilcox

    EDU 402

    28 September 2017

    Ron Clark Academy

    Going to the Ron Clark Academy was so different than just reading about his school and

    watching the movie. In my opinion, I thought the school was filled with happiness and wonders

    because students and teachers were walking on tables and singing chants. However, I was wrong.

    Even though the children were happy, the Ron Clark Academy is like a regular school, but with

    some extra positivity and more hands-on activities. Reading the book made it seem like school

    Heaven, but actually seeing it behind closed doors made me feel like I was in high school trying

    to prepare for the real world. It taught children how to track and to look at people while the

    student is talking. I also saw a student crying because of the challenges that are expected.

    Before coming to the Ron Clark Academy I had a lot of questions. Questions like how

    the teacher control bad behaviors or the students’ urge to beat on the drums because it is right

    there. Another thing that I was wondering was about the answering system. I know that if you

    have an answer you can just stand up, but what if two people stood up at once and starts to give

    out their answers? Also, how do the Ron Clark’s teachers use Love and Logic when a student is

    upset and not cooperating? Even with these questions, there were a few positive things that I

    wanted to see, like the students’ behavior especially the fifth graders since this is their first year

    at the RCA. My main focus was also the relationships in the four houses.
    Brown 2

    Even after going to the RCA I still have questions on the answering style. In one of the

    classes that I observed two girls stood up and gave their answers. It took a while for one of them

    to just let the other talk. However, in a public school what if a student does not sit down? What if

    that starts an argument between the two? I feel like that could be avoided by the students raising

    their hands first, then stand up after being called on.

    Another thing that I notice at the academy was the tone of voice. The teachers did not yell

    at the students, which I admired, but Ron Clark did look frustrated. He made me scared and I am

    not even in his classroom. Just seeing the way a teacher’s facial expression change makes me

    feel terrible and not motivated to talk anymore because I have made the instructor upset.

    However, Mr. Clark did use a Love and Logic term by saying that he is upset that no one

    corrected the student that was speaking.

    There were also a few things in the reading that I did not experience, for example, the

    handshakes. At the beginning of the trip the children shook hands with the visitors, but

    afterward, there was a lot of pushing in the halls. I am not talking about pushing people on

    purpose, but the lack of saying excuse me from time to time. I am not sure if it was because they

    were in a hurry. Even at lunch, the children did not shake hands before sitting down. While

    reading about introductions and shaking hands, in the book, I had the impression that it is

    supposed to happen all the time before speaking to a quest. However, even the visiting teachers

    did not say excuse me while pushing through others, which was weird because they teach their

    children about being respectful, but they do not follow it.

    I also did not see the encouraging cheers for when a student is stuck on an answer.

    However, I think that it was because of the grade levels I observed. On the contrary, I did see a

    lot of thumbs up rolling in a circle that I thought was really useful in a big classroom because it
    Brown 3

    is a very quiet gesture. Using these signals for agreeing or disagreeing is very interesting to me

    because it quietly tells the student, that is answering, that he or she is on the right track or needs

    to backtrack. It also allows the teacher to see that their audience of students is following along. I

    would love to implement this hand signal into a future classroom because it allows all of the

    students to give an answer even though they were not chosen to speak.

    One thing that I notice in Ron Clark’s personal classroom were the laser pointers. As a

    student answered the problem on the board they pointed at the area that they were mostly

    focused on. Using pointer is a brilliant idea because in an elementary school class there are a lot

    of students in one room. If a student was able to point at the board and explain their answer

    without having to walk the aisles to get there, it would make the transition very smooth. In my

    opinion, this would be a great investment for my host school because there are a lot of students

    in that one building and classroom itself. I also believe that standing up while answering is great

    because it builds up the ability to make eye contact when talking and being able to actually talk

    in front of a group of people.

    The biggest thing that I valued during my time at the RCA was having houses and

    rewards points towards the house. I am very interested in doing that for my future students, but

    not a school wide system. For example, each student will be allowed to spin a smaller wheel and

    whatever house it lands on, like Isibindi! they would stay in that house for the whole school year.

    As a member of the team answer a question right in class or behaves appropriately the points will

    go to the house that they are in. at the end of the month, the house with the most points will

    receive a reward of their choice. This is a nice idea because as a teacher you are watching their

    behavior throughout the whole month and not just for the week. The more we give children a

    reward the less they would care.


    Brown 4

    In conclusion, the Ron Clark Academy is a very well built school that I wish to see

    around the United States. Not only do they teach hands on experience, but they also teach the

    students about different cultures and allow them to travel to farther places instead of the next

    state over. I wish to revisit when I begin to teach so I can implement new discoveries that Ron

    Clark or his staff has made.

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