Book Review: Hook your students with Ron Clark’s The Essential 55

One of the best books on the market that might be of help in hooking your students is Ron Clark’s The Essential 55.

Clark, an award winning, Teacher of the Year, first taught in rural North Carolina and then made a major move to New York City and a Brooklyn middle school. His ideas and teaching techniques have received much attention, including an interview with Oprah after he received the Teacher of the Year award. But he wanted more personal control, so he opened his own private academy and is presently raising money to open others.If you want more information, check out The Ron Clark Story

Life’s Lessons, his 55 rules, cover nearly everything from student behavior in the school cafeteria, in a hotel room, on a bus, at a movie theater, answering a phone or riding an escalator. They’re a combination of rules for everyday situations and for the classroom. Each rule is followed by an explanation of its necessity, and, in most cases, his follow up.

Although Ron’s rules are primarily for junior high school, many of them can be adapted to a forty or eighty minute high school class session. His approach to rewards and punishments won’t always work with high school kids, but can be adapted. One outcome of Clark’s sensitivity to his students’ needs is a section that includes a discussion on four universal truths which you may already know:

1. Kids need and like structure.
2. Kids will work hard for you, if they like who you are as a person.
3. Kids like to know what is expected of them.
4. Kids like to know they are cared for.

Below are some of Clark’s rules:

Here’s a. rule I like, # 8: Do not smack your lips, tsk, roll your eyes or show disrespect with gestures.

First, Clark discusses the rule with the class, and asks them to role play by exaggerating negative actions. Once they learn what not to do, a student caught smacking lips, rolling eyes, or tsking, will be asked to write his/ her name on the blackboard. Then, finally, many tsks, and eye rolls later, detention will be given. The kids will quickly learn what is expected of them as well as the consequences, so they’ll tread carefully before crossing the line.

He also rewards students for good behavior.

Rule #16, Homework will be turned in each day for each subject by every student with no exceptions.

A banner with the names of the students and their homework records is hung in Clark’s class. If a row of students completes homework for a month, each student in the row might receive brownies or other goodies, which in his free time this all around teacher bakes himself. (A tough act to follow)

Will his rules work for older students since they’re for a sixth grade class? For that answer, look at my next blog: Rules that work in the High School Classroom