Ron Clark: My Educational Hero

Over the past month, I have been second guessing my passion for teaching. I asked myself if I could really make a difference in my students’ lives. Fortunately, I was able to go to a lecture in which Ron Clark was speaking. I have always admired him. Mr. Clark was one of the reasons I decided to teach. He believes that his students can do anything. That all they need is encouragement and motivation. Clark helps give this motivation by implementing creative lessons. He often uses songs and dances to get the information across. Mr. Clark is also a co-founder of the Ron Clark Academy. Along with imaginative lessons, this school also has founding for trips that cover the globe.
Because the school is in the inner-city, most of the students are African American. We got the opportunity to meet many of them during the lecture. They performed three songs, two that they wrote themselves. I was amazed that these young students where so motivated to write songs about the topics they were learning. He also talked about race and discrimination. Their youtube video had many negative, racist remarks. Clark explained that it is not enough to talk about slavery in schools. He said that these students needed a history to be proud of. The school sent off DNA samples of the students to see what tribe in Africa they descended from and then taught the history of their tribes. This brought many students together and gave them a chance to be proud of where they came from. He also explained that a teacher should always have high standards for their students. Where most teachers believe they should teach to the intellectual middle, he teaches to the highest and then tries to get everyone else on that level. As an example, Clark showed a project that one of his students did that he gave a 45. He then showed the next project that student did. Honestly, I thought it was college level work.
I saw that Mr. Clark made a huge impact on these kids’ lives by just doing what he loved, teaching. Because of this, my faith in myself as a teacher was renewed. If you are passionate about what you are doing, it shows. Your students can tell and they will be excited too. The students at the Ron Clark Academy are just like the students at every other school; they are just held too much higher standards then public schools. This shows me that it really is the teacher who helps give the students direction. Seeing how much Mr. Clark influenced these kids gives me motivation to do the same.