Since beginning his teaching career in 1995, Ron Clark has been on a mission to take educating children into his own hands.
In recent years, Clark has gotten public attention with appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and his life being made into a TV movie. But most of all, Clark has stayed true to his passion for keeping kids excited about learning at the Ron Clark Academy in southwest Atlanta. (Winfrey has been impressed enough to make major donations to the school and appear at last year's graduation.)
With last week's release of his new book, "The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck," which outlines 101 strategies for teachers and parents to better educate children, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with Clark.
Q: If you could pick one out of the 101 strategies that is most effective, what would it be?
A: Live with no fear. If we can teach kids to speak with confidence, to know how to work a room, and to enjoy sharing their thoughts and opinions, then we have profoundly changed their lives. We don't want our students to go through life afraid to take chances and unsure of their talents and abilities.
Q: You and your staff make it a point to make Ron Clark Academy feel like a family. How does having a school act as a family help and hinder students and parents?
A: Issues do arise when people assume that being a family means that everyone gets along all the time. That isn't reality, and I don't know of any family where things are perfect all the time. Being a family means that we have a strong bond and that we will work together to get through any problems. When you have teachers and parents both working equally hard to educate their children, academic success becomes the norm.
Q: How do you and your staff go about updating your teaching methods?
A: We are constantly pushing ourselves to be different and to come up with innovative, effective methods that teachers and parents have never tried. We want to stay on the cutting edge to keep kids’ attention. We offer training seminars throughout the year for teachers from all over the country.
Q: In your new book, you talk about making classrooms a magical learning experience. How can parents help their children enjoy learning outside the classroom?
A: Regardless of the techniques, the most important quality of the parents is to maintain a can-do attitude where they are positive and supportive. We set our bar high because we realize that the potential of all children is limitless. Some of our parents take their children to places like Dairy Queen or city museums to do homework. When they're done, they get to enjoy their study environment.
Q: With the recent Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, some parents may be skeptical about the system’s teaching strategies. What advice do you have for parents who may have children in APS?
A: There are a lot of truly outstanding teachers in APS who are dedicated and passionate about teaching. Parents shouldn't assume all teachers did something wrong. All teachers need the support of parents to do their job to the best of their ability.
Book
"The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck"
By Ron Clark
