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References

Delivering Information Effectively

Ron Clark delivers information to students in ways that are interesting and engaging, but also effective in conveying the message he wants them to learn. He does not just lecture to the students everyday or show slideshows or movies. For example, when teaching the U.S. presidents, he creates a rap for the students to sing that helps them remember each president, what they did, and when. He also plays a game with the students in which during a grammar lesson, if the students paid attention, he would drink a carton of milk every 15 seconds. The students thought it was hilarious and they not only listened, but got involved in the lesson by answering questions.

Horner, S. (2015). Classnotes on Ohio Teaching Standards.

Haines, R. (Director). (2006). The Ron Clark Story [Motion picture]. United States.

Different Types of Assessments

Instruction

Knows Curriculum

Ron Clark uses many different types of assessments to evaluate students' knowledge and progress. Although he does give written tests and the students take a standardized test at the end of the school year, he also assesses them daily through games and activities. For example, during a study session with Julio, Mr. Clark assesses Julio's math skills (addition, square roots, etc.) using cards and chips during a game of poker. It is a fun activity for both the teacher and student, but Mr. Clark gets to see what Julio has learned and where he is at in his knowledge of math.

Ron Clark teaches the curriculum his class needs to know in order to pass the state standardized tests and go on to middle school, including the United States presidents and grammar. He also relates the information to situations students would relate to. For example, he describes Martin Luther King Jr.'s idea of what freedom should feel like as walking through a sprinkler of water on a hot day.

Using different learning tools to teach information

Assessment

Evaluating students effectively according to their needs

Horner (2015)

Content

Horner (2015)

Knowledgeable about the information being taught and relates it to the real world

The Ron Clark Story

Safety and Respect

Horner (2015)

Ron Clark creates a classroom environment that is like a community. He focuses on safety and respect, and repeats several times throughout the movie, "we are a family." He knows that his students cannot thrive in a negative setting where they feel unsafe or unheard. He brings the students together to support eachother throughout the movie, when at the beginning they all fought and had several cliques. He also believes in the students unconditionally, allowing them to feel supported and loved and therefore encouraging them to learn.

Learning Environment

Creates a positive and safe classroom setting

Diverse Backgrounds

The Ron Clark Story, based on a true story, is a movie about a gifted elementary school teacher who overcomes great challenges in order to help his students succeed. Ron Clark teaches in an elementary school in his small hometown in North Carolina, where he has been very successful and earned much respect from the community. He decides to leave his comfortable life in North Carolina to move to New York City, where he then teaches in a Harlem elementary school. Although he is offered a job teaching the Honors class, he insists on taking on a classroom of troubled students who have scared off many teachers in the past. After struggling to gain the trust and respect of students, parents, and faculty, he finally gets through to these students who end up receiving the highest standardized test scores of any class.

Upon viewing this movie for another class, I realized that Ron Clark meets each of the Ohio Teaching Standards and uses them to become a better teacher. Although I have seen this film a few times before, and I have always seen Ron Clark as an amazing teacher, I now understand what makes him such a great teacher. He meets, and goes above and beyond, each of the teaching standards: student learning and diversity, content, instruction, assessment, learning environment, communication and collaboration, and professional responsibility and growth. In this Prezi, I will explain how Ron Clark meets each of these seven teaching standards and give examples of each from the movie.

Ron Clark knows that each student has the potential to learn and believes in them despite their behavioral problems or backgrounds. Even when their parents and other teachers have given up on them, he believes in his students and fights for them. He knows that many of his students come from environments where school is not important, but they still have the ability to learn if they want to. When he finds out that one student, Shameika, has to take care of her three younger siblings every evening and therefore has no time for homework, he helps her by cooking dinner for the family to allow her more time to work on homework. He later convices her mother to keep the children in daycare longer so Shameika has more time for school.

Horner (2015)

Student Learning and Diversity

Students' Needs

Seeking Peer Advice

Mr. Clark communicates with his peers several times throughout the film to ask for advice about what he should do or change about his teaching methods. He is seeking out other opinions in order to better his teaching and classroom management. He tries new strategies instead of using the same process that fails with this group of students.

He recognizes that his students have basic needs that must be met before they can learn in the classroom. He finds out one of his students, Tayshawn, is living in an abusive home and getting involved with gang members, so he helps Tayshawn to find a safe home to live in.

Recognizing all different ways that students learn

Professional Responsibility and Growth

Develop and improve skills and methods of teaching

Horner (2015)

Recognizing Students' Strengths and Weaknesses

Taking Risks

Mr. Clark recognizes that each student has a different set of talents and interests, and uses this to their advantage. For example, he finds that Tayshawn has exceptional artistic skills, Shameika excels in English, and another student, Julio, has strengths in math.

Communication and Collaboration

Horner (2015)

Very early in the movie, Ron Clark takes a huge risk in order to become a better educator. He leaves his comfortable life and job in his small hometown in order to look for work in inner city schools in New York City. He recognized that his job in North Carolina no longer challenged him to become a better teacher, so he left to find his full potential.

Working with other teachers and parents

Communicating Students' Progress

Later in the year, Ron Clark speaks with a few parents about their child's progress in school and their strengths and talents. Many of the parents do not have much faith that their child can succeed and get a good education, but Mr. Clark helps them to see their child's potential and believe in them just like he does.

Changing Inappropriate Behavior

Ron Clark recognizes when he is inappropriate or ineffective and adjusts his behavior accordingly. For example, when he loses his temper with a student and shakes her desk, he steps away from the classroom for a day in order to collect himself and reevaluate how he will control his classroom. He also can see when he is losing his students' interest and focus, and changes the routine in order to grab their attention, such as creating a game with the information.

Horner (2015)

Getting Parents Involved

Before Mr. Clark begins his first day of teaching in his new classroom, he meets with each of his students' parents or guardians to introduce himself and try to get them involved in their child's school work. He explains to one mother that it would benefit her daughter greatly if she helped her with homework every night, although the mother did not seem too concerned with her daughter's school work.

The Ron Clark Story

How Ron Clark Meets All Seven Ohio Teaching Standards

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