Ron Clark- The Excellent 11 - Chapter 1 Enthusiasm

Chapter 1- Enthusiasm

In this chapter Clark talks about the importance of enthusiasm and how it can totally transform teachers, students and schools. He starts off by telling his first story about the school he worked at in North Carolina. For the first time the school had received "excellent" level scores on state wide tests. The teachers were so excited and began to brainstorm how they could reward the students. Every idea they came up with involved money and a budget they did not have. Clark then came up with the idea of surprising the students by having a teacher talent show. At first there were a small group of teachers that got really excited about the idea and quickly jumped on board. However, there were a group of teachers that were very pessimistic about the whole even and were quick to point out obstacles. They felt that the students would loose respect for them as teachers and that they would look foolish. Other teachers complained that it would be too much work, that they didn't have costumes and that there would be no one to watch the students during this event.

So without the support of the whole staff, the teachers began to plan this special event. As this small cluster of teachers began to get excited about the event, more and more teachers joined in and decided to participate. By the day of the performance all teachers agreed to take part and were excited to show off their hard work to the students. The students were so excited and gave a standing ovation to the teachers as they performed. Clark writes, " Teachers who never seemed to show enthusiasm or spark were standing before the students, dressed to the nines dancing and singing away." (pg 5) The enthusiasm that one teacher had transferred to a small cluster, to all teachers and then onto the students. Having enthusiasm can make school a better place for everyone. Clark writes about the effect that the day had upon the students, "Something was different about our school after that day. We were all a little closer, everyone seemed much happier. Our discipline problems went down drastically. Some said that the students wouldn't respect them if they sang and danced like that, but on the contrary, they seemed to respect and appreciate us a lot more." (5-6)

Clark goes on to talk about how it's important to focus your enthusiasm as a teacher and make sure it serves a purpose. Clark writes, "I have to remind myself constantly, however, that I must focus on the educational purpose behind my antics, and I have to make sure that everything I do is not only motivating my students but also meeting their challenges and helping them learn the concepts I am trying to teach." (7) With this he also talks about setting the bar high for your students. This is something I also strongly believe in. It's important to have high expectations of students and help them to reach those expectations. Showing students that they can attain goals is something that they will be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives.

"I believe that as teachers we must set the bar as high as possible. I am a firm believer that we can get out of our student what we expect, and if we aren't setting our expectations extremely high, students aren't going to perform extremely high." (9) Clark talks in this section about how he told his students that they were going to have to memorize all the presidents and the historical things they did. He was having them do this so to give them a historical background for learning American history. Clark came up with a president rap (see below) and involved other elective teachers in the learning. He said that their would be two grades for the assignment. 100 and 0- students must get every president otherwise they would get a 0. Clark set the bar height- and the students all met the expectation. When giving students a high expectation and giving them the tools to reach the expectation, the direct result is built confidence in the student.



In the next sub-section Clark talks about how enthusiasm is fueled by our surroundings. He talks about the importance of making the classroom a place where students are excited and enthusiastic about. Clark talks about how by simply painting his Harlem classroom and desks sparked the interest and excitement of his students. With small classroom budgets, often times teachers don't feel they have the funds to spice up their classrooms. I think it's important for teachers to work with what they have and each year try to add to their classroom to make it a more inviting and comfortable environment.

In this chapter Clark also address placing enthusiasm in the hearts of unmotivated children. He talks about how simple words of encouragement "I know you are going to do really well at this""You are really smart so I know that you will do great at this assignment" etc can go a really long way. Clark also asks the very thought provoking question of how much time to spend on unmotivated and struggling students. Clark writes, " I found that sometimes I spend so much time trying to reach those few that the rest of the class was suffer. At what point do you abandon the efforts to reach the stubborn few in order to meet the needs of the rest of the class?" (15) I think that this question is a great one.. with no right direct answer. As a teacher you want to see all your student succeed, but sometimes that effort holds back the back the rest of the class. I think that this is probably one of the most difficult things for teachers and requires a balancing act.

Clark closes the chapter by talking about of enthusiasm is contagious and how it has a great effect of on others. He talks about how important it is as a teacher to show students how enthusiastic you are about teaching. This excitement and enthusiasm helps to engage students. Clark writes, "When we are active and truly enthusiastic about our lives and jobs, we are often much happier." (22)