Rules 41-50

Rule #42: "When we return from a trip, you will shake my hand as well as the hands of every chaperone. You will thank us for taking the time to take you on the trip, and you will let us know that you appreciate having the opportunity to go. I am not concerned with being thanked; I am concerned with teaching you that it is appropriate to show appreciation when someone has gone out of his or her way to help you." (Pg 121)

- A simple thanks is sometimes hard to come by. Often times people think that the thanks is implied or simply forget to ofter the gesture. I will never forget, my senior year, my parents taking a friend of mine on a really nice spring break trip to Mexico. They paid for everything, our airfare, hotels, foot and entertainment. At the conclusion of the trip, my mom was hurt that my friend never thanked my parents for taking her. I come from a middle class family. I haven't done a ton of traveling, and family vacations happen ever once in a while, so for my family to take a friend of mine was a big deal. Looking back at it, my friend was not ungrateful, she just lacked the training in proper manners. I'm sure now, 4 years later, she would be mortified to think that she forgot to thank my parents- but it's in the past-. Clark instills important values into his students that will in turn make them better individuals. - Individuals who are more aware, more insightful and more informed.

Rule# 47: "Do not bring Doritos into the school building." (Pg 131)

- Now at this point you might be a little lost- Rule 47? What is it's importance and why is it important. Clark talks about how all teachers must adapt their own rule 47- something random that you can make a joke out of that students respond to.
Clark write, " This rule definitely causes some commotion and gets the students talking. There will always be students each year who resent not being able to bring Doritos for lunch, but I warn them repeatedly what will happen if they do so. Some will test me, and if I see them with the chips, I will walk over to them wearing a face of disgust, snatch the bag from the table, walk over to the trash can, and bust the bag, sending chips all over the place. Sometimes in class, I will notice a bag of Doritos sticking out of someone's backpack. I will walk to the board and continue to teach like normal. All of a sudden, I will turn quickly to face the class and say, "No one move!" I will then begin to sniff, gliding slowly to the right, slowly to the left. "Silence!" My nose will begin to lead me in the correct direction until eventually, "Aha!" I will "find" the Doritos, march over to the trash, and crush them, much to the delight of the students and, believe it or not, much to the enjoyment of even the student who has just lost his lunchtime snack." (pg 133)
Clark talks about how rule 47 is your opportunity to do something, make some funny rule that will allow students to have fun and joke with you as a teacher. I thought this was a really cute idea and would love to see how this would play out in the classroom.

Rule #49: "Stand up for what you believe in. You should not take no for an answer if your heart and mind are leading you in a direction that you feel strongly about." (pg 137)

- I just love this rule- it is one we should all live by, but I think it's important to remind students and each other of this often!