Ron Clark- The Excellent 11 - Chapter 4 Reflection

Chapter 4: Reflection

In this chapter Clark discusses the importance of reflection and teaching. Not only is reflection important in student learning, but it is also an important tool for teachers. In the first section Clark discusses how he makes sure that their is student reflection on the year as a whole. He talks about doing assignments at the beginning of the year and comparing the same assignment at the end of the year. This type of exercise allows students to see and realize personal growth. Another idea of Clark's that I thought was really unique was his awards ceremony that he put on at the end of the year. Clark talks about how he raised money to have plaques engraved with each child's individual accomplishments on them. Then, Clark designated a night of celebration where friends, family and relatives were all invited to come and see the awards given out. One of the neatest parts of this was a story that Clark told about the impact that this award ceremony had on one father.

Clark writes " One man in Harlem cried so hard that I had to raise my voice to talk over him. He didn't speak English, and after the ceremony his daughter told me, "he is crying because when he moved our family to America, he did not know if his children would be successful in school. Today he has realized he made the right choice." (186)

I thought this was such a heartwarming story and it really made me realize what an impact the small things can have on people.

Clark also discusses in this section about reflecting as a teacher. In my artistic Dimension class last semester we talked a great deal about how teaching is a job where you are constantly improving and learning. Clark really speaks to this in his book when he talks about the importance of reflecting in teaching. He recommends video taping yourself teaching to find your flaws and ways that you can improve. I think so often as teachers, we don't notice the small things that we do out of habit that may affect our students and how they learn. It was good to see another "excellent" teacher admitting that he is always a work in progress and is constantly working to become a better teacher.

One of the ideas that Clark talks about in this section is journaling. Journaling provides teachers with a gateway inside the minds of their students. It allows them to better understand where their students are coming from and how their needs can be addressed better. I know that as a young student, most of my teachers had me journal, but when I got older, journaling got lossed in all the other work. I think that journaling is a simple thing that can be added to just about any subject area and can really help and inhance reflection.

One of the last ideas that Clark talks about in this sectin is having students write letter to the future class - ie future 6th graders etc. These letters are filled with what students should expect and what they will learn that year. I thought that this was a cute and creative idea to help close out a school year and open a new one. This is definitly an idea that I hope to take into my future classroom!!