Ron Clark- The Excellent 11 - Chapter 5 Balance

Chapter 5: Balance

Balance- such an important quality in a teacher. As teachers we are constantly balancing things.. weather it's time, lessons, family life, school responsibilities, etc teachers are constantly in a balancing act. Clark talks about balancing in terms of balancing instruction style. In the first section he talks about the importance of accommodating and incorporating different types of instruction to benefit all students. I think that their is a lot of information out there talking about different learning styles, but often times only one style of instruction is actually carried out. Clark talks about adapting lessons and balancing work to accommodate multiple different kinds of learners. Although it takes extra efforts on the part of the teacher, I think the results will yield such positive effects on the students that it will make the extra work worth while.

Another issue that Clark tackles in this section about finding the right balance with discipline and love. Clark talks about forming relationships with your students - understanding them on a personal level. He talks about the importance of letting your students know that you care about them and they are an important part of the classroom. Clark talks about the importance of following through and holding students responsible for their actions. He says that if you have built a relationship with your students they will respond to punishment. He talks about creating an environment where students respect adults. Clark talks about how this is something that must also be reinforced at home. I think that so often, new, young teachers want to be students best friends rather than authority figures. Clark address the idea of creating balance between friend and authority figure.

In the last section Clark discusses creating balance between life and teaching. It is so easy as a teacher- especially as a single teacher- to fully through everything you have into your work. Clark talks about spending way too much time and never "escaping" from work. It is important as a teacher to have hobbies, interests and activities outside of school. Clark writes, " In order to teach about live you have to have a life." You have to make times for yourself. This aspect of balance is something that teachers constantly have to keep in check. Teacher burn out rate is so high, and making sure that as a teacher you are being as balanced as possible will help to prevent this burn out.