Ron Clark- The Excellent 11 - Chapter 9 Common Sense

Chapter 9: Common Sense

In the opening of this chapter Clark writes, " What I found, however, is that when we are more specific with children and let them know exactly what we expect from them, they are far more willing to try to live up to those expectations." (181) It is easy as teachers to forget what it's like to be a child and things that may seem to be common sense to an adult are not even on the radar of a child. As teachers, we must be aware of how we speak to children and the types of words we use with them.

Children believe what they are told- self fulfilling prophesy, so as teachers, we must be aware of what we are saying and how that effects the students that we teach. Sometimes it's the job of the teacher to break down self fulfilling prophesy's that other teachers or parents have created. When a student hears "You are so disrespectful" or "You never do your homework" they start to believe it.

Clark talks in the next section about how often times teachers assume that organizational skills are common scene. However, often times students have never been taught how to be organized. As adults and teachers we can't assume that children have the tools to know how to be organized. We must help to shape and teach students and give them the tools they need to succeeded.

In the last section Clark talks about how common scene leads to better results. Clark talks about how he couldn't understand why his students were not doing well on test. He quickly realized that something he took as common scene - how to study- was something that his students didn't know how to do. Clark then made a book teaching and showing his kids how to study. The book contained the following things.

1. make flash cards
2. read summaries of each chapter
3. pay close attention to photographs, diagrams and captions
4. Take note of anything in bold
5. read over class notes
6. review all pop quizzes and chapter tests
7. make sure you have a morning review
8. get a good night rest
9. don't be afraid to ask for help

I think what I learned most from this chapter is that we have t remember what it's like to be a child. Things that may seem common knowledge to teachers may be foreign to a student. This chapter was all about giving the tools to help children succeed and not assuming something to be common knowledge.