Book #7: The Essential 55

Smart teachers know more than students..particularly in the self-marketing department...

Ron Clark has gained fame in the world of education. While I'm not sure of the statement that that makes in today's world of celebrity-at-every-turn, I am always at the very least interested in people who discuss education. This I'm sure has a great deal to do with my calling as a teacher. In any event, Ron Clark's story of bringing out the best in students from rural North Carolina as well as Harlem, NY is certainly cause for my interest in reading The Essential 55, a book of what Clark considers to be indispensable rules for creating a strong classroom of successful students.

The rules that Clark has put in place in this book range from the minute (Rule #7: "Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough and say excuse me") to the too-broad (Rule #55: "Be the best person you can be"). I thoroughly enjoyed the tales told from Clark's past in teaching, and each rule comes with a story, and of course, the moral behind it. What made it better is that he left things a little bit open to personal interpretation; while his stories ended one way (99% happy ending), there's always the chance you could have your own story to tell, which is really the preferred way to go through life, in my opinion.

A few nitty-gritty issues I took with the book...please note that these are generally a result of my being an educator (much like military buffs question war tactics and strategies, I speak of what I know to be my area of (presumed) expertise)... the first 11 rules (20% of the rules, for those of you keeping track at home) are devoted to characteristic traits and building nice young people. While a teacher's responsibilities are myriad, I argue that these sorts of traits are things that could and should be taught before the students get into the classroom. I question whether Clark's reputation is as impressive if he merely creates strong students out of well-behaved kids...there is that level of unnecessary prompting for a sense of being a well-rounded individual that bothers me.

While Clark's resolve to help make strong individuals is commendable, I found myself wondering if many of these rules don't boil down to a simple level of respect for oneself and the people/places around them. That's one of the ultimate lessons one can learn in the world today, a point which I'm sure doesn't get absorbed by nearly as many young people as it should. But enough of my soap box rant...the book is a quick read, though not terribly applicable if you are not in or interested in the education sphere. The book also contains bonus pages for dealing with students and parents, which is nice. Also, the rules seemed to skew young. A lot of these guidelines are geared towards steering younger students in the right direction, which is fine...it just magnifies my prior argument further if in fact these are to be applied to students in a secondary school setting.


Some students are closer to being lost causes than others...

Overall, I enjoyed hearing 'war stories' from the classroom, though a lot of what Clark says requires one to consider nothing of their own circumstances. These plans are not fool-proof (though, in his defense, Clark does not make them out to be), iron-clad points, and so trying to implement them universally would be foolish without getting to know your class/audience. Include grain of salt when consuming.