REFLECTION BASED ON THE RON CLARK STORY

The impotance of the teacher lies in the fact that it is he who is responsible for training and
education of the youth of the country. The future of any country depends on its youth and a lot
depends on the kind education youth gets. That is why a teachers role is a difficult one, and a
very responsible one too. He has to see to it that they get the training that will prepare them to
be useful citizens of the country. First, there is the question of interest. The teacher has
himself to be interested in teaching in a meaningful way and he must not go to his class in a
half-hearted manner. The interested teacher who teaches interestingly is very likely to get an
interested audience.
On my opinion to be a good teacher one should be a good leaner too. I think some of
the characteristics of a good learner are: They are willing to put some time and effort into it they don't expect it just to happen. If they miss a lesson they actively attempt to catch up
before the next one by contacting the teacher or other group members, or simply by working
on the coursebook on their own. They study regularly and frequently. They don't just do the
homework set, but review what was done in the class before. When they come to class, they
know what was taught in the last lesson and are ready to move on.They are willing to try out
different learning strategies suggested to them by the teacher, the coursebook etc. They are not
so inihibited about making mistakes that they don't open their mouths, but on the other hand
monitor the accuracy of what they say, noticing the teacher's corrections and reformulations
and learning from them. They take every opportunity to practise, including talking to
themselves. When trying to communicate they don't panic, but use inference techniques to
work out meaning from contextual clues, and circumlocation strategies to say things they
haven't

yet

learnt.

And

perhaps

most

important

of

all,

they

enjoy

it.

A good teacher can take a subject and help make it crystal clear to the students. A bad
teacher can take that same material and make it impenetrable. Or a bad teacher can devote so
little time and effort to preparation that the material presented is intrinsically confusing and
disorganized. A good teacher is willing to expend the effort needed to find innovative and
creative ways to make complicated ideas understandable to their students, and to fit new ideas
into the context available to the student. A good teacher can explain complicated material in a
way that students can understand and use. There is a saying, "Give me a fish and I eat for a
day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." This is the philosophy of a good teacher. Give
your students an answer and they can solve one problem, but show students the techniques
needed to find the answer for themselves and they can become self-sufficient in the field.
Students need to be shown how to apply the new techniques you teach to problem solving.
A good teacher starts with a firm knowledge of the subject, and builds on that with a
clarity and understanding designed to help students master the material. The best teachers then
go one step further. Because good teachers are interested in the material being taught, they
make the class interesting and relevant to the students. Knowledge is worthless unless it is
delivered to the students in a form they can understand. But the effort expended making the
material understandable is wasted if the students are asleep when it is delivered, or if the
students can see no point in learning the material. Are our teaching materials interesting to the
student? Are they relevant, do they offer variety? It is likely that students will get bored or
lose concentration if they cannot relate what they are learning to their needs, wheather these
needs are immediate or of the future.
Those who develop material should give due emphasis to the four basic skills
listening, speaking, reading and writing, that commensurate with the needs of the students.
Variety, they say, in the spice of life; it holds true in teaching too. To sustain the interest of

student, audio-visual aids can be use periodically. Songs from any electronic media like cds
and television programmes can also be used.
Good teachers recognize this, and work hard to make their material relevant. They
show students how the material will apply to their lives and their careers. Bad teachers make
material "relevant" by threatening students with failure on a test. Good teachers go far beyond
this: they make students want to learn the material by making it interesting.
Good teachers always possess these core qualities: knowledge, the ability to convey to
students an understanding of that knowledge, and the ability to make the material interesting
and relevant to students. Complementing these three is a fourth quality: good teachers have a
deep-seated concern and respect for the students in the classroom. Why else would a teacher
put in the time and effort needed to create a high quality class?
The creation of a good class requires an immense amount of work. You don't simply
come up with clear explanations and examples and experiments for class off the top of your
head. You don't create fair, consistent, high quality tests and homework assignments five
minutes before you hand them out. You don't figure out ways to integrate new materials and
research into a class in an understandable way on the drive in one morning. You work at this
sort of quality all the time. You spend time with your students so you can learn about holes in
their understanding. You read and write and create to build an exciting and interesting class
every day. The only thing that would drive you to do that is a concern and respect for the
students in your classroom.
Then there are the preparerations the teacher has to make. He must be punctual, be
well prepared so that the hour long or 30 minute period is well spent. If the time is efficiently
managed, it will be appreciated by the students. The teacher has to be good role model. It is

not enough to emphasise that our must be proficient in the language if we, as teacher of
English, show signs of being weak in the language. Our English should not sound foreign to
our students. The way we speak and write is crucial in motivating them.
Our teaching methods are yet another factor that affect the students motivation. Do we
present the materials in an imaginative way, or in a matter-of-fact fashion? Do we look too
serious, cant we afford a smile, or a word of praise? Do we speak with enthusiasm or are we
in want of it? Students who have to listen to teachers of different subjects will feel relieved
when they face an instructor endowed with sense of humour. Teachers can create interesting
and useful lessons from newspaper reports and advertisments to encourage to use language,
both in the creative and receptive areas of learning. Field trips offer another stimulant to
learning a language.
All the above factors, however are dependent on the teachers attitude. His attitude
towards the learner is important for the latters achivement. The teachers expectations can
make a lot of difference to the success of students. If the teacher does not think much of his
students, he is not going to try hard enough to motivate them because he has already the
predetermined idea that his students are unable to cope with the language. He should offer
constructive criticisms that motivate and not negative ones that douse whatever enthusiam the
student may have about learning a second or foreign language.
Againts these positive factors which give rise to motivation, there are the negative
ones that discourage the students. The question of overcrowding is one. When there are more
than 25 students in a class, there may not be ample opportunities for the students to participate
actively. There will also be less individual attention given to the students. The weaker ones
usually lose out in such a situation. Workload offen affects teaching. When teachers get a
heavy workload, they will be mentally and physically exhausted. This may affect their

performance with regard to teaching, correction of excercises, etc. A teacher who is weary in
body and mind cannot be expected to motivate his students. A negative attitude on the part of
students or teachers is another obstacle to learning. Learning is a two-way process. The
teacherss job is to help students learn and the students job is to want to learn.
What can the teacher do to motivate his students? He has to set an example, in and
outside the classroom. Motivation has also to come from the student themselves. The higher
the motivation, the better the results will be. Teachers can try their best in their own way, and
some may go to great lenghts to get the students interested. But if the students themselves do
not have the desire to gain from the activities organised or measures taken for their own good,
who can be blamed? Suffice it to say that you may take a horse to water, but you cannot
make him drink.
Sports and games provide a variation from monotonous academic routine and
inculcate in youth the necessity of exercise for the maintainance of good health. The idea of
sports and atheletics is to put a sound mind in a sound body.
I feel that the purpose of all education is to prepare youths for life ahead. Education is
that process of mental development which makes a man a better man, enables him to survive
in his own society, and also to contribute to it. If there is any such thing as the ideal life,
education is the means by which a man can be prepared for it. The material necessary for such
preparation is not to be found in books alone. I am stressing all this to show that books alone
are not sufficient to teach young people about life; just as in science classes, there are
practical classes so in education you must have sports and athletics a combination of the
intellectual or academic, and the practical or manual.
The greatest thing about all sports is that it teaches you to accept defeat cheerfully and
take success humbly. You learn these things through experience because being sporting is the

essence and the ethics of all sports. Another great thing about spots is that it teaches you the
idea of teamwork. In teamwork, you cannot fight for personal glory. In life, there will come
many times when you learn that you have to co-operate with others, sacrifice a little here and
there so that your team can succeed. The world has no place today for men who try and do
everything by themselves. Sports as part of your education teaches you to learn to respect
other people.
There is a popular saying that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. In
schools, it is necessary to have sports and athletics because it provides worthwhile variations
from the usual school routine. Without sports and athletics school would be a dull place. It is
necessary therefore that a certain awareness of importance of excercise be inculcated in the
minds of all people, particulaly children who are more responsive subjects. The lesson taught
in childhood often last till a person dies.
I think a good teacher is a mentor, friend, confident, good listener, patient, strict,
relaxed, smart, knowledgeable, honest, not a know it all, and of course a learner themsleves.
I know that some of the points above are opposite of each other but we are only human after
all. I like the learner part myself. We are constantly changing and tweaking our lesson plans
and we will be forever. Also writing and reading boards like this gives us more ideas and
that's a good step towards becoming a great teacher. A person who can't see that their lessons
are failing or thinks that they are great (I have met loads of these) fails completely as a
teacher. There is no one complete system or perfect lesson plan.
When you strive and work to become a good teacher and to create a good class, the
four core qualities are essential: knowledge, the skills to convey that knowledge, the ability to
make the material you are teaching interesting and relevant, and a deep-seated respect for the
student. Without these four qualities, good teaching will not exist.

I can just say that this movie made me want to be a teacher even more, to see the joy in
the kids eyes when they like how you teach them in all kind of different ways just makes me
happy. The kids are brilliant. There are a few strong visual moments but well done for a TV
movie. Beside, it did happen. It is good to show what is really happening in the real world and
the opportunities that all kids have no matter what their backgrounds are. Every single kids
has the same opportunities. All kids have different potential. Just need to encourage him or
her to bring it about and use it. I felt like The Ron Clark Story gives its audience hope for a
better tomorrow, if we would only step out on faith. I was also pleased to discover the film
was based on fact, and I was pleased that these rebel children went on to greater things, would
not the world be a much better place if there were More Mr Clark's.
I liked this movie very much because it shows us what a teacher has to do to educate
some children who are really tough. It is also shows us what a teacher has to endure to
succeed to his work and how difficult this is it. We may not all have the same talents as Ron
Clark but we can all be inspired to use what we have to the best of our ability and for the
benefit of others. Put this at the top of the list.
Well, each teacher has their own unique way of teaching, like a footballer has different
talents, but most children like a teacher who can solve people's problems if they're sad, if they
are fun when they are teaching and they know what children want and they talk to them about
those things and when they tell jokes. But also, it's nice when they educate rather than train.
Basically fill them with interesting facts that they never knew before and make the lesson
more interesting, they might want to find out more about the subject, that will help them in the
exams. Also make the lesson fun, like make the children do role plays related to the subject
and they'll laugh and have fun. Make the lesson interesting, help them and make them smile
and learn.

I understand since I have been an educator for 19 years. I was uncertain of some of the
methods used but it was not a movie to teach one how to teach, it was a movie about a man
who was very dedicated and certain that he could teach some tough kids. As a biographical
movie I enjoyed it a lot. No matter the methods, kids know who truly cares about them and
who is there just to move on or just do a job. The incredible passion that Ron exudes about
teaching and just about life, is an inspiration to anyone. The message Ron delivers is about
living life with a deep passion. If we are go into each day with anything that approaches this
man's dedication and enthusiasm, the odds for success are huge. Ron Clark is a wonderful
example to us all, no matter what we do each day, as to how we could live if we chose to.