"The Excellent 11" by Ron Clark

I just finished reading "The Excellent 11" by Ron Clark. It's a book of 11 attributes he thinks all educators should have with a ton of examples. I strongly support (nearly) every point he makes (the only one I do not fully support is that it's ridiculous when a principal does not know every single student, but just because I'm horrible at names), and I am very excited to next read "The Essential 55."

The excellent 11 are enthusiasm, adventure, creativity, reflection, balance, compassion, confidence, humor, common sense, appreciation, and resilience.

Clark also gives suggestions for how to plan field trips and make lessons more interesting. His passion is clearly contagious.



He also suggests websites that are helpful for educators:
http://lifetouch.com/ - teachers can create yearbooks for classes
http://aaamath.com/ - great for students to improve their math abilities
http://www.educationworld.com/ - I spent a few hours looking through this one earlier, and I love it. There are so many suggestions for everything
http://www.pecentral.org/ - great PE help
http://www.ronclarkacademy.com/default.aspx - and of course Ron Clark's website with things like the music for his raps and such

I really loved the part on page 53, where he brings to life the book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by pretending that the White Witch had come through their closet and was loose in the school. It was a short and fun activity, but it thrilled the kids and helped them learn better.

Clark feels that school should be a safe place with structure and stability, organization and discipline, and some spontaneity so the students don't get bored.