Ron Clark - The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educators Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child

This small, humble book you are holding built a miraculous dream.

I was teaching in Harlem when I had the honor of being named as Disneys Teacher of the Year. I was twenty-nine years old and weighed 140 pounds. I was running on pure adrenaline and a desire to help the children I taught.

I was asked to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and I showed up in an oversized shirt and an old tie. The ladies in the green room said, If we had more time we would cut that hair and make it more presentable. I obviously had no idea how that day would change my life completely.

During the interview, Ms. Winfrey mentioned that she thought I should write a book, and, well, when Oprah Winfrey tells you to write a book, you write a book.

The book you now hold is the culmination of that recommendation. I took Ms. Winfreys advice and placed the methods I use for helping my students within these pages. When the book was published, Ms. Winfrey asked me to appear on her show so she could profile it. This time, the hair was on pointor at least I thought it was at the time. I spiked it with handfuls of mousse and held a blow dryer to it for three minutes. When I look back on the footage of the interview, I wonder, Ron, what were you thinking?

During the interview, Ms. Winfrey shouted, I love this book! I love your rules! She encouraged everyone watching to go out and buy a copy, and one hour after the show, the book was the number two book in the nation, right behind Harry Potter. It stayed there for four months, and all proceeds were placed in a foundation and used to build a dream: a school like no other in the world!

I was intent on building a school filled with exuberant children who were thrilled about learning, innovative teachers who were excited to be there, and a passionate flair for creative approaches. I wanted the school to be at the forefront of innovation in our country, and I hoped it would spark a revolution.

If you ask fifth graders what they want to be when they grow up, they dont say teacher anymore. And if they do say teacher, people say, But youre so smart, there are so many things you could do. Teacher pay is low, discipline is getting worse, and parents can be difficult. Children see this and they arent jumping to say, I want to be in that profession when I grow up! I hoped to build a school that would show people that education can be young, fun, exhilarating, challenging, and powerful. The idea was to join together the best teachers in the world to work at the school, and invite educators to come and witness our methods in person. At the time, I hoped we might host up to sixty teachers per week. I soon realized my expectations were far too low.

Currently, the Ron Clark Academy (RCA) has 600 educators visit our school each week to learn about our methods and strategies, which they then take back to implement in their various school systems. Its like Disneyland for educators, and tens of thousands have visited. There are countless stories of the revolution we started and how it has affected millions of children around our country as well as globally. It is mind blowing!

One of the key aspects of each educators visit to RCA is that they learn The Essential 55, the system of rules listed within this book. It is the bedrock of our school, and it has allowed us to have the structure necessary to be truly innovative and bring vibrant lessons to life. This book contains the keys to my success as a teacher and the strategies that have proven effective when working with even the most challenging of children. Over the years, these rules have evolved and changed in many beautiful and useful ways. It is for this reason that I decided to revise this book: to showcase some new rules and how older rules have evolved. These rules have been around the world and impacted children from China to Italy and Finland to Australia. I am honored to now share them with you.

Ron Clark

April 2019