Section 2: Chapter 6-13
In this section Ron Clark talks about how you can accelerate yourself on the bus. He talks about arriving early and staying after work hours. You need not loose you balance between home and work in order to accomplish this. Ron talks about arriving just a few minutes early each day, and to meetings. This shows your boss that you job is important to you and that you care about it. If you are the one consistently showing up late or leaving early or even for that matter right on the dot, you show that you are just doing your time and nothing more. Just making that effort to show how you value the importance of your job is enough to begin to accelerate you.
There is also discussion of the way we dress. If we are wearing our good clothes, it shows yet again that we value our job, and understand that if we dress a certain way, we will most often behavior a certain way. If you come to work in shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops, what does that tell your students. That school is very casual and that there is no need to behave. And when we dress down we ourselves are more casual and laid back. This is not what we want in our classrooms. We don’t want fear, or silents, but we do want respect, and learning taking place, and one simple way is they we we dress.
At one school I was at the would use the term, “dressed appropriately” all the time. Ron Clark uses this term as well, but in a different manner. Ron is using it to help a teacher or employee to fill the importance of what they are are doing. To empower the person in through what they wear. At the employment I am speaking of, it was a school, and was used more often than not to make a person feel not adequate enough. When I left that school, and went to a new one, I was free to dress any way I wanted. I saw some teachers dress professional and some dress way to casual. I’m not a dress, and heels, (even if I wanted to wear heels, my feet have problems, so I can’t), but I still dress, and consider myself to dress professional. It may be more causal than other schools, but I am wearing my good clothes, shoes, and accessories. I feel good in what I am wearing, and I feel the respect of my collages, students, and parents.
Ron Clark also talks about saying “Hello”. I love this, I think I say it to almost everyone I see. It makes me smile, it makes me feel good, and I hope that it makes the other person feel goos as well. My students look forward to saying, “Hi” to me every morning. I say Hi to all students wether in my class or not. All students at my school know who I am, and they have all gotten used to my greeting them throughout the day. I have almost all of them getting me back now. I also greet my families in Spanish so as to make them feel comfortable with me as well.
I found it interesting that he, Ron Clark suggest sitting with Runners. I don’t think I sought out Runners per say at my school, but as I think about this, and look at who my close friends are, they are the Runners at my school. I like “sitting” with them because I feel that I learn from everyone around me. I am so exhausted of negative teachers, and teachers that complain about well, everything. I like being around people who are positive, and want to help each other, who think of us as a team, rather than trying to outshine, and put down people. So I know that I am doing this, are you sitting with Runners at your school?
The next two chapters were about asking for help, and excepting criticism. I think I need to get better at asking for help. If I have said yes to do something, I find it hard to ask for help. I search the internet, go to the library, google everything. But, I know I need to be better at asking for help. I feel that I except criticism most of the time. Only truly once did I not except it in my work life. I had friends on one side telling me positive, and friends on the other tell me negative. I had to stop and really look at both sides and try to see where I really was. I did have things to learn in that situation, but I think that I would have taken the criticism better if it had not been given so negatively, but that took me a while to open my eyes and see.
Next Ron Clark talks about taking a hint. I think I observant to this. I am a people watcher by nature. I think, though that sometimes, I shy away to much from speaking for what I want. I feel I’m good at reading when not to speak, but not so good at when I should be speaking. So even though this chapter was about knowing when to step back and to take a hint, that the task at hand is not going to change, helped me to see that I need to stronger to times when I should speak up, and that it is OK to speak up.
Welcome to The Red School Desk Book Club Summer 2017!
Welcome to the The Red School Desk’s 2017 Summer Book Club! I hope that you have had fun reading Move Your Bus, by Ron Clark So far. As I have read the first section, I find that Ron writes with such ease which makes the reading of his book smooth, and I enjoy this. I love how he has broken down personality types into: The Runner, The Jogger, The Walker, The Rider, The Driver. It was interesting to read each section on the different personalities because certain co-workers would pop into my mind as I read each one. I imagine this happened to each of you as you read these sections as well.
I like to think that I am a Runner, but if I am honest, I think in my teaching career I started out as a Runner. Though, at my my first job there were many Walkers, and Riders, who intern did not like my running and pushed me to doubt myself and almost to leave teaching. For a few years I became a Jogger doubting myself and actually giving up on myself as a teacher. The past two years I have been at a new school, and even though I’m still jogging, I think I have begun to Run a little, and my energy this summer has encouraged me in my own personal life to be a Runner again, with a nice side effect, rubbing off on my work life.
I found a quote from the book that I would like to share with you all:
Introduction page xvi
“The world moves at lightning speed these days, and we have to keep up as everything evolves around us: technology, culture, consumer preferences, the regulatory environment, societal values – even the climate.” – Ron Clark
I hope that you will share where you feel you are as a Runner, Jogger, Walker, Rider, or Driver. Along with what you think of the quote above. If you have any questions or quotes to share, please do!
I hope through this book club we can encourage each other, each become better teachers, and to strive to be the Runner we all want to be.
I’m excited to read and share your comments! Let the fun begin!!
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Welcome to The Red School Desk Book Club Summer 2017!
This summer we will be reading the book:
We will spend four weeks, reading and discussing Ron Clark’s, Move Your Bus. I hope that you are all as excited as I am to begin this book, and maybe find out a little about myself and my co-workers!
We have divided the book into four sections, I will post my thoughts and questions on this page Monday of each week. I will leave the post up all week for everyone to participate in the discussion. Leave your comments and any questions, and thoughts below.
Here are the sections and the Monday’s I will post the questions:
Section 1: Forward, Intro, Chapter 1-5.
Monday, July 10th
Section 2: Chapter 6-13
Monday, July 17th
Section 3: Chapter 14-22
Monday, July 24th
Section 4: Chapter 23-30, Epilogue
Monday, July 31st.
This should be fun! Happy Reading Everyone!!!