"Don't Be Bread, Be Pizza"

Ron Clark's Call to Educators

By Kate Stoltzfus



It's time for a passion revolution in education, speaker Ron Clark told educators during his opening general session at ASCD's Empower19 conference in Chicago. In order to bring what Clark sees as a missing spark of excitement back to the classroom, teachers can't be "the bread." They have to be pizza.

As a math teacher and cofounder of Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Clark has gained national recognition for his efforts to inspire success for students and colleagues. The academy, which is known for striking a balance between fun and rigor, has a 100 percent high school graduation rate and has been a destination for thousands of teachers who come to learn about the school's techniques. In turn, Clark and colleagues have visited about 300 schools in all 50 states. They saw "too many bored kids doing worksheets," Clark said.

"We saw a lot of 'plain bread' teachers," Clark said. "They come at eight, they leave at four. I'm begging you to be pizza."

For Clark, "being the pizza" entails adding small details to make learning fun and pouring love into students so that they'll want to be there. Clark raps lessons, dances on tables, dresses in costumes, eats lunch with students every day, and visits the home of every scholar.

In Clark's early teaching years in North Carolina, students complained that a set of math problems was impossible. He came back with sunglasses, asked them to be detectives, and played the Mission Impossible theme song for the same basic math lesson. The students were able to work through the math problems, and Clark said that they still remember the lesson years later.

That's not to ignore the challenges the profession poses, Clark said, who was the first in his family to go to college. He described a "bully problem" for some teachers who try to go above and beyond. "As soon as a teacher tries to be pizza, other teachers will try to pull them down," Clark said. "Teachers in America are saying … I guess I'll be quiet. A lot of people have said, I'll just be bread."

What's most important for the profession, according to Clark, is to figure out how to be a consistent source of positive energy.

"This revolution is about spirit, energy, possibilities, expectations," said Clark. "If you have to walk down the hallway anyway, can't you smile and talk to kids while you do it? I tell my teachers every day: I want you to teach in a way so that when your students look at you, they say, 'I want to do that when I grow up.'"

Ron Clark (@mrronclark_) is a mathematics teacher and the cofounder of Ron Clark Academy. He has been honored at the White House, was named Disney's American Teacher of the Year in 2000, and has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, and Oprah. He is the author of several books, including The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child.

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