As a teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me some great ideas to implement in my classroom. I think it would be beneficial for all teachers to read, even those like me with 20 years experience.

It's obvious from the very beginning of this book that the author, Ron Clark, is passionate about teaching and leaving an impact on his students. I don't disagree with his rules, but I feel that having 55 classroom rules is kind of absurd. After reading this book I could maybe remember 10. I also feel that some of these rules could be grouped together in order to prevent kids (and adults) from being overwhelmed.

I did find the way this was written to be somewhat demeaning to the kids, for example in the part where he's talking about kids needing to say thank you and if a kid doesn't say thank you in his class than he just takes back whatever was given to them. So it's okay to be rude to someone, so long as they're rude to you first? I don't quite understand that one.

Overall, I found Ron's style of teaching to be authoritarian, which I'm sure is effective, but not at all the type of teacher I would have wanted or who would've helped me thrive as a student while I was in school.

With all that being said I do commend him for spending so much of his time in trying to make our next generation into respectable people and not entitled a-holes.

A must read for ALL teachers! Ron Clark has a great reputation in the education community and I wish more schools followed his approach and advice. Great insight into cultivating connection with our students.