THE RC CHALLENGE

The Ron Clark Story is a movie that is about an ambitious, idealist teacher who moves to New York to
reach and inspire the students who need assistance to change their lives and is based on the real-life
experiences of a real teacher called Ron Clark. This movie includes different types of methods and
techniques that Ron Clark used to achieve the goal of turning the outcasted class into the successful
class that he desired. In that journey, Assure Model was clearly utilized and can be seen.

The first step he took was analyzing the students, their backgrounds, and their preferences of
learning which is also the first part of AM. The class that we had in the movie was diverse, had
different races and various types of social problems that weren’t simple to solve. For example,
Shameika was a girl who had totally different social background which made things hard for her to
focus on the school. When Ron realized that he made sure to help her as much as he can. Other than
focusing every student individually, Ron understood that he can have the students’ attention by
challenging them. It was the part where Ron agreed to drink a cartoon of milk if they stay silent for 15
seconds. This turned the class into a game which was a helpful tool to use in a class which have had
never experienced a serious learning environment before.

The second step is stating standards and objectives. All in all this is the most crucial part of
implementing the methods and techniques chosen by the teacher. In the movie, Ron decided to have
a class environment in which everyone was equal and a family. We can say that one of the first
objective was “The students will have their food for the lunch in a proper row when they need to
leave the classroom.” In this objective, even if it is not directly related to the lesson related topics, we
can see there is an intention to make the students fit in the situations that they should have been a
part of. Ron was successful to point out and implement his objectives.

The third step of Assure Model is that selecting strategies, technology, media, and materials. As I
stated in the first paragraph, the class was into challenges and so did Ron. He created a bridge
between the lesson and the way students perceived the life. He let them be the boss in the class by
giving one of them the power to make him drink milk which was a huge step to have their full
attention. The materials that he used were also made the students in charge, for example hitting the
glass. Overall, he successfully connected his strategies, objectives and materials to the way students
feel more engaged and enthusiastic towards the lesson.

The fourth step is integrating the technology into the classroom which was perfectly added to the
movie. It is clearly showed that technology can be a part of teaching process when Ron was sick and
had no chance to come to the class to continue teaching. He solved the problem by recording the
video and making it available for the students so that they do not have to wait for him to be able to
come to the class. Also, the class used overhead projectors to watch the videos which was another
area that the technology was being used.

The fifth step of AM is learners’ active participation. At first student were not only unenthusiastic but
also reluctant to contribute the lesson. As time went on, the methods Ron used and the way he
encourages the students, resulted in making the learners eager to be an active participant of the
class. He was aware of their level and what they can become which was also what made the process
of learning easier for the students and Ron himself.

The last step is the evaluation part which was the main part of the plot itself. At the end of the movie,
there was an exam that Ron and his class was getting prepared passionately. This part of the plot
clearly stated the last step of AM. It is that everything that is conducted in the classroom should be
revised and most importantly evaluated. In this example, the evaluation was the traditional exam that
the class needed to take but all in all, the way the students acted compared to their first encounter of
the teacher Ron is a big evaluation by itself. The class changed their approach to the education
system and was encouraged to dream big.

Overall, the movie was a great example of the Assure Model and how it works. The teacher Ron
implemented most of the important part of the model and at the end, he inspired many students that
were going to get lost in their chaotic lives which was heartwarming to witness.

Elmas İlayda Gönç