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Ron Clark Academy AMAZINGESS

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Hello all! I am so glad to FINALLY be bringing you some of my top takeaways, impressions, moments, quotes, and PICTURES GALORE from my visit to The Ron Clark Academy this month!

I had never been to Atlanta {other than a flight passing through!} so I was excited to be staying downtown! Our hotel was right in the thick of downtown Atlanta and not far at all from RCA!

 

We were greeted at the gates – yes literally the gates – of RCA by the darling, bubbly, and SUPER well mannered STUDENTS of The Ron Clark Academy to check in and get our name tags.  One of the sweet kiddos said to me.. “your notebook looks like something Ms. King would love!”  – and when I replied that I knew Ms. King, {the one and only HOPE KING from Elementary Shenanigans and ROCK STAR Educator at RCA} we both squealed 🙂

 

Angie, my bloggy bestie from Lucky Little Learners, and I had been planning our trip to RCA for EIGHT MONTHS!! We booked it so long ago, so to tell you that we were excited in this picture to be headed to meet Mr. Clark and his fabulous staff and student body would be the understatement of the century!

 

And, as any fabulous educator should be,  Mr. Clark was literally waiting to greet us all at the doors of his library.  He greeted all 411 educators there for visitation.  He greeted each and every one of us y’all.    Music was playing, passion was evident, and SELFIES (Ron was a pro at them) were PLENTIFUL!  And the day had yet to begin.

Can we just take a TV timeout to talk about how fabulous Mr. Clark’s shoes were?!? I mean.  Come on.   Those just SCREAM passionate educator, right?!

After being greeted in the library, we were ready to start our day! Off to the main classroom building we go!   We had no idea what was about to fill and touch our teacher souls!

Every turn, every hall, every light, every stair case – just plain magic.  RCA magic, that is.  It was EVERYWHERE.  It was REAL.  It was LIVING.  And that RCA Magic is still flowing through my veins today!

I believe that this magical picture above is from RCA’s first day of school.  Do you see the intensity, the purpose, the passion, the HAPPINESS, on every single one of their faces?! Y’all.  That is EXACTLY what surrounded us from minute one of our visitation through to the final minutes of the school day on Friday.  There was not a SINGLE moment that I saw their intensity, purpose, passion, and happiness at any other level than 110%.  And to say it was contagious would be an understatement, too!
That wall of endless energy smacked us all in the face – in the most FABULOUS way possible – the minute we all walked in.  Let me show you what I mean…
Oh Mr. Clark.  FACT: When you grab my notebook to use as a prop in your workshop {perks of sitting in the front row for 31 years of my life}, I’m going to sneak out my cell phone to take a picture 🙂 This man can tell a story like NONE other.  He had me laughing, he had me crying, he gave me goosebumps, he had me head nodding, he had me clapping, and he had me writing notes of inspiration to myself feverishly every single minute.  Mr. Clark, can I PLEASE put you in my pocket and carry you and your energetic and inspiration filled self around with me?! PLEASE?!
His message – no matter what he was saying or teaching – was this.  Love your kids.  Love them hard. Have RELATIONSHIPS with your kids.  LOOK  at your kiddos and expect them to look at you! Hold expectations high.  Set the bar.  Reach your goals.  And reach those expectations and goals with URGENCY!!
RCA runs at one speed – URGENTLY FAST!  There’s no down time.  EVERY moment is spent on instruction and growing those learners.  And it is the most fun ride you’ll ever be on.
One of my favorite quotes of the weekend at RCA was this:

When we try to juggle it all and then some? We’ll drop a few plates.  We’re going to make mistakes.  IT’S FINE.  Forgive yourself.  Move on.  And KEEP RUNNING 🙂

 

Meet Ms. Kim Bearden, co-founder of RCA.  She.  is.  AMAZING.
This woman has a heart of gold and is a BRILLIANT educator.  We got to see first hand how she FLIPS her classroom into the most fabulous learning environments that are FILLED with educational connections from lesson beginning to lesson end.   If you haven’t checked out her book – Crash Course – yet, you MUST! She also Periscopes each Wednesday night covering a chapter of her book! She is SO inspirational, so passionate, and has truly found the JOY in teaching like none of us could ever imagine.
One of the things that Kim said that really stuck with me was the quote above.  LOVE!  Enhance your content with that classroom environment! Set the stage for your kiddos to be ENGAGED!
Speaking of ENGAGED…. holy fabulous classroom environment, Batman!…
Meet Hope King – my darling bloggy friend who is an absolute POWER HOUSE of a teacher.  These fifth graders were moving and grooving and KILLING it in their lesson on cells! I STILL have the song in my head and it makes me smile every time I think of it!

Seeing Hope teach was the perfect pep talk.  A pep talk to STEP UP MY GAME! I’ve been channeling my inner Hope King since the moments I landed back in Ohio, from adding songs, to jumping on the tables, to adding chants and cheers, to adding JENGA to the lesson plan line up!, and to teaching with more INTENSITY and URGENCY than I ever have before and I’ll tell you what – I see a difference.  It’s that RCA magic I tell ya.  Thank you Hope, for sharing that magic with my kiddos and me!

Here are just a few more favorite shots from my 2 days visiting RCA!
This is what following your heart looks like when you’re Ron Clark.  He had a vision for a mirror wall and a dragon skeleton.  He followed his dream and now lives it each and every day.  Chills.
I mean – those beautifully arranged books make my OCD heart pitter patter.  And I will read and reread them all until the day I’m no longer a teacher.  Do yourself a favor and order Move your Bus, The Essential 55, The End of Molasses Classes, and Crash Course.  PD that will move you to tears.  No.  joke.
I loved every step of the way inside of the Academy, but I also got to have some fun out on the town, too!
Did I mention that I got to travel to RCA alongside some of my bloggy loves?! . . . Have I mentioned that I LOVE each and every person that this blogging journey has brought into my life?!

 

Cheers to that.  I am blessed.  I have passionate, talented, thoughtful, BRILLIANT, hilarious, and remarkable friends.  Lucky for me, I got to spend a few days in the same zip code as them at RCA!

 

Can you spot any bloggers you recognize?! I mean – Mr. Clark is surrounded with some of the most crazy fabulous talent I KNOW in this picture!! Blessed.  Just blessed.

And did I mention, that some of the RCA staff even joined more of my bloggy friends and me for dinner Friday night?! Y’all – RCA is a family.  A true, happy, passionate, closely knit FAMILY that LOVES what they do! Getting to hear their stories, their day in the life chats, their struggles, their ideas, their LOVE for these kids and their field – nothing can better describe it all than magic.  That RCA magic.  I was so fortunate to share a dinner table with SO many fabulous teachers, so much passion, and so much AUTHENTICITY all at one table.  I’m already looking forward to going back and reconnecting with all of these fabulous people!

 

Sadly, all fabulous things must come to an end.  As I packed, I reflected.  I thought about what I would say in this post.  I gathered my thoughts.  And I smiled.

During my short time at RCA, I felt like I was surrounded with my people.   Yes, #reveur {RCA does the house system, and I’m oh-so-officially – t-shirt means officially –  in the Reveur house!}, you’re my people, but while I was at RCA, I felt like I fit.  I felt like I belonged.  And that’s what Mr. Clark and his family at RCA strive to provide for these kids – and by golly {does anyone EVER even say that?!} I left feeling like I belonged.  I belong being surrounded with teachers who love teaching.  And spending two days SUBMERSED in passionate teachers, I belonged.  No, I couldn’t bring them all home with me, but I know that I have a place – and it’s with my people – my passionate teacher people, and I carry them with my in my teacher heart {and I’m thankful to carry them virtually in the palm of my hand iPhone style} wherever I go!

The highlight of my trip came moments before I walked out of RCA after the two day visitation.  As I stood in line waiting to get my book – Move Your Bus – signed, I actually thought about getting out of line without an autograph from Mr. Clark because my ride and group of teacher friends were waiting for me. {I’m not a fan of being the ONE person that people are waiting on}  But oh my word am I EVER thankful that I waited in that line.    Mr. Clark grabbed my book from my hands, looked right at me {eye contact is a rule, y’all – duh} and said, “Ashley, I’ve noticed what spunk, passion, and energy you have – thank you for that.”   My eyes filled with tears instantly, I told him how thankful I was for this experience and how moved I had been during my visit.   I asked for a picture – he requested a hug first.

To have my energy and passion recognized by the most passionate, energetic, and enthusiastic educator I’ve ever known was the best compliment that this spunky, energetic teacher could have ever gotten.  I bottled up that moment, maybe even a few of those tears, and I took them back home with me to fuel me through each and every lesson that I teach in my classroom of sweet 2nd graders <3

Now that I’m back home, I KNOW that my teaching is better than it has ever been.  I have cried, laughed, shouted, sung, and stood on tables to tell and retell the stories of the RCA magic that I was lucky enough to experience a few short weeks ago.
Until I can visit again – I’m taking the advice of one of Mr. Clark’s runners on his staff, and Hope King’s awesome hubby, Wade King.  He told us that RCA reminds their student alumni to take RCA with them wherever they go.
And that’s exactly what I plan to do .:)

 

Thank you so much for reading about my continued journey that took me to RCA and allowed me to see and feel the RCA magic.  My bloggy friends have linked up their posts below. 🙂


Comments

  1. 1

    Anna Hulsey says

    I read some of the other ladies' posts– but yours was my favorite! It sounds like it was a very motivational, amazing experience! If only all educators could learn to channel their inner Ron Clark– how different our educational system would be! Thank you for sharing your takeaways! 🙂

  3. 3

    hannah friend says

    Thank you so much for this post!!!! I love the passionate teachers of the world!! Defiantly going to do some teaching to my small classroom in Ohio after reading all these points!!

  4. 4

    Janice DeMarti says

    The end of your post and pics were all but a blur… tears filling my eyes. This was truly a #icanteven post; so heartfelt, palpable, and inspiring. Just humbled that you took the time to share this with the world. I'm inspired to inspire! Thank you, Ashley! Just beautiful!

    xoxo,
    Janice
    Island Lover Teacher

  5. 5

    Unknown says

    I absolutely loved your post and pics!! I have read Kim Bearden book and listen to her on periscope every Wednesday!! I have been dying to go there…my question for you is this…my school does not have extra pd funding to send me to RCA, do you know of grants ect to apply for to help be able to attend this life changing pd?
    My email is:
    kevinandtiffany@hotmail.com

    Thanks so much
    Tiffany Williams
    Second Grade
    Mena Arkansas

  11. 11

    Marcy Howe says

    I'm going to admit that I had never heard of RCA until this post. I am inspired just sitting here reading your blog! I've got to know more. Thank you for sharing this much needed inspiration with an exhausted teacher on this Friday morning in November. I needed that.

  12. 12

    Tara Smith says

    Anyone using the house system at their school? I need to talk to you!

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