Values in Action! Students in the Values in Action Character Education Program memorize the following affirmations: RESPECT – I recognize the importance of being a person who initiates respect toward others. I will show consideration for the ideas, feelings, and unique needs of others. INTEGRITY – I don’t have to cheat to win. I am… Read more »
My youngest son is severely handicapped by Autism. His speech is limited. He cannot relate well to other people. Learning is difficult for him. The smallest problems can seem like the end of the world to him emotionally. Tiny changes frustrate and upset him greatly. His life is limited in many ways. Still, when he… Read more »
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us!” – Helen Keller
Establish a variety of Responsibility Clubs in your classroom by identifying students who can contribute help to others. When a child asks for assistance the teacher reminds the children that they can get help from 3 other students before they ask the teacher for help. The rule is Three Before Me! The teacher holds up… Read more »
In Cindi Baker’s social studies class at Davis Drive Middle School, students research the lives of famous North Carolinians and study their accomplishments. But just as important, Baker says, her students in the Cary school learn about the strength of character behind those achievements: the perseverance that propelled Michael Jordan to the top of the… Read more »
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. – Abraham Lincoln
At circle time, each child is to greet one of his friends on the carpet. They are to say, “Good morning, Sally. How are you today?” Then Sally says, “Good morning, Jack. I’m fine today, how are you today?” Then they bump hips or elbows together as their form of greeting for the morning. Go… Read more »
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. – Colin Powell
From the ashes of Sept. 11 arise the manly virtues. A few weeks ago I wrote a column called “God Is Back,” about how, within a day of the events of Sept. 11, my city was awash in religious imagery–prayer cards, statues of saints. It all culminated, in a way, in the discovery of the… Read more »
To help my students understand problem solving and consequences I often ask them what they will need to help the other child feel better. They make choices from things like tissues, band-aids, baby wipes and scotch tape. (Desiree shared this option for problem solving in a recent seminar by Gene Bedley titled “Discipline and the… Read more »
