The following post was submitted from Beverly Woods Elementary School, a 2009 National School of Character.
How do we prepare our students for a future in which the jobs they will be doing do not yet exist and the technologies that they will be working with have not yet been invented? The answer to this question is varied and controversial. However, one thing we know for sure is we have to teach our students to lead, act responsibly and respect each other. Continue reading
Last week my brother and sister completed RAGBRAI—the bicycle ride across Iowa. From the starting point in Sioux City to the end point in Dubuque, they rode 480 miles over the course of the week. They both came home tired but euphoric. They’d had a wonderful time.
My sister couldn’t stop talking about how friendly everyone was. “Iowa has to be the most hospitable state ever,” she said. At every stop, people from all walks of life offered their homes to the bicyclists (and there were a lot of them. One count on the first day reported 20,000). The bikers camped out in their yards, slept in their basements, and shared their family rooms.
My sister also noticed a decorating trend in Iowa. “Everyone decorated their houses with words and sayings,” she said, “sometimes just plates on the wall that read ‘Love,’ ‘Family,’ ‘Friendship;’ sometimes framed poems or quotes.” Two she particularly remembered:
“We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”
“Do take care of the little things or they may become big things.”
I couldn’t help but think there was a connection. Decorating their homes with the core values they believed in surely helped reinforce their hospitable behavior. CEP’s framework, the Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, begins with a focus on core ethical and performance values. When schools decide what they value most and work to achieve those values, good things happen.
If you want to learn more about CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, there will be lots of opportunities at our national conference, the 17th National Forum on Character Education in October. Come experience the many success stories that have sprung from embracing character education.
From our all-day Foundational Training on Oct. 27, to an in-depth workshop “Aiming for Virtue” to myriad breakout sessions, you’ll find lots of ways to learn more and to develop your own success story.
Posted by Brian McKenney, Principal, Long School
In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, S.R. Covey suggests that when planning a program one should start with the end in mind. At Long School, before planning new initiatives, the character leadership team analyzes data from the CHARACTERplus® School Report, completed each spring, to get a basic picture of the current state of our school.
The CHARACTERplus® School Report is a survey of staff, students, and parents designed to assess individuals’ opinions, feelings, and beliefs about the school. That data provides useful information, from which the character education team identifies specific areas of need (e.g. Students’ Feelings of Belonging, School Expectations, etc.) that correlate with principles from Character Education Partnership’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. At Long School, assessment plays the role of bridge between what has been and what should be. It is the end and the beginning of an endless cycle of school improvement.
The likelihood that character initiatives will survive and thrive over the years, regardless of changes in student population, personnel, and community is also carefully considered when planning new initiatives. Continue reading
Submitted by Donna Dunar, principal, Alta Leary Elementary School
What’s that old adage, “Necessity is the mother of invention”? In 2009, we earned National Schools of Character (NSOC) winner status; in 2008, we earned standing as “finalist.” As a finalist in the NSOC process, our site visitors rightly recommended that we work on the integration of character education so as to make it more systematic. We took this feedback to heart as we grappled with what this actually meant. Continue reading
