The use of technology has been a growing force in education. Once, classrooms were relatively isolated, nestled into a school in a suburb, small town or city. Now, regardless of physical location, today’s students have access to the larger world through the Internet. However, the focus of education itself has not necessarily changed.

Educating has always been about preparing students to be successful citizens, in whatever way possible. Strong reading, writing and math skills continue to be important, as does character. Being able to get along with others, having self-control and patience, being honest and trustworthy: these have always been traits teachers have hoped to instill in their students, and that remains true today.

Strong character is essential in the use of technology used for classroom learning. The Internet itself is a wide source of knowledge, as well as being the gateway to further content. As students attending traditional and online schools alike begin to use the Internet more and more for research, they need to learn how to utilize this tool in an ethical manner. Thus, teachers should inform students how to find credible websites when working on research projects as well as how to properly cite their sources in order to avoid plagiarism. Teaching students how to use the Internet responsibly early on will not only help students academically but also teach them to respect the work of others.

Good character is also imperative when using the Internet in a more social way. As students interact on the web, they are becoming digital citizens. Just as they must learn to adapt to their role as members of their school community, they must learn that, when they participate online, they are creating an identity representing themselves, and possibly their school.

The use of social networking has the potential to create problems, as students use sites like Facebook to connect and communicate. As a result, issues such as gossip and bullying are no longer left behind when the school day ends, since student communication continues online. Bullying, in particular, has reached new levels with the advent of cyberbullying. Luckily, there are several things students, parents and teachers can do to prevent this. A website created to help promote positive interaction on the Internet gives some excellent tips.

While there are potential problems in the use of technology, it is an excellent instructional tool for developing good character. Social interactions within the school, in the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground have always provided excellent teaching opportunities. The Internet simply provides another venue. Teachers can teach proper behavior and take opportunities to get involved and correct when needed. Finally, teachers can model good behavior by considering what they say online, and being cognizant that nothing is private on the Internet.

With the increase in the use of technology, a focus on the basics of good character must be maintained. Being able to interact well with others has always been crucial, but perhaps even more so now, as students are conversing with people across the world, and of many different backgrounds and races. As the world gets smaller, being able to participate in that world in a positive way is more than important than ever.

This post was written by guest contributor Lindsey Wright, a freelance writer who is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.

To learn more about educating students for digital citizenship, don’t miss the keynote panel at the upcoming National Forum on Character Education and the remarks of digital citizenship expert, Dr. Jason Ohler.

Most of us probably know that school gardens are a great teaching tool that can be used to enrich curriculum and improve physical health, but we believe in gardens as a way to grow character.  We see this everyday in our garden.

We see children sharing, working hard, and being kind. We watch kids grow responsibility as well as vegetables. We see kids engaged, excited, motivated, and proud of their school.  We watch as kids make connections between their school, their community, and the planet.

New research published by the Royal Horticulture Society (and who knows gardening better!) shows that as well as helping children lead happier, healthier lives, gardening “helps them acquire the essential skills they need to fulfill their potential in a rapidly-changing world and make a positive contribution to society as a whole.”

In fact, evidence suggests that gardening can play such a vital role that we believe every child should be given the chance to experience the benefits. So we will be sharing what we’ve learned along the way- how to start and maintain a school garden, how gardens create opportunities to embed character education principles, and what kids, teachers, and families have to say about gardening at the 18th National Forum on Character Education.

Our presentation “Where Gardens Grow Character”  on Friday, Oct. 21 at 2:15 will include opportunities to share your school garden stories and you’ll walk away with: a list of gardening resources we’ve found helpful; a bibliography of garden research; and a hand made memento from our beloved garden.

Please join us!  Because gardening in schools is a necessity.

Posted by Susi Jones, Tricia Elisara, Nancy Younce, Julian Elementary School, a 2010 National School of Character

As most teachers do, I always look at what I am doing and analyze the success of my work.  I want to make sure I am doing the best I can and if I am not, I want to figure out what can I do to improve my product.  The work ethic, drive, passion, effort, and academic achievement of my students are the means to my analysis.  The revision policy, as well as our goal system, has allowed many of my students to achieve success more aligned with their actual ability (and beyond in some cases).  This has been a true joy to personally witness.

 An area I have struggled with since my first year teaching, is motivating the kids that seem to not care.  Every year I have a group of kids who refuse to work for me, accept failure, and seem rather apathetic towards turning this vicious cycle around.  And every year I bust my tail trying to motivate these kids.  I contact their parents, I offer help, I give second and third chances, but by the second semester I am ready to give up.  Have you been here before?  Can you relate?  We don’t want to give up, but we feel as if we have given so much and received little effort in return.  It is frustrating.  We begin to worry about the other 110 kids in the classroom who ARE willing to work.  Have we now neglected them?

 I have tried everything!  Have you ever said that?  Did you ever think that?  For a moment, reflect and consider this thought:  This is the same feeling the parents of these kids probably feel, though my guess is much more desperately.  Maybe these kids feel the same way.  My guess is the kids feel as if they can’t do the work, regardless of their effort.  Failure is much easier to deal with when it is self-inflicted.  When you choose to fail, you have some control.  I can’t imagine the level of frustration the kids feel from trying their best and not seeing much success.  Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ~ Thomas Edison

 What can we do about this?  How can we stop the cycle?  I think I have stumbled upon a solution, though it does take some work and a lot of perseverance and patience.

 Up until this year, I have always made revisions an option.  I wanted the kids to make the personal choice to better their work.  I wanted this choice to have intrinsic value to the kids.  I have discovered that the kids who tend to be my higher level thinkers usually revise most of their work with little prompting from me.  The kids, who would most benefit from the revision policy, typically avoid revising their work.  I decided that I needed to intervene.

 What did I do?  I used an idea I heard from Matt Davidson this past October and applied it to my classes.  The idea I secured is called “F or D and You See Me”.  The premise of this idea is that I will no longer accept F’s and D’s from any of my students.  The kids no longer have the choice to revise assignments of this quality.

 F or D and You See Me:

  If you earn a D or an F on any assignment, you have five days to revise it at your pace.

 After the 5th day, you will be invited to join me for lunch to revise said assignment(s).

 You will be asked for the revision the following day; if you still don’t have it revised you will join me for lunch again.

 We continue this process until the assignment has been revised to a C or better quality.  The student still receives the grade change in the grade book (at this point).

 If the assignment was an incomplete, I will simply check it off in my grade book once it is revised to a C or better quality, though the grade will remain a zero.  The understanding of the material is the goal – not the actual grade.

 Once we come to the end of the chapter, revisions can no longer be submitted for grade changes.  Students that still have D or F papers must still revise their work though.  The only change is that I will enter a check in my grade book once the revision is to a C or better quality.

 This new process is a true testament of perseverance and endurance.  Many of my kids didn’t really think I would go through with this process.  I did.  I do.  I will.  I have made laminated passes for the kids to help reduce my time involvement in this process.  I hand out the passes before lunch each day.  If the said students have the revisions prior to lunch, they can turn them in to me and return the pass.  Is this a lot of work?  You bet it is!  Has it made a difference?  Absolutely!  The vast majority of my students figured out that I won’t quit.  My hope is that my students will learn how to “not quit”.  Most of my kids now revise the D and F papers prior to the 5th day.  I do still have a few that fight me on this, though my team and I are trying to come up with new strategies with them.  It is an ongoing effort!

**  Mark will be speaking at the 18th National Forum on Character Education to be held October 19-22 in San Francisco.  Register now at www.character.org and make sure you get to hear him!

by Lara Maupin, Director SSOC/NSOC

Kristen Pelster, Principal at Ridgewood Middle School in Missouri

Joe Mazzola and I attended the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools annual conference this week. We were quite pleased to see the Department’s emphasis on how school climate can enhance the conditions for learning reflected in the selection of keynote speakers and workshops. Researchers and practitioners shared how improving school climate can improve academic achievement and reduce bullying.

We were especially thrilled that the Department asked dynamic principal Kristen Pelster of Ridgewood Middle School in Missouri to be the kickoff keynote speaker. Kristen told her school’s powerful story of transformation from the worst school in the district to National School of Character. How did they do it? Character education! By holding kids to high expectations and giving them the support they needed to meet those expectations, Ridgewood culture began to change. Over time, Kristen was able to empower her teachers and students. Without changing anything about how they taught academics, Ridgewood students improved academically. Of course, this is a story we know well at CEP. We see it repeated time and time again in our National Schools of Character. But it was gratifying to see over 1500 conference participants from around the country “get it” too.

Throughout the conference, we heard the message repeated:  Our kids deserve to be safe in school. Once they are safe, they can learn. We can do better. We know that our nation’s teachers are working hard for kids. They simply need our support – and they need tools which will enable them to build positive classroom cultures. Character education provides these tools, without adding “one more thing” or taking time away from academics. As researchers at the conference confirmed, we now know that when we focus on the social, emotional, and character development of students, we gain “time on task,” which results in academic improvement.

As Kristen said when she was asked how could she spend time on character, “How could I not?”

According to Interim Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr., Atlanta Public Schools will work toward achieving “a culture of integrity” as well as a “more open and transparent culture” among its schools, administrators, and teachers.  Too little, too late?  Certainly not. It’s a monumental step in the right direction, and CEP would like to offer information and resources to help the Atlanta Public Schools however possible.  Character educators know that even after a scandal of epic proportions such as this, it’s never too late to embrace our proper role as models and show our students that we, too, make mistakes sometimes (big ones, even).  And that we, as adults, can step up to the plate, do the right thing, hold our head up high, and keep on going.  Let’s show our students the right way to do things, and the right reason for doing them. Let’s bring integrity and ethics back into ALL our schools, let’s acknowledge where these qualities are lacking, and let’s take steps to show our nation’s impressionable youth how to act with integrity, character, and pride in our work. 

These students who watched our nation’s educators make colossal mistakes are our leaders of tomorrow.  They’ve witnessed the actions, they’ve seen the carnage that resulted, and now they’re watching what we’re all doing in the aftermath.  Let’s stop pointing fingers, casting blame, and castigating Atlanta Public Schools.  Let’s applaud them for taking the right steps in their commitment to creating a culture of integrity in their schools, and let’s help them succeed.

Students come to us in all shapes and sizes. They come in all abilities as well. It is an ongoing task charged to educators to find ways to challenge students at all levels of ability. Teachers at Orrs Elementary School work together to provide meaningful learning experiences at all level of mastery.

Lessons based on choice menus by interest or learning style is one way to challenge students. Another way to challenge students is to provide differentiated lessons to meet the needs of all learners. Teacher-led small groups in reading or math can provide challenging opportunities with teacher direction.

Character education focusing on self-discipline and self-motivation can lead to students working alone or collaboratively on ways in which to challenge themselves and thus taking ownership of their own learning.

Finding ways to challenge all students remains a top priority at Orrs Elementary. A series of character lessons have been applied this year across grade levels. Teachers collaborated on differentiated lessons with a character theme that includes skills across content areas.

Students have been empowered by choice during these lessons to incorporate expressions of understanding of both the content/skill base and the concepts of good character targeted by the lessons. Displays of student work emphasizing these positive character traits have lined the hall at Orrs throughout the school year.

Students are able to recognize many of the values learned in the work of their grade level peers and in students younger or older than they are. This series of lessons has given students a voice both individually and collaboratively about character issues.

High-stakes testing is a reality in schools these days. Testing success, however, is not the only goal at Orrs Elementary School. Teachers have consistently executed lessons that seek mastery over mere performance. Real world applications are stressed across grade levels.

Teachers work as teams to create lessons that will challenge students at all ages and levels and provide an understanding of the practical application of skills at the earliest age. Questions that are constantly asked of students include “how can I use this in real life?” And “what are the practical applications of this skill?”

Having such questions present at all phases of planning and implementation insures that students focus on the heart of the matter of education. For students and faculty at Orrs, that heart of the matter is the mastery of standards so that students are prepared for grades to come and eventually life.

The students at Julian Elementary School, a have been focusing on showcasing their Service Learning Projects each year on Global Youth Service Day.  This has made the projects more meaningful to them, with guidance and instruction for high quality service learning.

Established in 1988, Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world, and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth.  GYSD is celebrated each year in over 100 countries.

Focusing on Service Learning, my 2nd and 3rd grade combination class has formed a partnership with a 4th and 5th grade combination class to learn about age-appropriate leadership skills.  Working with a student teacher, we came up with an idea to form a partnership with our local Historical Society and Museum.

Essential in this partnership is the collaboration between the students and the community, and sharing common goals relative to community needs.  Furthermore, observing the students sharing ideas and showing mutual respect to their peers, amidst diversity of the group, has been rewarding.

The students have begun with the “investigation” aspect of their plan.  This has led to the discovery of a community problem that needs to be addressed and involves research and mapping activities.  The goal is to embark on a Global Youth Service Day Project that will be completed by Earth Day on April 22, 2011. 

Through this project, the students will learn about the history of our town, empower other children in our school to understand the historical significance of our community, and to create a pamphlet for the children and families of the school, the community members, and visitors of Julian.  Included in the plan is to refurbish and decorate the Historical Society bulletin board on the side of the town hall.

The “planning and preparation” of the project involves the teachers, students, and community members to outline the learning and service activities to make the project successful.  Youth voice is a very important component in this process to insure ownership for the students.

The “action” is the heart of the project and helps to engage students in a meaningful way.  As they began implementation of the project, they will, hopefully, gain experiences to help them develop skills, attitudes and knowledge that will ultimately benefit the entire community. 

Part of this action involves weekly class meetings, researching books and internet on the history of Julian, creating an informational pamphlet for distribution to town visitors, inviting guest speakers to the school, and providing guided walking field trips into town to the Julian Museum, the Julian Cemetery, the Town Hall and the Julian Historical Society. 

In addition, the students will be working together to create a time line, photographs and informational display on the Julian Historical Society’s bulletin board for the enjoyment of any local resident or visitor to Julian.  As their progress is monitored, we will discover if our specific goals were met.

When the project is completed, it will be critical for the students to “reflect” on their accomplishments.  It is essential for them to think about what they learned through the process of their project and to relate what it means to them through discussions, illustrations or writings.  Evaluating their experiences should give more meaning to their efforts, a greater connection to their community, and an excellent way for them to demonstrate understanding. 

Finally, the students can “celebrate” their accomplishments by sharing their knowledge through photographs and newspaper articles, and thinking about how this will affect the community in the future.   Assessment of the project through additional discussions and reflections of what worked and what could have been done differently will provide feedback and improve instruction, to further measure their learning and development.

By the fall of 2008, Greenfield Elementary School was well on its way to integrating its core values of respect, responsibility and kindness into our school culture.  This is when we began the serious task of taking a critical look at our school-wide discipline system, through the eyes of the Character Education Partnership’s 11 Principles and our own core values.

What Discipline Looked Like Then
Our school operated with a “ticket” system for severe infractions (from a list of disrespectful and unsafe behaviors) and “card turns” in the classroom (green to yellow to red and beyond).  Students who earned a ticket also earned the consequence of after-school detention.  Students who “got to red” on the color chart missed a recess or lost a similar privilege.  Chronic card turns also resulted, ultimately, in the student receiving a ticket as well.  On the reward side, we offered “Caught Being Good” slips for children who “did the right thing” when they thought no one was looking.  These slips were pulled from a jar in the office once a week for prizes at the school store.

At that time, our school was a well-organized and safe environment where students had consistent, clear and well-defined limits (rules) and consequences.  In the classroom, there was order and predictability.  Our school had an overall feeling of calm – due primarily to this consistency, coupled with the high level of warmth and kindness emanating from our staff.  On the surface, our discipline system worked.  Yet, there were several underlying problems it was unable to address or mitigate.  For example, students with chronic behavior problems never seemed to improve and often times got worse.  Teachers commented that, although efficient and expedient, the use of card turns often created anger, resentment and discouragement in students that seemed to last all day.  Our fifth grade teachers finally decided to do away with card turns for this very reason.  We also began to realize that our “Caught Being Good” slips had little or no effect on disruptive students, nor did they give our more compliant students any framework for understanding their own moral choices and why they were good or bad.

The Change Process
Using the 11 Principles rubric and the recommendations from our NSOC site visitors (we had been named a NSOC Finalist in May 2008), we began the change process.  Our Character Education Committee developed a sub-committee on school wide discipline.  It was co-chaired by second grade teacher and lower team leader, Lynn Cronin and school social worker, Katie Ehmann.  They researched best practice and character-based discipline in school.  We then met as an entire committee with representation from every grade level, special classes, support services and community-based services.  We used the Professional Learning Community model to begin working together to formulate a new, character-based system of discipline.  We started by reading selected research, discussed our current practices in light of this research, and made lists of what we do well and what isn’t working.  We created new school rules based on our core values and began to think deeply about how children learn.  We began to model and practice more and more when our students didn’t display the behaviors we were asking them to demonstrate. These discussions guided us in the formulation of a logical and natural consequence approach to discipline.  We also embraced three compelling strategies we learned from the Responsive Classroom model: loss of privilege, “you break it you fix it” and apology of action.   In March, 2009, we launched our new plan by totally eliminating card turns, tickets and “Caught Being Good” slips.

What Discipline Looks Like Now
In order to provide a visual tool for teachers to refer to when making critical decisions about student discipline and to provide a consistent framework for such decision-making, we created a pyramid of interventions in graphic form.  On the base of the pyramid were all the school wide practices that support character development, teach children the “whys” of good behavior and build the social-emotional culture of the school.  These practices include Morning Meeting, “Solve-It-Spot,” class and grade level (team) meetings, peer mediation and leadership group.  On the next level are mild levels of intervention such as “Refocus” (tool to allow students to refocus and rejoin the group without the disruption of teaching or learning); logical/natural consequences; modeling and practice and discussion.  Moderate interventions include those mentioned above:  loss of privilege, “you break it you fix it” and apology of action.  For serious discipline matters, we now us a Reflection Sheet that has guided, character-based questions that help students understand how their behavior hurt others: including classmates, teacher, parents/family and themselves.  Before they tell us their plan for solving this behavior problem, students meet with 2-3 adults in a “character” conference to go over the reflection sheet and talk about it in depth.  Our goal is to create students who are intrinsically motivated to “do the right thing, even when no one is looking.”  At the very top of the pyramid are those interventions that are part of a comprehensive behavior support plan that is individualized for those students who need this type of support.  We are in the process of studying Ross Greene’s Collaborative Problem Solving model for use with individual students in the future.

A Work in Progress
We just finished creating a discipline folder with forms and suggestions for all staff members to use.  We are still discussing what works well and what needs revision.  We feel that we are on the right track toward creating a school culture where students really learn about the whys of good behavior, grow in conscience, develop morally and socially and understand at a deep level our core values of respect, responsibility and kindness.

Peace-It-Together:  Character Education Strategies for Life
What do playgrounds, lunchrooms, buses, after school programs and neighborhoods all have in common? They are the “hot spots” where many social and behavioral issues take root and then encroach on classroom learning time. Twelve years ago, some members of our school decided to take a proactive approach and formed a study group to address these issues. The  result was a curriculum to give students the skills and strategies to become effective problem solvers in and out of school.

As we developed and implemented lessons, the Peace-It-Together program was born. The program has three components that include lessons on Building Community, Making and Keeping Friends and Making a Difference.

Key to the program is the process of establishing a common language and expectations for students in all settings. This is an ongoing and continuous process involving our entire school community. Our school motto is “At Robinson School We All CARE.” The focus is on each of our core values: Community, Acceptance, Responsibility and Excellence. Students who display these values are recognized by all members of our staff with coupons proclaiming they are “Kids Who Care.” An essential feature of the program is having each student visit the principal/assistant principal to share the reason why the accolade he or she earned the accolade.

Engaging parents and the community at large in support of our goals is essential.  We introduce the program to parents as we welcome them into our school community at Parent Information Nights and Curriculum Nights. Brochures sent home at the beginning of the school year include information about the I Care Rules, Solution Wheel and common language used in our school. Parents are eager to attend the many workshops offered on our character education endeavors.

Finding time for character education in an already full academic program is always a challenge. The solution is to further integrate character education into the curriculum. For example, writing prompts may ask students to write about a time when they were responsible or caring. During literacy, shared reading experiences may include literature from the CARE to Read collection. These books focus on each core value in an age-appropriate manner. The Little Engine That Could could exemplify the core value of Excellence and trying your best.  In social studies, students study famous Americans and discuss the character traits of historical figures such as Rosa Parks, Neil Armstrong and even our school’s namesake, Revolutionary War hero, Col. John Robinson.

Social skills and pragmatic language learning are integrated into the day with the Recess Club program. Teachers and specialists meet regularly with classes during snack time. Topics include strategies for making recess successful such as how to invite a friend to play and what to do if the friend declines the invitation. Teachers role play strategies and then guide students in applying these strategies during recess. Parents are routinely updated through a Recess Club newsletter so that they may follow-up with students at home.

Our School Advisory Council consults at each monthly meeting about current Peace-It-Together initiatives and compassion projects.
The community supports our annual compassion projects, which include collecting hats and mittens for homeless families, making gift bags for senior citizens and conducting a pet food and book drives.

The School Advisory Council surveys parents every two years and the feedback about our social competency program and school climate is quite positive. Parents report that they are successfully employing the program’s common language and strategies at home and that their children are aware and invested in our core values and goals. A recent survey of our second grade students indicated that 98% knew of at least two strategies from the Solution Wheel to try when experiencing a problem situation.

Recently a parent reported that her son told her he was angry with a classmate and wanted to retaliate but thought about it and said, “I can’t do that because I go to an I CARE School”! In our opinion there is no better testimony to the impact of our work on students’ lives in and out of school!

How does your school make sure that character lessons at school continue at home and in the community?