Challenge All Students to Seek Mastery over Performance

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Rebecca Sipos

By Peggy Lobello, 4th Grade Teacher
Orrs Elementary, Griffin, GA

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. Continue reading →

History of Julian – Youth Service Project

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Rebecca Sipos

Nancy Younce submitted this story of one of Julian Elementary School’s service projects.

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. Continue reading →

The Greenfield Way: Transforming our School Culture with Character-Based Discipline

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Rebecca Sipos

By Claudia St. Amour, counselor

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.

Continue reading →

Character Education Strategies for Life

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Rebecca Sipos

The following was written by Denise Arvidson, principal, Col. John Robinson School, Westford, Massachusetts. What are your character education strategies for life?

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. Continue reading →