FOR CHARACTER
creating schools and communities of character
                                                                                            November/December, 2008
An electronic newsletter to help make sure character counts!
                                                                                                                                    Gary Smit

CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character are service marks of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, a project of the Josephson Institute of Ethics.  For more information about training opportunities and resources available to assist schools and communities in the integration of a character education initiative, check out their web site at: www.charactercounts.org or call them at 1-800-711-2670.

IN THIS ISSUE…

Information You Can Use
Legacies of Leadership for Civic Education
Smart and Good High Schools
The Lesson Corner
Commentary by Michael Josephson

TAKE A MINUTE FOR CHARACTER

I know all of you have seen the picture of the first Thanksgiving. I was at a school a week ago to conduct an in-service presentation. Prior to the early dismissal for students, I watched a teacher change the bulletin board from Halloween to a November scene. Once again I saw the artist’s rendition of the Pilgrims sitting down to a bountiful feast held that first Thanksgiving Day. The bright autumn colors vividly portrayed a scene that presents to us an idealistic view of what things were like. Here, we see the Pilgrims sharing with their new neighbors a table overflowing with food while giving thanks for the freedom they found in their new homeland.

However, we also know from history that this picture is not very accurate. The hardships faced by the Pilgrims were tremendous. Nearly half of the 100 Pilgrims who completed the transatlantic crossing died that first winter. And yet, even as the survivors struggled to improve their lives in a new country, the inhabitants of Plymouth Colony took time following the harvest to give thanks for their blessings. By modern standards, they were deep in poverty -- but they were rich in gratitude.

How are we in expressing gratitude for what we have? Is gratitude a virtue that you hold as important for one living a life of character? For gratitude to become a virtue, however, it must become a habit--developed, like all habits, through repetition. We cannot  regulate thankfulness to just a single day in November. Acting on that insight, a high school English teacher shared in the report of "Smart and Good High Schools" how she has her students keep a daily Gratitude Journal:

"This semester I began having my classes do something I had been doing in my own life: keeping a Gratitude Journal. The first thing when they came into class each day, I asked them to write in their Gratitude Journals five things they were thankful for in the past 24 hours. It took just a few minutes but made a real difference in their attitude and the class climate."

Do you have a written gratitude list? Do your students consider what they are thankful for besides on the day we celebrate in just a few weeks? This is a marvelous way to recognize how blessed we already are. It could be done for all grades. Putting on paper all that we have to be thankful for is powerful. There it is, in black and white, to read and absorb. By taking time to reflect on what it is that we value is a powerful way to make sure our lives and those we work with are filled with character in action.

Gary Smit
gsmit@forcharacter.com


INFORMATION YOU CAN USE

• WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EDUCATE THE WHOLE CHILD? - Every flourishing society has debated the aims of education. This debate cannot produce final answers, good for all times and all places, because the aims of education are tied to the nature and ideals of a particular society. But the aims promoted by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are clearly far too narrow. Surely, we should demand more from our schools than to educate people to be proficient in reading and mathematics. Too many highly proficient people commit fraud, pursue paths to success marked by greed, and care little about how their actions affect the lives of others. Some people argue that schools are best organized to accomplish academic goals and that we should charge other institutions with the task of pursuing the physical, moral, social, emotional, spiritual, and aesthetic aims that we associate with the whole child. The schools would do a better job, these people maintain, if they were freed to focus on the job for which they were established. Those who make this argument have not considered the history of education. Public schools in the United States -- as well as schools across different societies and historical eras -- were established as much for moral and social reasons as for academic instruction. In this article, Nel Noddings argues that in a democratic society, schools must go beyond teaching fundamental skills. http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.c00a836e7622024fb85516f762108a0c/

• ENGAGEMENT & ACHIEVEMENT RISE WHEN STUDENTS ARE GIVEN A VOICE - In many schools, keeping kids silent is a thing of the past, and from what studies show, the change is happening none too soon. Giving students a voice in classroom decisions -- such as suggesting themes and topics to study -- and in school policies -- such as homework regulations – makes schools less autocratic and more democratic. And democratic schools, reports Susan Black, tend to have fewer discipline problems, more civic involvement, higher student engagement, and higher achievement. Plus, schools that genuinely seek and appreciate students’ ideas are more likely to see their school improvement plans succeed. Even so, the idea of giving students a voice in school matters sometimes meets with skepticism and open resistance.   http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html  If you agree with this article, read on to the report on "Smart and Good High Schools."  You will fnd that at the secondary level, we must work to develop both performance character and moral character in our students.
• THE QUALITY OF TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS - In a fascinating research study that included students as researchers, the Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE), a local education fund, set out to assess the quality of relationships among faculty and students. Their arts-and-all findings are chronicled in an issue of  "Focus," the BPE's newsletter for Boston teachers. The survey project supports the Boston school system's emphasis on "workshop" classrooms and schools where respectful relationships among adults and students create the trust necessary to improve teaching and learning. If you'd like to involve students in a similar study in your own school or district, there's information to help you do so. http://snipurl.com/bostonsurvey

LEGACIES OF LEADERSHIP AND INSPIRATION FOR TODAY'S CIVIC EDUCATION

A report provides educators and policymakers with a framework for utilizing the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar E. Chavez to inspire lifelong learning and civic action among today's youth. The paper presents lessons from the work of King and Chavez that illustrate the ways in which awareness and advocacy can be strengthened to support the civic mission of schools. It also provides specific examples of ways in which schools and communities are using the King and Chavez legacies, and offers recommendations to policymakers to build upon the King and Chavez legacies of leadership to create additional opportunities for effective civic education in American schools. http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/64/53/6453.pdf

SMART AND GOOD HIGH SCHOOLS

During October, I had the opportunity to participate in a regional workshop where Tom Lickona shared the results from the recently completed report on “Smart and Good High Schools.” If you are involved with a high school, you should access this report. It is free. In fact, every high school principal in the United States, public and parochial, received the report.  But if you don't have it, all you need to do is go to the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs web site and you can download the report for free.  The address is: http://www.cortland.edu/character/highschools/

Kristen Danielson Fink, the Executive Director of the Community of Caring said it best:  

“This ground-breaking study will change forever how we think about the high school experience, how high schools function, and what it means to be a great high school that truly meets the needs of all of its students. It provides example after example of the best practices that the best high schools are using to foster both the academic and character development of their students. A brilliant report—a seminal study—a major new contribution to the field.”

THE LESSON CORNER
A couple of ideas for secondary school classrooms.

OPPORTUNITY IN CRISIS (Grades 9-12)
Pillar: Citizenship
Overview: Somewhere in the world a community is facing a crisis -- an earthquake, flood, tornado, the "Jerry Springer Show." The next community, the next crisis, could be yours. Learning to prepare yourself and others is a noble -- and prudent -- thing to do. It is an act of good citizenship. With the threat, if not fact, of crisis and breakdown comes opportunity, an opportunity to research and reflect on the essential needs of self, family and community. This exercise encourages young people to explore how their complex society is put together, how people are interdependent, and how it shows good character to be prepared and to share information and resources with others.

This lesson plan is from CHARACTER COUNTS! For the complete plan, go to: www.charactercounts.org/chronicle/OpportunityInCrisis.htm
For sample activity ideas from the CC! Good Ideas book, go to: www.charactercounts.org/ideas/ideatoc.htm

CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES (Grades 6-12)
Objective:  Students will analyze decisions made by characters in literature and reflect on choices they have made in their own lives, as well as the repercussions of those choices.

Steps to Follow: 

• As part of your classroom study of a piece of literature, lead students in a discussion of various choices that the characters in the story or novel make. Point out other possible results or repercussions that would have been likely to occur if the characters had made different choices or decisions.
• Ask students to draw their own hypotheses about how the story could change if different choices/decisions had been made by the characters (use “what if” questions).
• Following this discussion, ask students to write about recent choices/decisions they made in their lives and how significant these choices were or might have been.  Students can also draw some hypothetical conclusions about what might have happened if they had made different choices

This activity is from Duane Hodgin. He has written two excellent books, Best of Character and Best of Character II.  These would be great additions to your personal or school resource library.  You can find the books at the National Center for Youth Issues web site.

COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL JOSEPHSON

Pass It to the Right, Coach
 
I like sports, but it's hard not to smile in amusement when people love it so much it becomes a central theme in their lives. So it is with an intensely loyal Notre Dame fan named Michael Mazurkiewicz who named his first son Rockne after legendary coach Knute Rockne, and his second son Montana after quarterback Joe Montana.

A couple of weeks ago, word got to Notre Dame's football coach Charlie Weis that 10-year-old Montana Mazurkiewicz was dying of an inoperable brain tumor. Without publicity, this compassionate father of two (including a 10-year-old who suffers from a disorder similar to autism) went to visit the boy. Ironically, Weis roomed with Joe Montana in college, so he told the thrilled young boy stories and gave him a football. Before leaving, Weis asked Montana if he wanted to call the first play in the next game. Montana lit up at this unbelievable honor and said, "Yeah, coach. Throw it to the right."

Weis dedicated the game to Montana and told his team about the promise. "I just wanted our players to realize they represent a lot of people."

In a twist of fate, the first time Notre Dame got the ball they were on their own one yard line -- not a normal passing situation. But Charlie Weis teaches more than football. He also teaches love, honor and the importance of keeping one's word. So when his quarterback asked, "What should we do?" this preeminent teacher-coach said, "We have no choice. Pass right." And they did -- a completed pass for a first down.

The Mazurkiewicz family, huddled around the television, broke into tears when they saw this tribute to the little boy who had died the day before the game.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.