Parents/Care givers play a very important role in helping young children develop positive character. As a parent/care giver, you are your child's first teacher and while your child watches you, he/she is also learning from you. Your child learns how you interact with and treat others and learns how you react to different situations. Being a positive role model is the best way to teach positive character. When you treat others kindly, your child learns to treat others kindly. When you handle anger appropriately, your child learns to handle anger appropriately. When you show trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness, and citizenship, your child will learn how to show these traits as well.
Character education is much more than just a curriculum of guidance lessons; it is a process by which school personnel teach and model various character traits. Character education is a way to establish a caring and safe community within a school. Good character consists of understanding, caring about, and acting upon core ethical values. Character education is the foundation of academic, personal, and social success.
Each month students learn about character education. We have a weekly character education topic, such as, including everyone, keeping your desk neat, following the rules, telling the truth, etc. One student from each classroom is chosen by the teacher to be the TRRFCC Panther of the week for demonstrating the character trait of the week. To celebrate, the TRRFCC Panthers are announced during the morning announcements, they receive a certificate and prizes, and they have their picture taken and then it is displayed on the Wall of Character outside the cafeteria. The kids love to see their pictures on the wall! This is a great way to motivate students to show good character!
*TRRFCC PANTHER will begin September 7, 2012.
Students will be learning about the character traits of RESPECT, HONOR, and PEACE during the month of February. Respect is shown by treating others the way you want to be treated. I always encourage students to think about how they would feel if someone did the same behavior to them. Accepting and valuing differences of opinion, culture, and gender is another way to show respect. Respect and peace are shown by using appropriate language even when upset; being courteous and polite to everyone; and resolving disagreements peacefully and without the use of threats or violence. Students can also show respect when they do what is asked of them at school, use good manners, and ask permission to use things that do not belong to them. To honor someone means you show them they are valuable by how you treat them. You show honor when you try to understand how someone else feels. Remember, you don’t have to like someone to show them respect and honor.
Welcome to the New Year! This month we will be learning about RESPONSIBILITY, DETERMINATION, and SELF-CONTROL. Determination means deciding it is worth it to finish what you start. Responsible students show determination by trying their best on all of their work even when the work is hard and getting their work done on time. Responsible students also try to make good choices that won’t hurt anyone or get anyone in trouble and they admit when they do make a bad choice and accept the consequences of their choice. A responsible student is someone who follows the school rules, works hard in class, stands up for what is right, and tells the truth. Following the rules at home, listening to parents, and completing small chores to help parents are other ways students can show responsibility. Self-control means choosing to do what you should do instead of what you want to do. You show responsibility and self-control when you try hard even when the work seems hard or when you would rather be doing something else.
TRUSTWORTHINESS and HONESTY are the character traits that students will be learning about during classroom guidance lessons in March. A person who is trustworthy is honest; does not lie, steal or cheat; keeps promises; is reliable; and is loyal to family and friends. A trustworthy person also has the courage to do the right thing even when no one is looking and even when others are making poor choices. Without trustworthiness, promises don’t mean anything. If you aren’t trustworthy, people won’t believe you when you make promises and they will know they cannot count on you. It is hard to trust people who have been caught lying, cheating, or stealing in the past. Even if you have made a mistake it is better to be honest and admit what you did than to lie to try to get out of trouble. When you do something wrong and you lie about it, you not only get in trouble for what you did wrong but you also get in trouble for lying. Honesty makes others think better of you.
Welcome to the final stretch of the 2012-2013 school year! During April and May we will learn about CITIZENSHIP, FRIENDSHIP, AND PATIENCE. Students can show good citizenship by following school and classroom rules, cooperating and getting along with other students and teachers, showing good manners by being friendly towards others, and helping at school by putting things away neatly in classrooms. Good citizens also show initiative. Initiative means you see what needs to be done and you do it without being told. Citizenship also means taking care of the environment and taking care the school and things that belong to the school.
During the month of October we will learn about FAIRNESS, UNIQUENESS, and INDIVIDUALITY. The definition we will be using for uniqueness is: learning more about others so you can know more about yourself. Individuality means discovering who you are meant to be so you can make a difference. Students can show fairness by treating everyone equally, including everyone, and accepting differences among people. If you stop and think about it, we are all unique or different so no one should ever be made fun of or left out because others think they are different. Fairness is also shown by taking turns, sharing friends and allowing them to play with others without getting angry, and by distributing things equally among others. Another way to show fairness is to handle anger appropriately. It is ok to feel angry, but it is not fair to others to yell, say mean words, or act in a violent way. Showing forgiveness is another way to be fair. Everyone makes mistakes and refusing to forgive someone is not fair. Forgiveness helps the person who made the mistake but it also helps you—you are able to let go of the anger you feel so that you can be happy again!
Welcome back to school! I hope you are ready for an exciting school year! During the month of August, I will be visiting classrooms to talk with students about my role at school and how I can help them. I will also be reading a book called Have You Filled A Bucket Today?, which teaches students how showing kindness to others not only makes the other person feel good, but also makes themselves feel good.
The PAL (Procedures At Lunch) Club is held on Fridays in the cafeteria. All week long students have the opportunity to follow the lunch procedures and show good manners on the way to the lunch room, during lunch, and on the way back to the classroom after lunch. One student from each classroom is chosen to sit at a special table with me during lunch on Friday to be recognized for showing good manners. Students receive prizes and their names are announced.