Incorporating Character Ed Into Daily Lessons--Character Education, Part 3

Hello again, fellow educators and parents!

There is a long-standing Latin principle, docendo discimus, which means "by teaching, we learn."  This semester, I have been fortunate to again experience the truthfulness of this statement by way of my student teacher.  Let me begin by saying that I am truly blessed to be able to work with and support such a passionate, funny, talented young woman who comes to work every day excited to learn and teach.  In having to articulate my practices and rationales to her, I'm learning so much more about myself as an educator.


As I described in my last post, my students recently presented me with the opportunity to stretch my understanding and use of norms and expectations in my classroom.  This inevitably led me to revisit the idea of addressing character regularly with my students.  How do I proactively allow my students the opportunity to consider their reactions to situations that test their character, instead of just reacting to misbehavior?

In the midst of examining these questions, I began transitioning the class to my student teacher.  This allowed me to take the role of both participant and observer as I reflected on ways to use character education to reinforce the norms we had established together as a class, as well as a behavior management tool to decrease distractions in the classroom.  As I researched and reflected, I first discovered the importance and necessity of regularly reinforcing those classroom norms as part of the learning process as opposed to using them a response to bad behavior.   I won't belabor the point by going into my process.  Instead, I'll just list some of the tools I found interesting for the middle and high school levels.

• Journaling:  Given hypothetical situations to address, ask students how they would handle these situations IF they were acting according to the norms and values we set at the beginning of the year.  
• Discussion:  I like to pair journaling with discussion for the sake of allowing students time to think before they speak, but you can also use the Socratic method to help students think through the decisions they would make in response to the hypothetical situation.
• Short Articles/Stories:  As an English teacher, I also like the idea of pairing my students' thinking about character with improving literacy skills.  However, I believe that this strategy does not have to be used on in English classes; any content area can find articles related to the subject they are teaching and use a variety of methods to critically think about and discuss that topic.
• For example, one of my favorite methods is Reading for Meaning strategy that asks students to find evidence that both refutes and supports specific statements.  So, perhaps for a science course, I would pull an article about cloning or using stem cells for medical purposes.  I would then hand them a supplementary worksheet with a grid that looks as follows:

For	Statement	Against
	The use of stem cells in medicine is unethical.

Not labor-intensive on the teacher's part, but requires the student to use critical-thinking skills to look at both sides of the argument.  From a character education standpoint, this is a gold mine as the students work to define unethical and discover where their viewpoints on the subject derive (family, religion, media, etc.)

•  Videos:  Whether it is a short news clip, a documentary, a TED talk or some other video, these are great ways to start students thinking about character.  Based upon the videos, students can do a variety of activities to process it, from creating posters to hang around the room or school with information about the subject addressed in the video to creating their own videos about a similar subject.
• Character Quote Exit Slips:  You can end each class with short surveys or responses that both link the skill students were practicing that day and your agreed-upon character norms.  If a survey, you could use the data from it to begin the following class, providing a natural segue between the two separate periods.  

One aspect of all this that I want to stress is that we must allow students the opportunity to discuss these ideas from their own perspectives and explore from where these practices/beliefs are derived.  If we make just one way the standard way, we stand in danger of "otherizing" the minority viewpoints in our classes and creating an unsafe space.

To give you an example from my own experience, I often have to explain my use of the words "ma'am" and "sir" to people I meet.  Where I'm from in Tennessee, one said "ma'am" and "sir" to show respect; however, some people question whether I'm trying to call them old, and am being disrespectful.  So if I were having a conversation with my students about ways that we show respect to people we meet, I might start this discussion by saying: "There are many ways that people may use to show someone that they respect them as a person.  In my family, we do so by responding to people using the words 'ma'am' or 'sir.'  Are there any specific ways that your family or friends may use to show respect for others?"   By changing our phrasing a bit, we can invite open discussion and cultural understanding, fueling connection with others, instead of silencing the voice of a few leading them to disconnect from the remainder of their classmates.  

This brings me to the concept of culturally-responsive teaching--but I think that's a conversation best saved for another post.  Talk to you again soon, my partners in education!

Resources:
GoodCharacter.com by Live Wire Media--an excellent resource specifically created for educators. http://goodcharacter.com

Character.org--a variety of lesson plans for educators to use in the classroom. http://character.org/lessons/lesson-plans/

Talking With Trees--stories and worksheets that teach characters. MAINLY ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL.  http://talkingtreebooks.com/character-education-worksheets.html

There are many more websites, but these are my go-tos.