Ideas for Teaching Character

A good book for teaching character traits can be found on our books page.

BUILDING EXCITEMENT AT YOUR SCHOOL An excerpt from: The Character Education Handbook: Establishing a Character Program in Your School By: Anne C. Dotson & Karen D. Wisont Any character program will be more successful if it is fun and exciting. Beginning the year with a bang is a great way to announce the program to new students and to remind continuing students that good character is important at their school. By changing the media you use throughout the year, you can saturate the environment with your message without seeming redundant. Students and staff can become bored if the same approach is used over and over, so you need new ways to call attention to good character.

Start with a Kick-Off Begin the character program each year with an exciting kick-off. Make it a day of fan and surprises. You want students to feel like this is going to be something interesting. Some ideas: Hire an entertaining guest speaker or musician for an assembly. Use the public address system to reinforce the program. Skits written by and starring students are great. Award prizes randomly throughout the day. Have someone dressed as the school mascot roaming the halls. Decorate the mascot with buttons of the character traits you will be teaching. Sponsor character-related contests. Send a letter to parents detailing how character traits will be taught.

Vary Your Media
When coming up with ways to build excitement around the character program, leave no stone unturned. Just as a steady stream of water can wear down the largest rock, so too steady efforts to incorporate character into your curriculum will slowly change the learning environment at your school. As much as possible, vary the media you use to present the character message so kids are saturated with it. A dynamic program is key in maintaining the enthusiasm and interest of staff and students.

• Be seen everywhere. Visual reminders help students absorb the message of good character. Keep the visual stimuli shifting so you continue to catch students’ attention.
  
• Use print for parents. Printed materials are helpful in reaching parents. If your school has a weekly parent bulletin, use it to provide ideas for reinforcing character traits at home. When you have program successes, be sure parents hear about them.
  
• Use audiovisual to your advantage. Today’s kids are accustomed to multimedia, so use your AV resources often.
  
• Keep the special events coming. Special events throughout the year keep people interested in the program. Initiatives and events help remind everyone that your school is committed to character.

Include teachers and staff
As you think about how to build excitement in the school, don’t forget about creating excitement for teachers and staff as well. For the character program to be a success, you need their help. As much as possible, make it easy for them. Teachers need resources for ideas on how to incorporate character into their subjects. Similarly, keep non-teaching staff members informed about upcoming programs and how they can help. Administrative staff often interact with parents and are likely to work one-on-one with students. Support staff such as security guards, cafeteria workers, and maintenance personnel have many opportunities to reinforce the program.

Be Aware of Burn-Out
Finally, don’t forget to take care of yourself. You’ll be spending a lot of energy trying to get students, parents, and teachers excited about character education. In the process you may find yourself getting very tired, even burned out. When this happens, do something proactive that helps rebuild your enthusiasm.

Don’t be discouraged if things don’t happen fast. Keep at it, and elieve that the message of good character is getting out. Character education is about changing the culture of a school, and that takes time. Developing good character in students results from consistent, creative effort over several years.