Transcript www.charterschoolcenter.org

BUILDING CHARACTER:
GETTING KIDS TO HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND BEYOND!
MARCH 4, 2014
•Opened in the 2008-09SY
•6 schools with 230 students/campus
• Neighborhood-based (naming)
•Staff converted from Catholic schools
• In conversion, removed religion but
kept the focus on character
BULIDING CHARACTER
CENTER CITY PCS BACKGROUND
But what did keeping the focus on
character mean? What did we have?
BUILDING CHARACTER
ORIGINAL CHARACTER PROGRAM
Core Values:
*
Respect * Discipline * Collaboration * Compassion * Peacemaking * Integrity *
Knowledge * Curiosity * Perseverance * Justice *
Curriculum and Programs
 Using the models of Responsive
Classroom and Developmental Designs,
we create positive classroom culture
and help students build academic and
social skills
 Students trained in conflict resolution
and peer mediation
 Middle school advisory period focused
on developing study skills, responsible
choices, and leadership
Rituals and Practices
 Daily morning and afternoon meetings
 Monthly school assemblies that celebrate
diversity and are framed by Core Values
 Celebrations of dance, art, and music
 Peacemaking and reflective discipline
practices
 Rites of passages (e.g., graduation
ceremonies)
Student Leadership
 Student Government
 Peer Mediators
 PreK-8th Grade Buddies
 Students-of-the-Day, -Week, and Month
 Enrichment to develop student talents
Service Learning
 School beautification
 Community service projects
 Yearlong Capstone Project focusing on a
locally and globally relevant topic
BUILDING CHARACTER
SOJOURNERS FRAMEWORK
What was wrong with SOJOURNERS?
BUILDING CHARACTER
SOJOURNERS’ LIMITATIONS
It is a list of “things” we do but not a
measure for what we were teaching
our students, a strategy for our longterm goal to get them to college, or a
reflection of our long-term goals.
BUILDING CHARACTER
SOJOURNERS’ LIMITATIONS
1. How Children Succeed: Grit,
Curiosity, and the Hidden Power
of Character By Paul Tough
2. The Duckworth Lab at UPENN
https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/duck
worth/pages/educators
3. Character Lab at Harvard
http://characterlab.org/character/
BUILDING CHARACTER
UNDERSTANDING WHAT DEFINES CHARACTER
Character
Education
BUILDING CHARACTER
OUR MATRIX FOR A SUCCESSFUL CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM
From the Character Lab:
Character + Academics = SUCCESS
BUILDING CHARACTER
START WITH ACADEMICS
CURRICULUM, CURRICULUM,
CURRICULUM
BUILDING CHARACTER
START WITH ACADEMICS
-Teacher-created curriculum
-Aligned to CCSS
-Performance-based tasks
-Collaborate with other school
districts
BUILDING CHARACTER
START WITH ACADEMICS
Spelling Bees, Geography Bees, and
Science Fairs build “grit.”
“Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure
While Others Fall Apart?” NYTimes
2/10/13
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-cansome-kids-handle-pressure-while-others-fallapart.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=general&src=me
BUILDING CHARACTER
START WITH ACADEMICS
Parents…
-Are critical to building character in
students.
-Have to be invested in what schools
are doing and reiterate it at home.
-Need to own and understand student
performance so that they can support
– and push – students at home.
-Need to understand the language we
use in schools.
BUILDING CHARACTER
ENGAGE PARENTS
Academic Parent Teacher Team
(APTT)
-Parents and teacher PARTNERSHIPS
-Set goals together
-Let parents know what’s going on in
the classroom
http://www.ed.gov/oese-news/innovativemodel-parent-teacher-partnerships
BUILDING CHARACTER
ENGAGE PARENTS
You can only build positive school
culture if there is a positive culture
in every school classroom.
Culture of your school =
Culture of EACH classroom
BUILDING CHARACTER
BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE
No Nonsense Nurturer (NNN)
-Highly effective teachers have high
expectations for students
-A focus on teachers’ “nurturing” strong
relationships with students
-Students are on-task, engaged
-Positive narration, precise directions, nurturing
relationships w/ students & families, individual
consequences with class-wide rewards
-Kids “listen” to adults who believe in them
-Micro-moments and constructive responses
BUILDING CHARACTER
BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE
What’s going on in the classroom
needs to be supported by what’s
going on in the building.
And kids, like everyone, need:
Celebrations
Rewards
Honors
BUILDING CHARACTER
BUILD A POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE
Positive Behavior Intervention System
(PBIS)
-School-wide systems to define, teach, and
support appropriate student behaviors
-Model social behaviors and increase social
competence
http://www.pbis.org/school/default.aspx
BUILDING CHARACTER
BUILD A POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE
1)
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Set goals for long-term student success
What high schools are we sending
students on to?
Are the goals rigorous?
Are students successful when they get to
high school?
Are students successful post-high school?
We know we’re doing well when
they’re with us but how are they
doing when they’re not?
BUILDING CHARACTER
WHAT’S NEXT
2)
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Align our rhetoric with our goals
What are our core values?
Do the core values represent us?
What is our mission?
Does our mission accurately reflect our
long-term goals for kids?
Where are our students now? Survey!
How will we measure success y-o-y?
Our brand is character education, now we
need to make sure that is in
everything we communicate.
BUILDING CHARACTER
WHAT’S NEXT
3)
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Codify and disseminate our goals
Where is all of this information housed?
How are new staff members trained on
our program?
What is the framework for teaching this
to and sharing this with our staff?
How do we recruit staff who believe in
and “fit” with this culture of character ed?
Whatever we do should not be held by a
person or persons but rather, should
be replicable by any new teacher or
leader.
BUILDING CHARACTER
WHAT’S NEXT