For this purpose, just have a look on Bees. Bees are wonderful examples of character building. They do things in order and in community with one another. The worker bees do just that. All of your students can be the worker bees. They work together to provide for the hive. They seek food, return to the hive with it and take care of home. The students could have activities that require that they work together to succeed in it. An example would be building something, I can’t think of a real example right now but for instance you want to build a toy car. Students would be divided into groups. Each group would build something different. 20 students, 5 groups etc. One student would bring the wheels, one student would “bee” responsible for the body of the car, another for the interior etc. Working together in community would produce the final result. I like that Idea, mind if I borrow it?

So Character education seems to work best with consistency. If it is used throughout a school, in every classroom, by the guidance counsellor when he/she does weekly lessons, by administration, etc. The language I use as a teacher in my classroom, for instance, makes a difference. When someone is honest, I make sure to give specific feedback and praise like “I really appreciate your honesty” (often in front of the class for others to hear). The children (even my second graders) start to use this language after awhile too. I once visited a school that even named their hallways each a different character trait such as responsibility, honesty, respect, etc. In the end I would say that we need to start character education programs at each and every level.

I am writing down some quotes that may be used in a variety of ways by teachers.

· How I look is not as important as how I act.

· I treat others the way I want them to treat me.

· I am a good sport; I follow the rules, take turns and play fair.

· It is okay to laugh at funny things, but not to laugh at others.

· I feel successful when I do my best.

· Everyone has good and bad feelings.

· I take care of myself by eating healthy food, exercising and getting enough rest.

· I am being punctual when I am on time and do not keep people waiting.

· When I cooperate with others, I get more done.

Increasing numbers of people across the ideological spectrum believe that our society is in deep moral trouble. The disheartening signs are everywhere: the breakdown of the family; the deterioration of civility in everyday life; rampant greed at a time when one in five children is poor; an omnipresent sexual culture that fills our television and movie screens with sleaze, beckoning the young toward sexual activity at ever earlier ages; the enormous betrayal of children through sexual abuse; and the 1992 report of the National Research Council that says the United States is now the most violent of all industrialized nations.

As we become more aware of this societal crisis, the feeling grows that schools cannot be ethical bystanders. As a result, character education is making a comeback in American schools.

“There is no cure for immoral behavior unless we educate kids about responsible behavior,” said Crouse, whose nonprofit organization teaches classes out of Gregorys Driving School on Marcella Street.

His classes reinforce the concepts of ownership, respect and self-control. They also show how theft and stealing form the basis of hatred and violence toward fellow human beings.

“We have educated our children to be warlike,” Crouse said. “But we need to teach them character education, just like we teach them how to read, write and do math.”

It is never too late to start teaching character. No matter what the circumstances, or who is involved, everyone can benefit from character education. Both Children and adults will see positive changes in their lives when this character education program is followed. With it, we have a functioning society of self-controlled, respectful individuals, who think before they act and consider the consequences of their actions before deciding what direction those actions will take.  They then make the right positive choices.

Sources:

Character Education Programs

In a more immediate sense, consider how some of these character qualities might affect our lives. Take the character quality of attentiveness for example. A man and his wife are conversing quickly as they prepare for their day’s activities. She say, “Be sure to pick up Amy at school this afternoon on you way home from work. I will be tied up and won’t be able to pick her up.” He says, “Sure.” But, his mind is already on the important meeting coming up this morning and although he acts like he heard, the truth is it didn’t really register. He was not being attentive, and the result will be that he will totally forget about what he agreed to do. His daughter will be left at school until he gets home and realizes his goof. His daughter will be frightened. His wife will probably be upset. And, his own self esteem will suffer.

Shouldn’t something with the word education in it be taught at school? Although character education is taught in schools it is not always the education that you want your child to receive. Plus if virtues are not reinforced and modeled at home the child will not exhibit good character, or positive virtues, even if they are taught at school.

Teachers can also benefit from learning how to incorporate elements of character education through their regular curriculum. Character education can contribute to a psychologically healthy classroom environment as well as increased achievement among students. It can also set the stage for mutual respect in the classroom. This respect can reduce the amount of time usually spent on disciplinary issues, and focus the class time back on learning the curriculum.

When teachers get practical information on how to incorporate character education into what they already do, they can become more confident about following through and reaping the benefits of character education.

We do not often think of character as having such a direct effect on our successes or failures. But when we break character down and consider the individual qualities that together make up character, we can easily see that it is true that Character Determines Success.

Check it out for details on elementary character education and character resource programs

Character education is controversial and there have been an increasing number of critiques of the assumptions, methods and values typically promoted in character education. Concepts that fall under this term include social and emotional learning, moral reasoning/cognitive development, life skills education, health education; violence prevention, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and conflict resolution and mediation. This form of education involves teaching children and adolescents’ values including honesty, stewardship, kindness, generosity, courage, freedom, justice, equality, and respect.

Every parent wants their child to develop positive character traits. One way to supplement your child’s character education is to act as a filter for the movies and television shows your child watches, and to review the books your child reads.

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear – you are a character educator. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, custodian, or school bus driver, you are helping to shape the character of the kids you come in contact with. It’s in the way you talk, the behaviours you model, the conduct you tolerate, the deeds you encourage, the expectations you transmit. Yes, for better or for worse, you already are doing character education. The real question is what kind? Are you doing it well or poorly? By design or by default? And what kinds of values are you actually teaching?

Simply put, character education (CE) is everything you do that influences the character of the kids you teach. But to put it in a more focused light, we like Dr. Thomas Lickona’s definition, that “character education is the deliberate effort to help people understand, care about, and act upon core ethical values.”

Character Education should be like;

This is a highly controversial issue, and depends largely on your desired outcome. Many people believe that simply getting kids to do what they’re told is character education. This idea often leads to an imposed set of rules and a system of rewards and punishments that produce temporary and limited behavioral changes, but they do little or nothing to affect the underlying character of the children. There are others who argue that our aim should be to develop independent thinkers who are committed to moral principals in their lives, and who are likely to do the right thing even under challenging circumstances. That requires a somewhat different approach, and is the bias of this article.

CE initiatives can be very modest, like one good teacher doing a few things right, or they can be very elaborate, involving everybody and everything in the school. What you do will probably depend on your circumstances. Here are some options.

For more details on character education follow the links below;

Elementary Character Education

Character Education