LIFESKILLS: PA Character Education

What is Character Education?

Character education is teaching kids about good traits that help them get along well in society. It is about the core values we all need to cooperate and keep our society running smoothly. Character education started a long time ago because leaders realized that having people who respected others and were honest and fair was essential to our society continuing to grow successfully. Character education is still important today, and teaching core character values is one of the Department of Education's six key goals. 

"Character education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. Upon such core values, we form the attitudes and actions that are the hallmark of safe, healthy and informed communities that serve as the foundation of our society." –US Dept. of Education, Character Education…Our Shared Responsibility

1. Take each quiz and consider your responses.

2. On a Microsoft Document write a short (5 sentence) paragraph on your results for each character trait questionnaire.

3. Continue on the Microsoft Document, answer the discussion questions listed under each character trait topic. This will be right below your individual questionnaire paragraphs.

4. Presentation: Create a Prezi

Slide 1: Title Slide

Slides 2-7 (Courage, Fairness, Caring, Respect, Trustworthiness, Diligence)

• You will have one slide per character trait (6)
• The title will be the character trait

In the bullets, you will

• define that trait
• tell why that trait is important
• give three example behaviors of that trait

On each slide, there will be a picture that relates to that character trait

5. Share!!! :)

Life Skills: Character Education

Trustworthiness

Are You a Trustworthy Person?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Are you a trustworthy person? In what ways are you trustworthy? In what ways are you, perhaps, not so trustworthy? What could you do to improve? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. Write an essay describing what this society might be like if nobody were trustworthy, if suspicion, dishonesty, and betrayal were the norm, if nobody could be counted on to keep commitments. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Write about someone you trust. Why do you trust that person? How important is that trust to you? How do you reciprocate? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

4. If your school doesn't have a peer counseling program, find out what peer counselors do, and then write an essay or an editorial for your school newspaper advocating that your school start such a program. If your school does have a peer counseling program, write a short article describing the program and its benefits to the school community. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

5. Write about a time you lost somebody’s trust or somebody lost your trust. Was this trust ever regained? How? What did you learn from the experience? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

Respect

Are You a Respectful Person?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Bullies are often trying to make people "respect" them. Is this really respect, or is it fear? What is the difference? How is bullying and violent behavior an act of disrespect? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. Write about a time when you were disrespectful to someone. Why did it happen? Was it the right thing to do? What were the consequences? How did it make the other person feel? What did you learn from the experience? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Describe three things you could do to be a more respectful person. How would that affect your relationships with others? How does it benefit you to be a respectful person? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

Diligence

Are You a Diligent Person?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Write about an event in your life in which you succeeded at something which was very challenging. How much did any of the above listed behaviors contribute to your success? What did you learn from that? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. How has negative or positive peer pressure played a role in your successes and failures? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Benjamin Franklin said, "Diligence is the mother of good luck." What does that mean? How true is it? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

Caring

Are You a Caring Person?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Describe the most caring thing anyone has ever done for you. What effect did that have on you? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. Dr. Mike reported having heard from one 11th grade student: "I didn't ask to be born. I don't owe anybody anything. Why should I care about you? Why should I care about anyone?"
Write an essay commenting on this attitude. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Write a thank you note to someone in your community who did something very caring. Or, write a thank you note to a historic figure, for instance, Florence Nightingale, to thank her for what she did. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

4. Write about a real or an imagined experience in which you performed a random act of caring, and the results it produced. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

5. Imagine that you have just inherited $20,000, and you want to spend it all to help other people. What would you do with it, and why? What effect would it have on the people you would be helping. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

Fairness

Are You a Fair Person?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Think of a time when you've taken unfair advantage of a person or a situation, or when someone has taken unfair advantage of you. Describe it. What was unfair about it? How did it make you feel? What did you learn from the experience? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. How is fairness related to having respect for others? How is it related to honesty? To being reliable? To being a good citizen? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Describe an unfair situation in your community and what you think should be done about it. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

Courage

Are You a Person of Courage?
(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

1. Describe a situation in which you showed moral courage. What was hard about it? What did it accomplish? How did people respond before you took your stand? What did they say to you afterwards?. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

2. What was the hardest stand you ever had to take with your friends? Did it cost you anything? What were the benefits? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

3. Have you ever gone along with the crowd even though you knew it was wrong? How did you feel about yourself? What did you learn from it? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

4. Write about a time when you had to give up friends because they became a negative force in your life? In what way did that take courage? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

5. In what ways have you demonstrated courage in your life? (3-5 sentence paragraph)

6. Write a letter to someone in the news whose courage has impressed you. (3-5 sentence paragraph)

7. Write an essay about a historical event in which courage played a major role. (The civil rights movement offers many good examples.) (3-5 sentence paragraph)

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