Character Education

Final Newsletter – 1999-2009

A TRIBUTE TO TEACHERS

Due to my retirement, June 30, 2009, I wanted my 81^st (11 years) and final “Character Rocks Newsletter” to focus on you, my colleagues, many of whom I have had the pleasure to know and to work with over the past 20 years.

For it is you who are truly the “life touchers” of your students who come into your classroom each day (Some more frequently than others.). What you do and say, as well as what you don’t do and say, and how you do it and say it can have a significant impact on your students.   

William Kilpatrick, author of Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong, says that “The core problem facing our schools today is a moral one. All other problems derive from it.  Hence, all other school reforms are unlikely to succeed.” Teachers must never fail to teach and reinforce good manners, clear expectations for appropriate behavior and use “teachable/character moments.” The virtues of RESPECT, HONESTY, RESPONSIBILITY, TRUST, PERSEVERENCE, COMPASSION, AND CIVILITY must be “modeled” and integrated into lesson  plans and class activities as you think appropriate.

One of your greatest legacies will have been to, in some way, help your students develop a “moral conscience” about right and wrong and a sense of respect and responsibility.

THE IMPACT AND INFLUENCE OF A TEACHER

I hope that the following words encourage you and inspire you to become an even better teacher, and “life toucher” than you already are: 

·         “I am a teacher.  I touch a thousand tomorrows today.”  (Paris Goodrum, retired LCHS teacher)

·         “Teaching is no brief candle rather it is a torch that a teacher can use to help kindle the mind and the heart of students.”

·        “While the challenge is often difficult, as a teacher, I must show my students everyday that I care that they are capable and treat them with respect and dignity.”

·         “What children see and learn from their parents and teachers is the most lasting of what they learn from us.”

·        “Children need role models more than critics.”  -- Joubert

·         “If you want (teachers who are parents) your child to be brilliant and of good character, read fairy tales to them.  If you want them to be more brilliant, read more fairy tales.”  -- Albert Einstein

·         “The secret of education lies in respecting the student.”  -- Emerson

·        “Teaching is a special art.  You must have the skills, but it comes from the heart.”  -- Hodgin

·        “No calling in our society is more demanding and important than teaching.”  -- Roger Mudd

·        “Be kind, for nearly everyone you meet is carrying some burden and fighting some battle.” 

·        “The teacher that I have liked treated us with respect and as people.  They talked about their own ideas and feelings but listened to ours.  They were tough but enjoyed what they were doing, and I enjoyed being with them”  -- (An anonymous adolescent) from Discipline With Dignity –Curwin and Mendler

·        “Great teaching is teaching what you are, not what you know.”  -- Maya Angelou

·         “There are many good teachers but only a few excellent ones. Building relationships with and demonstrating respect for the student is what makes the difference.”

·        “By design or default, a teacher makes a positive or negative difference in the lives of all students with whom he/she has contact, especially those who have the fewest resources and support.”

-- Judson Hixson

·         “Teaching is the oldest and the most noble of professions in the world because a teacher is shaping lives, helping students to learn and grow emotionally.  Many students will remember you long after they have left your classroom.  Let them remember what you taught them, but most of all let them remember that you cared about them.  – Donald McKinney

·        “To be a teacher is to have the privilege and opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the students who come into your classroom each day.

·        “Teaching…

… is to be done well,

… is to be done with enthusiasm,

… is to be done with respect and dignity.”   -- Hodgin

·        “Pay attention to the young and make them just as good as possible.”  Socrates

·        “If you want to reach and teach your students, they must know that you care.”  -- Hodgin

LESS WE NOT FORGET

In the interest of today’s youth, we as adults must forge ahead with the constant understanding and conviction that through the lives of the children we teach and touch, our children, “the child in all of us” continues to live.  If these words are to ring true and withstand the harshness of this world, we must always remember that once upon a time, we were children too.  We must be willing to address our children’s problems and possibilities, and their hopes and fears, as if they were our own.”                                          -- Scott Samules

THE INFLUENCE OF A TEACHER

Author James Michener was once invited by President Eisenhower to a dinner at the White House.  He

wrote a letter to Eisenhower explaining why he couldn’t accept. 

I received your invitation three days after I had agreed to speak a few words at a dinner honoring the wonderful high school teacher who taught me how to write.  I know you will not miss me at your dinner, but she might at hers.    In his lifetime, a man lives under 15-16 presidents, but a really fine teacher comes into his life but rarely.

Eisenhower wrote back that he understood.