Application:
  1. What can you do to finish the year strong related to character and values?
  2. Is there one of the projects that you could do or modify to work with your students?
  3.  What would your students say has been examples of where they have seen the integration of character and values into your class? The school?
  4. Why is it important for our school to intentionally and explicitly teach character?
End of Year Ideas
  • Make a top 10 list – Have students reflect on their best learning experiences during their time with you.
  • Compliments and kindness – The teacher types up the compliments and students then cut up visuals and quotes from Way To Go Journals to elaborate on their personal memory.
  • Write your students a letter – Write each class a letter as to where academics and character has been a part of all you did this past year.
  • Student-created videos – Have students work in groups to write a script that can be used to create a student-developed video on character, values or a specific pillar.
  • Host a talk show or “expert” symposium – Imagine an Oprah-style show on kindness, addressing school violence, or the necessary life skills to be effective in the workplace.
  • Create a class scrapbook – Let each student make a page. Offer some prompts that relate to character and what they learned this past school year.
  • Student developed visuals and quotes – Have students work in groups to find their own visual and quote using the example of the Way To Go Journal.
  • Community service project= – Have students develop their own plan for a community or school-based project.
  • Students write letters to themselves – Ask your students to write themselves a letter, reviewing the year and making “resolutions” for the next school year.
  • Ad campaign – To create a culture of character or digital citizenship as examples.

Hear more from Gary on Twitter –  @GSmit4Character