An Introduction To Character Always…
My first teaching job out of college I accepted site unseen at a job fair in Madison, WI. I signed the contract to teach in the Houston Independent School District thinking there was nothing I couldn’t handle.
WOW! Talk about culture shock. When you sign with a school district like HISD you are accepting a job but they decide where they need you. I was placed at a K-8 elementary school in the Fourth Ward.
I was trained in college to use Lee Cantor’s-Assertive Discipline Model. Lee Cantor felt that it was best to be positive and to focus on the positive, and that’s what I did.
When told to “teach in proximity to your ‘panic button” I remained positive with my class. The first semester was a lot of trial and error and a whole lot of patience.
- When stabbed with a pencil, I chose to have that student use crayons.
- When called a “Yankee” I chose to have a ‘teachable moment’ and explain Wisconsin’s role in the Civil War and it’s ties to the Underground R.R.
- When my 2nd graders explained how many rounds an Uzi shoots and how many seconds between loading rounds, I offered a policeman’s expertise on gun safety.
Upon returning from Wisconsin after Winter Break, I walked in to a classroom of very different children… all sitting quietly with their hands folded on their desks.
I vividly remember thinking…this is the day I’m going to die. Not one student out of their seat or late for school. Tameka, the class leader, spoke for the class. She asked why was I there…shocked I answered they were ‘my kids’ where else would I be???
She asked why I would come back after how they treated me before Christmas (she was the one who attempted the stabbing) I answered honestly, that I loved them.
That was the day all of the positivity paid off. My class didn’t miss another day of school that year. I continued praising them and finding the positives, which were now easy to identify, and saw first hand how focusing on something (positivity) gives it power.
I remember that last day of school. I collected my ‘combat pay’ (government money you received the last day of school if you made it that far), and sat outside with our security guard, Charlie and cried.
I remember reflecting upon all of the lessons I’d learned.
- The teacher who taught next door to me in Houston, who still used corporal punishment (slammed a child’s hand in the door in front of my class). Her students hated her and their behavior NEVER improved! They were in constant fear and she took that as obedience…learning, however, was not taking place.
- The 5th grade teacher in Houston who first informed my students what a “Yankee” was with derogatory connotations. She only destroyed any future relationship with my students as they had grown to trust me.
- Seeing my security guard Charlie return the day after his son’s funeral (an “A” student killed in a drive-by shooting). How senseless gang violence is and what destruction it does. How precious life is and how important RELATIONSHIPS are.
As I sat there crying, Tameka came over…plopped down on my lap and told me how much she and the other kids would miss me. They were all going to college she said…to the University of Wisconsin (they were 8 yrs. old).
I have 16 years teaching experience, from inner-city Houston to rural Wisconsin and out to urban Phoenix. Even with 15 yrs. in the 7th & 8th grades, I never waivered from positive discipline.
I was lucky enough to have it modeled for me when I was a student teacher, and now we’ve tied assertive discipline and positivity philosophies to character education and ‘packaged’ it for teachers today.
Our program is ready for kids to be accountable for their behaviors and remove discipline from the teacher’s plate. We have consequences as needed, but we choose to focus on the positive. We must build up our ‘good’ kids to become leaders as peer pressure is highly effective.
Character Always IS the missing piece in character education. It’s imperative to establish a consistent discipline program. Character Always goes beyond discipline by recognizing those who demonstrate positive behaviors.
This program is NOT about self esteem without accountability. Students must be held accountable; after all it is their behavior…not the teacher’s. When students own their behavior, the teacher can focus on instruction. This also holds teachers accountable to ALL students, not just the behavior problem students.
We must work together on discipline. Too often administrators are viewed as ‘unsupportive’ if they send kids back to the classroom after being sent to the office with a referral. Yet teachers shouldn’t expect full ‘support’ if they’re sending kids to the office for gum or missing homework labeling those behaviors as ‘defiance’…those are issues that must be handled in the classroom. Again, our program covers all of these concerns…for both teachers and administrators.
Kimberly S. Whitmyer
Founder & Managing Partner
character.always@gmail.com
