The Character Coach

The Minnesota Character Initiative is once again working with CHARACTER COUNTS! to provide the 3-day Character Development Seminar, a training certification for character development specialists to use the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework.

The training will be held on June 21-23, 2010.  MN folks can get Postive Behavior Units for the training.

For more information, give me a call at 515-745-2733 or email me at charactercoach@gmail.com

To register go to http://charactercounts.org/training/cds-schedule.php

Bermuda In Bermuda for the  Building Character through Sport and Recreation Conference starting tonight and running through Saturday.  Gorgeous views are only outdone by the incredibly warm, friendly and dedicated staff of the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation here on the island and the participants at the conference.

For participants that participate in the keynote and my two sessions: Curriculum Integration and Building Partnerships, you can access the powerpoint presentations through the Department’s website within a few days. I’m also going to attempt to upload them to this blog on the Presentation Power Points Page.  The URLs for the youtube clips I used are on the Inspiring YouTube Clips page.  Shoot me an email at charactercoach@gmail.com if you aren’t able to access them through one of these resources.

Heading to the Bermuda Youth and Sports Conference in a week or so to do a keynote on CHARACTER COUNTS!, a session on Partnership Development and a session on Curriculum Integration.  Anxious to learn more about how youth involvement and character development work in Bermuda.

It’s CHARACTER COUNTS! Week! Time to recognize, celebrate and reflect on efforts across the country to positively impact the character of our children and youth.

I am honored to be a active participant in the character education field and to have watched almost fifteen years of growth as awareness, recognition and commitment to the need for character education have evolved.  Although for many the “proof” is fleeting, I challenge them to meet some of the young people I have met and schools I have visited throughout the country and tell me it hasn’t made a difference.  There are amazing stories of school climate change, increased motivation for both teaching and learning, reduced discipline referrals and active civic engagement of students by choice.  To listen to these students reflect on what they have learned not only about their curriculum but about who they want to be in the world is a tremendous gift.  Too often we rely only on numbers and forget that some of the richest data is right in front of us–the youth themselves; their stories, their perceptions and their dedication to not only living a life doing what is right but of sharing and assisting others to do the same.  As the youth say, “making a difference, one person, one decision at a time”.   

Still, there is so much work to do. Those in leadership of education and education policy still don’t seem to understand that skills and attitudes about issues of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring & citizenship; are the foundation of an effective learning environment and an effective learner. Failure to provide the needed time and purposeful focus on that foundation because of the push for test scores is a bit like asking students to remain hungry all day because eating doesn’t relate to academics. Yet we know that the brain stem will block learning if the learner’s basic needs are not met, like if they are hungry–the same is true if the child lacks a feeling of physical, social, emotional and/or intellectual safety. We know this, yet many schools still dismiss this critical foundation as trivial or not possible with the time needed for academic focus. True educational leaders understand the cause and effect of character education and academic achievement and have worked tirelessly–often against the politics–to do what is right for their students. Character education is a basic foundation of educational practice for successful students and for successful schools.

To learn more about how you can make character a foundation for achievement, contact me, or go to www.charactercounts.org.

October 15th, Minnesota Character will make a debut in the Exhibit Area of the State-wide Education Minnesota Conference.  Thanks to our friend, Michael Rhodes with Film Clips for Character Education, Minnesota Character will be offering a 30 day free trial to the Film Clips streaming site as well as proudly running and displaying the Film Clips for Character Education in the booth.  Minnesota Character is an emerging non-profit dedicated to consulting, training and networking with schools, youth organizations and communities focusing on character development and character education.  With a full range of  consulting and training options, we are ready to get working to do our part to make a difference for the youth in Minnesota!  Also at the booth we will have information about our other collaborative partners including: Moral Kombat, EPIC and CHARACTER COUNTS!

Webpage will be up and running soon at www.minnesotacharacter.org  If you happen to be one of the 7000+ attending Education Minnesota–please stop by, love to meet you!

Grants noted from Youth Today pertinent to service-learning projects that are focused on environmental projects and understand & promote  service-learning that is youth-led

Grant: Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge – For youth-led environmental projects.
Funder: Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education and the National Science Teachers Association.
Eligibility: Students in grades kindergarten to eight.
Deadline: Jan. 31, for elementary schools; March 15, 2010, for middle schools.
Amount: Students compete for more than $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Contact: http://wecanchange.com.
 
Grant: Big Green – For environmentally friendly projects that encourage youths to take care of the environment, be active, live healthier and engage in community service.
Funder: Nickelodeon.
Eligibility: Elementary and middle schools and after-school community-based organizations with 501(c)(3) status serving kids age 5 to 15 years.
Deadline: Dec. 31.
Amount: $2,500 or $5,000 each. The latter amount must be matched one to one.
Contact: www.bghevent.com/grant/index.htm.

Grant: Do Something 2010 Awards – For youth-led initiatives that have a pivotal impact on their field, cause or issue.
Funder: Do Something.
Eligibility: Young people.
Deadline: Dec. 15.
Amount: Four winners will receive $10,000 and one grand prize winner will receive $100,000 toward their organization or cause.
Contact: www.dosomething.org/programs/awards.

One of the greatest lessons of character we can teach our youth is our ability to make mistakes with character–that includes being willing to admit mistakes and genuinely apologize. I wonder if you also have worked with organizations that seem to have operational policies (though most likely unstated) that keep their employees from ever saying the words, “I’m sorry”. To me, it shows weakness and a lack of character on the part of the organization.

Check out this great reminder that the ability to apologize is a sign of strength!

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/managing/article/apologies-are-a-sign-of-strength-scott-belsky

Film Clips/Spirit of America is offering a 30-day free trial of the new live streaming site so that you can see the 96 clips from first-run movies like Shrek, Star Wars,  & Coach Carter that have been tailored to expand or enhance conversations about decision-making, bullying, respect, courage, etc.  The clips are available via DVD, a school site-server package or through streaming.  To learn more about the clips themselves, visit: www.filmclipsproject.org. To access your 30-day free trial contact Mike Rhodes, President of Film Clips at info@filmclipsonline.com for your username and password.

Deb Dominguez has hit it right on with her 5 tips for connecting with Gen Y workers present and future.  Gen Y is stimulating change in the work environment and personally I think that is fantastic! Course, I’ve always had a healthy discontent for the status quo!

Throughout the article you’ll see a foundation of issues that are easily recongized as issues of civility and character–surprised that you’d see that here?  Really?

With any issues  that are grounded in our differences, our values become involved. There is a need to be willing and assertive about identifying and understanding those differences as well as to not artificially group people into categories made by assumptions.

Check it out–it is good and the Leaders  Beacon site is a great resource!

http://www.leadersbeacon.com/knowledge-center/gen-y-and-professionalism.html

There is a growing social network around service-learning called the Service-learning Providers’ Network. If you work with youth and believe in empowering them through service, then this is the place for you.

Being developed through a Kellogg grant, COMPASS Institute and a host of other partner organizations,  the goal is to empower people that present service-learning professional development to collaborate and transform K-16 education and communities globally. But even if you don’t present PD in Service-learning, as a practioner you will find this site infectious.

The “value” propositions of the site include:

It is free to register and participate with professionals from throughout the world with issues, ideas, & resources with a foundational theme of student participation in service-learning.

I’m finding the platform easy to manage and intriguing to contemplate the potential as more join each day.

Interest areas such as: character development, after-school, children’s literature, capstones, social entrepreneurship, and many, many more create sub-networks where you can share your own resources and ideas while engaging others in discussion.

To join visit: www.slprovidersnetwork.org

Let me know when you’ve arrived!

Kay Augustine