Cultivating Character in the Classroom.

My name is Renée LaRoche. I am currently teaching Academic English at Lexington Christian Academy. I graduated from LCA in 1992 and it’s wonderful to be back home. For the past fifteen years, I’ve taught in public charter, traditional public, and private schools. I’ve had 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms independently, and when my children were young, I substituted for students in Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Regardless of what grade, setting, or role I have found myself, I’ve noticed how important it is for me to cultivate character in my classroom. It is with that energy and passion that I find myself sharing with you today.

Wherever you are, it is my hope that you’ll be able to take whatever works for you and leave the rest. Whether you’re a teacher, a colleague, friend, family member, or if somehow you just happened to find this podcast.. I hope that it speaks to you in some way.

Before I begin, so that you have some background understanding, I am currently teaching seven students who are enrolled in our Academic English and Cultural Immersion Program here at LCA, Each of them are in eighth grade and are in their first or second year here in The States. A main focus of our program is to “develop fluency in English before moving on to Upper School.” My students take Academic English, American Studies, STEM, Arts, Music, and Physical Education. The goal is to prepare them for success in an English-speaking college preparatory school.

LCA is focused on cultivating one’s heart, mind, body, and soul. The first unit of each school-year for me, in my classroom, concentrates on identifying, supporting, and communicating just that. I begin my year by ensuring that my classroom is designed for an optimal learning environment I know that this might mean different things to each person who hears this… For some, it might mean that a classroom library includes all genres. To others, it might mean that flexible seating is available. Whatever systems or physical environments feel right to you, I support that. I, personally, love color, comfort, and order. Therefore, my classrooms have always included brightness, organization, and flexible seating options. A tool that I’ve used to create sacred learning spaces for me is the book, “Creating the Peaceable Classroom” by Sandy Bothmer. Even if you’re not into Feng Shui or don’t find value in integrating music or movement into your daily routine, as a teacher. I think that we can all agree upon the importance of setting a serene environment. I perceive that it’s a goal for all educators! 🙂 I feel confident that you might find some strategies or advice that could yield amazing results, wherever you find yourself.

After initial icebreaker activities are over, my students’ first academic creation is to write I AM poems in where they share who they are and who they wish to be with their class. The website, “Read/Write/Think” has fantastic exemplars, which I’ve used over the years. That being said, being that this type of activity is so common for “back to school” or “get to know you” activities, a simple Google search would yield similar templates.

In the first week of school, after the routines are reviewed, I find that the most impactful area of focus is on character. Having that as a baseline is truly foundational. Within a week of getting to know my students, I give them a list of 143 Character Trait Vocabulary Words. If you teach, you might revise this list, according to your students. Being that my students are English Language Learners, when they receive this list, it’s overwhelming as their vocabulary is several grade levels behind native English Language students’. I use Marzano’s six-step process to learn vocabulary as I have found that it promotes better retention and application. Therefore, I provide a description, explanation, or example for each of the words, breaking them up into manageable chunks, of course, and have students provide their own descriptions, explanations, and examples. I also have them make a picture or symbol to represent the vocabulary word. Sometimes we use Four Squares, just to mix it up a little bit. Throughout the next several days, as we’re learning the vocabulary words, we play games, such as BINGO, MEMORY, Pictionary, Charades, or use tools on Quizlet or Vocabulary.com to comprehend and synthesize the meaning of these words, often new or unfamiliar to my students. Additionally, I use the Connect Two strategy to encourage students to draw connections between words and to be able to share their understandings.

The literature I use to apply this new vocabulary and to promote application of understanding is Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie. I use the gradual release model to support students’ growing independence in reading and analyzing text. For the first several chapters, in addition to selecting several vocabulary words in the text itself, students are encouraged to identify character traits for each of the characters represented in the chapters. We create anchor charts, which will be drawn upon later, and students practice speaking and listening skills as they are required to describe the character trait represented and their rationale for categorizing them as such.

Because we were also establishing classroom agreements and personal boundaries, I found the strategies, activities, and practices from Sura Hart’s “The Compassionate Classroom,” Ross Greene’s work with “Collaborative and Proactive Solutions,” and “The Virtues Project” to be areas of focus during Advising time or during times of conflict or disagreement. (If you’re unfamiliar with any of these, I highly recommend checking them out!) I perceive that with an increased focus on building community, my students are always more open to the idea of listening to others’ realities or perceptions. Owning and advocating for themselves, their own feelings and needs, are real as building a community of respect and understanding is an explicit focus of mine. An added activity has included taking a Color Personality test which encouraged us to understand and appreciate ourselves and one another as well.

Throughout this process, I found many opportunities to embed grammar practice, too. This year, in particular, adjectives, nouns, conjunctions, articles, plurals/possession, adverbs, pronouns, verb tenses, and subject/verb agreement These arose naturally: I was able to introduce, have students practice and be assessed in these areas without additional or artificial materials or measures.

In addition to interpreting words and phrases, we were also able to really focus on what drove a character or a story. We practiced identifying themes, motivations, points of view and purpose. Students demonstrated comprehension and collaboration, reasoning and reflection.

Several posters were created that represented each of the characters in Because of Winn-Dixie. When we had finished reading the novel, I had students write a five-paragraph Character Trait essay which showcased the top three traits exemplified by a character of their choosing. It was at that point that I used a variety of picture books to present and practice the 6 plus 1 Writing Traits, from Education Northwest. Students had opportunities to work through the Writing Process to revise, edit, and publish their ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. I was amazed by the depth and insight of their final drafts (and feel proud of my students along this process)!

I perceive that beginning each school year with a focus on cultivating character sets a tone which promotes and fosters connection, calm, and content. There are several things that I’d like to add to this unit of study. That being said, I also appreciate everything that it has done to promote an atmosphere of integrity and understanding that I am able to appreciate each and every day.