The First Six Weeks: Character in the Classroom

There's a temptation to jump into the curriculum without taking the time to set the stage for successful learning. Setting the stage for successful learning means that you make the time to develop a learning community that demonstrates good character, collaboration, optimal learning dispositions, and effective effort. As Ruth Charney suggests in her book, Teaching Children to Care, we can't expect students to fully understand what it means to display good character, collaboration, optimal learning dispositions, and effective effort. Instead, we have to take the time to teach these attributes and actions at the start of the year, the first six weeks.

With that in mind, I created a "Learning to Learn" unit of study. This unit reflects current cognitive science and other research. Today, I updated the character lessons  I'll use at the start of the year. While "Learning to Learn" will be a main topic at the start of the year,  it will also be a unit we return to throughout the year as we coach students toward personal and collective success.

As you review the character lessons, what would you add or change? Would you add other units to the Learning to Learn unit?  How do you make the time for these important, essential units during the first six weeks on top of subject-area curriculum work? These are questions I'm thinking about during the quiet days of summer.