Building a Character Encouraging Classroom

About the Book

This book is based on my experience developing a character education program from scratch in Baltimore, and then New Orleans, public schools. I felt that the “pre-packaged” character education programs did not meet the needs of my students so I came up with this flexible, responsive approach to encouraging character in my students. This program is like a tool kit for teachers. Each tool is designed to do a different job. If you just need to tune up one aspect of your classroom culture, you can find the right tool in this book. Or when all the tools are used together, you can build a character encouraging classroom. The tools include a character encouraging curriculum guide, a behavior management plan, a behavioral data collecting system, a classroom store model (rewards program), tips for setting up a positive culture and strategies for increasing parental involvement. The philosophy behind this book is based on two ideas: First that kids can learn to take ownership of their behavior, and second that young students already possess many great character traits and it is our job to show them how to understand and express their best character.

About the Author

I became a teacher in 1999 as a member of Teach For America. I taught third grade for a year in a tough public school in Baltimore and moved on the next year to New Orleans. I taught second grade in a New Orleans public school until hurricane Katrina hit the city and closed my school for good. Now I live in Connecticut. I taught here for a year before taking a break to stay home with my two little daughters so my wife could go back to teaching, and so I could finish this book!