character education

Tom Brady Exemplifies Commitment and Initiative

2012-02-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

When talking to my own children and classrooms about character, I find that real life stories of people they admire can truly inspire. With the Patriot's having become a football dynasty and another Super Bowl appearance coming up this weekend, quarterback Tom Brady has been much in the news. Kids admire him and are naturally interested in how he became so successful in his field. So I read a biography on him and pulled from a few other resources to show how qualities such as commitment, initiative, endurance and proactive behavior contributed to his success. Hope it's useful to you!

Tom Brady: On Commitment and Initiative Or, Playing Fourth String, Getting Third-Rate Treatment
But Going the Second Mile with First-Rate Effort

(Teacher Hint: Go to www.youtube.com and type in "Tom Brady" to find some cool clips of Brady in action. I really liked one with music in the background entitled "Tom Brady: My Hero". Play a bit before you speak to remind your students how awesome a player he is. Or, you might want to start with the first of a video, and show the rest after the story.)

Brady Today

Tom Brady makes it look so easy. Moments before lightning fast defensive tackles and 300 pound linemen close in to take his head off, Brady steps back to avoid one collision, to the side to avoid another, patiently waiting for his receivers to complete their patterns. Now. He throws. Completes. Touchdown, New England.

It happens so often that he's widely regarded as one of the best quarterbacks ever. He's led his team to multiple Super Bowls, received multiple Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards, been invited to Pro Bowls, and holds the NFL record for the most regular season touchdown passes. No wonder he's been named "Sportsman of the Year" by both Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. (1)

It may look easy and natural for him today, but those skills didn't come naturally. It took supreme commitment to growing and learning, often under difficult circumstances.

The High School Brady

Tommy entered high school built like a beanpole - a slow-footed beanpole. Not very impressive in a game that emphasizes size and speed. But he was super-competitive and wanted to excel.

So he did more than attend regular practices. He went the extra mile by attending quarterback camps in Arizona and the University of Southern California. He even spent personal time with a throwing guru who ran a school for quarterbacks. This guy had broken down the art of passing into the most minute detail to discover what works and what doesn't . Tommy took tons of notes, to which he still refers today. (2)

And the "extra mile" stuff continued. After school during the off season, many kids throw their backpacks onto the bedroom floor to watch TV, play games and goof off until bedtime. But Tommy completed his homework and met up with his friends at the Pacific Athletic Club to work out for three or four hours.

When his coach, Tom McKenzie, lamented to Tommy's dad that he had "a Division 1 arm, but a Division 5 lower body," Tommy took it as a challenge. Every morning before school, he'd practice a tedious footwork drill called "The Five Dots," which most players loathed. According to Brady, "I've never been real fleet of foot. I enjoyed the struggle of it. I gained a lot out of it, in terms of mental toughness."

According to his coach, "Tom Brady is the only student athlete I ever saw who took advantage of every opportunity that was provided to him." (3)

His high school team wasn't that great, but he made the best of it, winning about as many games as he lost.

The College Brady

By high school graduation, he was still a beanpole. But they put together a video-tape of Tom's games and sent it to fifty-five universities. Their diligence paid off and the University of Michigan, a football powerhouse, recruited him to play for their Wolverines. But then things got strange. Before he even made it to the campus, the two coaches who recruited him and believed in him left the school.

His first year, he kept the bench warm with the third string. The second year, he played a bit in only two games. His very first pass was intercepted and run back for a touchdown. Not exactly a stellar debut. He'd throw five total passes that year. (4)

But he kept practicing, kept learning, and developed a great network of relationships with his people skills. Surely next year would be his year.

But before his third year, appendicitis robbed him of 30 pounds that he didn't need to lose. Now he was an even skinnier bean pole. Thoughts of quitting and giving up were getting the best of him. Instead of turning inward, he began to talk to the athletic department counselor, Greg Harden. From meetings with Harden, he developed a game plan for problem solving and becoming a better person.

It helped.

At Spring camp, he found himself third in line behind the starting quarterback and another quarterback, Brian Griese, who's father had been a legendary quarterback. The latter won the starting position and Brady would get to play in only four games, throwing only twelve passes. Griese would graduate, leaving the slot for Brady to fill, but did Brady want it anymore? He'd been practicing his heart out for three long years to throw a total of 17 passes. In his mind, he wasn't given equal treatment. He considered changing schools. But outside of football, he loved his friends, his classes, and his volunteer work at a children's hospital. He decided to stick with it. (5)

His fourth year, he would clearly be the starting quarterback, but then things got strange again. Michigan recruited a phenomenal high school quarterback from a nearby town who had already been featured in Sports Illustrated. Being a local hero, there was pressure to move him quickly up to starting quarterback. So what did Brady think when his head coach referred to Henson, the new be, as "without question the most talented quarterback I've ever been around"? (6)
Brady started as quarterback the rest of the season, winning 10 games and losing three. But there would be a fifth year, allowable since he didn't play as a Freshman. Surely he'd established himself by now. But that would be too easy. Influential alumni were pressuring the coaches to play Henson, the new quarterback.

So here's how it played out. The coach announced that Brady would play the first quarter, Henson the second quarter, and whoever played the best would play the second half. It was a slam on Brady, the deserving fifth year senior. It would have been easy for Brady to take the low road, rallying his friends around his cause and dividing the team. Instead, he kept working and pursuing team unity. After the seventh game Brady established himself as the starter for the rest of the year.

After his final game as a Wolverine, Brady's quarterback coach told him that the circumstances he'd played under would have broken most athletes. But Brady endured. (7)

After college, he could have smugly assumed that he knew everything he needed to know about football. Instead, he attended a performance clinic to try to pick up foot speed. I mean, come on, after four years of coaching in high school and five years of coaching in college, don't you think he knew enough about how to run? Not Brady. There were still weaknesses to shore up and there was always more to learn, always an extra mile that he could go. (8)

The Pro Brady

His next stop was the NFL Scouting Combine, a place where coaches and scouts have the opportunity to watch their potential drafts in action. The gathering includes interviews, psychological testing, strength and agility tests, and the 40-yard dash.

Although the assessors noted some great traits in Brady, most saw him as a gamble. The most prominent of the evaluators concluded that he "didn't have the total package of skills." (9) One offensive coordinator assessed Brady as rather average, with his inability to establish himself at Michigan counting against him. To some, he was still a "skinny quarterback who didn't run well." (10)

Still, he hoped to be picked early in the draft. Sitting at home listening to the draft with his family, they saw one round after another passing him by. After the fifth round, the Brady bunch was depressed. According to his sister Nancy, "What with what happened at Michigan, and now having this infuriating and disappointing couple of days, he just wanted to take a walk...." While he was out walking, head coach Bill Belichick called from the Patriots, picking him on the sixth round, the 199th draft pick.

Dick Rehbein (the quarterback coach) and Belicheck saw something in Brady that others apparently didn't. During those college years, Brady was put in a bad position, but made the most out of it. They were impressed with "what he did with the opportunities he had." (11)
But at New England, he'd have to start out once again at the bottom. Now for anyone who's played second string, you know the demoralizing feeling of working hard all week to sit on the bench during the games, hoping that, just maybe, your team will get so far ahead that they call in the second string. But he wasn't on second string. He wasn't even on third string. Brady started fourth-string for the Patriots. (12)

Although he'd filled out a little by this time, the Patriot's owner still referred to Brady as, you guessed it, a "beanpole," after their first meeting. (13) But what he lacked in physical intimidation, he made up for with his work ethic, team spirit, and a rare ability to care for and energize those around him. Package all that together and it's called leadership. As one biographer put it, "Brady had that unique ability to make the person he is talking to feel as though the rest of the world has fallen away and there is only this one conversation happening anywhere." (14)

He'd spend extra time watching film of their opponents, although he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of playing in the game. The defensive coordinator noticed that Brady would work out harder than anyone else in the weight room. He threw himself into off-season workouts, whether or not he was required to attend. That helped add about 20 pounds of needed muscle. After a normal practice day, he'd lead a group of others at the bottom of the totem pole to run through the plays until they had them down. And they got better, and better. The coaches took notice and liked what they saw.

So Brady found himself the backup quarterback during his second year. And when the starting quarterback got injured, Brady took over. Because of his intense preparation during good times and bad, he was there to answer the door when opportunity knocked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Brady once noted that the most difficult wins are the most memorable. I think you could say that about his life. As Brady said, "Who wants everything to come easy?" (15)

Action Points

So do you consider yourself the "beanpole" of your team or organization - the one who doesn't look the part or make heads turn? Do you go to all the regular practices, but still find yourself benched? Do you do the assigned homework but don't get the grades you want?
If that sounds like you (and it often sounds like me!) remember how Brady defeated discouragement and went the extra mile by preparing a little harder, getting outside counsel and continuing to learn. If initiative and hard work make a top-rated professional football player out of a slow beanpole, maybe it can pay off for the rest of us.

Tom Brady on Standing Alone

Tom Brady, the super-successful quarterback for the New England Patriots, doesn't try to be "just another jock." Elwood Reid, one of his college professors, noted that Brady was his own person. The other jocks in his class were too cool to do homework or act interested in his class. Not Brady. He was polite, sincere, did his reading, brought his books to class. Reid expected the other athletes to treat him with contempt, making fun of the skinny athlete.

But to Reid's surprise, "the most disruptive guys in the class did more than leave the quarterback alone. They seemed to look up to him. In fact, they seemed to look up to him more because he wasn't following their lead." I suppose you can't very well lead the crowd if you're following it. (16)

Brady on Commitment to the Team

"All I ever wanted was the camaraderie, to share some memories with so many other guys." (17)

Brady On Not Talking Down to People

According to head coach Belichick, Brady "doesn't put himself above anybody, above the equipment manager, above the guy on the practice squad, or above a defensive player. He has respect for them doing their jobs." (18)

Discussion Questions

1. What are some obstacles that Brady had to overcome?
2. How did he show initiative and commitment to overcome them?
3. In what areas of life do you and those you know need extra initiative and commitment?
4. What can you do today and this week to overcome life's challenges?

Find hundreds of character stories, lessons and activities at Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

End Notes

1. Wikipedia on Tom Brady.
2. Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything, by Charles P. Pierce (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), pp. 38-40.
3. Ibid., p. 41.
4. Ibid., pp. 59,60.
5. Ibid., pp. 61-65.
6. Ibid., pp. 67,68.
7. Ibid., p. 78.
8. Ibid., p. 89.
9. Ibid., pp. 89,90.
10. Ibid., pp. 90,91.
11. Ibid., p. 92.
12. Ibid., p. 94.
13. Ibid., p. 95.
14. Ibid., p. 8.
15. Ibid., p. 18; also The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam, (New York: Hyperion, 2005), pp. 214-221.
16. Ibid., Pierce, pp. 4,5.
17. Ibid., p. 27.
18. Ibid., p. 159.

(Copyright February, 2008, Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources, http://www.character-education.info , all rights reserved. For permission to reprint on another site or blog, e-mail steve miller at smillero@mindspring.com )

Critic Trashes Lord of the Rings Author JRR Tolkien

2012-01-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

Responding to Criticism

Here's a good story you could use to help your students to overcome undeserved criticism.

JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was crowned Britain’s best loved book. With over 150 million copies sold, it’s the third best-selling novel ever written. The movie trilogy, based on the book, was the 6th greatest money-making film ever. These achievements give strong, if not irrefutable evidence that Tolkien is one of the greatest story-tellers to ever wield a pen. Yet, even Tolkien gets criticized by so-called experts in literature.

Although he was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature (by no less than literary scholar C.S. Lewis), the most influential literary critic for determining the prize dismissed Tolkien’s work as poor writing. In his words, Tolkien "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality." In other words, he accused Tolkien of being a mediocre writer.

My point? Critics, even brilliant critics, are often dead wrong. So don’t let criticism stop you from chasing your dreams. Listen to criticism and learn from it, but don’t make it the final judge of your worth.

Fifty years after Tolkien lost his chance for a Nobel Prize, we’ve all heard of Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings. Yet, you’ve probably never heard of Tolkien’s critic, Anders Österling. Enough said.

Discussion with Students

1) How many of you saw or read Lord of the Rings?

2) Why do you think it was so popular?

3) When you read movie reviews or book reviews, how often do you end up disagreeing with the reviewers? What does that tell you about critics? (Their opinions are often based on subjective rather than objective factors. Sometimes they’re right; often they’re wrong.)

4) Why do we often respond so strongly to criticism about our own work?

5) How can we learn from criticism without being devastated by it?

By J. Steve Miller. Source: Alison Flood,JRR Tolkien's Nobel Prize Chances Dashed by 'Poor Prose', in guardian.co.uk, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012.

Find more stories and life skills lessons at Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

New Inspirational Book on Forgiveness

2011-12-06T10:48:00.001-08:00

If you are looking for an inspiration book (or one to buy as a gift for a friend), my author friends, CJ and Shelley hitz have a new book that is launching today called Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ.

Check out the book launch page and a lot of free prizes and gifts they are giving out today! http://www.facebook.com/l/7AQF1vd5FAQHu8PK9EJNXiL822j80a38QMoRaWC9rrROpXw/www.theforgivenessformula.com/gifts

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

How Tolerating Difficult People Can Pay Off

2011-11-30T15:03:00.001-08:00

Topics: Tolerance, Respect, Authorities

Teachers and parents could use this story with their students and children. I'm reading Isaacson's brand new biography on Steve Jobs and am writing illustrations based on the book.

A computer whiz named Woz worked with an obnoxious partner named Steve. They had certain things in common – like an interest in computers and a love for practical jokes. But in other ways they were worlds apart. Steve was into this hippie thing, going barefoot all the time and skipping way too many baths. As a result, he often stunk, but refused to believe he stunk because he was convinced that his weird diet kept him from needing deodorant.

Then there was the special way Steve made you feel when you disagreed with him. Sometimes he’d scream and cry and pitch fits rather than believe that, just once, maybe someone else might be right. If he didn’t like something you were working on, he’d often say it was stupid or useless without even listening to your side. Have you ever had to put up with people like that? Needless to say, Steve wasn’t the easiest person to work with and many people simply couldn’t tolerate him.

But Woz is glad that he tolerated Steve’s irritating quirks and hung in there with him. Together, Steve Wozniak (known as Woz) and Steve Jobs started a little computer company called Apple, which eventually gave the world billions of dollars worth of useful products including computers, iPhones, iPods, iPads, and iTunes.

As irritatingly different as they were, Woz and Jobs needed each other. Woz happily programmed and designed in solitude, not relishing dealing with publicity and sales. Jobs became the public face of the company, helping to dream up designs but also making sure the products got out there. Apple became one of the most successful companies in the world because two very different people tolerated each other enough to work together and change the world. (1)

Discussion

1. What made Steve Jobs get on people’s nerves?
2. What would have made it hard for you to get along with Steve Jobs?
3. How do you think Woz tolerated such irritating qualities?
4. Did Woz have to agree with Job’s beliefs and actions to tolerate him?
5. Does “tolerating” mean that you never confront people about their obnoxious behavior?
6. When do you confront and when do you let it slide?
7. What can this story teach us about the benefits of tolerance?

1) Facts from Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), pp. 34,43,81,83,84,88,90,91,93,95,101,103,112,121,etc.

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Making Your Resume Stand Out

2011-08-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

Is there a way to make your resume stand out without making it too long? What can separate it out from the stack of scores of resumes on someone's desk? Should you include references on your resume, or just say, "References available upon request?"

Many businesses have a standard format that they require, so that there's not much room for innovation. But if they have spaces to add these items, or allow you to run off the resume and add a few things, consider these tips from a couple of personal experiences.

When my brother, who works at a major energy company, was soliciting resumes for an engineering job, he said that he wished that people had included their references so that it wouldn't be one more step for him to ask.

When I helped one of my sons write a resume to try to get a job as a motorcycle mechanic in LA, I actually included about three quotes from people in the auto shop where he formerly worked.

We thought, "what characteristics are people looking for in a mechanic? Let's see, they want someone who's reliable - will show up on time every day. Someone who's nice - easy to get along with and fun to work with. Someone who's willing to learn new things and take on new challenges." Then, we went to people at Acworth Automotive and asked if he exhibited these qualities. They gave us little blurbs, something like:

"Benji's a really nice guy, a pleasure to work with." - Annette - office manager

"Shows up every morning by 7:30 - on time. A damn hard worker." - Pete - owner

"He's a quick learner - challenged us to give him at least one new job every week." - John - transmission specialist

It was a short, little resume - it was the only mechanic job Benji had ever worked. Yet, they hired him as a motorcycle mechanic at one of the most respected motorcycle dealerships in Hollywood. And get this - he'd never owned a motorcycle or worked on a motorcycle. He'd only worked on cars! Yet, one of the managers said, "good resume!"

If it's not practical to get little quotes like this from a former job this time around, consider getting them in your new position as you continue to build your resume. Especially in times of tough competition in the job market, doing something to make your resume stand out makes a lot of sense.

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Learning from Albert Einstein

2011-07-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

In reading Walter Isaacson's brilliant biography of Einstein, I came up with many great life principles. Here's one on strengths, weaknesses and discouragement that I just wrote and put up on the character site for teachers to use.

Albert Einstein: Life Lessons for the Rest of Us

Teacher Tips: Many students concentrate on their weaknesses and conclude that they're losers. But each of us have strengths as well. This story gives hope to those obsess on their weaknesses.

Don't tell students up front who the story is about. Just refer to him as a guy named Al. This helps them to engage the story. You may want to tell them half-way through that it's someone famous and ask them to guess. If they can't guess, tell them that it's Albert Einstein, then they'll be more impressed with the rest of the story.

Oh the Things that Poor Al Couldn’t Do

There were so many things that Al was either slow at or couldn’t seem to do at all.

Poor Al. Even as a young child, people recognized him as mentally slow. You know how parents brag at how early their child started talking? It took him so long to learn to talk that his parents consulted a doctor. After he finally started talking, he had a strange quirk of saying the sentence to himself before he said it out loud. (Mimic this.) No wonder the family maid called him “the dopey one” and other family members called him “almost backwords.” Language came so hard to him that some feared he’d never learn to speak.

Once he learned to speak and got into school, he didn’t fit in – neither with his fellow students nor with his teachers. Poor Al. Simply put, he was rather odd. Fellow students viewed him as a freak because they were obsessed with sports and he wasn’t interested at all. In academics, his school emphasized rote memorization rather than creativity, and he wasn’t good at rote learning. He did well in subjects he liked, not so good in things he didn’t like. As a result, one schoolmaster called him dull. In fact, one exasperated teacher went so far as to tell him tell him that he’d never amount to anything, was wasting everyone's time, and should drop out of school immediately. (See Albert Einstein: A Life, by Denis Brian, 1996, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; also Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson. Page numbers refer to Isaacson.)

He hated high school so much that he took the teacher’s advice and quit, trying to take an exam to go straight to college. But he failed the test in several subjects and had to take a formal year of college preparation.

He finally made it to a tiny technical college and found that he did better when he studied with other students. His grades were again uneven - good at some subjects, horrible at others.(Isaacson, p. 36) He flunked a Physics class with a “1”, the worst possible grade. But he hung in there, barely passing his senior exams, one of the worst grades in his graduating class. (34)

Any guesses as to who I’m talking about?

Ever have a hard time finding work? Poor Al. He thought he wanted to teach science, but some of his teachers wouldn’t recommend him to teaching positions. After rejection after rejection for jobs, a friend finally got him a job in a patent office, where they decided if people's inventions should be patented. It would take him 9 years after college graduation before he’d get his first teaching job. (54ff).

As if all these deficits weren’t enough, Al was incredibly absent-minded.

Al was so absentminded that he was always losing stuff, even as a grown-up, like the keys to his room. If he went to visit others overnight, he’d forget his clothes, or even his entire suitcase. One family friend said, “That man will never amount to anything because he can’t remember anything.” (39)
He was so absentminded that when he got married, he lost the key and had to wake up his landlady to get into his apartment.
He was so absentminded that one day he went for a walk and couldn’t find his way home. Some days, when he walked home, his wife would watch for him to get close to the front door, only to forget where he was going and start back to work. She’d rescue him and walk him into the house.
He was so absentminded that he chose absent-minded friends. When one of his friends was sent by train to do a task, he got off at the wrong station and had to call back to work, not only to be reminded where he was supposed to go, but what he was supposed to do when he got there.
He was so absentminded that when he accompanied another friend on a train, they got to talking and missed their station. They had to hop another train back the opposite direction, but missed that station as well.
He was so absentminded that, when writing letters, he’d often conclude them by signing the person’s name he was sending it to rather than his own name. (227)

Poor Al. He also wasn't very good with long-term relationships. He admitted that he failed in both of his marriages, and didn’t do too well raising his kids as well. One ended up in an insane asylum.

He never drove a car; his wife said it was too complicated for him.

From what we've said so far, would you say that Al was a success or failure in life?

But all we’ve talked about is what Al couldn’t do. Fortunately, he didn’t focus on his weaknesses, but his strengths. His strength was creative thinking – imagining thought experiments that involved theoretical physics. Rather than thinking in words, he thought in pictures. He’d think about things that nobody else did:

like what things would look like if he were to travel on a bullet at the speed of light
or whether space might curve, making the distance between two points not necessarily a straight line
or whether time might be relative rather than absolute, so that if one twin went on a space trip near the speed of light, he’d come back a different age from the twin who’d been left behind.

With his incredible imagination, he helped to prove the existence of atoms and dreamed up science’s most famous equation: e = mc². With his brilliant thoughts, he revolutionized science.

Al’s full name was, of course, Albert, Albert Einstein, considered by many the greatest genius who ever lived. In 1999, Time magazine crowned him the person of the century, describing him as "the pre-eminent scientist in a century dominated by science."

So, Einstein was like most of us – good at some things and really, really bad at others. Fortunately, he worked hard at developing his strengths, didn’t let his weaknesses hold him back, didn’t allow the criticisms of others to make him give up, and refused to give up when he was on a thought project, no matter how many years he had to fail in order to find a solution. He was also very humble, likeable, kind, played violin and could talk to anyone.

What do I learn from Einstein? I shouldn't get discouraged by focusing on my weaknesses. Instead, I should develop my strengths without letting my weaknesses get in the way.

Discussion

1. What are some things that Einstein was bad at?

2. What was he good at?

3. Imagine you were Albert Einstein growing up. Would you have thought of yourself as smart or dumb? Headed for success or failure? Why?

4. Einstein became very successful in his field. What can we learn about success and failure from his story?

5. How can the principles we learned from Einstein help us with our own attitudes and life goals?

Find more stories and resources at Legacy Educational Resources: www.character-education.info .

On Character, Goverment Spending and Personal Responsibility

2011-02-04T04:13:00.000-08:00

Lawrence W. Reed, economist, historian, and president of the Foundation for Economic Education, wrote a thought-provoking article which was just posted in the Christian Science Monitor:

The deficit Americans should think about most: personal character
Our huge public debt ultimately reflects our lack of individual restraint. But we can do better.

Highly recommended reading. By connecting the personal character of the citizens with the nation's troubling debt, he hits a home run.

The article reflects my granddad's attitude toward government spending (he'd lived through the Great Depression). I can recall him saying, thirty years ago, when he could have let the government pay for some item, "The government can't afford to do that." Then, he'd pay for it himself.

Grand mom and granddad weren't wealthy. They lived in a small house in Hawkinsville, Georgia. At times, he struggled with work and alcoholism. He certainly could have justified getting some government assistance. But to him, expecting the government to pull him out of his personal problems was something he couldn't lower himself to do. For him, it was a moral issue. It was an issue of doing his part to keep America fiscally strong.

Now I'm not saying that all government assistance is wrong. I'm just saying that I seldom see people today with granddad's attitude. Who do you hear saying, "the government can't afford to pay for that," as they refuse a government handout? Even if we object to huge government spending, most of us are glad to take the handouts.

America needs more people like granddad. I hope it doesn't take a "Greater Depression" to instill his attitude in a new generation.

Are There No Bad Children, Only Bad Parents?

2010-07-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent New York Times article, arguing against the prevailing assumption among parents that, if our children go wrong, we must have raised them wrong.

Besides parental influences on children, there are outside influences (friends and media), genetic tendencies, and personal decisions. While some parents should obviously shoulder the blame for an errant child, in whole or in part, it's not always the parent's fault.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/health/13mind.html

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Manning Wins While Losing - Resisting Bitterness

2010-02-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here's another Super Bowl related story you could use to reinforce character traits like overcoming bitterness, forgiveness, self-control and endurance.

Manning Wins While Losing

No, I’m not talking about Peyton Manning losing in the 2010 Super Bowl. I’m talking about his dad - the motivational force behind his unusually successful sons.

Do you ever get bitter about life, playing the “what if” game?

• What if I’d worked for a winning company instead of this losing one?
• What if I’d worked in a different industry?
• What if I’d gone to a better school and played on a better team?
• What if I’d married this person instead of that one?

Archie Manning, father of successful athletes Cooper, Peyton and Eli Manning, was a great quarterback who played for mediocre teams. Stellar quarterback Roger Staubach once said, “If Archie Manning had played for Dallas, he’d be in the Hall of Fame now.” According to Archie, “in terms of real achievement, it was mostly an unfulfilling career.” His teams consistently lost. (1)

And losing teams breed frustrated, angry fans. It got so bad in the stands that his sweet wife, Olivia, stopped sitting with her friends at Saints games. She couldn’t take the brutal jeers at her husband. “Archie can take it, but I can’t,” she admitted. (2) But even after she moved to more inconspicuous seats, she heard shrill voices booing behind her and turned around to discover that it was her own sons! Cooper and Peyton, at ages seven and five, had politely asked their dad if it was okay for them to boo with the others. They also asked if they could wear brown paper bags over their heads like the other disgusted fans. (3) Toward the end of Archie’s career, Olivia stopped attending altogether. (4) Cooper and Peyton often watched their favorite teams on TV instead of their dad’s. (5)

As an adult, Peyton summed up his dad’s football career as “fifteen years of professional frustration.” (6) Although he worked as hard as anybody and played his heart out at games, his teams simply never got it all together.
So maybe you’re a dedicated salesman, stuck with a losing company. Or a first rate basketball player stuck with an unmotivated team. Or a highly skilled teacher, working at a school that doesn’t appreciate your contribution. Do you become bitter? Do you take your frustration out on others?

Here’s how Archie handled it:

1. He never took his frustration home. When he came home from a terrible loss, he was just good old dad, playing ball with his kids on the carpet and enjoying his dear wife. According to Cooper,

“Yes, when the booing got really bad at the Superdome, Peyton and I wanted to boo, too…and we wanted to wear the bags over our heads. But through all that, I never remember him bringing his defeats home with him. Not ever.” (7)

2. He embraced the community that booed him. As Jesus put it, “love those who hate you.” Rather than retreating inward and snubbing the community, he gave back to them, serving on the boards of a half dozen charities. Olivia also involved herself in the community. (8)

3. He refused to let bitterness take hold. Archie couldn’t understand players who, five or ten years after their pro football days, still bristled with bitterness - mad at their coaches, mad at the team owners, rooting against their former teams. Archie chose a different perspective, thanking God for every game he played, refusing to let the lack of winning ruin his enjoyment for the sport. (9)

4. He looked forward rather than backward. “I repeated the line often to myself those last few years: ‘Never look back. Never.’ And I haven’t. When I finally left the Vikings, it was an upper instead of a downer, a plus instead of a minus. Good-bye football, hello rest of my life. And hello Cooper, Peyton, and Eli, and the football I would enjoy through them. A whole new world.” (10)

And I’ve got to wonder, had Archie brought his frustrations home and taken them out on his family, might his children have gotten turned off to football or achievement altogether? Fortunately, he didn’t. He never pushed football on his kids, but Cooper became a high school football star, later playing college ball with Ole Miss until he was diagnosed with a serious spinal condition. (He followed his dad by refusing bitterness and moving on with life.) Today, Peyton and Eli are two of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, who fortunately play for winning teams.

Life got you down? Struggling with the unfairness of the way life’s turned out? Perhaps reflecting on Archie Manning’s response can help.

Sources: 1) Manning, by Archie and Peyton Manning, with John Underwood (New York: Harper Entertainment, 2001), p. 176. 2) p. 95 3) p. 96 4) p. 95 5) p. 96 6) p. 326 7) p. 142 8) pp. 143,144 9) p. 175 10) p. 177. Copyright 2/15/10 by Steve Miller.

For more character illustrations and life skills resources, visit www.character-education.info .

Drew Brees and Peyton Manning on Character

2010-02-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a Super Bowl story you could use to reinforce characteristics like compassion, friendship, priorities and acts of kindness:

Drew Brees and Peyton Manning: Winners On and Off the Field

A pro Quarterback is tough.

Physically tough: on every play, he’s the target of 300 pound defensive linemen whose primary goal in life is to plough quarterbacks into the ground before they can get rid of the football.

Mentally tough: drawing upon his knowledge gleaned from countless hours watching films of the opposing team, he knows that the position of that tackle typically betrays a blitz on a third down and short yardage. With the final seconds of the clock ticking away, he calls an audible – changing the play at the line of scrimmage to hopefully reverse an impending disaster. His words can’t be intelligible to the defense, so he yells it in precisely memorized code, like this Manning audible recorded live in a game - “deuce right 255 times block slant, h disco alert 12 trap…no!, no!, no!...alert 14 belly!”

But mental and physical grit doesn’t imply meanness. In fact, get to know the 2010 Super Bowl quarterbacks and you’ll find, not the men you’d most fear in a barroom brawl, but the guys you’d call for when you desperately need someone who truly cares. Let’s take a brief look at their lives off the playing field.

Peyton Manning will tell you up front that football is his fourth priority, tagging along behind God, family and friends. 1) And these aren’t just words he conjures up when he speaks at schools. He lives and breathes them. He called home almost every night in college, having a huge respect and affection for his parents and brothers. 2) His college town also remembers his numerous visits to children’s wards in hospitals and inspirational talks to school kids. 3) And he’s loyal to his friends – like Drew Brees, whom Manning, as a pro, befriended when Brees was still in college. Peyton called him regularly to encourage him. For Brees, Manning became a mentor to go to for advice. And who knows, perhaps that encouragement and advice gave Brees that little edge that allowed him to take the 2010 Super Bowl away from Manning. But hey, football’s only the fourth priority. According to Peyton, friendships trump sports. 4)

While many players spend their free time relaxing with video games or watching TV, Drew Brees is more likely to be found meeting with a group of community leaders, scheming ways to improve the lives of the less fortunate. According to Brees, “…this is my outlet. This is what I love to do.” 5) Beyond his vast service to the local community, he’s travelled to faraway lands like Afghanistan and Kuwait to encourage troops who risk their lives and miss their families.

Both run foundations, through which they funnel large amounts of time and money to worthy causes. The Brees Dream Foundation gives millions of dollars for cancer research, caring for cancer patients, helping children who face adversity, rebuilding schools, parks, and playgrounds. Peyton’s PeyBack Foundation gives millions to programs that assist disadvantaged youth.

No wonder Peyton received the 2005 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which honors players known for outstanding volunteer and charity work. Brees received the award the next year.

Few of us can equal the performances of Manning and Brees on the field. But after all, football’s just a game, low on their list of top priorities. What makes their success more fulfilling is how they use their platform and wealth and time to help the less fortunate.

What can I learn from Drew Brees and Peyton Manning? Get off the couch; turn off the TV, and go make a difference in someone’s life.

Sources: 1) Manning, by Archie and Peyton Manning, with John Underwood (New York: Harper Entertainment, 2001), p. 362 2) p. 9 3) p. 7 4) Face of the Enemy, by Rick Cleveland, Clarion Ledger, 2/7/10 http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100207/SPECIAL/2070322 , Will the Student Take Down the Master? http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Will-the-student-take-down-the-master.html , Joe Fortenbaugh, National Football Post, 1/29/10. 5) Peter King, The Heart of New Orleans, 1/18/10, Sports Illustrated.cnn.com

(Copyright J. Steve Miller, www.character-education.info , 2/15/10)

For more character stories, find Legacy Educational Resources at http://www.character-education.info .

For more Super Bowl 2010 stories, see http://www.character-education.info/resources/Peyton-Manning-Drew-Brees-Character-and-Values.htm

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Will Smith on Work Ethic and Separating Talent from Skill

2010-01-26T06:39:00.000-08:00

Want a great video for your students to motivate them to work hard at developing their skills? Show them this collection of clips by actor/rapper/film producer Will Smith. I've transcribed some of it below the link with an introduction you could use for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLN2k0b3g70

Introduction

Will Smith - successful rapper, actor and film producer - has achieved such a level of success that Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor on the planet." He has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards. You may have seen him starring in Men in Black, I, Robot, Hancock, Hitch, Bad Boys, Pursuit of Happiness, The Wild Wild West and other hit films.

So is he just one of these naturally talented guys who can rehearse a couple of times and whip out a great performance? Not according to Smith. Listen to what he has to say about developing his skills.

Quotes from Will Smith

“The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.

I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guys’ eating, I’m working.

There’s no easy way around it. No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if you’re not skilled. If you don’t study, if you don’t work really hard and dedicate yourself to being better every single day, you’ll never be able to communicate with people - with your artistry - the way that you want….

The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is: I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. You might have more talent than me; you might be smarter than me. But if we get on a treadmill together, there’s two things: you’re getting off first, or I’m gonna die.
It’s really that simple."

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Life Lessons from "The Beatles"

2010-01-14T07:03:00.001-08:00

With "The Beatles: Rock Band" all the rage for music video gamers, why not ride this wave of piqued interest to reinforce some character traits that propelled The Beatles to mega success? I think you'll find these stories useful in your classroom, home and work with youth in the community.

Below, you'll find a couple of motivational Beatles stories based on our research. Were they perfect moral examples? No. But to be fair, neither were most of the other great athletes and political figures and writers we revere. By telling the stories of what they did right along their path to success, we imbed memorable character motivators in the minds of young people. We're writing our illustrations primarily based upon our reading of one of the most respected biographies of The Beatles: Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation, by Philip Norman .

Press On Despite Criticism
(Beatles Succeed Despite Discouraging Comments)

Don't let discouraging comments get you down. Sometimes we simply need to ignore them and press forward with our passion.

Fifteen-year-old John fell in love with his guitar, playing it night and day. His Aunt Mimi, who was raising him, couldn't see the point of his obsession and would try to discourage him. Do you know what it's like to hear discouraging comments, over and over, from those you really respect and want to please? Well, John's Aunt Mimi put it it this way,

"To me, it was just so much waste of time. I used to tell him so. 'The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it.'"

But John kept right on playing, putting his heart into the music he loved. In fact he grew up to play guitar, sing and write music with one of the most popular bands ever - The Beatles. That's right, that 15-year-old boy was John Lennon. And yes, Aunt Mimi, he did manage to eek out a living with the millions he made from that guitar.

Aunt Mimi wouldn't be the last to put down The Beatles along the way. Here were some other negative comments they endured:

While John attended Art College, he, Paul and George played together but apparently weren't very good. A member of another band suggested that they "weren't worth a carrot." (p. 68)
They managed to get a gig playing between sets at a club, but were so bad that they were ordered off stage after two songs. (p. 69)
When they decided to change their name to The Beatles, their promoter assured them that nobody would ever take a band with that name seriously. (p. 74)
They auditioned for a recording contract with Decca, but were turned down. Bands with guitars "were on the way out," the experts at Decca explained. (p. 144)
Their relentless manager, Brian Epstein, approached every record label he could find in the catalogue, only to be rejected at every turn. (pp. 146, 152)
When they finally landed a contract, it was with a small label with a mediocre track record, obligating the label to pay the band and Epstein a mere penny per album sold. (pp. 154-158)

But The Beatles kept playing despite all the negative comments and rejections, becoming so wildly popular that they sold more albums in the United States than any other band or artist. Almost four decades after their breakup in 1970, their fan base continues to grow through games like The Beatles: Rock Band.

[Copyright December, 2009, J. Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources ( www.character-education.info ). Feel free to post with this attribution. Not for resale. Sources: Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation, by Philip Norman (New York: MJF Books, 1981) p. 35; Wikipedia, The Beatles.]

Discussion:

1) Why do you think Aunt Mimi tried to discourage John?
2) Why do you think so many people put The Beatles down and failed to recognize their talent?
3) When should we take criticism to heart?
4) When should we move forward in spite of criticism?
5) In what area of life do you need to move forward, despite discouraging comments?

Don't Let Poverty and Bad Breaks Define You
(Lennon and McCartney Endure)

Some kids seem to get all the breaks. Not only do they get the coolest and most expensive gifts for Christmas and birthdays, but they also get those little extras to give them the edge in life – like the best guitars, professional athletic equipment, or expensive lessons from the pros. How can regular young people – those whose parents struggle just to put food on the table – compete with that?

Well, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the chief songwriters and vocalists for one of the top-selling bands of all time, The Beatles, refused to allow humble beginnings to get in their way.

John Lennon's Humble Beginnings

Let's take John first. Do you know what it's like to grow up without a dad? John's dad left his mom the year after they married. And he didn't just move next door – he sailed from England to America, putting an ocean between them! Soon his mom started a new life with a new man, but she didn’t bring her son into the new family. John was raised by his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George, although he had a great relationship with his mom and visited with her regularly (p. 18). But George died suddenly of a hemorrhage when John was 12, leaving him once again fatherless. (p. 23) Later, his real mom would be taken from him suddenly when she was hit by a car. (p. 56)

By age 13 John majored in troublemaking – ever in detention or the principle’s office. (p. 24.) But at age 15 he fell in love with the new rock and roll music he heard at night on alternative radio, with a very weak signal from the continent that kept fading in and out. Soon, he was pestering Aunt Mimi to buy him a guitar. When she finally gave in, he became almost attached to the instrument, strumming it endlessly. (pp. 34-36)

Not being able to afford lessons, his mom would teach him banjo chords, which he could play with the first four strings, leaving the final two strings untuned. He put together a band and they would practice standing in the bath because of the superior acoustics.

His poverty posed another problem - the only way to learn the words to the songs they wanted to play was to buy a record, but none of them could afford to buy records. No matter. John made up his own words to go with the tunes.

Paul McCartney's Humble Beginnings

Now let's look at Paul’s hardships. His parents worked jobs that didn't pay well, so that they could only make ends meet with both parents working. But when Paul was 14, his mom died of breast cancer, devastating both he and his dad. When Paul heard that his mom had died, he asked, "What are we going to do without her money?" (pp. 25-30)

Money Troubles for Their Band

In their mid teens, John and Paul began playing in a band together, called The Quarrymen, playing anywhere people would listen. But their lack of money continued to pose problems, such as:

When they went to electric guitars, they had no money to buy amps. If the organizers couldn't provide one, they'd have to settle for a crappy sound by hooking up through the microphone system.(p. 59)If they played a church event, the church would have to pay for broken strings. They lost an opportunity to be "discovered" when they entered a talent competition. After passing the local heats in Liverpool, they were invited to the semifinals at the Hippodrome in Manchester. It was their big chance to get on TV and let the world view their talents! But their poverty robbed them of the opportunity. They had enough money for the bus trip to Manchester, but had to leave before the evening finals, because the only bus home left before the finals. They had no money to book an overnight stay. (p. 59)

The Power of Perseverance

Many would have gotten discouraged and quit, assuming that only those with money could make it in the music business. But John and Paul kept right on playing and singing. It would take them five more years before they were able to cut an album and start to get some serious recognition. (p. 167) But perhaps, in the end, it was best to take the long, harder road to success. During those years of obscurity, they lost some band members but added George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Time on the road allowed them to sharpen their skills at writing, playing their instruments and performing, so that when they became famous, they were ready to take the world by storm.

Do money problems and family problems get you down? Do you feel everybody else gets the breaks, whether it be in academics, sports, music, or wherever you're trying to excel? The next time you feel discouraged, maybe you'll hear a Beatles song and remember that over 40 years ago, a couple of guys decided not to let family set-backs and lack of money define them. Instead, they co-wrote and published an astounding 180 songs, many of which are riding a new wave of popularity today.

Discussion

1. What disadvantages did John and Paul grow up with? (poverty, loss of family members, lack of formal musical training, not being able to buy the records to get the words right, etc.)
2. Do you think their heartaches and struggles contributed to their ability to write heart-felt lyrics that so many people identify with?
3. What do you think kept them moving forward when others might have given up?
4. In what area of life do you need to keep pressing on, despite your hardships?

[Copyright December, 2009, J. Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources ( www.character-education.info ). Feel free to post with this attribution. Not for resale. Sources: Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation, by Philip Norman (New York: MJF Books, 1981) p. 35; Wikipedia, The Beatles.]

Other Resources

For hundreds of quotes, activities and real-life stories to build character and enhance life skills, visit us at www.character-education.info . Check out our new section on teaching personal finances ( www.enjoyyourmoney.org ), and our new, award-winning book on personal money management: http://wisdomcreekpress.com/press_kits.html . E-mail us if you'd like a discounted copy for review as a text.

Thanks for your work with character and life skills! As always, let us know how we can improve and how we can serve you better.

Top Athletes Show Up for Practice

2009-10-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

Michael Jordan and Practice

Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the best basketball player to ever play the game. But it wasn’t all just raw talent. He trained relentlessly. Even at the top of his career, when everyone saw him as the best, most valuable player on his team, he didn’t use his fame as an excuse to get sloppy in practice. According to Stacy King, one of his teammates with the Chicago Bulls:

“He came to work every day. He didn’t use his superstar status to skip practice. MJ was always at practice. For someone like myself, I couldn’t call in sick with a toe injury. If Michael Jordan could get pounded on every night and then come to practice to run sprints and go through a full practice the next day, guys like myself and B.J. Armstrong couldn’t think about missing practice. He had tremendous talent, but he was ultra competitive and had a great work ethic.”

http://newsok.com/article/3401884

Tom Brady and Matt Ryan at Practice

In football, you see this work ethic in successful players like Quarterbacks Tom Brady for New England and Matt Ryan for the Atlanta Falcons. They show up for all the optional, off-season conditioning. They keep practicing plays after the regular practice. Ryan has the game plan sent to him before the first day of practice, so that he can start studying it early.
A part of success is simply showing up. That goes for school too. I know that you have those days when you can think of a million things you’d rather do than hop on that bus. But I challenge you to do it anyway. Keep showing up. For successful people, that’s a huge part of their success.

For more character stories, visit Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Led Zeppelin and Jack Welch Show Up On Time

2009-10-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Led Zeppelin took the 1970’s by storm, rising quickly to become, not only one of the most popular bands of their time, but of all time. Their song, Stairway to Heaven, remains one of the most played songs on radio. They’ve sold over 200 million albums worldwide. VH1 ranks them #1 on their chart of “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.”

Although they got into their fair share of craziness along the way, they were professional when it came to their music. They determined that they would let nothing come before their music. Here’s an example: according to their manager, during their twelve years of performing, they never missed a performance. Never. Neither were they ever late.

Think of it this way, had they been performing throughout your school career of 12 grades, they would have never been late for a performance. Not once.

You’ll find this as a characteristic of many highly successful people. They show up. On time. Every time.

Jack Welch lead one the largest, most successful companies in the world – General Electric. GE is worth more than the total domestic product of entire countries. Because of Welch’s performance there, he’s considered one of the greatest business leaders of his time.

But before he became president, while he was working his way up through the company, he found ways to separate himself out from the pack. Here’s one thing he did: if he had a business meeting scheduled the next day in another city, but he was afraid that bad weather might delay his flight, he’d fly in the day before.

That attention to showing up, on time and prepared, was a part of what made people know that he could one day lead the company.

From Led Zeppelin to Jack Welch, success people find ways to make their meetings on time. Do you want to get a good education? Now’s a great time to overcome whatever hurdles keep you from showing up from school. Hey, it’s not always easy. But find ways to make it happen and it just might make you successful, whether you want to be a rock star or a business leader.

(Sources: Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin, Uncensored, by Richard Cole, with Richard Trubo, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1992, p. 377.)

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

When Character Seems Inconsistent

2009-10-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

Does a person's character permeate his life, flowing consistently from work to leisure to family? Not necessarily, say Psychologists. A NY Times op ed piece reports that Psychologists often find students being honest at school, but dishonest at home. A jock may be bold on the playing field, but a wimp at verbally presenting a project to a small group. In other words, for many, character isn't something that people tend to have, regardless of their situation or activity. It may shift when given different contexts.

This makes sense from my observations. People who would otherwise be considered incredibly virtuous feel no remorse at misleading a potential car buyer about the imminent demise of your clunker's transmission.

If we feel (and I do) that good character traits should to be applied consistently in all aspects of life, we may need to take a closer look at areas of life we've tended to ignore. After all, when a child sees a parent bragging about cheating the government out of a bit of taxes, the child concludes, not that merely that the parent cheats on taxes, but that cheating can be OK. Don't believe me? Warn your child about cheating at school and see if the tax thing comes up.

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Teaching Millennials More Effectively

2009-10-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Are you passionate about teaching, but often distraught with the lack of student motivation and engagement? Perhaps, by failing to understand your students, you've either failed to push the right buttons, or are pushing the wrong buttons.

Yesterday I attended a thought-provoking, yet practical seminar at Kennesaw State University. It was lead by Dr. Christy Price, professor of Psychology at Dalton State College, and researcher in the area of understanding and teaching millennials. (If you'd like to read her essay on this subject, click HERE.)

Here are some of my take-aways:

1. Be relevant. Show students how what you're teaching will help them be successful in the areas they want to be successful. Don't teach knowledge for knowledge's sake.

2. Be relational. Millennials are all about relationships. Within sane limits (you can't be their parent or best buddy!) communicate with them via e-mail, one-on-one, etc. One of my sons communicates much better via e-mail than face-to-face. Use whatever means is most comfortable to them. Take an interest in their world, and they may take in interest in your subject matter and your world.

When teaching a one-time seminar or class, I like to start by asking students about their interests and where they're headed vocationally. Then, as I teach, I keep referring to how my content could help several of the class members with their specific goals. [After all, their primary motivation for being at school isn't to become wise (shocking), but to get a good job. So it makes sense to engage them by appealing to their felt needs.] Dr. Price used this technique in her seminar, talking to individuals before the seminar about what they do and referring back to them during the seminar.

3. Care. Students don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Although this is so often said as to be trite, it's so seldom applied that students are wowed when they sense a professor really cares. One poll found students putting "knowledgable" last on their list of what they look for in a professor. Perhaps it's because they expect that any teacher should know her subject. Whatever the case, don't think you can impress them or hook them by knowing all the dates of important historical events. If you're simply dispensing facts that they can look up on the internet, you're irrelevant.

4. Chill. They live in an informal world. They wear flip-flops and pants that hang off their butts. Is it surprising that they're uncomfortable around uptight, immaculately dressed, formal types? Perhaps because they're more buddy-buddy with their parents than former generations, they come across less respectful when addressing other adults. They'll often treat you more as an equal than is comfortable to you.

Rather than bemoan their sloppiness and sometimes irritating remarks, harness that openness to get them discussing and thinking. Whereas former generations might have been too scared of their authorities to routinely challenge opinions or add to discussions, this generation will often dive right in.

One professor commented after the seminar, "I think the reason that most history professors lecture the entire hour is that they're afraid that if they allow for questions, students will ask them things they can't answer, especially when they're covering areas outside of their dissertation." I'd respond, "Get over it. They know you're not omniscient - why not admit it?"

So, chill.

I remember one of my college philosophy professors saying, "The older I get, the more comfortable I get with that little phrase, 'I don't know.'" I respected him for that. Still do. Get used to that phrase, followed by this comment, "but that's a great question! Maybe we can figure that out together!"

If you come across approachable, you'll learn so much together with your students.

5. Be open minded and flexible - not rigid. One teacher wanted students to not wear hats. Perhaps he felt it was important for his students to get used to a professional environment or whatever. One student approached him privately about his hat making him feel more comfortable. Additionally, (and probably the real issue) his hair was thinning, which was an embarrassment. The teacher bent and let the class wear hats. When it makes sense to change, change.

6. Don't talk down to them. Many millennials are overconfident (a condition shared by most Americans, for that matter), leading them to think they're smarter and more knowledgeable than they are. When you're looking at your class, realize that most of them think they're above average. If your mission in life is to take them down a notch by showing them how dumb they really are, it probably won't work. They'll simply conclude, "That teacher thinks he knows so much - but he doesn't know anything that I can't find with a Google search. He's so full of himself!"

Instead, harness that audacity by getting their input. Ask them if they agree or disagree. Ask them how the principle applies to real life. Back in the late 70's one of my colleges scheduled a session for students to give their input into the curriculum. Lots of students showed up and gave valuable input. That's called respecting students. But how many teachers are humble enough learners to listen to students' ideas?

Use informal, rather than technical language. Don't try to impress them with big words.

7. Minimize lecture - 20 minutes max at a time. They don't hate lecture - just exclusive lecture. Inject discussions, video clips, etc. - anything to give them time to digest important concepts and appeal to the students who don't learn best by lecture.

8. Allow yourself to be fun and use humor. If you're not funny, find funny stuff (u-tube, etc.) that relates to your subject. Your students could help you to find it!

9. Enhance your teaching with new technology. Dr. Price gave us all hand-held devices (i clickers) at the first of the seminar, by which we could anonymously answer questions throughout the presentation. We quickly learned how many age-groups were represented, what attendees thought of certain concepts, etc., by choosing A) B) C) or D) in response to her questions. Her students each buy one to use in class.

This one device would be invaluable for getting helpful student input. In Math: "The concept we just presented - do you a) now fully understand it b) kind of get it or c) don't get it at all? If 90% don't understand it, you back up and discover what they missed.

10. Emphasize group work and allow students to get to know one another. After all, isn't one of the most important things you can come out of college with is the ability to network through your connections?

11. Let them know exactly what they need to do to succeed in your class. A rubric is a great idea. Make sure they thoroughly understand it.

12. Give them options. Some would do better with a long-term project, others with weekly tests. As long as they meet your objectives by the end of the term, who cares how they got there, as long as it's fair to all?

13. Consider giving earlier tests that count less, in order for them to get acclimated. Some students will wait until after to first test to see if they can get by without buying the text. Basing an entire grade on a midterm and a final can be devastating.

14. Allow them time to process information. You might use games, exercises, or application activities.

15. Use illustrations and jokes from their world. Not only are these more interesting to your students, but using them shows that you're interested in their world.

16. Use case studies - either shared by you, on video, or with a panel of experts.

17. Grade stuff. Remember, most aren't primarily after the knowledge; they're after grades. So if you ask them to do something and they do it, but they don't get a grade for it, they feel cheated. They're used to little rewards (like a few points here and a few points there) for completing tasks. Give points for participating in class, perfect attendance, etc. Make it clear from the start what behaviors will be rewarded.

18. Treat them as individuals. The millennial profile probably fits none of your students completely, and some of your students not at all. This informative and thought-provoking article warns us to not put millennials, or any other generation, in a tidy box -

http://chronicle.com/article/The-Millennial-Muddle-How/48772/

Is this helpful? Are these workable ideas, or are some of them taking the millennial thing too far?

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Eric Clapton Makes Good Use of Time

2009-10-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

Character/Life Skills Traits: Work Ethic, Time Management

Eric Clapton is heralded by many as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. In fact, he's the only person to be inducted three times into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How did he become so successful? Well, one thing was that he spent a lot of time with his guitar. I'll give you an example.

One evening Clapton was getting a bit frustrated. He'd been ready to go out to dinner for some time, but his girlfriend, Patty, was making him late. It wasn't the first time. She typically had a hard time getting ready for outings.

So he played his guitar for awhile to kill time, then checked back to find her still trying to decide what to wear. He told her, "Look, you look wonderful, okay? Please don't change again. We must go or we'll be late."

Now, many men at this point would have proceeded to stomp around - frustrated, hungry and steaming. But Clapton returned to his guitar and within about 10 minutes had composed a song about his predicament entitled "Wonderful Tonight." Good thing he used his time wisely. The song became one of his all-time most famous hits.

The point? Most successful people seem to carve out time for what matters, where the unsuccessful waste it. As Thomas Edison, the prolific inventor, once said, "Good things come to those who hustle while they wait."

(Source: Clapton: The Autobiography, by Eric Clapton, pp. 173, 174.)

Discussion

1. How did Eric Clapton make good use of his time?

2. How do you think prioritizing his time with the guitar contributed to his success?

3. What are some things you could do to get more out of your time?

4. What's something you could do this week to make more of your time?

Share your ideas below. How do you use your time wisely? How can we get that across to our students?

Find more character stories at Legacy Educational Resources: www.character-education.info .

What Quarterback Tom Brady Teaches Us About Work

2009-10-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Work Can Be Fun – Even Hard Work

Imagine that you’re set financially – you’ve achieved financial independence beyond 99% of the world’s dreams. I mean, you’ve got multiple millions of dollars – plenty of money to buy lots of cool things and still live on the beach and chill for the rest of your life.

Now imagine that someone offers you a job – a hard job. A job that requires you to work-out to the point of exhaustion each day. When you fail, no matter how hard you tried, you’ll probably get yelled at. And besides the physical challenge of the job, you’ll have to digest tons of new information every week. Besides all that, it’s dangerous. There’s a high possibility of serious injuries, some of which could plague you the rest of your life.

Now, would you take the job?

Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, does that each year. He’s already wealthy beyond most people’s imagination. Yet, each year that he chooses to endure grueling practices, study film of the opposing teams, memorize thick, complicated playbooks, and risk injury. (Last year he had to undergo serious knee surgery, followed up with two surgeries to flush out staph infection.)

Why does he keep playing? Because he loves his job.

According to Brady,

"I want to play another 10 years."
“ I want to play until I'm 41. And if I get to that point and still feel good, I'll keep playing. I mean, what …else am I going to do? I don't like anything else.”
“Why would I ever want to do anything else?”

My point? Work isn’t so bad, as long as you can find fulfilling work that matches your strengths and interests. Believe it or not, lots of accountants, professors, builders and small business owners love their jobs so much that, even when they’ve made plenty of money, they choose not to retire.

So as you take part time jobs, reflect on what you like about them and what you hate about them. Get to know yourself. Most people don’t . The more accurately you can pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses, your loves and your hates, the better you’ll be at finding work that you love; work that you love so much that you’d never trade it for leisure years at the beach.

(Quotes from Sports Illustrated, June 1, 2009, The Season Can’t Come Soon Enough for a Healthy Tom Brady, interview with Tom Brady by Peter King)

Discussion

1) What are some of the difficulties Tom Brady faces in his work?

2) If you had Brady’s job and Brady’s money, would you get out now, or keep playing?

3) Why do you think he keeps playing?

4) Do you think that, given the same talent as Brady, that everyone would love his job?

5) Do you think other people can be just as passionate at their jobs, even when their work is difficult?

6) How can we find jobs that we love?

Find more life skills and character stories at Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

On Handling Kids' Mistakes

2009-08-25T04:55:00.000-07:00

A recent New York Times article reported studies of children and guilt. In sum, guilt is a good thing, if not taken to an extreme. When a two-year-old is told to be careful with a toy, but she breaks it, she typically experiences "a sinking feeling in the tummy." That reaction is what should continue to effectively motivate a child toward good behavior as she grows. She doesn't want to do bad things because she knows it will give her that sinking feeling.

Psychologists aren't yet sure why some of the children feel more guilt than others. Is it more genetics or upbringing?

Even if a child doesn't have a strong feeling of guilt, he may have a strong ability to self-regulate. In other words, bullying on the playground wouldn't produce a sinking feeling and he'd really like to bully those annoying little punks around, but he chooses not to because it simply doesn't seem like wise behavior (you risk discipline, lose friends, etc.).

The problem comes when a child lacks both the feeling of guilt and the ability to self-regulate.

So how should a parent or teacher deal with guilt feelings in children? Surprisingly, many children, and even adults, don't know how to productively deal with these guilt feelings. Let's say your child was careless and spilled his milk. You find him standing over the milk with that pitiful "I've blown it" look on his face. Just say something like, in a matter of fact way, "Perhaps you need to be more careful next time. Now let's clean it up and make the kitchen look even better than it did before."

It's a good way to acknowledge the mistake, give a way to practically deal with the mistake, without producing the unproductive feeling that "I'm a bad boy."

Find Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Serve Your Way to Success

2009-07-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

How important is service to a new company? Jeff was starting a bookstore and needed to learn the industry. So he want to a book industry conference and attended a seminar by Richard Howorth, then president of the American Booksellers Association. Howorth challenged the attendees with an incident at his bookstore. Here's a paraphrased version, from Howorth's perspective:

I was in my upstairs office when the bookstore manager confronted me with a problem. A lady was very upset and he couldn't deal with her. So I walked downstairs to meet the lady, who, sure enough, was steaming.

"What may I do for you?" I asked.

She replied that while her car was parked in front of my store, someone dropped dirt on it from a potted plant on the second story balcony. Her lawyer husband had just washed the car that morning.

"May I wash your car? I offered.

She agreed and I said, "Let's go."

So I hop into the back seat with the irate lady and her friend up front, directing her to a service station that offers car washes. It's out of order. Now she's mad at me for yet another travesty. So I direct her to my house on the other side of town and cheerfully wash her car with a hose and a bucket of soapy water.

Interestingly, it wasn't a nice car. Paint was flaking off. Who knows whether the husband had actually washed it? It was crazy. "But I pretend like I'm washing a late-model Cadillac."

After the wash, we head back to the bookstore, where the lady apologizes and thanks me.

Later that day, she returned to the store and bought a lot of books. The next day one of my workers overheard her telling the story to a group of friends at the local Holiday Inn.

The point? Go over the top with customer service. News travels fast. Treat customers like royalty and they'll spread the word.

By the way, the Jeff at the beginning of the story, the one who attended Howorth's seminar, took his advice to heart and strove to make his new bookstore tops in customer service. His full name is Jeff Bezos, whose bookstore has become the largest in the world - Amazon.com. [From Amazon.com: Get Big Fast, by Robert Spector (UK: Random House Business Books, 2000), pp. 52,53]

Find more character stories at Legacy Educational Resources at www.character-education.info .

Promoting Character: The Priority of Relationships to Students

2009-06-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

As teachers, we're often consumed with our teaching to the neglect of our attitudes/relationships with students. That can be detrimental when we're teaching for life change.

According to an article in The Clinical Psychologist (Empirically Supported Therapy Relationships, by Norcross and Hill, VOL 57 - No 3 - Summer 2004), studies have found that the relationship of the counselor with the patient is more important than the technique used in counseling.

Applying this to promoting character, don't just design riveting discussions of character; pay attention to your relationships with your students. To be specific, be open to feedback, be empathetic, foster a good emotional climate in the classroom.

Carl Rogers' definition of empathy guided much of this research:

"empathy is the therapist's sensitive ability and willingness to understand clients' thoughts, feelings, and struggles from their point of view. In other words, empathy involves entering the private, perceptual world of the other."

Early research indicates that another trait for positive outcomes is "positive regard", defined as:

"warm acceptance of the client's experience without conditions, a prizing, an affirmation, and a deep non possessive caring."

Finally, pay attention to what might work for each individual student. Know your students! One might respond better to one method and another to a very different method.

Want to add to this discussion? Enter it below!

J. Steve Miller writes for Legacy Educational Resources
www.character-education.info

New Book on Personal Finances is Fun, Informative Read

2009-05-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Reviewing texts for your personal money management classes? Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It is a brand new book (which can be used as a text) that's garnering rave reviews. Teachers of personal finance in both public and private schools (including home schoolers) should take note. (Find it here on Amazon.)

Here's information from the publishers.

Personal Money Management Text

Recommended text or supplemental reading for those teaching personal finance on a secondary level.

Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It, by J. Steve Miller (May, 2009, Wisdom Creek Press, 254 pp., includes index, documentation, discounts for bulk purchases, chapter reviews, thought questions, assignments, free web-based teacher resources, recommended further reading. Retail price: $15.99, but discounted for multi-volume purchases or for review copies.)

Recommendations

High school principal Dr. Phillip Page (North Cobb High School, Cobb County School System) reported, "Teachers of financial management and life skills will be thrilled to discover this book! Miller uses people stories to breathe life into financial concepts, making lessons both memorable and enjoyable. As an educator, I was impressed that the book:

goes beyond “the same old stuff” that students hate;
expands minds with research-based facts;
engages minds with intriguing angles and creative assignments;
challenges students beyond selfish accumulation to consider service to humanity;
includes multiple cultures;
offers hope to those with learning disabilities.

Robert Martin, Lecturer of Accounting in the prestigious Coles College of Business (one of Princeton Review's best business schools) -- "A fast, fun read with practical and often remarkable insights. Should be required reading for every high school senior and every young adult who has landed his or her first full-time job. I'm incorporating parts of the book into my lectures."

Dr. Dwight "Ike" Reighard, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer of HomeBanc -- "Had I read this book in my 20’s, I’d be financially independent today. It’s a remarkable blend of fabulous research with clear and lively writing. You’d pay an expert quite a sum for this caliber of counsel. That’s why I say that the best investment you make this year just might be this book. Your second best investment will be the copies you buy for your children."

Larry Winter, of Winter & Scoggins, CPA's -- "As a practicing CPA and financial counselor for the past 35 years, I've read scores of books and periodicals on personal finance. Just when you think you've heard it all, something like this comes along. It's rare and refreshing to find a book so enjoyable, so accurate, and so life changing. I’m purchasing 200 copies to give away to graduating seniors."

Financial columnist Cliff Pletschet of the Oakland (California) Tribune -- "Whether you are a beginner or advanced investor, do yourself a favor and absorb Miller's advice, filtered engagingly through rapport between a skillful mentor and her inquisitive followers."

Review in The Oakland (California) Tribune

View Book on Amazon.com

Sample Chapters

Book Ordering Information

Author Bio

J. Steve Miller - educator, investor, entrepreneur, and speaker - has taught audiences from Atlanta to Moscow. He’s known for drawing practical wisdom from serious research and communicating it in accessible, unforgettable ways. In researching and field testing this book, he not only drew from respected books in the field of finance, but received input from business leaders, educational leaders, professors, students, CPA's, financial advisors and parents.

Steve is the founder and president of Legacy Educational Resources, providing global resources for teachers of life skills in public schools and service organizations at www.character-education.info. A self-styled "wisdom broker," Steve collects wisdom from many fields and packages it for teachers and writers via his published books and the Web. His wife, Cherie, and their seven sons continually remind him what works and what doesn’t. Connect with him at www.jstevemiller.com.

Interview

Q: Steve, what motivated you to write this book?

A: First, people are hurting with their finances. Even before the current recession, surveys found that:

Twenty-five percent of American adults live paycheck to paycheck. They fear going under and desperately need to accumulate wealth.
Ninety-eight percent of middle-aged people reported regret at how they spent their money in the light of how much they could have saved.
Today's college students graduate with, on average, over $22,000 in debt. Their first job out of college doesn't pay what they expected. They want to get out of debt and accumulate enough wealth to purchase a house.
Personal debt is reaching record highs as personal savings reach all time lows (under zero percent average savings in 2006). How will people ever get ahead?

Second, to get more personal, Cherie and I are raising seven boys, from 14-year-old twins to a 27-year-old. I don't want them to live their lives experiencing the misery of financial bondage. This book sums up what we're trying to teach them about finding financial freedom.

Q: Bookstores offer shelves of books on personal money management. Why write another one?

A: Some of those books are really good. I read wheelbarrows' full of them in my research and recommend many of them throughout my book and Web-based resources (www.enjoyyourmoney.org). But I thought a different approach was in order, something that could help people totally rethink the way our culture has taught them to manage their money. So I wrote a book with these distinctives:

Well researched and documented, ensuring that the advice is solid
Story form to grab and hold attention
Multi-Cultural (Afro-American, Hispanic, Oriental, White Anglo-Saxon)
Multi-Generational, including characters from eighteen to eighty
Defies stereotypes
Likeable characters
Neither talks down to students nor ridicules teachers
Encourages learning from one another and multiple sources
Includes building knowledge, skills and character
Fosters giving as well as getting
Encourages those with learning disabilities
Includes reviews, thought questions and assignments
Practical
Realistic
Broad use of real people stories

Q: The story line reminds me of the movie The Breakfast Club, where high school students from different parts of the school culture broke through the stereotypes to find that they weren't so different after all.

A: Great observation! That movie was a part of my inspiration. So I've got this white cheerleader, an Afro-American muscle car enthusiast, a Hispanic do-gooder and an Asian low achiever. They meet at "In School Suspension" and discover that they've got at least one thing in common: their parents are inept at personal finances and it hurts their families. They desperately want to do better, but they first must overcome their demons.

Amy, Antonio, Akashi and James

Akashi suffers from undiagnosed disabilities, making her the black sheep of her high achieving siblings. Can a "C" student get any better than a "C" vocation and a "C" life? Antonio loves outdoor adventures and serving the less fortunate. But can he make enough of a living to support a family while working in a potentially low-paying career? James wants to make a million dollars before age 40, but no matter how much he works, he can't seem to save a cent.

They're introduced to Mrs. Kramer, an eccentric high school teacher who's unusually successful with her finances. She meets with them each Saturday morning for breakfast to discuss money management.

The resulting package includes adventure, romance and fascinating people - everything you'd never expect in a financial book.

Q: This book is more about people than numbers.

A: Yes! And not only about my fictional characters, but about real people who've succeeded marvelously with their money. Kramer introduces them to Oseola McCarty, who washed clothes for a living the old fashioned way - boiling them in a kettle over a fire. After arthritis forced her into retirement, she shocked the world by giving a $150,000 gift to a college to allow deserving students to get the education she never had. How did she save $280,000 dollars while working such a low-paying job?

Young Warren Buffett started making money with lemonade stands, finding and selling golf balls, and running paper routes. With jobs that anybody could do, he ended up making more than his teachers while he was in high school. Then he multiplied that money into billions. What were his secrets?

The answers aren't hard to comprehend; they're just counterintuitive - not what you'd expect. The book introduces the reader to a host of interesting people and their finances, from Thomas Jefferson to Mark Twain to Sam Walton. I think that financial principles are more easily understood and applied when you learn them in the context of people stories. Yet, math weaves its way through the story, as students prepare budgets, figure compound interest, calculate grocery savings, etc.

Q: With the story line, I assume your target audience is high school seniors?

A: My characters range from 18 to 80 years old. Warren Buffett started investing at age 11. My grandmother started saving and investing at age sixty-five. At age 101, with her sharp mind intact, she's accumulated a small fortune. If the interest is there, I'm finding that a wide range of ages enjoy it and reap the benefit.

Q: In the book, you keep referring readers to your Web site for more information. Why didn't you just include everything in the book?

A: Because few people would buy a 1000 page book that's about finances instead of Harry Potter! Even fewer would actually read it once they brought it home. Personal finance is a very broad subject. My copy of Benjamin Graham's classic, The Intelligent Investor, is over 600 pages, and it just covers one slice of personal finances: investing in stocks. The Web gives me unlimited space to offer teacher resources and cover topics that readers want to explore further. I think many will especially find helpful the in depth summaries of other books related to personal finance. If you want to get a snapshot of the advice of several financial writers, or to get the scoop on a book before you buy it, I think you'll find my executive summaries valuable.

Q: How much do the Web resources cost?

A: They're free. You can find them at www.enjoyyourmoney.org .

Book Outline

Introduction: Part One – Investing Money

Breakfast 1 – Discover the Basics
Oseola McCarty cleaned clothes for a living the old fashioned way - boiling them in a pot over a fire. So how did she accumulate over a quarter of a million dollars, when people making multiples of her salary can't seem to get by?
Breakfast 2 – Catch the Vision
Young Warren Buffet worked paper routes and found and sold golf balls - stuff that anybody can do. But through saving and investing, he out-earned his teachers while he was in high school. How did investing multiply that money into billions?
Breakfast 3 – Don’t Lose Money in Stocks
"Hash Brown" made all of the mistakes that most investors make, losing tons of money trying to beat the market. He shares his hard-earned lessons with wisdom from Warren Buffett, mutual fund expert John Bogle, Buffett's mentor Benjamin Graham, and Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist Jason Zweig, leading readers safely through the investing minefield.
Breakfast 4 – Make Money in Mutual Funds
Here's how to choose stock and bond funds for the ultimate in diversity, safety and healthy returns.
Breakfast 5 – Diversify with Real Estate.
Travis is a likeable "Dukes of Hazard" type who prefers muscle cars over golf and real estate over stocks. At twenty-eight years of age, his cars and comfortable home in the country are totally paid off. How did he do it?
Breakfast 6 – The Breakfast that Almost Wasn’t
A kidnapping, a car chase and a life lesson.

Part Two – Saving Money

Breakfast 7 – Live WAY Beneath Your Means
"Watch your expenses more than your revenue." So says the successful CEO of Wherehouse Music. Since a dollar saved can equal two dollars earned (hint: savings aren't taxed), cutting costs is the most underrated trick to building wealth.
Breakfast 8 – Save on Food and Clothes
Carmen, a spunky young mother, leads a whirlwind field trip through a grocery store, finding huge savings with "loss leaders," generic drugs, bulk buying and "store blitzes."
Breakfast 9 – Save on Cars
Kramer asks a hairy, audacious question: "Is it possible to spend almost nothing over a lifetime on purchasing cars?" James's answer tells a lot about how to save a bundle on reliable transportation.
Breakfast 10 – Save on Houses
Bob and Bud live in identical houses in the same neighborhood. Why is one paying half what the other pays?
Breakfast 11 –Ten Popular Ways to Lose Lots of Money
Thomas Jefferson was brilliant and famous, but spent his last years fretting over his huge debt. Mark Twain and coach Joe Gibbs lost fortunes in bad investments. How can we avoid their mistakes?

Part Three – Making Money

Breakfast 12 – Find Jobs You Love
Researchers Stanley and Danko discovered that first-generation millionaires made their money at vocations they loved. How can we find jobs we're passionate about?
Breakfast 13 – Excel at Your Job
It's more than college degrees and developing skills.
Breakfast 14 – Invest in your Mind
"In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." (Al Rogers, Global SCHOOLHOUSE Network)

Part Four: Enjoying Money

Breakfast 15 – Look for Happiness in the Right Places

People want to be financially successful because they think it will contribute to their happiness. What makes people happy? How should scientific studies of human happiness impact the way we use our money?

Epilogue: Where Are They Now?

Discover what happened to the main characters later in life.

Web-Based Complementary Resources

Index

More Testimonies

"By far the most valuable book on finances I've ever read." (Callie C. Brown, author of The Complete Guide to Investing in Gold and Precious Metals)
"Financial responsibility has reached a state of crisis. This book attacks the problem in a common sense, refreshing manner that anyone can understand and apply to real life. It should be required reading for all young people, before they find themselves broke, deeply in debt and miserable." (William C. Lusk, Jr., Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Retired, Shaw Industries, a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest manufacturer of carpet.)
"A very entertaining, engaging book! The characters are appealing and aid the reader in interacting with the principles taught. All ages will enjoy it and benefit. Meticulously researched and documented. Chock full of financial and lifestyle wisdom. I’ll keep plenty of copies in my office to hand out to clients." (Dr. Ken Walker, Psychologist with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and Director of Dalton Counseling Service.)
"A comprehensive look at managing your money. For me, the genius of this book is that it gathers wisdom from top financial gurus and uses it to explain clearly and practically how average folks can apply it to everyday living." (Alan Buckler - Allstate Insurance)
"I loved the story and the characters! Read this book and you'll get the practical tools and wisdom to chart your own course toward financial freedom." (Jamie Maddox, former Senior Business Analyst, The Coca Cola Company)
"For me, the section on savings was worth the price of the book, detailing scores of hidden ways to save a fortune over a lifetime. Then, unlike many books, it goes beyond 'having more' to 'doing more with what you have.'" (Bryan McIntosh, Ph.D., Dalyn Corporation)
"I really liked the format! The dramatic layout used a totally different part of my brain when I read it...it's like watching a movie or reading a novel. The story line kept my interest so that I got through it quickly. The content was very inspiring. "Living differently" and "starting a financial counterculture" hits home to me. And it was SO PRACTICAL! I think it will also appeal to most of my generation and the one coming up behind me." (Anthony Daniel, age 28, Chemist, Tiarco Chemical)
"Clever! The movie script format pulled me into the story and endeared me to the characters. Before I knew it, I found myself thinking about money strategies that I'd have never learned from traditional finance books. Teaching finance through people stories works for me. Rather than staring at obscure charts, I just followed the lives of successful people. Finally! A readable book on personal finance for people who don't want to read a book on personal finance...which of course is me and just about everybody else!" (Mark Hannah, Film Producer)

For ordering information, see the bottom of this page on the publisher site.

Helping Struggling Students: Repeat a Grade, or Socially Promote?

2009-05-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

So you have a student who's flunking. What's the best solution for the student - repeat the grade or promote her anyway? Neither, according to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).

Their well-written and compelling position paper sorts out the evidence from years of study of comparable students who were academically lagging. Some were failing, but promoted anyway ("social promotion"). Others were failing, but were held back. The ones held back may have done better for a few months of the following year, but eventually showed no more academic progress than the promoted students. And in many ways, the ones held back were worse off - they got into more trouble, were more likely to drop out, etc.

According to the article:

"Research examining the overall effects of 19 empirical studies conducted during the 1990s compared outcomes for students who were retained and matched comparison students who were promoted. Results indicate that grade retention had a negative impact on all areas of achievement (reading, math and language) and socio-emotional adjustment (peer relationships, self esteem, problem behaviors, and attendance)."

What does all this have to do with character? Plenty. As noted in the quote above, repeating grades impacts

"socio-emotional adjustment (peer relationships, self esteem, problem behaviors, and attendance)"

Spelled out more specifically,

"Retained students have increased risks of health-compromising behaviors such as emotional distress, cigarette use, alcohol use, drug abuse, driving while drinking, use of alcohol during sexual activity, early onset of sexual activity, suicidal intentions, and violent behaviors. "

Those are character issues. Why does holding back make such an impact? Perhaps it's because "failing" a grade is much more traumatic than we realize.

Social scientists once asked to rate "twenty stressful life events." Amazingly, "6^th grade students rated grade retention as the most stressful life event, followed by the loss of a parent and going blind."

So what does the NASP recommend to help failing students? Basically, detect the learning or behavioral problems as early as possible and address these issues in ways that have been proven to work. They may need tutoring, counseling or special classes designed to meet their needs.

So maybe a child has undiagnosed learning disabilities. Don't just hold her back to try it again, or socially promote her to see if things work themselves out. Rather, deal with the problems in specific ways to help her overcome her weaknesses and keep her moving through the system. The article recommends 13 ways to help these students, rather than holding them back.

Reaping the Most out of Summer

2008-05-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

Often, it seems we start the summer with all these great plans for our children (our last two at home are our middle school twin sons), but end the summer mildly disappointed that they didn't accomplish more.

It's not that I want to impose some rigid schedule; I relished those long summer days growing up, playing and exploring and enjoying life. But we thought that this summer we might come up with a simple reminder to help our children set some priorities and learn the joy of accomplishing something each day.

Since the successful person "reaps" something out of each day, we'll use that as our acrostic:

Read Something
Exercise
Accomplish Something
Play
Serve Someone

We'll post this on the refrigerator, review it each day and let you know how it works as the summer progresses!

Learn from One Another: Filmmakers Help One Another to Success

2008-05-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

This is an "intercom insight" I added this morning to our resources at www.character-education.info.

Julia Cameron was married to filmmaker Martin Scorsese in his early years. In her book, Finding Water, she recalls that Scorsese's friends included Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Coppola and Brian De Palma, all of whom would later become famous filmmakers. What's interesting concerning character and life skills is how they supported one another and sharpened one another's talents.

"They screened early cuts of their films for comments and input. I remember a sequence of New York, New York being reversed and revamped at George Lucas's suggestion."

As they became successful, they continued to help one another. Example: they would suggest actors for one-another's films - "Scorsese suggested De Niro to Coppola for The Godfather: Part II."

Today, these five filmmakers are numbered among the greatest ever. But you have to wonder if they could have ever become great in isolation. By sharing their ideas and lending helping hands, they paved one another's roads to success.

Here are some ways you could get interaction when following-up the story with a class, or your children:

For Discussion

1) What movies do you know of by these filmmakers? (Examples: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, The Aviator, The Rainmaker, etc.)
2) How did they help one another?
3) Why do you think we often resist getting and giving input to one another in our fields of interest?
4) How could each of us begin helping and encouraging one another in an area of interest this week?

Presenting Character to Faculty and Staff

2008-05-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

I've had several people e-mail me for help preparing a talk to either their own faculty or for a district seminar. Here are a few ideas:

1. I spoke recently at a conference for literature teachers. If it's not exactly what you're looking for, you might find several parts of it useful. It also comes with a handout and Power Point presentation.

http://character-education.info/Articles/Teaching_Literature_to_Change_Lives_.htm

2. Here is a list of motivational quotes concerning character which may be useful for your presentation.

http://character-education.info/Articles/Motivational-Character-Quotes.htm

3. Two suggestions people gave me after the presentation were that a) I use more visuals and b) that I actually give an example lesson plan. Teaching at the St. Louis Character conference, I gave a demonstration with the last point of my sample lesson at

http://character-education.info/resources/lesson_plans_example_lesson.htm

I presented the last point about Tom Cruise (from the bold "Endurance" forward). While I was talking about his early life, I showed the video clip of Cruise free climbing the cliff toward the beginning of Mission Impossible II. The clip showed the cool, successful Cruise. My story showed the painful struggles he endured to get there.

Another possibility for a demonstration would be to hand out (or use as a PowerPoint or overhead) the "Success or Failure?" quiz in that same lesson, using the discussion following that quiz to make the impact.

4. I spoke in St. Louis on "The Power of People Stories." If you want to speak on that topic, here's my presentation:

http://character-education.info/Articles/PeopleStories.htm

Let me know how I can help you further!

Teaching Character in Math Classes

2008-04-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've received several e-mails from educators regarding how to teach character in a Math class. One specifically asked for lessons that tie together character with Math. But every way I imagine tying the two together seamlessly appears rather artificial; e.g., lessons from the lives of great mathematicians, or integrating a moral into a math word problem.

Example Word Problem:

Problem: Henry was dating Sally. He was also cheating on Sally with Jane. How many girlfriends does Henry have now?
Answer: None. Sally and Jane found out about each other and talked.
Moral? Cheating gets you into trouble.

Hmmm...so maybe this relational triangle could somehow connect to
geometry!

Rather, I think the best way I've seen to integrate character and math was
modeled for me by Dr. William Craig, one of my graduate school professors. In a "History of Philosophy" class, the brilliant professor (two earned Ph.D.'s) would devote 3 to 5 minutes at the beginning of class to a sort of real-life moment. One day, he started class with something like this:

"You know, you can make A's in my class, while flunking in real life. I
remember a time when I was struggling with balancing studies with my
marriage. I was working on my Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of
Munich, Germany. The academic load was overwhelming me. But my teacher pulled me aside and advised me, 'Look around you. People around here with Ph.D.'s are a dime a dozen. But how many people do you see who have a really great marriage? Whatever the cost, don't neglect your relationship with your wife.' It really put things in perspective for me."

Well, that was 25 years ago, and I'm not sure how much today I remember from the history of philosophy. But I'll never forget that simple life story from a teacher who cared as much about my life as about my passing his class.

My advice for leading a Math class? Introduce what you're doing by saying,

"Class, I've been thinking...if I teach so wonderfully that all of you pass
my class with A's and B's, but you flunk out in life, I've not done much to
help you. The infamous Unabomber, who killed people by sending them bombs in the mail, was gifted at Math, having taught Math at a respected university. He made "A's" in Math, but flunked out in life, ending up in prison.

For what it's worth, I'd like to devote a couple of minutes at the first
of class (or on Monday of each week) to discuss some life lessons I've
either learned or am in the process of learning. I'm not saying I'm the
perfect model of these things, but I've come to realize that often my
character has meant more to my success than whether I made an "A" or a "C" in a class."

Then, either tell a story from your life about how you learned the
importance of telling the truth, not cheating, caring about others,
diligence, etc.; or, tell the story of another person whom you respect.
(I've got over 100 of such stories, which I call "Intercom Insights,"
categorized by character trait, with discussion questions, in our members'
section.) Even if you use the story of another person, I'd try to tie it in
to your personal life as well. Students like to know where you stand on
issues.

Of course, much character develop comes from how teachers respect students in class, how they deal with discipline issues, and how they treat students fairly, creating a culture of caring in the class, no matter what subject is being taught. Welcoming student input into the teaching process ("Tell me personally when you think I'm either unfair or teaching poorly.") shows respect for students' opinions and helps prepare them to get customer feedback when they later run a business.

Alternate Introduction to Character

In introducing character to a Math class, here's another introduction
that a teacher could use:

"Mastering this class and making "A's" won't guarantee your success. Studies by the Carnegie Institute of Technology found that "even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15 percent of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering -to personality and the ability to lead people." (How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. xiv)

Discussion: Does this mean that Math isn't important? (No. You wouldn't get the engineering job without doing well at Math.) What does it mean? (You need to know more than Math to be successful.)

With this introduction, you understand why I'll occasionally share a life
story or lead a discussion on a character trait or relational issue. In
addition to becoming better students, I hope we become better people."

Change Agent #9: Keep learning about teaching to change lives.

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Recommended books:

Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility, by Thomas Lickona (Bantam Books, New York: 1991).

Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues, by Thomas Lickona (Simon & Schuster, New York: 2004).

Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Instruction to Life, by Kevin Ryan & Karen E. Bohlin ( Jossey-Bass, San Francisco: 1999).

Also see our collection of articles at www.character-education.info and share your ideas and ask questions on our new forum.

The Character Education Partnership has a blog that many people contribute to. Join the discussion at www.character.org and click on “Join the Discussion on Performance Values” on the left column.

Conclusion

Everyone can be a life-changer. Here’s an example that I wrote for an inner city group:

Who Could Tame George Foreman?
(Or, Security Guards, Hippies, Lunch Room Ladies and Other Life-Changers)

Younger people may know his name from advertisements for the George FOREMAN Grill. Older folks remember him as one of the greatest boxers of all time. In his remarkable lifetime record, he fought 81 times, winning 76 times, 68 of them by a knock out. (1)

At age 19, he fought his way to an Olympic gold medal. In his early 20's, he defeated the seemingly invincible Joe Frazier, knocking him down six times in four rounds to become the heavyweight champion of the world. In his first fight to defend his title, he knocked out his opponent in under a minute, the fastest-ever knockout for a heavyweight championship bout.

Later in life, he needed to raise money for his youth center and decided to show everyone that middle-aged men weren't over the hill. Few believed that he could fight seriously against younger fighters, but he stunned the world by winning fight after fight and finally knocking out the reigning champ at age 45.

Yet, his incredible career may have never gotten off the ground had a few people not believed in him. You see, it wasn't easy to believe in George as a youth. He grew up in a poor home in a poor neighborhood and lived by the law of the jungle, constantly getting into fights to try to prove himself. To get money, he'd mug people on the streets. His friends were so bad that he thought of himself as one of the good boys. After all, he never knifed any of his victims. But anyone who looked at him wrong had better run away fast, or they'd get a taste of the FOREMAN fist. He was was a big bully with a terrible temper. (2)

Fortunately, George ran across people who cared. As a teenager, he moved from Texas to Oregon with the Job Corps, a government program to give young people a chance to work and learn a trade. While he was there, Doc Broadus, who worked with security, saw potential in him as a boxer and helped him to begin training. A fellow Job Corp worker, a hippie from Washington state, shared his Bob Dylan music with George, encouraging him to think about the lyrics, exercise his mind with reading, and to learn to engage people with his words rather than his fists. His teacher reinforced his new zest for learning. For the first time, George fell in love with reading, opening his mind to new worlds. (3)

Then there was Mrs. Moon, the lunchroom lady. You might think, "What kind of influence could a lunch-room lady have on a mean, tough bully? Surely only a tough coach could get through to a person like him." But you see, George had grown up hungry. His mother was so poor that she couldn't afford to give her children enough food. He was too embarrassed to tell anyone and ask for a handout. So back during his school days, he would often blow air into his brown paper sack so that other students would think he had something to eat. If the sack held anything, it might be a mayonnaise sandwich.

So you can see why food was important to George. And the lunch lady controlled the food. So when she told him to straighten up, he listened. She noticed what foods George liked and scooped out a bit extra into his plate. She smiled at him and talked to him. She even invited George home to eat with her family, once a month, every month for six months.

How did this make him feel? According to George,

"Mrs. Moon just made me feel that I was special. She liked me for me. ... Her words echoed in my ears: 'You watch that temper.' The way she said it, smiling and cheerful, I believed she knew something I didn't. And I wanted to do as she said. Most of all, I wanted to please her." (4)

In the final paragraphs of his autobiography, after his huge early success in boxing, establishing a youth center to help young people, and regaining his title late in life, he looked back to remember Mrs. Moon:

"As vividly as if it happened the day before, I remembered the look on Mrs. Moon's face that first time I passed through the lunch line at the Oregon Job Corps center. She smiled at me. That was the moment I decided I was special." (5)

So never say, "I’m just a lunch lady,” or “I’m just a literature teacher,” or “Nobody cares what I think around here.” You never know who's waiting for someone, anyone, to show that they care. A few caring students or staff are today smiling at someone who needs a smile, and in the process are inspiring the next George Foreman or Albert Einstein or Martin Luther King. Never underestimate the power of kindness.

Sources

1) Wikipedia on George Foreman.
2) George Foreman and Joel Engel, By George: The Autobiography of George Foreman (Villard Books, New York: 1995) pp. 3-24.
3) Ibid., pp. 25-41.
4) Ibid., pp. 27-29.
5) Ibid., p. 262.

Change Agent #8: Choose texts that lend themselves to life change.

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Here’s a good source:

Books That Build Character, by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe – Three hundred books, from elementary through the teen years, that are especially useful for instilling character.

Change Agent #7: Develop a class culture of caring.

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In one survey, only one in four students thought their teachers and fellow students cared about them. Developing a culture of caring models character as well as creates a fertile learning environment. Here are some helpful articles on our site about developing a culture of caring in your class.

Fifty Ways to Show Kids You Care
http://character-education.info/Articles/Showing_Kids_You_Care.htm

Article on improving the school climate:

http://character-education.info/Articles/Climate_Change.htm

Article on developing compassion in students:

http://character-education.info/Articles/instilling_compassion_in_students.htm

A specific way to show caring is to avoid overtly or subtly putting up the “A” students and putting down the “D” students. Some studies show that if you believe your students are smart, they tend to make better grades. The key here is to realize that all kids are smart in their own ways. Some act disinterested and detached because they don’t learn well in an academic setting. Thus, being peer-driven, they’ve got to decide, “Do I continue acting like I’m trying, but keep making poor grades, thus proving that I’m dumb? Or, do I act disinterested so that I might be perceived as smart, but just unmotivated?”

In the final analysis, we don’t really know what those students will become, do we? Dr. Stanley found that most of his highly successful businessmen and accumulators of wealth had a “C” average.

Discussion: Why?

Perhaps they have a higher emotional IQ, which is an asset to any business venture. Thus, many of them major in extra-curricular activities.
Perhaps they are more “outside of the box” thinkers, which is not generally rewarded in education.
Perhaps they are more independent thinkers. They don’t try in a class just because a teacher said it’s important and their parents say it’s important. If they can’t see the benefit of understanding irony in classic literature, they might rather spend the time programming their I-Pods.
Perhaps academics for academics sake is simply not their interest. In school, my son Benji was singularly unmotivated, constantly pleading sick, always late, etc. But once he began studying auto mechanics he made all A’s and upon graduation from tech school, went to work at Acworth Automotive promptly at 7:30 each morning, working 55+ hour weeks and then on his own car, making big investments with his paycheck. Just because he tended toward being a slacker in school said nothing about how he would perform once he found his niche.
Perhaps they have styles of learning that don’t work as well in an academic setting. Here’s a scary thought. Dr. Keisha Hoerrner, a personal friend and a professor here at KSU, told me that in a graduate course for educators at UGA, they took a test to discover their learning styles. Interestingly, they discovered that they all shared the same style of learning. That’s more than interesting; it’s scary. It means that they’ll tend to have difficulty understanding people who learn differently.

So let’s rethink our use of the word “smart.” It seems to me that the language of smart hasn’t kept up with our understanding of smart. We now know that “emotional IQ” is very different from the IQ we typically measure, yet is perhaps more important for a successful life. We also know that some people can be great memorizers, and thus perform well on tests, but have little ability to apply those facts to real life.

Example: Paul Orfalea, the founder and driving force behind Kinkos is both dyslexic and hyperactive. Because of this, he never learned to read. Yet, he refuses to think of his learning style as a “deficit.” He sees it as an asset. His incredible appetite for getting ideas from his stores, his customers, the competition and wherever he could find them proved to be a successful learning style to run a successful business.

Here are some of the people I graduated from high school with:

“George,” the biggest goof-off. He’d yell “Wake up!!!” in the hall during class. He seldom did homework and came to the school dance drunk. Now he can speak four languages and has been doing humanitarian work in sub-Sahara Africa for the past 25 years.
Deborah, just another “flag” in the band. She went into broadcasting and has been host of the Today show and since 1995, Inside Edition. She’s a two-time Emmy award winner and has authored three books so far.
“Bart,” the biggest hippie. Last I heard was designing helicopters with NASA.
“Ted,” the biggest nerd. Today he’s with a big-time law firm in Atlanta.

So to build a compassionate classroom, avoid mentally dividing the class between winners and losers, smart and dumb. We really have no idea where each of these students will end up.

Change Agent #6: Use character and life skills resources to tie literature insights into real life.

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Typically, values education (or, character education, or life-change education) tries to move students through three steps:

Know the good
Desire the good
Do the good

Pointing out a trait like “kindness” in a character in literature helps students to identify or know kindness. Showing how its positively impacted your life and others helps them to desire the good. Giving specific action points and opportunities to live out kindness helps them to do kindness. Through repetition of these acts of kindness, it becomes a part of their lives.

After reading a novel that touches on integrity, you might ask students: “So you think that person’s integrity allowed him to come out on top in the end. Do you think that’s typical of real people?” Students may well respond, “No. It’s the businessmen who lie about their products and lie on their resumes and step all over the small people who get to the top.”

By bringing in outside stories or research, you might respond, “Well, I used to think that as well. But there’s strong evidence to the contrary. When professor Thomas Stanley studied people who were successful at their businesses and accumulating wealth, he asked them what characteristics they attributed their success to. Here’s what they put up at the top….”

In this way, you’ve reinforced integrity with another line of proof, hopefully moving students closer to “desiring the good.”

So where do you find information like this – stories and facts that motivate students to pursue various traits? I have a vast and growing collection at www.character-education.info . Sign in, choose an alternative payment (not credit card) and say that you were in my seminar. I’ll activate your account free of charge. Take it free for a year. Download what you want. We’re a not for profit. We’re just trying to get the information out there.

Change Agent #5: Open your life in appropriate ways.

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Don’t try to be perfect. Both you and your students know you’re not. My pastor is great at pointing out his own imperfections. People love it because they know he’s in the process like the rest of us.

If you’re discussing a character trait, admit times you blew it that hurt you. Then tell times you did it right that helped you. Sometimes it won’t take but two minutes. But adding your personal stories can be powerful. (Just don’t share personal information that you wouldn’t mind your supervisors or the student’s parents hearing. If they story’s good, it’ll probably make its rounds!)

Two ways to use personal stories:

a. Tie them seamlessly into the literature.

Example: In today’s assignment, the protagonist was caught lying. Let me give an example of a predicament I faced in my own life….

b. Have a weekly “success moment.”

(Why speak of “success” rather than “character”? Because “success” is more of a felt need than “character. And if they’ve seen character education done poorly in the past, they might turn it off.)

One of my graduate school professors, Dr. William Craig, was a great model for me in this area. In a "History of Philosophy" class, the brilliant professor (two earned Ph.D.'s) would devote 5 minutes at the beginning of class to a sort of real-life moment. I don’t recall if it was every day or once a week or every now and then. But I’ll never forget one day, when he began class with this nugget:

"You know, you can make A's in my class, while flunking in real life. I remember a time when I was struggling with balancing studies with my marriage. I was working on my Ph.D. at the University of Munich, Germany. The academic load was overwhelming. My main professor would keep pulling out books in French and German that he said were must-reads for my dissertation.

So I talked to a professor about my struggle with balance and he advised me, 'Look around you. People around here with Ph.D.'s are a dime a dozen. But how many people do you see who have a really great marriage? Whatever the cost, don't neglect your relationship with your wife.' It really put things in perspective for me."

Well, that was 25 years ago, and I'm not sure how much I remember today about Kant and Hegel. But I'll never forget that simple life story from a teacher who cared as much about my life as about my passing his class.

Change Agent #4: In analyzing literature, allow for reflection on real life.

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Educator Dr. Howard Hendricks complained that so much of education was simply transferring a set of notes from the teacher to the student, without going through the minds of either. (Teaching to Change Lives, by Howard Hendricks)

To avoid this with any given text, prep students with ideas like this:

“As you read this book, think about your own life and jot down ideas and questions.”

This takes students beyond “the intention of the author.” It forces us to think and transform knowledge into wisdom. Here are some sample questions that move into life-examination:

Romeo and Juliet

1. What were the names of the feuding families? (Montague and Capulet)
2. How might this story have ended differently had these families been tolerant and forgiving rather than feuding?
3. Although we don’t know from the story, how do you think that this feud might have begun?
4. Do you think the feuding would stop after the Romeo and Juliet’s death? Why or why not?
5. Imagine that you were a member of one of the families prior to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. What could you have done to stop the feuding?
6. What makes our prejudices so hard to overcome? (Pride, inability to forgive, repeated acts of unkindness by the other party)
7. Imagine that this story was retold about a girl and guy on our campus (or in our city). What two feuding groups might they belong to? (Hispanic versus White, White Versus Black, Band versus Jocks, Alternative versus Preppie, Rich versus Poor, etc.)
8. What kinds of consequences could take place down the road if these feuds aren’t put to rest?
9. What can we do personally to help bring peace among these groups?

(Two example lessons based on literature: www.character-education.info , members section, see Romeo and Juliet and Twelve Angry Men.)

Benefits of “life questions”:

1) It pulls in the practical students who are motivated by “why should I be studying this?”

As a professional researcher and writer, I’ve never fallen in love with words. Instead, I fell in love with wisdom and reading was simply one of the easiest ways to find it. Besides reading, I’m also liable to ask a good mechanic how he learned his skill or the radiologist, “what does that tube thingy do?”

Questions like these can pull in the practical students - those who aren’t into reading for reading’s sake, but will read to get information. That’s me. If you say, “Steve, you’ve just got to read this novel, it’s captivating!” I won’t read it. If you say, “Steve, this author uses the best analogies I’ve ever seen!” I’ll read the first five pages to observe and understand her technique. But if you say, “This book takes the latest scientific studies of learning and applies them practically to helping learning disabled and unmotived to achieve,” I’m all over it.

So for learners like me, you’ll inspire me by telling me, not that Jurassic Park had a cool story line, but that “it warned me very specifically about how things can get out of hand when I ignore wise counsel.”

2) It pulls in the creative, outside of the box thinkers.

Some of these students don’t “get” the grade thing. Perhaps these are the “C” students, identified by professor Stanley in his studies of successful entrepreneurs. This group of students might relish taking knowledge from one area and applying it to real life.

Hint: Have them write it out answers before discussing, or discuss it in a small group first, to get more class discussion. Many aren’t good at coming up with comments “off the top of their heads.” Others are scared that they’ve misunderstood the question and are afraid of looking stupid. So giving them some time to get their thoughts together makes it safer for them to discuss in front of the group.

Change Agent #3: Keep a list of traits in mind.

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Until you get used to thinking in terms of character, it might be difficult to figure out what character traits are being touched upon by any given book. So you may want to familiarize yourself with some good lists of traits. Make a copy and put it up near your desk or study room. Here are four:

The list of character traits for Georgia. Valuable for comprehensiveness and grouping.

http://character-education.info/resources/lesson_plans_curriculum.htm

Dr. Thomas Lickona’s list. Valuable for its universality.

http://character-education.info/Articles/TheContentofOurCharacter.pdf

Benjamin Franklin’s list. Valuable for its practicality.

http://character-education.info/Money/grow_in_wisdom.htm (See under “Activities, Discussions and Questions”)

Professor Stanley’s list. Valuable for its connection with success.

http://character-education.info/members/Success_keys_learn_from_successful_people.htm

Caution: the over-achievers among us might try to hit all of these character traits in a semester. But if you try to cover everything, you can’t give serious attention to any one trait. A better approach might be to take these lists and circle the traits you’re most passionate about. Concentrate on them and the ones that come up most frequently in your choice of literature. Those will probably be the traits you’ll be most effective in passing on to your students.

Change Agent #2: Get to know your students.

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It’s trite, but true: students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Even when I do a one-time lecture on search engine positioning for Web sites in a New Media class at KSU, I’ll begin by asking the students what they aspire to do for a living. That way I can apply the material to their specific set of interests. One girl got so excited that after class she called her husband and said, “Today this guy told us how we can make our business successful!” Hmmm…excitement about a class on search engine positioning?!? But I got to know her goals enough to apply my lecture to her point of need.

How does that apply to your class? You might begin it like this:

For our first assignment, I’d like to learn something about you: your likes and dislikes, what excites and bores you. Why? Because knowing your interests and goals helps me to lead discussions that address these interests and goals. I’m grading this first assignment on completeness, not neatness or grammar. If you answer all the questions completely, you get your first “A”. Please write down these questions:

1 – Things I enjoy doing. (Please be specific: fishing, watching baseball, playing guitar, etc.)

2 – Style of music I enjoy and favorite musicians.

3 – Favorite celebrities.

4 – Things I’d like to be good at. (Weightlifting, school, baton, band, Halo, World of Warcraft, etc.)

5 – People I most admire and why.

6 – Some vocations that interest me.

What am I doing here? I’m taking an interest in my students. It’s not all about me increasing the test-taking ability of my students on standardized tests. It’s all about them and making them successful. And if I take an interest in their lives, maybe they’ll take an interest in my life and my subject.

Knowing my students gives me ammo I can use all semester. I can keep bringing up vocations and interests that are of interest to my students.

Dale Carnegies’ classic work, How to Win Friends and Influence People, has several principles of life influence that apply here. (I revised the wording to apply to students.)

“Become Genuinely Interested in Your Students.”
“Be a Good Listener. Encourage Your Students to Talk about Themselves.”
“The Big Secret to Dealing with Students” = “Give Honest and Sincere Appreciation.”

You might ask, “But how can I show appreciation to students who aren’t even trying in class?” I think if we look carefully, there’s something in every student that we can legitimately appreciate. If your having trouble finding something, I’d suggest to go back to the last two Carnegie points and get to know your students.

One day I was visiting Frey Elementary, where my own children attended. At the entranceway, I met the exceptional principal, who was carrying a bouquet of flowers that he’d apparently just picked from the school grounds. He explained, “one of our students was in a community play this week. I wanted to congratulate her.” Now I have no idea what kind of student she was at Frey. But I’ll bet you anything that after the principal presented her with flowers, that she wanted to do even better.

“Talk in Terms of Your Students’ Interests”

Your ideas for getting to know your students and appeal to their interests?

Change Agent #1: Add "Life-Change" or "Success" to Your Class Goals

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Let’s look at the Georgia State Standards for Literature. (Put a portion here.) Now I’m not belittling this document. I understand that it must be written in terms of testable content. But let’s say I follow it to the letter and do what it says.

So I take Moby Dick and discuss diction, plot and structure. I note the creative use of analogy and description. That’s fine, and it’s all good to know, especially if your students aspire to teach literature and possibly if they want to become writers. But that’s a small percentage of our students.

When you think about this standard, doesn’t it sort of remind you of a dissection in Biology? You start with this beautiful lively frog. Then you put it to sleep and explore its wonderful structure until it’s dead. Isn’t it possible to do the same with Moby Dick?

Listen, the reason we’re into literature is that there’s life in great literature. Great teachers help students discover that life. Others kill it by over-analyzing it.

Now I don’t have a problem with what the state standard says. I do have a problem with what it doesn’t say. Standards don’t typically address the larger purposes of teaching literature.

It says nothing of developing a love for great literature. It says nothing about helping students achieve success in their lives.

I think the State would respond, “But that’s a 'duh.' Of course that’s what we’re up to here!” But I’d respond, “If so, let’s put that in our personal standards or goals for our class.”

Here's the practical outcome for this point. Someone who wants to simply “comply with state standards” may start the first day of class like this:

“This quarter we’ll read some great literature and learn to identify such fascinating bits of literary technique as symbolism, setting, mood and irony.”

And then we expect students to shoot up their hands saying, “Please, please! Do ‘irony’ first!” “No, no! I want ‘symbolism!’” until finally you intervene:

“Class, I know you’re all eager to understand the structure of literature, but you’ll have to wait patiently for the appropriate section.”

Why do we not see this response? We’ve done nothing to meet students at their point of need. They enter the class with no felt need to understand irony in literature. And they have no clue as to how putting effort into this class will possibly make them happier and more successful. As a result, students who aren’t motivated by grades will decide that this is a good class to catch up on the sleep they missed the night before playing Halo.

A person who understands our ultimate purposes in education might start the class this way:

“Students, my hope is that during this class you’ll discover some practical ways to live a more successful life. Right now you may see yourself as a little girl living at the end of a dead-end street, preparing to live a dead-end life. But you’ve got your entire life before you. And great literature reveals to us how people outside of your cul-de-sac lived their lives – some ending in great success, others in tragedy; some deliriously happy, others with huge regrets.

By reading great literature, you can find characters you identify with. You might find great ideas to live and die for, traits you’d like to adopt, places you’d like to live, something you’d like to accomplish, the type person you’d like to marry, the kind of friends you want to attract (and avoid).

You see, students, literature isn’t just about plot, structure and symbolism. It’s about life and how people live it. Sure, we’ll learn the elements of good literature. But more than that, I hope you’ll learn something specific that can change your life.”

Now isn’t that totally different than the first introduction? Don’t you think it will pull in more students than the former? You could continue this way:

“So, after you’ve read the first chapter of “Huckleberry Finn” for tomorrow’s class, don’t just think about structure and style. Think,

“How do I identify with Huck?”
“What do I like about his life that I could adopt?”
“What disgusts me about his life that I should avoid?”

I don’t just want to know that you’ve read the book. I want to know that you’ve thought about it, reflecting on your own life in response to your reading. If you do, it just might change your life.”

So there’s a radical difference between the “life-changing teacher” and the “merely complies with state’s standards” teacher. So as a teacher, when you’re preparing your lesson plan for tomorrow’s class, I challenge you to ask the question, “How can tomorrow’s class impact a life?”

Any ideas from you on how you motivate your class from the start?

Teaching Literature to Change Lives (Introduction)

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Note: I presented this seminar on 3/26/08 at Kennesaw State University's Annual Conference on Literature for Children and Adolescents.)

Let’s start with the motivational question, since we’ve all got way too much on our plates already, without adding this “teach for life change” dimension.

Why shoot for life change in the classroom? (And when we speak of life change, aren’t we generally speaking of character change - from unmotivated learners to motivated learners, from slackers to sponges for wisdom, from self-absorbed to respectful and helpful?)

1. To help our students become more successful in school. It only stands to reason that if students feel safer in the classroom (that’s tolerance), feel like teachers and students care (that’s compassion), are improving at traits like diligence, promptness, love of learning, etc., they will tend to move from “D” students to “C”, “B” students to “A”, etc.

2. To help our students achieve a successful life. Isn’t that one of our ultimate goals in education? Professor Thomas Stanley studied successful business leaders, asking them to list, in order of importance, to what they attribute their success. (See his book, The Millionaire Mind.) Here are their top four responses:

Success Factors (Totals responding either "Important" or "Very Important")

#1 - Being well disciplined = 95%
#2 - Getting along with people = 94%
#3 - Being honest with all people = 90%
#4 - Working harder than most people = 88%

Having a high IQ/Superior Intellect: (Only 20% said “very important.” The typical millionaire interviewed had a “C” average.)

What do you notice about these factors? (They’re all character and life skills related.) And what does that tell us as educators? (If we want our students to be successful in life, we’d better try to instill or reinforce good character.)

Those findings were reinforced by Jim Collins’ study of successful companies in his book, Good to Great.

"The good-to-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience."

At a recent tech conference I attended on social networking on the Web, the keynote speaker mentioned recently hearing a speech by Guy Kawasaki, the early marketer of Apple’s McIntosh Computer, who eventually left Apple and now spends his days matching start-up companies with funding.

Kawasaki said that he’s noticed a great differentiator between those who come to him for funding. The ones who say “I’ve got an idea that will make a ton of money” seldom do well. But if they say, “I’ve got an idea that will help a lot of people,” they’ve got his ear. From his experience, that company is likely to make it. What he’s saying is that people who exhibit a certain character trait, the passion to give, end up doing better than the self-absorbed money-mongers.

Warren Buffet, the world’s greatest investor, arguably knows how to spot great companies better than anyone, since makes his billions by investing in them. Buffett once said,

"Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.'' (From Omaha World Herald, February 1, 1994)

So, to help students achieve success in life, we’d better help shape their character.

3. To help change society. Do you remember the infamous unabomber, who methodically killed three people and injured 23 by mailing explosives? When we discovered that he was a brilliant Mathematician, a Harvard grad and former professor at Berkeley, we realized that stellar grades in the three “R’s” don’t necessarily produce a good person. In fact, if we sow only academics we may reap smarter criminals, like the leaders at Enron, who were described as “The Smartest Guys in the Room.”

4. To produce motivated, lifelong learners. This is especially important in the information age.

“In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” (Al Rogers, Global Schoolhouse Network)

This week, I’m learning Cascading Style Sheets for a redesign of the character site. Either I pay $200 for my designer to do it, and have to keep paying her in the future for that task, or I pay her a $100 one-time fee to teach me how to do it.

5. To produce thinkers and innovators rather than just memorizers. I recall speaking to a college professor who worked with graduate students from other countries. Some of these students were products of educational systems that we all admire for their stellar test scores. But they were taught primarily by rote memory. As a result, the professor said that he’d give the background of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ask, “Do you think this was the right thing to do?” The students seemed incapable of thinking through the issue, responding, “Tell us the answer and we’ll memorize it.”

6. To make teaching more fun and fulfilling. It’s one thing to come home from school saying, “Cool: Heather finally learned the Pythagorean Theorum!” It’s quite another to come home saying, “Today, I think I just might have changed Heather’s life.”

One day, my son came home after school and said, “a girl came up to me today and said, ‘Something your dad said today changed my life.’” How do you think I felt? Once I caught fire for changing lives, I could never again be content to merely pass on knowledge. I don’t want to just teach subjects; I want to leave a legacy.

I was speaking in Holland at a seminar on the arts. A British Playwright, a graduate of Oxford, spoke of the impact of a play he’d written about a man deserting his wife for another woman and the chaos it created. A fellow playwright told him, after seeing it performed, that he was inspired to go home and work on his relationship with his wife.

The playwright was thrilled! He didn’t just want to write a popular play. He wanted to change lives.

So let’s spend the rest of our time together sharing ways to make this happen.

On "The Language of 'Smart'"

2008-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Following up on my last post, I recall an incident that helps me to understand those with learning "disabilities." During my college days, a professor and his wife were attending a Sunday School class. One of the members, noting that the professor read biblical passages rather haltingly at times, asked the professor's wife if he had trouble reading. "No," she responded. "He's just translating in his head from the original Greek."

Isn't this sort of like the misunderstandings encountered by typical dyslexics, who often must process (translate) letters and words differently from others? The effort it takes to read in their own language must be akin to that of a translator. No wonder the reading is often halting and seldom smooth. But the difficulty reading doesn't say anything about the power of the intellect that lies behind the "translation."

So let's remember that fluency in reading doesn't prove intelligence in other areas any more than difficulties in reading prove deficiencies in other areas of intellect. So rather than passing judgment by one indicator, let's look for strengths in each of our students that we can encourage.

Dyslexia, ADD and Other Assets

2008-03-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

That's right - "assets." Or so claims Paul Orfalea, the founder and super-successful CEO of the Kinkos chain. In his book, Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America's Best Companies, Orfalea refuses to call his unique learning styles "disabilities." Growing up in a time when Dyslexia wasn't understood by most educators, he didn't receive needed help and had to navigate school without ever learning to read.

Yet, reading's just one way to learn. Orfalea mastered the arts of thinking outside of the box, capturing ideas through observation, and disseminating ideas through voice-mail rather than e-mail.

What does this have to do with character? Everything. Many teachers, either subtly or overtly, perpetuate in the classroom the dated concepts that quick-learners of textbook and lecture material are "smart," while slow learners in the same arenas are "dumb." Some have actually separated the "smart" from the "slow" in seating, ostensibly to inspire the slow learners to catch up and be allowed to sit with the "smart" crowd.

Other teachers who wouldn't dream of such overt profiling nevertheless say in the hearing of others how "smart" one student is (who scored 100 with little effort), not realizing that in proclaiming this student smart, the other students may very well be categorizing themselves as "mildly dumb" (who scored 80-89), "dumber" (scores 70-79) and "dumberer" (under 70).

It would appear that the language of "smart" hasn't kept up with science of "smart." We now know that people learn in many different ways. So while Einstein may have been gifted in theoretical Physics, he struggled with languages and was labeled slow by many teachers. Some have a high emotional IQ, but struggle with academics. Author and professor C.S. Lewis struggled with Math, but excelled in literature.

Interestingly, some successful writers flunked English. Apparently, a prerequisite to writing a thrilling novel isn't the ability to label all the parts of speech in your sentences.

One professor told me of a graduate level class she took, in which all the students took a test to determine their learning style. All of the students were training to be teachers. The result of the test? Every one of them had the same learning style. And that makes sense. People who learn well in an academic setting would have fond memories of succeeding in that arena. No wonder they wanted to go to college and later teach. But it's as frightening as it is fascinating. Can the typical teacher truly understand students who learn differently?

The practical outcome? Our present school system tends to lead one category of learners to think they are smart, and all other learners to assume they're dumb. By keeping this fact in mind, perhaps we can avoid actions and words that put down those who learn differently, and help them to recognize their strengths.

The Interaction of Values and Religion

2008-03-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'm well aware that atrocities have been committed in the name of religion. But so have acts of great love and self-sacrifice. Any student of values should reflect upon the intersection of values and religion. Rather than theorize, I'll give a real life example.

I have way too much to accomplish in any given day. Today was no exception. After getting the children off to school, I needed to work on a presentation, then hit the bank and Circuit City to trade in a meg of ram for one that would actually work in my computer. I had exactly 45 minutes to accomplish the bank run and Circuit City before I'd need to be back home to get up my 102-year-old granny.

But on the way out of the neighborhood, I noticed a stalled pick-up truck in the exit lane with its hood up. Two Mexicans and an African-American - all construction workers - sat beside it. I mention their race and employment because to some people, that would be significant to the story. They might stop for someone they knew, or someone in a Ferrari, or a highly esteemed member of the community, or a "hot chick." But a few construction workers?

I didn't immediately stop, reciting convenient excuses such as

"They didn't wave me down, so they've probably already called a friend or a wrecker."
"Somebody else can stop who's not in such a hurry."
"If they're still there when I return, maybe I can work them in later today."
"Maybe it's a set-up to rob me."

But within 30 seconds, I knew that I had to return. A recent sermon by our pastor related Jesus' parable of "The Good Samaritan," where the priest and Levite passed by the poor fellow who'd been robbed and beaten. I'm sure they recited good reasons similar to mine: "I'm already late for an important meeting. Maybe it's a set-up. Somebody else with more time and expertise will surely stop." But finally, a Samaritan took pity on the fellow, put him on his donkey, rented a room for him and paid for his care.

The parallel hit too close to home. I turned around, got jumper cables from my house, jumped off their truck, and followed them to a safe place where they could get better help. I declined their offer for money.

Professionally, my day has been a loss. So I helped the three stranded workers, got granny up, took dad to a doctor's visit, and picked up a sick kid from school. I'm further behind on my writing, my Web work, etc., etc. My "to do" list grew instead of shrunk.

But my religion impacts not just my "to do" list, but also how I feel about a day and how I define success. From my religious perspective, the day was a huge success. According to my religion, when I serve "the least of these," those who may have nothing to give in return, I've actually served God. If I fail to provide for my own (sick children, granny and dad), I'm spiritually bankrupt.

If my life is all about loving God and loving people, then today goes down as a huge success. That's how religion can impact my practical, day to day choices.

Character and Business Success

2008-02-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of recent news to motivate your students, teachers, or business colleagues, reinforcing the need for character. We tend to think that A's in school will automatically translate into an A+ career. But without character, skills and experience, you'll probably be disappointed.

Today I received a press release that one of our country's most successful, respected investment companies, The Vanguard Group, has just handed the reigns of their organization to a new leader. What kind of leader did they want? See how, in his first sentence, the former CEO describes the new one:

"Bill McNabb is a man of great integrity, values, character, talent, experience, and accomplishment."

Press releases by major companies are worded with great thought and precision. Note that the first three qualifications speak of character. If you were promoted on the basis of these traits, would you qualify for a promotion?

Teaching Character in Math Classes

2008-02-22T05:01:00.000-08:00

I've received several e-mails from educators regarding how to teach character in a Math class. But every way I imagine tying the two together seamlessly seems to me to be rather artificial; e.g., lessons from the lives of great mathematicians, or integrating a moral into a math word problem.

Example Word Problem:

Henry was dating Sally. He was also cheating on Sally with Jane. How many girlfriends does Henry have now?
Answer: None. Sally and Jane found out about each other and talked.
Moral: Cheating gets you into trouble.

Hmmm...so maybe this relational triangle could somehow connect to geometry!

Rather, I think the best way I've seen to integrate character and math was modeled for me by Dr. William Craig, one of my graduate school professors. In a "History of Philosophy" class, the brilliant professor (two earned Ph.D.'s) would devote 5 minutes at the beginning of class to a sort of real-life moment. One day, he started class with something like this:

"You know, you can make A's in my class, while flunking in real life. I remember a time when I was struggling with balancing studies with my marriage. I was working on my Ph.D. at the University of Munich, Germany. The academic load was overwhelming. My main professor would keep pulling out books in French and German that he said were must reads for my dissertation. When I talked to a professor about my struggles, he advised me, 'Look around you. People around here with Ph.D.'s are a dime a dozen. But how many people do you see who have a really great marriage? Whatever the cost, don't neglect your relationship with your wife.' It really put things in perspective for me."

Well, that was 25 years ago, and I'm not sure how much I remember today about Kant and Hegel. But I'll never forget that simple life story from a teacher who cared as much about my life as about my passing his class.

My advice for leading a Math class? Introduce character by saying,

"Class, I've been thinking...if I teach so wonderfully that all of you pass my class with A's and B's, but you flunk out in life, I've not helped you very much. The infamous Unabomber, who killed people by sending them bombs in the mail, was gifted at Math, having taught Math at a respected university. He made "A's" in Math, but flunked out in life. Today he's in prison.

For what it's worth, I'd like to devote a couple of minutes at the first of class (or on Monday of each week) to discuss some life lessons I've either learned or am in the process of learning. I'm not saying I'm the perfect model of these things, but I've come to realize that often my
character has meant more to my success than whether I made an "A" or a "C" in a class."

Then, either tell a story from your life about how you learned the importance of telling the truth, not cheating, caring about others, diligence, etc.; or, tell the story of another person whom you respect. (I've got over 100 of such stories, which I call "Intercom Insights," categorized by character trait, with discussion questions, in the members' section of our character education site at www.character-education.info .) Even if you use the story of another person, I'd try to tie it in
to your personal life as well. Students like to know how your life experiences have impacted your life.

Of course, character is often better caught than taught (although a combination of both is ideal). Students will pick on on how you respect them in class, how you deal with discipline issues, how you try to treat students fairly, creating a culture of caring in the classroom. Welcoming student input into the teaching process ("Tell me personally when you think I'm either unfair or teaching poorly.") shows respect for students' opinions and helps prepare them to get customer feedback when they later run a business.

Another Possible Introduction

In introducing character to a Math class, here's another possible introduction:

"Mastering this class and making "A's" won't guarantee your success. Studies by the Carnegie Institute of Technology found that "even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15 percent of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering - to personality and the ability to lead people." (How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. xiv)

Discussion: Does this mean that Math isn't important? (No. You wouldn't get the engineering job without doing well at Math.) What does it mean? (You need to know more than Math to be successful.)

With that introduction, you understand why I'll occasionally share a life story or lead a discussion on a character trait or relational issue. This quarter, in addition to becoming better students, I hope we become better people."

Tom Brady on Commitment and Initiative

2008-02-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

When talking to my own children and classrooms about character, I find that real life stories of people they admire can really inspire. With the Patriot's extraordinary season (all wins and no losses in the regular season!), quarterback Tom Brady has been much in the news. Kids admire him and are naturally interested in how he became so successful in his field. So I read a biography on him and pulled from a few other resources to show how qualities such as commitment, initiative, endurance and proactive behavior contributed to his success. Hope it's useful to you!

Tom Brady: On Commitment and Initiative
Or, Playing Fourth String, Getting Third-Rate Treatment
But Going the Second Mile with First-Rate Effort

Brady Today

Tom Brady makes it look so easy. Moments before lightning fast defensive tackles and 300 pound linemen close in to take his head off, Brady steps back to avoid one collision, to the side to avoid another, patiently waiting for his receivers to complete their patterns. Now. He throws. Completes. Touchdown, New England.

It happens so often that he's widely regarded as one of the best quarterbacks ever. At age 30, he's led his team to three Super Bowls, received two Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards, been invited to four Pro Bowls, and holds the NFL record for the most regular season touchdown passes. No wonder he's been named "Sportsman of the Year" by both Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. (1)

It may look easy and natural for him today, but those skills didn't come naturally. It took supreme commitment to growing and learning, often under difficult circumstances.

The High School Brady

Tommy entered high school built like a beanpole - a slow-footed beanpole. Not very impressive in a game that emphasizes size and speed. But he was super-competitive and wanted to excel.

So he did more than attend regular practices. He went the extra mile by attending quarterback camps in Arizona and the University of Southern California. He even spent personal time with a throwing guru who ran a school for quarterbacks. This guy had broken down the art of passing into the most minute detail to discover what works and what doesn't . Tommy took tons of notes, to which he still refers today. (2)

And the "extra mile" stuff continued. After school during the off season, many kids throw their backpacks onto the bedroom floor to watch TV, play games and goof off until bedtime. But Tommy completed his homework and met up with his friends at the Pacific Athletic Club to work out for three or four hours.

When his coach, Tom McKenzie, lamented to Tommy's dad that he had "a Division 1 arm, but a Division 5 lower body," Tommy took it as a challenge. Every morning before school, he'd practice a tedious footwork drill called "The Five Dots," which most players loathed. According to Brady, "I've never been real fleet of foot. I enjoyed the struggle of it. I gained a lot out of it, in terms of mental toughness."

According to his coach, "Tom Brady is the only student athlete I ever saw who took advantage of every opportunity that was provided to him." (3)

His high school team wasn't that great, but he made the best of it, winning about as many games as he lost.

The College Brady

By high school graduation, he was still a beanpole. But they put together a video-tape of Tom's games and sent it to fifty-five universities. Their diligence paid off and the University of Michigan, a football powerhouse, recruited him to play for their Wolverines. But then things got strange. Before he even made it to the campus, the two coaches who recruited him and believed in him left the school.

His first year, he kept the bench warm with the third string. The second year, he played a bit in only two games. His very first pass was intercepted and run back for a touchdown. Not exactly a stellar debut. He'd throw five total passes that year. (4)

But he kept practicing, kept learning, and developed a great network of relationships with his people skills. Surely next year would be his year.

But before his third year, appendicitis robbed him of 30 pounds that he didn't need to lose. Now he was an even skinnier bean pole. Thoughts of quitting and giving up were getting the best of him. Instead of turning inward, he began to talk to the athletic department counselor, Greg Harden. From meetings with Harden, he developed a game plan for problem solving and becoming a better person. It helped.

At Spring camp, he found himself third in line behind the starting quarterback and another quarterback, Brian Griese, who's father had been a legendary quarterback. The latter won the starting position and Brady would get to play in only four games, throwing only twelve passes. Griese would graduate, leaving the slot for Brady to fill, but did Brady want it anymore? He'd been practicing his heart out for three long years to throw a total of 17 passes. In his mind, he wasn't given equal treatment. He considered changing schools. But outside of football, he loved his friends, his classes, and his volunteer work at a children's hospital. He decided to stick with it. (5)

His fourth year, he would clearly be the starting quarterback, but then things got strange again. Michigan recruited a phenomenal high school quarterback from a nearby town who had already been featured in Sports Illustrated. Being a local hero, there was pressure to move him quickly up to starting quarterback. So what did Brady think when his head coach referred to Henson, the new be, as "without question the most talented quarterback I've ever been around"? (6)

Brady started as quarterback the rest of the season, winning 10 games and losing three. But there would be a fifth year, allowable since he didn't play as a Freshman. Surely he'd established himself by now. But that would be too easy. Influential alumni were pressuring the coaches to play Henson, the new quarterback.

So here's how it played out. The coach announced that Brady would play the first quarter, Henson the second quarter, and whoever played the best would play the second half. It was a slam on Brady, the deserving fifth year senior. It would have been easy for Brady to take the low road, rallying his friends around his cause and dividing the team. Instead, he kept working and pursuing team unity. After the seventh game Brady established himself as the starter for the rest of the year.

After his final game as a Wolverine, Brady's quarterback coach told him that the circumstances he'd played under would have broken most athletes. But Brady endured. (7)

After college, he could have smugly assumed that he knew everything he needed to know about football. Instead, he attended a performance clinic to try to pick up foot speed. I mean, come on, after four years of coaching in high school and five years of coaching in college, don't you think he knew enough about how to run? Not Brady. There were still weaknesses to shore up and there was always more to learn, always an extra mile that he could go. (8)

The Pro Brady

His next stop was the NFL Scouting Combine, a place where coaches and scouts have the opportunity to watch their potential drafts in action. The gathering includes interviews, psychological testing, strength and agility tests, and the 40-yard dash.

Although the assessors noted some great traits in Brady, most saw him as a gamble. The most prominent of the evaluators concluded that he "didn't have the total package of skills." (9) One offensive coordinator assessed Brady as rather average, with his inability to establish himself at Michigan counting against him. To some, he was still a "skinny quarterback who didn't run well." (10)

Still, he hoped to be picked early in the draft. Sitting at home listening to the draft with his family, they saw one round after another passing him by. After the fifth round, the Brady bunch was depressed. According to his sister Nancy, "What with what happened at Michigan, and now having this infuriating and disappointing couple of days, he just wanted to take a walk...." While he was out walking, head coach Bill Belichick called from the Patriots, picking him on the sixth round, the 199th draft pick.

Dick Rehbein (the quarterback coach) and Belicheck saw something in Brady that others apparently didn't. During those college years, Brady was put in a bad position, but made the most out of it. They were impressed with "what he did with the opportunities he had." (11)

But at New England, he'd have to start out once again at the bottom. Now for anyone who's played second string, you know the demoralizing feeling of working hard all week to sit on the bench during the games, hoping that, just maybe, your team will get so far ahead that they call in the second string. But he wasn't on second string. He wasn't even on third string. Brady started fourth-string for the Patriots. (12)

Although he'd filled out a little by this time, the Patriot's owner still referred to Brady as, you guessed it, a "beanpole," after their first meeting. (13) But what he lacked in physical intimidation, he made up for with his work ethic, team spirit, and a rare ability to care for and energize those around him. Package all that together and it's called leadership. As one biographer put it, "Brady had that unique ability to make the person he is talking to feel as though the rest of the world has fallen away and there is only this one conversation happening anywhere." (14)

He'd spend extra time watching film of their opponents, although he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of playing in the game. The defensive coordinator noticed that Brady would work out harder than anyone else in the weight room. He threw himself into off-season workouts, whether or not he was required to attend. That helped add about 20 pounds of needed muscle. After a normal practice day, he'd lead a group of others at the bottom of the totem pole to run through the plays until they had them down. And they got better, and better. The coaches took notice and liked what they saw.

So Brady found himself the backup quarterback during his second year. And when the starting quarterback got injured, Brady took over. Because of his intense preparation during good times and bad, he was there to answer the door when opportunity knocked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Brady once noted that the most difficult wins are the most memorable. I think you could say that about his life. As Brady said, "Who wants everything to come easy?" (15)

Action Points

So do you consider yourself the "beanpole" of your team or organization - the one who doesn't look the part or make heads turn? Do you go to all the regular practices, but still find yourself benched? Do you do the assigned homework but don't get the grades you want?

If that sounds like you (and it often sounds like me!) remember how Brady defeated discouragement and went the extra mile by preparing a little harder, getting outside counsel and continuing to learn. If initiative and hard work make a top-rated professional football player out of a slow beanpole, maybe it can pay off for the rest of us.

Tom Brady on Standing Alone

Tom Brady, the super-successful quarterback for the New England Patriots, doesn't try to be "just another jock." Elwood Reid, one of his college professors, noted that Brady was his own person. The other jocks in his class were too cool to do homework or act interested in his class. Not Brady. He was polite, sincere, did his reading, brought his books to class. Reid expected the other athletes to treat him with contempt, making fun of the skinny athlete.

But to Reid's surprise, "the most disruptive guys in the class did more than leave the quarterback alone. They seemed to look up to him. In fact, they seemed to look up to him more because he wasn't following their lead." I suppose you can't very well lead the crowd if you're following it. (16)

Brady on Commitment to the Team

"All I ever wanted was the camaraderie, to share some memories with so many other guys." (17)

Brady On Not Talking Down to People

Discussion Questions

End Notes

New Character Forum!

2008-01-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

We're starting a character education forum this month at http://www.characterforum.info . Our purpose is to start making our character initiative more two-way, giving everyone the opportunity to chime in about what's working and what's not. If we get enough response, we can gain a lot of wisdom through posting questions, getting responses from across the globe, and sharing resources. Since we have from 450 to 600 people visiting our character site
( www.character-education.info ) daily, there's a vast amount of wisdom we'd like to draw from. One conversation has already begun. Hopefully, we'll start hearing from others soon.

Lessons from Coach Belichick

2008-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

The New England Patriots won every regular season game this year. In a game as highly competitive as professional football, where you compete every week against the best of the best players, this is an almost unthinkable accomplishment. They're one of only two teams to have won three Super Bowls in four years and are in the playoffs as I type. Head coach Bill Belichick is considered one of the top coaches ever. What can we learn from him?

One of my top lessons from Belichick is perseverance. Many don't realize the hard times he had to endure to reach this pinnacle of success. Since pro football is so highly publicized and so widely followed, illustrations of character from this field can make their mark. Here's a story after reading his bio. Hope you can use it!

Bill the Failure

The Cleveland Browns' head coach was one unpopular guy. In five years he'd produced only one winning season. As if losing games wasn't bad enough, he fired Cleveland's favorite quarterback.

The press crucified him. At games, fans would chant, "Bill must go! Bill must go!" Bumper stickers called him an idiot. It got so bad that his children couldn't ride the bus to school because of other students' cruel comments. He received so many death threats that the police had to stake out near his home. He endured for four long years. But in the end, he probably did well to escape Cleveland with his life.

From One Failure to Another

After such a horror story in Cleveland, you might wonder why anyone would risk repeating it. But Bill loved football. At age nine he was scouting teams with his dad and studying film of teams. His dad didn't push him into coaching. In school and at home he incessantly talked football, studied football and dreamed up plays. And getting older didn't put out his fire for the game.

So when things got tough, he just worked harder.

But it takes more than football knowledge to be a head coach. Maybe Bill didn't have what it takes to motivate players, deal with the public, and chat with the press.

So everyone, including Bill, must have worried that his next head coaching job might be a repeat of the last. But he took the chance by accepting the invitation to lead the New England Patriots. The first year looked like another failure - a dismal 5 wins and 11 losses, the same record as his last season in Cleveland.

On Top of the World

But he didn't give up.

Rather than believe the crowds and the press in Cleveland, rather than listen to the detractors who doubted him in New England, he kept on working. He learned from his failures. And behind the scenes, he was building a coaching staff and a team for the future. Not a team built around a couple of flashy superstars, but a team of dedicated players who worked as a team, thought as a team and got credit as a team.

And it worked.

Today, Bill Belichick is universally acknowledged as a brilliant strategist - one of the top coaches to ever coach pro football. Two of his Super Bowl defensive game plans are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His Patriots dominate the world of professional football, having won five straight division titles (six overall). They are one of only two teams to have ever won three Super Bowls in four years .

But it could have never happen had he thrown in the towel after five humiliating years in Cleveland and a horrid first year in New England.

Reflections

Have you ever failed? Do certain subjects or skills or sports elude your grasp? Don't give up!

When people put you down, remember how the newspapers, radio and TV commentators put down Belichick. When they laugh at you, remember the bumper stickers that read, "Belichick is an idiot!" When you go through weeks and months of failure, remember Belichick's years of failure.

I suppose you could say that the road to success is paved with failures.

Discussion

1. In what ways did Bill Belichick fail?
2. In what ways did people reject him?
3. How would you have felt if you were rejected in the same way?
4. What do you think kept him going?
5. How have you faced rejection?
6. How do you know when to quit and when to keep going?
7. How can we overcome failure?

End Notes

(Copyright December, 2007 by Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources ( www.character-education.info ). Facts from The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam (New York: Hyperion, 2005) and Wikipedia on Bill Bellichick.)

Why Character Education?

2007-10-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

The knights of old lived and died by a code of ethics. Kings knew that disloyal or unscrupulous knights were more dangerous than no knights at all. In the late 20th century, many parents and educators forgot their duty to instill character in the next generation of leaders. The results have been devastating.

Imagining that good grades in the three R's would produce a good society, we sowed academics and reaped smart criminals - from a Math professor at Berkeley who terrorized us as the "Unabomber" to the brilliant leaders of Enron who stole our life savings.

On a local level, in an interview with educator Phillip Page, one businessman said,

"The scariest thing is the smart, unethical employee. I'd rather hire an illiterate but ethical employee than a brilliant unethical one."

Although the statement at first appears extreme, his rationale was that an extremely intelligent, but unethical employee will devise a way to rob him blind.

As Warren Buffett, America's most successful investor, advised,

''Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.'' (From Omaha World Herald, February 1, 1994)

So let's commit ourselves to educate citizens to be both ethical AND literate. Fortunately, our country is rekindling its passion for character. Most states have now mandated character education in their schools. I hope this blog can help in some small way as we motivate one another to pursue character and to pass it on to the next generation.

character education

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Change Agent #9: Keep learning about teaching to change lives.

Change Agent #8: Choose texts that lend themselves to life change.

Change Agent #7: Develop a class culture of caring.

Change Agent #6: Use character and life skills resources to tie literature insights into real life.

Change Agent #5: Open your life in appropriate ways.

Change Agent #4: In analyzing literature, allow for reflection on real life.

Change Agent #3: Keep a list of traits in mind.

Change Agent #2: Get to know your students.

Change Agent #1: Add "Life-Change" or "Success" to Your Class Goals

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Why Character Education?

The deficit Americans should think about most: personal character
Our huge public debt ultimately reflects our lack of individual restraint. But we can do better.