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Teacher: Kory McMahon who teaches at Mott Road Elementary in Fayetteville, NY. Kory McMahon can be contacted at kmcmahon@fmschools.org.

Name of Best Practice: Character Corner

Rationale/Purpose of Event: This is a permanent wall display in the gym that highlights positive and negative personal and social responsibility attributes in an effort to promote good behavior.

Suggested Grade Level: K-2, 3-5

Character Corner

My "Character Corner" idea has been a great resource in my gym for years. It's used daily in my K-4 physical education classes. It highlights positive personal and social responsibility attributes in green (best effort, safe, leader, role model, plays fair, etc.) that students should have/develop, as well as those negative traits (argues, sore loser, always first, lies, etc.) in red that should be avoided.

In addition, I have added some popular phrases (in pink) that I use frequently (i.e. "The more you say - the less we play", "When the teacher talks - we listen"), and some behavioral outcomes (in blue) expected of elementary students in New York State.

This display also mirrors our report card grading system (4 - Exceeds Standards, 3 - Meets Standards, 2 - Partially/Sometimes Meets Standards, Does Not Meet Standards/Expectations).

My "Character Corner" has been a fantastic reference to recognize individual behavior, and to promote quality group behavior as well. Using the display I can point to terms I witness during an activity and give students feedback. This acts as a catalyst to instill the positive behavior in other students. I can also identify traits I'm looking for prior to playing a game, which results in seeing that behavior much more. If I see negative behaviors during class, making eye contact with the student/s and pointing to the wall with a shake of my head will change the behavior almost immediately.

Picture (Click here for larger picture)

Variations:

Can be used to start a class, as well as highlighted during different phases of a lesson.

Teaching Suggestions/Tips:

Be creative when using the "Character Corner". It works best as a 30-second reminder for behaviors you witness during an activity, or that you want to see in the next activity.

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Posted on PEC: 10/31/2017 and has received 6 votes.

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Let others know how this idea went when you implemented/tried it with your kids. Include any variations, suggested teaching tips, positive comments, etc. so others can benefit from your tips. Please be helpful and positive with all comments. Look below to see all posted comments.

 

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Previous Comments:

Teri

Good idea!

Kory McMahon

If you would like a copy of the Character Corner words and phrases, please send me an email.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kory

kmcmahon@fmschools.org


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