A local educator presented a character development workshop in St. Louis at the annual Character Plus conference held at the Hyatt
Regacy in Union Station.
Featured at this conference were exhibitors from the National Center for Youth Issues. This organization is dedicated to providing practical guidance and resources educators can trust for character education and life skills training.
For 26 years, the National Center for Youth Issues has worked to empower educators by providing resources that positively impact the social and emotional well-being of children and youth. Having recently celebrated a silver anniversary, they are proud to have placed resources in over 31,000 schools in all 50 states.
One of these resources was written by Santa Clarita Educator Carole Cliffe. Using her Character Quilting teacher resource handbook for integrating character education throughout the curriculum, Carole presented a workshop at the Character Plus conference in St. Louis, Missouri on July 20. This well attended character education conference is one of the largest in the United States, and is sponsored by Xerox, University of Missouri and cooperating school districts.
Carole Cliffe’s workshop was entitled “Building Emotional Intelligence and Esteem through Character Development.”
The components of E.Q. are self-awareness, self-control, empathy, communication skills, self-efficacy and the ability to self motivate. Students who develop these skills and practice them continually have a higher rate of long term life successes than those students who score high on tests, but lack social skill development, according to David Goldman, author of Emotional Intelligence.
Carole also presented ways to empower students by building their resiliency skills through positive self-talk, making wise choices and the power of visualization.
The conference featured keynote speaker Kimberly Johnson who was selected by Laura Bush to help in her literacy campaign. Mrs. Johnson has written many children’s books, which encourage, respect, responsibility and pursuing your dreams. In addition Louisiana State Teacher of the Year Debbie Silover shared the art and heart of teaching through character development.
Other resources for effective character growth include the Character Classics music program, and DVDs entitled Auto B Good. This series is a take from the movie Cars and appeals to kids. The cars in the movie teach such character values as persistence, self-control, patience and kindness. This series was a very popular attraction at the conference, and Carole brought back samples for school and after-school programs.
For more information or staff development training on character education, effective materials for home and school use, and about raising Kids of Character, contact Carole Cliffe at 661- 305-1265 or carolechar@earthlink.net . Visit www.characterbuildingconcepts.com .