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Teachers typically choose responsibility as the culminating Trait for Success.  Once students have been given instruction on how to build character, their goal at the end of a school year is to demonstrate their willingness to take charge of their own success, their own learning.  This does not mean that each child will be perfectly organized or attentive or courageous or persistence, but rather that there will be clarity in the minds of each child about what constitutes success.

I know this sounds elementary, but unless these skills are specifically taught, we should not assume that everyone knows what they are.  Parents and teachers need to feel comfortable arguing through their list of Success Traits, but also coming to an agreement on what aspects of success will be emphasized.  While I am comfortable that the traits chosen for the schools where I have worked have plenty of research to back them up, I am also confident that goals might be different in other communities.  Urban schools may have different expectations from suburban and rural schools, large schools and small schools, church schools and non-religious schools, independent schools and public schools.  It is critical to embrace these differences, not ignore them, and ultimately to seek a definition of life success that inspires students to achieve.

A responsibility report card typically summarizes what has been instructed all year long.  In the case of schools where I worked,

Successful students pay attention to organization;

Successful students pay attention to their strengths and weaknesses;

Successful students are courageous;

Successful students are generous;

Successful students are persistent;

Successful students have positive attitudes;

Successful students are flexible;

Successful students are independent;

Successful students are collaborative;

Successful students are responsible.

The lens of success will be focused on these areas when a student struggles, but also, when a student finds success. In placing responsibility at the end of the school year, we are saying that we have taught students the lessons of success – we are now counting on students to take charge of their learning and to be kind, compassionate, and respectful people.

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Coming Next- Homeschooling and Success Traits

 From our first posting:

“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor.  We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”

 #charactereducation #successtraits #parentingtips #homeschooling #teachertips