We define performance character as the “character needed for excellence in any area of endeavor”.  We’re talking about putting values in action such as grit, perseverance, work ethic, positive attitude.  These “willing values” are what we need on a day and in a moment like I described above when you must do what you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do it. Performance is the outcome–the grade, the test score, the final scoreboard. It’s important, but doesn’t tell us if you have “performance character” those qualities needed to maximize your potential for excellence.  (You can win by 40 and not ever draw upon your performance character, right?).

We first “rediscovered” the idea of performance character (rediscover since the character connection to excellence certainly preexisted our work, the field of character education was just predominantly focused on moral character) in our work with sports and character.  Coaches talked a lot about the character needed for success in sport, the character that enabled a team or individual to “outperform their resources.”   The idea of performance character has proven a sticky one that resonates deeply with those in all walks of life.  It’s easy to see the importance of performance character; it obvious that our work as teachers and coaches is next to impossible if those we are working with will not continue giving effort, persevering through difficulty, or striving to maximize their potential for excellence.

The more I work on the development of performance character with teachers and coaches and with myself, the more convinced I am that the test of performance character is precisely when we don’t have 100% to give.  I’ve done plenty of runs when I was well rested, had good nutrition, when it was perfect temperature outside (although in my current sleep-deprived, hectic life, here in Upstate New York, I don’t see many those perfect days!). Heck it’s easy to give it your all on those days. That’s the point: performance character isn’t a sometimes ideal that we go after as if we’re trying to plan the perfect moment to summit a mountain.  It’s an all the time struggle to do the best we can given the circumstances and what we’ve got to offer.

Developing performance character means that we find really good Public Performance opportunities to work out our performance character muscles (this can be that last lap when you’re tired and you just want to go home; or it can be one more draft on a paragraph that you’ve revised 25 times, but still isn’t clicking).  I wouldn’t have likely worked out my performance character muscles if I hadn’t been out running—putting my weakness and humanity on display for all to see.  Sport gives us plenty of Public Performance/Presentation, which is good. But the glorious moments of “the game” often require less performance character than the inglorious moments of practice.   Bottom line: we need opportunities for Public Performance/Presentation to draw out our inner reserves.

Developing performance character requires utilizing Self-Study to monitor how we react or respond when “we’re in the red.” What do you do when you’re tired, frustrated, hurting and think you can’t do it anymore?  Do you simply quit. Do you lash out at others? Do you beat yourself up? Can you find little ways to keep yourself moving forward through the pain to your goal?   It’s a scary feeling to get in that uncomfortable spot in your mind when you just want out; if you can stay there, study it and maybe understand it; you’ll s

Developing performance character also requires use of good Other-Study examples, and here the obvious ones aren’t always the best.  I love Hoosiers and much as the next guy, but that’s a pretty view of performance character, when in reality it’s much, much, more gritty.  Use Other-Studies that draw out the gritty, difficult, but absolutely essential elements of giving 100% in a moment where all you’ve got to draw upon is 75, or 50, or 25% of your normal reserves.   Everybody loves the “pull it out at the end against all odds in front of the sold out stadium story.”  We have to draw more attention and teach from the “pull it out on a Tuesday afternoon when you’re tired and distracted by other things and you still stuck with it even though nobody would know if you didn’t story.”   (And if we want to connect to the real world, we should study the performance character needed by the worker who gets up every day at 5AM and does their work well day after day after day; or, study the performance character needed to be a single parent juggling life at home and work. Which is often nothing like the glory of sport whatsoever, but very much like the inglorious preparation required for sport).

Finally, developing performance character requires Support & Challenge.  Don’t simplify performance character to a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” hero complex.  I’m sure that if I’d had a running partner out there with me on my run, I would have been able to get out of my own self-pity and pulled it out. I would have drawn energy from their example and gotten more out of myself simply by keeping up with them.  Performance character isn’t just about personal reserves; it’s about surrounding yourself with others who know how to support and challenge you to get the most out of what you have to offer on any given day, in any given circumstances.  In fact, the “so what” of this story may well be that the way to routinely outperform your available resources is seeking out the Support & Challenge of good coaches and teammates capable of helping get more out of yourself than you believed you have.

Performance character: the character needed to outperform our resources. Is it in you and your team?

However sometimes for students, teachers, administrators, parents, policy makers, etc., that isn’t enough.  Yes we know we should teach students these things, but with all the other subjects and initiatives competing for our time and resources, can we really afford to spend time teaching and practicing things like this?  For example, I once heard a teacher say they would love to teach students a system for setting up norms in small groups, but they only had 48 minutes to teach a complete lesson, so they weren’t sure that there was any time for something like a Power2Achieve Portable Compact-4-Excellence.

So why should we do this?  Why intensely and intentionally teach  character development?  Why spend the few professional development opportunities we have left on anything but the traditional content areas?

Why Power2Achieve?

This week I’ve heard some incredible answers from some surprising sources.

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I heard a story of a classroom where a Power2Achieve lesson was being taught.  During the lesson two students explained that they always felt excluded.  The teacher recognized it as a serious issue not just for these two students, but also realized that other students may feel this way too.  Instead of just making an effort to involve these two students in that one particular class, the teacher shared the experience with the other faculty members at the school, and challenged them to seek out students who might feel excluded and work to include them in new ways.

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I visited with one of my best friends, a person I’ve known since we were in preschool, who wanted to know more about what exactly IEE does. I shared the Power2Achieve competencies chart with him as we talked, at which point he stopped me and said that during all of his corporate training sessions over the years, this is exactly the types of things they’ve been trying to teach people (I won’t say which one, but he works for a huge multi-national organization in the financial industry).

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I spoke to a friend who has worked hard to build a positive culture in a new young family.  This person shared that effective communication, working together, and managing their priorities are the three things they’ve found to be essential to enjoying their time together and growing as a loving family.

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The most powerful example…I heard a story of a teacher in a Power2Achieve training that answered the question of “Why?” with great clarity:  “Because our students deserve this.”

IEE designs and delivers Power2Achieve programming because the research says its necessary and because real teachers and administrators in real schools say it’s needed.

We all work hard to teach students in a way that will develop their performance and moral character because they deserve it.

We hope you can use the Power2Achieve Tools, strategies, and lesson plans in Unit 1.1 and all our other Foundations units, Toolkit PD workshops, and CEEA surveys to give your teachers and students what they need, and what they deserve:  Intentional, engaging, and supportive educational preparation for success in school, work, and beyond.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydspjbi62Kw

Ok, just joking! We’re not looking to teach students to negotiate by using birds-of-prey threats, nor are we trying to teach how to negotiate out of a hostage situation like we see in movies.  In this lesson we’re talking about using a Win-Win Negotiation in situations that students might really face in their every day lives.

In this lesson we use a real news story about a high school that had their homecoming events canceled due to behavioral issues, and have students role play as school administrators and students from the high school.  Students then use the P2A Win-Win Negotiation Tool to reach a solution that both sides can agree to.

You may notice that a number of our lesson plans recommend role plays.  Why?  Because a role-play is a type of “Public Performance/Presentation.”  This is one of the elements of the 4 KEYS Research Based Master Strategy that drives Power2Achieve programming and creates real character development opportunities.

The Four KEYS are:

• Self-Study
• Other-Study
• Public Performance/Presentation
• Support & Challenge

Individually, these are great instructional strategies to use in the classroom.  When all four are working together, that is when we can truly tap in to the catalytic power of character, and in doing so prepare our students for success in school, work, and beyond.

We’d like to know, whether it’s with Power2Achieve Foundations, within your content area teaching, coaching, or any other setting…How do you use the 4 KEYS?

Let us know by clicking the “reply” button or emailing me @ kbaker@excellenceandethics.com

However when we think about student interactions with their peers, teachers, administrators, parents, co-workers, bosses, and all the other people students communicate with, and especially the interactions which become ineffective or inappropriate, we quickly realize that students aren’t aware that they should plan for communication experiences, nor do they know how to do so.

The P2A Prepare to Communicate Tool gives students a method of preparation that can be applied to all different kinds of communication experiences.  In the lesson, students conduct on Other-Study (an element of the 4 KEYS Research Based Master Strategy) using video clips from the TV show The Apprentice.  Using videos as drivers for Other-Study experiences help give students concrete examples of P2A Tools being put into action (or not being put into action as the case is in these clips!).  At the end of this lesson students have been introduced to a strategy that can help them communicate in a more effective, efficient, and enjoyable way no matter what context they use it in.

Taking a look at the actual format of the lesson plan itself, there are several things to note that you’ll find in every Foundations lesson plan.

• A cover page:  This gives you the essential information for the lesson at your fingertips, including any particular preparation steps you may need to take prior to the lesson (in addition to thoroughly reading through the LP and planning for instruction!)  and the materials you’ll need for the lesson.
• A step by step lesson plan in outline format:  You’ll notice 3 Primary headings:  A) Lesson Overview, B) Web-Based Resources & Support, and C) Lesson Delivery Steps.  Within C, you will find four sub-sections:  1)Introduction, 2) Guided Practice, 3) Closure & Assessment, and 4) Extension
• The parts of the lesson that are written in bold-italic font are suggestions for how your instruction and facilitation might sound (Note:  You don’t have to read this word for word!!! You are encouraged to use your own classroom expertise and teaching style to make these lessons successful in your specific and unique environment!!!)

At first glance, the lesson plans and materials might seem daunting, but when you break them down into sections and consider the purpose for each, you will find that they give you all you’ll need to plan and teach awesome Foundations lesson!

Tomorrow I’ll highlight Lesson 1.1.3 and will explain the “why” behind some of the activities within the student materials and how slides can be used to enhance Foundations instructions.

Remember you can add your own comments to blog posts using the “reply” function.

If you’re not sure how to access the Unit 1 materials, click here for step-by-step access instructions (including screen-shots):

http://excellenceandethics.com/programs/AccessUnit1p1.pdf

Foundations lesson 1.1.1 is titled “Communicating to Connect with Others.”  This lesson is all about turning the common perception of what “social networking” is upside down.  Today when we hear the words social networking, we immediately think of Facebook, myspace, Linkedin, Foursquare, etc.  Technically speaking however, these are actually elements of social media.

Social networking is simply about making connections with people you interact with.  For example, when as a teacher we attend a multi-school professional development days, how do we begin to interact with the people around us?  For students, when they join a club or team, start a new school year with new classmates, begin a job, or move on to college, how do they start making connections?

Communicating to connect with others is a fundamental element of building a culture of excellence & ethics.  This lesson uses the Power2Achieve Social Networking Tool to teach students real strategies that will help them build and deepen connections and relationships with others in school, work, and beyond.
On the lesson 1.1.1 webpage, which you can get to by clicking on the Lesson 1.1.1 link when you get to the Unit 1.1 homepage, you will find the following:

• Lesson plan
• Student Materials
• PDF of the P2A Social Networking Tool
• P2A Social Networking Profile
• Visual Learning Resource {Slides}   (these are an optional instructional resource we encourage people to use)
• Unit Videos
• Extension Activities (we will be adding these throughout the fall)

All of these are materials you may want to use as you teach this lesson on Communicating to Connect with Others.

Read through these materials and think about how you might teach this lesson in your own educational setting (by the way, we’ve got people using these Tools in classrooms ranging from K-12, with athletes of all ages and competition levels, with school faculty and staff, with parents, and even with businesses…so think creatively)

That’s all I’ll get into in this post, but tomorrow I’ll highlight lesson 1.1.2 and will take some time to explain the actual format of the lesson plan and other materials.

Please add any thoughts, comments, or questions to this post and any other using the “reply” function (which you can do by clicking a gray link on the top right of each blog post).  If you have any specific questions, you can also email me directly at kbaker@excellenceandethics.com

Thanks, and see you back here tomorrow for lesson 1.1.2!

Web Design for Catholic Schools

This blog might be written specifically with Catholic schools  in mind, but as I read through it I found clearly written, insightful, and humorous posts that all educators could likely benefit from.  Check it out.

What the Heath’s argue is that knowledge does not change behavior, practice does.  It’s not the knowledge is unimportant, it’s just not sufficient for changing behavior. Here’s an example from the book: in trying to reduce obesity in West Virginia milk was identified as a potential problem, since many families drank whole or 2% milk, which contains lots of fat. The scientific knowledge helped to identify the fat content in milk as problematic, but simply telling people that milk has lots of fat and “shoulding” all over them (you should watch your weight, you should think about this, you should be healthier” wasn’t going to make change in behavior. They needed a very specific recommended strategy:  buy 1% milk.  This recommendation guides practice or behavior (essentially answering the question, so what should I do?).

This approach is very similar to what we’re trying to accomplish in our Power2 programming.  In Power2 programming we are basically identifying the persistent challenges that cause organizations to under perform–these are most often challenges of moral and performance character.  We identify the competencies needed to offset the identified weakness.  Once we know what competencies are needed, we distill the existing knowledge (on the ground wisdom, published research, etc.) into replicable tools utilized for developing the competency.   What’s a tool?  the tools we build are things like a rubric, a checklist, a set of replicable steps, a sticky or memorable guide (check out our unit descriptions to see more competencies and tools).  Instead of telling schools and organizations that they “should”  think about this and figure out ways to do that, we build the tools that provide them a specific and replicable outline of what to do.

Let’s use one of our tools, the Integrity-In-Action Checklist, as an example. We all know cheating is a major problem in schools and organizations.  (Check out Don McCabe’s research, or David Callahan’s “Cheating Culture” for some background).  We can share the research until we’re blue in the face. We can educate people on the stages of moral reasoning. We can moralize about the impact of cheating and the need for integrity.  But what schools and individuals need are tools with which they can practice development of integrity.  If you don’t get to practice the skills for putting integrity into action, it shouldn’t surprise us when individuals don’t demonstrate the competency–especially in high pressure situations.

In the case of this tool, it provides a guide for thinking. It distills lots of information and psychological and sociological theory into 9 discrete reflections.  We provide a strong model and then develop opportunities where individuals can practice with that are relevant to their circumstances where they’ll be challenged to put integrity into action.   Over time when this becomes the default behavior of an individual, then a ethical competency has been developed.  When this becomes the default behavior of a community of individuals, then the culture has been changed. 

This approach is simple, not easy.  Change isn’t easy, and change in behavior requires practice.  What to do, how to do it, opportunities to practice, and a system of support and challenge–that’s our recipe for developing character and culture.

This week I’ll be doing a blog series on Unit 1.1.  Each day I’ll highlight one of the lessons by giving a brief overview of the lesson content and explaining some specific elements of the lesson format.  Whether you are a veteran Power2 educator or this is your first time interacting with IEE programming, this week long blog-series will help you teach the Power2Achieve Foundations Unit 1.1 lessons in an efficient, effective, and enjoyable way!  The 4 lessons contained in Unit 1.1 were designed for implementation in all different kinds of educational settings and are a great way to start your school year off right.

To access the free Power2Achieve Foundations materials click here, then click on the link for Unit 1.1: Consider the Perspective of Others (after reading the User Agreement of course!).

We’ll get started tomorrow with Lesson 1.1.1:  Communicating to Connect With Others.

At each training we revisited the core concepts of the program and introduced the NEW Power2Achieve approach which they helped shape through their dedication, hard work and feedback during their first year as pilot schools.

During our last day of training at Oskaloosa High School, I posed the question to the staff: “Why are we doing this program?” The teachers completed a self study to answer this question. Next, they shared their answers in small groups at their tables, then I asked if they would share some of their comments to the larger group.

A wonderful women sitting in the center of the room was first to raise her hand and said with 110% certainty, “The kids deserve it!”

This passionate opening comment led to a flurry of amazing reasons why the Power2Achieve program and the competencies it reaches are so important to teach our young people today. It was a very gratifying moment to hear the many reasons why these dedicated teachers are working so hard to help their students succeed.

As I said in my opening, it was an intensive and overwhelming few of weeks of coordination and preparation from our team to be ready to deliver the workshops. However, even more overwhelming was the positive response and reception to the evolution of the Power2Achieve program for the upcoming year from all of our schools. We are so proud of our Iowa Educators for their commitment to their students, the teaching profession and the Power2Achieve program. Our Iowa Power2Achieve schools are ready!

A big thanks to the staff and administrators at Creston, Ogden, Oskaloosa and Urbandale High Schools. I hope you have a great year…You deserve it!