So I have finally figured out how to get all my content up and in one place! As a first-time Classroom Champions participant, I am realizing that the learning curve is about as steep as a luge track. But, I am learning more and more about how I can share our experiences with others in the program, and my students are loving every minute of our lessons and activities.

Here is a summary of how we explored "honesty" this month - it is also posted in the Honesty section on Google+. 

I was really grateful for the opportunity to incorporate some character education into our health lessons this month. I began by asking my students to write on a sticky note what “honesty” means to them. Most wrote about telling the truth and not telling lies. Then I asked them to share a time when they were not honest, and how it made them feel. I encouraged them to be honest with themselves and their peers as they were sharing. We talked about how we all make mistakes and sometimes do or say things we wish we could take back.

Next I read “A Big Fat Enormous Lie” by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. My students quickly related to how the little boy in the story felt after lying about eating all the cookies in the cookie jar. We concluded that lying does not make us feel good, and that even if we might get in trouble for what we did, it is still better to tell the truth. With these ideas in mind, we watched our mentor video. We noted some things related to honesty that had come up in the video, like not cheating, stealing, or breaking promises. We talked about why honesty was important to our mentors in the sport of luge. Then, I asked my students to write down a sentence explaining why telling the truth and being honest is important to them. They posed for a picture and we created a display for our door so that others could see why honesty is so important.

To conclude our exploration of honesty and its importance, we performed a few skits. The students got together in groups of 3-4 and each group was given a slip of paper outlining a scenario that could have two possible endings: an honest one or a dishonest one. I asked each group to model both possibilities, and after a few days of practice, we recorded them to share with all of you! They loved acting out the different situations and it really helped us to understand that honesty (and dishonesty) can take many forms. We are looking forward to building on this understanding as we explore the topic of “community” over the next couple months!