 | Honesty Honesty is the best policy - not because of what will
happen when you get aught for being dishonest - but because it is the only way
to live your life with self respect. If you mess up, fess up. If you do
something wrong, take responsibility, apologize, fix it and get on with life.
Being honest with yourself is the most important step towards being
comfortable with yourself.
 | Unfortunately I have seen a rise in dishonesty and cheating in grade 4
students over the last 10 years. There has also been a rise in students
cheating repeatedly, even after they have been caught once. |
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| Perseverance To persevere is to go the distance, to slog on even
when the going gets tough and it's not fun to do. People who persevere know
that achieving the goal is worth the effort. No pain - no gain.
| In the FabFour classroom, students can show determination &
sitck-to-it-iveness by continuing to read different books till finally a
preferred genre is discovered; by meeting all assignment deadlines or by
practicing for all presentations - big or small. Too often students think
that practice is not needed and that results should come quickly. Most
students need to persevere to develop their skills to an acceptable level. |
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| Initiative Someone who has initiative is the person who of their
own accord takes the first step to do something. In school, this would be the
student who sets out to learn something without a teacher pushing them on.
| Initiative is rare among students. The initiative to learn and do
interesting things on their own is often linked to curiosity. It requires an
active part in learning. Unfortunately many students are passive
participants in the learning process. |
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| Fairness When a student knows who is right and who is wrong in a
situation and steps in to see that the situation gets resolved justly - that
is fairness. When a student treats people the way they deserve to be treated -
whether they are friends or not - that is fairness. When a student always
demonstrates sportsmanlike behaviour, even in the heat of the moment of a
game, that is fairness. |
| Empathy Empathy is where one really feels what another person is
feeling. Students who are empathetic make others feel comfortable for
accepting people for who they are. |
| Optimism When someone is an optimist they greet every day with a
smile and expect the best. Because of that they often have more fun in life
because they look for the good things. Optimists see the glass as being half
full rather than half empty.
| People cannot change their innate personalities. However, people can
"act" optimistic and find that their viewpoint has brightened. If students
smile, even though they do not feel like it, they will feel better than if
they gave in to their negativity. Whining never improves a situation. We are
fortunate if we have optimists around us because their positive nature rubs
off on us all. |
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| Responsibility When someone is responsible, they can be counted on
day in and day out to do the right thing. When a responsible person agrees to
do something, you know it will get done, even if you don't check on them.
| Students need experience with responsibilities. It can be developed and
is closely linked to maturity. At home chores and responsibility play an
important part in developing this trait. |
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