The Seven TraitS of Highly Successful Students

As a public school teacher, I believe that all children, regardless of ability, have the right to a quality, affordable -- if not absolutely free -- education, which features a rich and varied curriculum that develops not only their abilities to read, write, speak and think, but also provides them with the opportunities to participate in artistic, athletic and intellectual endeavors beyond the traditional classroom. In order to insure this opportunity for all students, it is essential to provide educators with the practical knowledge of how best to accommodate learners who possess a variety of abilities and limitations so that they may be able to meet with some appreciable measure of success when they are integrated into the regular education classroom. It is the responsibility of the entire school system and supporting community, not only the specific classroom teacher, to work to make this a reality. While it is unlikely that all students with special needs will experience a seamless transition into an integrated situation, it is the job of everyone in the school system to work toward this goal.

It is the responsibility of all school staff members to build, maintain and model positive, healthy relationships with our students. I treat every student with the respect I would desire to have extended toward me. I guess this is just another way of framing the Golden Rule (i.e. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). This is not a complicated concept, and you don't need an advanced degree to figure it out. This is as important as the content we teach them (if not more, at times). The kids will remember this information well after they have forgotten the content of the academic lessons we teach. We, as teachers, need to begin our work where we can have the greatest impact: creating a positive educational environment. I am occasionally amazed that some of my colleagues discount the impact of the physical, emotional and professional environment in which we seek to educate our students and mostly focus on the specific content they are charged with teaching. Many younger (and older teachers, unfortunately) use the course content as a blunt object to bludgeon their students into conformity. Our job is not to control kids for a semester, but to help them learn content and skills we -- and presumably our society -- deem to be important.

So how do we create a positive environment? I've thought (and done) a lot about that question over the years. When I was a much younger teacher, in about 1991, I was required to create a set of rules that were to be posted at the front of my classroom. As I didn't care for the "Don't do this..." structure that most of my colleagues used, I developed my own set of expectations (not rules, mind you) that avoided the use of negative statements. I realized at the time that the real key for creating a positive environment was not only to expect my students to adhere to them, but also to follow them in my own classroom practice. They are Kindness, Positivity, Honesty, Attentiveness, Perseverance, Punctuality, and Respect. I initially referred to these expectations as the "Seven Virtues," but due to the pretty obvious religious overtone of that title, I later referred to them as the "Seven Traits of Highly Successful Students" (with a nod to Stephen Covey, as I came up with my list -- but not my title -- before I read his book). One could argue that Respect subsumes all of the other "virtues," but I felt at the time I needed to be more clear if not quite so concise. One rather narrow-minded administrator said to me upon viewing my classroom expectations that she "wouldn't know what 'not to do' in my classroom to stay out of trouble." Thankfully my principal appreciated what I was trying to accomplish and overruled her objections.

Regardless of this, it doesn't matter what our classroom expectations or practices are if we do not consistently apply and adhere to them. In my experience, consistency is key, and if we are not consistent in our treatment of our kids (and our adherence to the values we wish to promote), we are not doing our jobs. Believe it or not, our subject matter is a secondary concern, for if we do not first create a positive environment that will be conducive to learning, our students aren't going to get much out of our efforts to teach them.