What a Week of Character Strengths Looks Like at Ballentine Elementary

This article was written by Shannon Chapman, School Counselor at Ballentine Elementary School in the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina. Shannon has spent 25 years in education, 22 of them as an elementary school counselor. At Ballentine, the first 15 minutes of every school day are set aside schoolwide for The Positivity Project (P2).

Here is what a week of The Positivity Project (P2) looks like at Ballentine Elementary School. It starts the same way every Monday, in the first 15 minutes of the day, and it ends with names read over the intercom on Friday morning.

The First 15 Minutes of the Day

As part of our schoolwide master schedule, the first 15 minutes of the school day is Morning Meeting time dedicated to P2. It happens immediately after our schoolwide morning announcements.

Students come together as a class to discuss the character strength of the week, and they share personal stories of how they have demonstrated that strength or how they have seen a classmate demonstrate it. We have found this is a great way to greet each other, make connections, and set a positive tone for the day.

We decided on the first 15 minutes of the school day for a reason. Morning Meeting happens before any pullouts, so the whole class is together hearing the same lesson and the same stories.

Character Strengths in Academic Lessons

Learning about that week’s character strength does not stop when Morning Meeting does. Teachers and staff use character strength language with students throughout the day, in academic and enrichment areas alike, and our teachers take advantage of opportunities to connect P2 lessons to their academic lessons. In our lower grades, a class reading a story might reference how a character is demonstrating that week’s strength. Teachers also ask open-ended questions that let students talk about how an academic lesson connects to a character strength.

Because the whole school studies the same strength at the same time, a question asked during reading is about the strength students heard at Morning Meeting that day.

A Puzzle System in One 4th Grade Classroom

Some teachers add their own lessons on top of the schoolwide routine. In one of our 4th grade classrooms, a teacher has created a positive behavior system around P2 character strengths. She encourages students to work together to reach their team goals and support each other.

Students earn puzzle pieces when their group demonstrates the character strengths in daily routines and procedures. Once a puzzle is complete, the students on that team are recognized and celebrated in the classroom. She finds this approach really helps reinforce teamwork, because no student finishes the puzzle alone.

Monthly Lessons From Our Counseling Team

Our school counseling team weaves P2 character strengths into their monthly classroom lessons, as well. Just as our teachers do, our counselors ask students open-ended questions so they can talk about which strengths showed up in the lesson. Counselors like to connect the lessons back to students and give them room to share personal connections.

Morning Meeting, academic lessons, and counseling lessons will all lead to the same result, with students talking about their own experience.

Recognition on Friday Announcements

The week ends positively. Our school honors a student from each classroom who exemplifies that week’s character strength. Their names are read on the Friday morning announcements, students receive a certificate naming the strength, and a group photo is taken. The photo goes up on our P2 bulletin board in the front lobby and is shared in the weekly letter our principal sends to families, along with information about upcoming character strengths and ways to use them at home.

Our students love hearing the names read on Friday, and students cheer for their classmates’ success. This recognition has become part of our school culture. We also see students noticing the recognition pictures as they move through our hallways, which starts hallway conversations about the character strength.

The photos stay up after the announcement ends, so students keep seeing them all week. Then Monday comes, and a new strength starts!