Character Education

THE THEORY OF THE DIPPER AND THE BUCKET (How Full Is Your Bucket?)       – Ruth & Clifton

Each of us has an invisible bucket (including our students*). It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it’s empty, we feel awful.

Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people’s buckets—by saying or doing things to increase their positive feelings—we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others’ buckets—by saying or doing things that decrease their positive feelings—we diminish ourselves.

Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That’s why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

So, we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another’s buckets, or we can dip from them. It’s an important choice—one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.

(*Do we help to “fill or dip from our colleagues’ and our students’ buckets” based upon our “words and actions?”)

 

THE TRIPLE-FILTER TEST

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day, an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about our friend?”

Socrates replied, “Before telling me anything, I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the 'Triple-filter Test.’ Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness.” Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary.”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test, though, because there’s one filter left; the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"  -- Anonymous

   

“LIFE WORDS OF WISDOM” TO CONTEMPLATE (Quotes to place on your board or use as paraphrased writing samples) – Gr. 6-12

·        “May you always have love to share, health to spare, and friends that care.”

·        “A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.”

·        New “Character Rocks pens” for the first 25 who respond by emailing Dr. Hodgin “CRP.”

·        “When you ask God for something, be thankful if He sends, not material possessions or wealth, but the love of real true friends.” – Helen Steiner Rice

·        “To the world you are just one person, but to one person you might just be the world.”

·        “They say age is all in your mind, but the secret is to keep it from creeping down your body.”

·        “There are four things you cannot recover: The stone thrown into the water; The word after it is said; “The occasion after the loss; The time after it is gone.”

·        “Never under estimate the power of your words. There is no wrong time to say the right thing. And there is no better time than now.”

·        “Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” -- George Crane

·        “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” -- Eleanor Roosevelt

·        “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, but it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.” -- Dale Carnegie

·        “We will become what we choose to become—nothing more and nothing less.” -- Hodgin

·        How much would you make this past year, if someone had paid you $10 for each kind word you spoke about other people and also collected $5 from you for every unkind word you said about others…would you be rich or poor?

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY!

·        Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

·        Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

·        Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

·        There’s no such thing as too much candy.

·        All work and no play can make you a basket case.

·        A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

·        Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

·        Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

·        Some body parts should be floppy.

·        Keep your paws off other people’s jelly beans.

·        Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.

·        The grass is greener in someone else’s basket.

·        An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

·        To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.

·        The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

-- Author Unknown

FTTLA (Funny Things To Laugh About) – The Driving Permit

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said to him, “I’ll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut; then we will talk about it.”

A month later the boy again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said, “Son, I’m real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you’ve studied your Bible diligently, but you didn’t get your hair cut!”

The young man waited a moment and replied, “You know, Dad, I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve read in the Bible that Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair.”

His father replied, “Yes, Son, and if you read on further you’ll find out that they walked everywhere they went!”

A BAG OF TOOLS

Educators like you and me

Are builders for eternity.

Each of us is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass, a book of rules;

And each must make, of the things that are known,

A stumbling block or a stepping stone.

-- Roy Sharpe