Character Education - Dependable

Anderson	Today a couple of girls did an improv skit about dependability. They used the example of a partner project with one coming in late and not having her part of the project completed. This was a great example of how dependability is important in the everyday life of a high school student.
Ball	Mrs. Ball’s class wrote about what "dependable" meant to them and shared this with each other.
Bartels	Today, we brainstormed "What does it mean to be dependable?" on the board. Then we discussed why people are hired and fired from jobs. We discussed what people are looking for in letters of recommendation for scholarships and jobs. Students are great ideas and participated well.
Benton
B-Hill	The students drew 4 pictures that depicted how someone demonstrates dependability.
Billingsley
Caywood
Cherry
Cofield	My class was asked to define what dependable means in their own words. They were then asked to give a definition from an on-line source. The students were asked: Are you dependable? If so why do you consider yourself to be a dependable person and if not why do you think that is? Who is the most dependable person you know? What makes them so dependable? Even if you already consider yourself to be dependable what could you do in the short-term to increase your dependability? Responses: Student 1 – Dependable is being able to have people trust you with their most precious possessions, thoughts, ect… I am dependable because I show up for FBLA. Kelly is the most dependable person I know. She always has everything that is needed of her on time, or when it matters. I could buy a planner and keep all my obligations written down, as to not forget. Student 2 – Dependable is when people know they can rely on you. They can ask you to do something and they know it will get done. It is when people trust you with the most. I try to be very dependable. I show this by paying all my bills, cleaning house, going to school, keeping a job, taking care of my sister, and not lying. The most dependable person I know is my grandpa, Jay. He has never let me down; when he says he is going to do something he does; and he never has lost my trust. I can be more dependable by making sure everything people ask me to do gets done, act responsible, not make promises I can not keep, and work on my grades.
Copenhaver
Debusk	My Endeavor wrote definitions of dependable and shared with partners. We then discussed examples of things we do and/or can do on which others can depend.
Dickensheet
Dutcher
Ferguson	Students explained that they believed being dependable meant that you were trustworthy, honest, and did what you said you were going to do. We discussed who in their lives were dependable and they concluded that their parents, some friends, and some teachers were dependable in that they could count on these people to care about and for them. We discussed the difference between friends and acquaintances and how dependable each one of those categories of people were. They decided, overwhelming that a few friends were very dependable but in all cases it depended on the situation. I asked them if they thought that they were dependable people and the majority thought that they were.
Fronterhouse
Gammel
Garton
Goble
Goodwin	We discussed the definition of dependable, and shared who in our lives we could depend on. We then read the story about the farm hand who could sleep when the wind blows and what allowed him to do so.
Grady
Gray
Grega
Hall
Hay	We discussed how important it is for parents, teachers and other people in leadership roles to be dependable. The results or ramifications that occur when people who lead prove to not be dependable can be far-reaching. Good discussion.
Hodge
House	First, I took my student out to the tennis courts and showed them how to perform a fireman's chair lift. Second, I had the students divide into teams of three and instructed them to decide who was carrying and who was the carryee. Third, the carriers were instructed to close their eyes and "depend" on the carryee to guide them across the tennis courts and back. After the exercise, the class discussed how difficult it was to depend on others and how important it was to be dependable yourself.
Isackson	DEPENDABLE To be consistent in your actions and behavior and to be steadfast in doing what is needed or expected of you. I. How have you proven to your parents in the past that you are dependable? II. How have you proven to a teacher that you are dependable? III. Who is the most dependable person you know? Why?
Klein	I used the power point presentation on Viking Mail. It was a pretty good one. It allowed for a bit of discussion.
Krudwig
Laws
MacDonald
Madras	We created individual foldables that showed who and what we depend on and who and what depends on us.
Mann	What makes a person dependable? - Ideas from students - Someone who is always there - someone who you can count on - someone who has never let you down. What does a person have to do before they are no longer dependable? - Let you down - It depends on whether they make a little mistake or a huge mistake Who can you always depend on? - My mom - My grandma - My friends - My boyfriend - God, etc Who depends on you? - discussion of employers, teachers, family, friends etc.
Matthews
Miller, D
Miller, H	I read the definition of “Dependable”. I also read some quotes related to being dependable. The class made posters that depicted what dependable meant to them.
Moore
Newport	Students listened to the story "Sleeping Through the Storm." They discussed how and why the young man could "sleep in peace." They were then given a variety of situations where people depended on each other. They had to list the occupations involved and determine the result/consequence of even one of the individuals not being "dependable." (i.e. flying a plane, doing brain surgery, building a house, and racing a car at the Indy 500.)
Nibert	For the month of May, our Endeavor had a discussion on what it means to be dependable. I asked each student to write down three words that they felt meant the same thing as being dependable. The winning word was reliable - 90% of my students said that you have to be reliable in order to be dependable. We then discussed ways in which they could demonstrate dependability. Interestingly, many students wrote down good ideas; however, most said that they need to work on being dependable. Out of all of the Character Ed topics, this was one that they seem to struggle with, so we talked about challenging ourselves to become dependable even though some people around us might not be. They all admitted to having people who they are close with as not being dependable, and over half of my class said more than 50% of people they knew are not dependable. This led to an in-depth conversation and even prompted some students to pick up a dictionary and look up the word "credible," to find out what it means. They did this after I read the definition from the Character Ed handout. Overall, we had a great discussion as a class.
Nurnberg	We did a Think-Pair-Share. The first topic I asked the kids to discuss was a time when somebody they were depending on let them down. A couple of groups shared their story with the rest of the class. Next, each group discussed a time when they had been the one who let somebody else down. A couple of groups shared their story. We finished by discussing the idea that dependability is often achieved by the determination a person has to follow through. Even when obstacles are encountered, people who are dependable find ways to overcome and follow through.
Orcutt
Rieser
Somerville
Steinert	We completed a general discussion on being dependable, and we talked about its importance related to Cabinet and Student Council.
Stout	The kids defined dependable and then what dependability looks like. They shared in small groups and then with the whole class.
Stratton
Strong
Tate	I read “Dependability” from Mike Krzyewski’s book Beyond Basketball to the students. Coach K is at Duke and in this book uses words, and stories that go with them, to give meaning to words. In this case, the story was about his brother and how Coach K could depend on him at any time. We then talked about siblings and being able to depend on each other.
Thompson	Our class evaluated what it meant to be dependable. They were asked to write and share with each other two instances where they depend on someone or something and two instances where someone or something depended upon them. Lastly we summarized what we could do to be more dependable.
VanStavern, S
VanStavern, D
Vigil
Weber	For Dependability II read the definition of the word to the students. We then viewed a short film called "Horton Hears a Who" and discussed how the main character Horton was very dependable and he was very "steadfast in doing what was needed" in how he defended the Whos that were on the dust speck. Students were then asked to write a letter to someone in their lives that was very dependable. They were to thank the person and I then mailed out the letters for the students.
West
Weter
Wittmer