Even if it seems like you're the only one who's doing what you're supposed to be doing, STICK WITH IT.  Your teacher notices!  :)

Sometimes the best way to win an argument is to know when to walk away.

If you and another person have a difference of opinion, tell them your idea, and if they have a new way to explain their idea, you should listen. 

But if all they are doing is repeating what they said over and over, say, "I'm not looking for an argument with you," and walk away. 

If you know the person who is disagreeing with you is wrong, but they're not hurting you or anyone else, you don't have to change their mind!

The results are in!

If we fill our marble jar, you've voted to watch "Flushed Away." 

Remember, to earn a marble for our jar, you (as a whole class) have to earn a compliment for exceptional behavior.  Take a look at our classroom rules and think about which of your behaviors you want to work on improving in order to help our class earn the movie! 

Our rally to be a bully-free school was a fun afternoon!  Fifth grade did a reader's theater production about "Mean Jean" who picked on kids until everyone was afraid of her.  Even though she always got her way, she was lonely.  When a new student didn't know how mean Jean was and just started playing with her like an equal, they became friends.  Jean didn't need to be mean anymore because she was happy.

We also sang a song about how to recognize and react to bullying behaviors.  There are things you can do yourself to make other kids respect you enough to stop bothering you. 

This month we talked about another way to build character, and that was to use manners.  Manners are mostly things you say, but there are also some things you do to show respect.  Here is a list of manners you thought of:

• Say "please" if you ask someone for something.
  
• Say "thank you" if someone hands you something or does something for you.
  
• Say "you're welcome" if someone says "thank you"
  
• Say "excuse me" if you burp or bump into someone.
• Say "certainly" if someone says "excuse me."
  
• Hold the door for the person behind you.
• Say "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" (the latter means good health in German).

We also talked about why we bother to use manners.  A lot of you said "because it's nice."  Some people said that it shows you respect other people, and a couple people realized that it makes other people respect you. 

Can you remember a situation where you used your manners this week?

Yesterday we talked about your goal for building character this month.  I want you to give your very best effort in class.  There are many different types of effort, but the type I will be looking for is academic effort.  Academic basically means math, reading, writing, spelling, social studies, and science. 

We talked about ways you can show me that you are trying your best.  This includes:

• Looking at me when I'm teaching you something
• Trying to do classwork yourself before asking a question
• Ignoring distractions
• Working for an extended time on an assignment instead of asking to get up from your seat

Are there other ways you are trying to show me that you are giving your best effort in class?

What kind of person would you you want to meet? 

How do you think your classmates describe you?

What are you trying to get better at in order to "Be the kind of person you want to meet?"

This year we will continue our Student of the Month incentive program to encourage you and your classmates to build character.  If you have good character, you demonstrate that you care about other people, and you care about doing the right thing.  If you work on building character, you fill see that your classmates as well as adults have more respect for you.

The acronym we use for our monthly character building goals is JEMS CARES.  JEMS stands for John E McCarthy School!  Here are those same letters written vertically:

Jumping off to a good start
Effort (academic effort, that is)
Manners
School Spirit
Cooperation
Assertion
Responsibility
Empathy
Self control

Your goal for the month of September is to What are some ways you have tried to "Jump off to a good start" so far this year?  What will you do next week to "Jump off to a good start?"