Reach - Then Teach (Character Education Guide)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)
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Reach Then Teach
By Derrick Brown
Copyright 2011 Derrick Brown (derrick.s.brown@att.net) and KnowledgeBase, Inc. All Rights Reserved. See our product catalog at http://bit.ly/tpt_db
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Part 1: Greeting....................................................................... 4 Part 2: Discovering and Embracing Our Foundational Beliefs ....................................................................................... 6 Your Name .................................................................... 6 Love .............................................................................. 7 Obedience ..................................................................... 8 Stewardship ................................................................... 9 Mind (Conscience) ............................................ 9 Body .................................................................. 9 Talents ............................................................... 9 Relationships ..................................................... 9 Possessions...................................................... 10 Time ................................................................ 10 Ministry & Entrepreneurship .......................... 10 Part 3: What We Must Do.................................................... 11 Discovering Me ........................................................... 12 Your Name ...................................................... 12 Personality....................................................... 12 Character ......................................................... 13 Temperament .................................................. 13 Habits (Breaking and Building) ...................... 14 Self-Discipline ................................................ 15 Work ............................................................... 15 Work Ethic ...................................................... 15 Power .............................................................. 16 Answering to a Higher Calling ................................... 16 Vision .............................................................. 17 Mission............................................................ 17 Building Relationships ................................................ 18 Acceptance ...................................................... 18
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Affirmation ..................................................... 18 Accountability ................................................. 19 Authority ......................................................... 19 Honesty ........................................................... 19 Faith ................................................................ 20 Trust ................................................................ 20 Forgiveness ..................................................... 20 Teaching & Learning .................................................. 21 Writing ............................................................ 22 Reading ........................................................... 22 Math ................................................................ 22 Language ......................................................... 23 Literacy ........................................................... 23 Discourse......................................................... 23 Critical Thinking ............................................. 23 Problem Solving.............................................. 24 Leadership ....................................................... 24 Teacher ............................................................ 24 Student ............................................................ 24 Pedagogy ......................................................... 25 Andragogy....................................................... 25 Knowledge ...................................................... 25 Education ........................................................ 25 Wisdom ........................................................... 25 Awareness ....................................................... 26 Ignorance......................................................... 26 Arrogance ........................................................ 26 Index ....................................................................................... 27
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Part 1: Greeting
Beloved, I greet you with joy and serenity to bring a rather urgent matter to your attention. Your formal education is practice for participating in the game of "real life". You will play this game the same way you practice for it, so you must improve the way you practice. Correspondingly, we (your educators) must improve the way we coach. As your educators, we perhaps adequately coach you to achieve, to attend, and to behave. However, we must do a better job of coaching you to think critically about the way you live, the decisions you make, and how those decisions impact both you and those around you. Correspondingly, you must begin to exercise this critical thought to examine what you believe about yourself and your life, the world in which you currently live, and the world in which your children's children will live. Consider these puzzling contradictions about our world ... We are always busy, but seem to seldom accomplish significant works. We have more "friends", but fewer lasting relationships.
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We have greater knowledge, but less wisdom (applied knowledge). We demand the right to freedom of speech, but do not accept the responsibility to be careful of what we say. We seize authority, but do not use it to create power (efficient work).
My purpose in writing to you today is simple and sincere. I want to confront these contradictions in a loving way by challenging the way you think about life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. I want to do so by emphasizing what "can be" in our lives, as opposed to lamenting what "is not". I have few answers, but I have developed a keen ability to ask the right questions at the right times, and to respond to them honestly and transparently. Challenge yourself to do the same and join me today as we begin a journey to greater awareness. I will lead this journey by sharing my beliefs with you - not to convince you to believe what I believe, but rather to encourage you to consider, to define, and to embrace what you do believe. I want to use my life lessons to show that you will achieve whatever you believe. Sincerely, Derrick Brown
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Part 2: Discovering and Embracing Our Foundational Beliefs

I believe that the foundation of life is established by the following six fundamental principles: Your Name Love Obedience Stewardship Ministry Entrepreneurship
I would like to briefly define and discuss each of these principles.
Your Name
Your name is your parents' first and most durable gift to you. Your name defines the hope they have for your life, and can help you to identify and to achieve your life's purpose. My first name (Derrick) means "leader of his people". I discovered this meaning during a time in my life when I was afraid to speak out on matters about which I cared deeply. Once I learned what my name meant, trying to embrace that
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meaning challenged me to develop the courage to speak out. In responding to this challenge, though, I learned that courage does not mean "absence of fear". Rather, it means "a challenge of your fears". I was still afraid to speak out, but knew I had meaningful messages that could educate and empower people. Seizing the opportunity to deliver these messages required taking the risk to speak out despite my fears. The lesson I learned from taking the risk is that you will discover your voice as soon as you begin to use it to express your thoughts. Discover what your name means. Then, embrace this meaning by challenging yourself to act in a manner that fits the name you were given.
Love
To love is to seek the greatest good for yourself and others. It is an action - not a feeling. There are many times when the action of love does not leave us with a great feeling. For example, when authority figures punish us for our wrongdoing, it is sometimes done to teach us to not make choices that could cause us harm. We may become upset and feel angry because of the punishment, but we eventually grow to accept, to understand, and perhaps even to appreciate being prevented from doing harm to ourselves. Over the course of time, our mindset may even mature into one that
Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) chooses to only do what is in our best interests.
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Love everyone in your midst - even those who may do things that you do not like, or those with whom you disagree. Most of all, though, love yourself. You will only be able to love others to the degree that you love yourself.
Obedience
Obedience is the act of loving and respecting authority. When we are obedient, we choose to do what is right. There will be times when authority figures choose to do what we might believe is wrong. In these times, the action of love may require that we respectfully bring these wrongs to the attention of authority both for our own good, and for the authority figure's personal growth. Obedience requires that we understand that we are all equal in essence - that is, we are each endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights - but that we are different in function. By essence, we are entitled to hold and to voice opinions as much as authority figures are entitled to do so. However, by function, the authority figure makes the final decision. If this seems unfair, consider that if the authority figure makes the wrong decision, the authority figure is then held responsible for the outcome. Because the authority figure bears this ultimate responsibility, we must respect their function as the ultimate decision maker.
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Stewardship
Stewardship is the act of caring for people and things. Caring for people and things is an essential element in human growth. No matter how and where we were born, and no matter what our economic status might be, we are each endowed with six gifts that we must steward properly and responsibly:
Mind (Conscience)
You will become whatever you think, speak, and do. The mind must be nurtured through study, meditation, and rest.
Body
You are what you eat. Your body is a temple that must be cared for through proper diet, exercise, and rest.
Talents
Your talents are gifts that will make room for you to become and to achieve the purpose identified by your name.
Relationships
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Your relationships help you to grow by learning from and caring for others. We grow even through resolving conflict in our relationships.
Possessions
Your faithful caring for the least of things will bring greater things into your hands. Care for whatever you have, and it will increase. Produce increase in people, and you will be given more people to guide. Produce increase in resources, and your resources will increase.
Time
Power is the ability to execute tasks efficiently that is, by making effective use of time. Think and act powerfully, and you will grow both in responsibility and authority.
Ministry & Entrepreneurship

Ministry is serving people. When you serve people, you become keenly aware of two things - (1) their problems, and (2) insights to solving their problems. Do not become too focused on the problems themselves, because the insights to solving those problems are what matter most.
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Ministry also allows you to learn more about yourself as you serve others. It allows you to grow in the confidence established for your life by the meaning of your name. Entrepreneurs are people who use ministry as a tool to develop creative problem solutions before everyone else sees the problem. Many of these ministries become businesses that allow the entrepreneur to make both a giving and a living. Remember, though, that making the giving precedes making the living. Entrepreneurs are ministers who produce increase in people and in resources - in that order.
Part 3: What We Must Do

Once you establish a spiritual foundation for your life, you must stand firmly on and be guided by that foundation to begin to live both according to your words and deeds. The foundation establishes a plan that is essential to gain maturity and wisdom, but it is your life's work that produces the concrete results of this plan. Those concrete results are simply sustainable, positive changes - both in our personal lives, and in our world.
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Discovering Me
You are a uniquely gifted person sent to this world to create positive change by thinking globally, but by acting locally. Discovering, defining, and embracing your unique gifts is the key to acting locally, because the first and most meaningful sustainable change we create in this world comes through selftransformation. You are constructed of several critical components ...
Your Name
As we discussed in Part II, your name defines the hope your parents have for your life, and helps you to identify and to achieve your life's purpose.
Personality
Your personality is all the parts of you that you show to others. Recognize that even those parts of you that you try to hide contribute to the way others perceive you. Achieving consistency in what you show to others is an important part of maturation. If you are confident in some arenas, and tend to be shy
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in others, then think about and identify what it is that makes you confident in that certain arena. Resolve to make both your strengths and weaknesses stronger, and use your strengths to confront those weaknesses.
Character
Your character is the part of you that you display when you think that no one is watching. Do you react differently when you win than win you lose? It is a normal human emotional response to be joyous in victory, and disappointed in defeat. However, you must work to accept that emotional human response and control the reaction to that response. Win as if you have won before, and lose as if you will win the next time.
Temperament
Your temperament is comprised of the behaviors and traits you displayed even as a child. Some people are cheerful and optimistic (sanguine), while others are deeply thoughtful (melancholy). Some show very little emotion and possess great self-control (phlegmatic), and others are more serious and goal-oriented (choleric).
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Many of us have an overall temperament that blends parts of the characteristics I have mentioned. Whatever temperament you possess, accept it as who you are today, and know that it does not have to completely define who you are tomorrow. Once we recognize the need to grow, we can then address that need. My temperament can be described as largely melancholy, but I recognize that doing is equally as important to me as thinking is. I also know that I am very proficient at thinking, so I utilize that strength to help me understand what, why, and how I am about to do something - and then I go get it done.
Habits (Breaking and Building)

Habits are behaviors that we acquire through repetition. We have both good habits and bad habits. Bad habits are hard to break, and usually take much longer to unlearn as they might have taken to learn. Execute the following steps to break bad habits and to build good ones: 1. Have a goal in mind, and create a plan to reach that goal.
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2. Allow yourself to visualize reaching your goal. 3. Build a support system by asking at least one person to help you maintain focus on your goal. 4. Internalize wisdom constantly as you work towards your goal. 5. Train consistently until you reach your goal.
Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is the process of internal teaching. It is how we develop focus and control, and it is how we learn to become strong mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Work
Work is activity directed towards accomplishing a task.
Work Ethic
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Work ethic is the belief that it is good to exert maximum effort. A strong work ethic is the key to self-improvement and self-empowerment.
Power
Power is the ability to execute tasks (that is, the ability to work) efficiently. Think and act powerfully, and you will grow both in responsibility and authority.
Answering to a Higher Calling

Discovering, defining, and embracing your unique gifts is the key to self-transformation. The insight we gain from our selftransformation is what then guides us in our attempt to change the world we live in through thoughtful, strategic acts of ministry (serving people). To capably perform these acts of ministry, we must see ourselves as part of a much larger picture. We have to aspire to perform works that are much larger than ourselves - which possibly cannot be completed during our lifetime. Though we dream what seems like the impossible dream, we awake each day and make that dream come through by thinking, planning, and doing. The two principles below help us to "sketch" and "paint" that
Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) larger picture that encompasses our life's work ...
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Vision
Your vision is the dream that you want to use your unique gifts to make a reality. It is a "sketch" of the picture you want to draw. You may not know how to get there at first, but you know you love the idea enough to do whatever it takes to accomplish it. My vision for my life's work is "to educate and to empower people".
Mission
Your mission is the "paint" of your picture. It describes what you must do to achieve your vision. My mission to achieve my life's vision is "to educate and to empower people by developing content that enhances their reading, writing, math, problem solving, entrepreneurship, and leadership abilities".
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Building Relationships
The vision we have for our lives is so huge that we at times cannot understand it. The mission to achieve that vision requires more work than we cannot accomplish alone. We need other people in our lives to help us to grow and to accomplish our vision and mission, so we must build and maintain positive relationships with them. We will participate in many types and levels of relationships in our lifetime, but they each progress through certain key, common stages ...
Acceptance
In this initial stage, you embrace all of a person's positive and negative traits and habits, and you learn to love them for who they are. Remember that love (seeking the highest good for yourself and others) can help us all become what we think we cannot be.
Affirmation
In this subsequent phase, you and the other person begin to assure and reassure each other
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about both your strengths and weaknesses so that both become stronger.
Accountability
As your relationship matures, you enter this phase where you and the other person become responsible to each other for your respective actions. Whenever one of you falls into an area of weakness, you confess to or confront the other person to restore you or them to strength.
Authority
In this final stage of relationship maturation, you and the other person are able to guide each other to make good choices and to avoid poor ones. Neither of you attempt to control the other person, but you both make each other aware of options and the possible results of choices. The following principles help us to progress to and through each of the relationship stages ...
Honesty
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The truth we both express and receive with love allows us to grow.
Faith
Before we are rewarded with the results we desire, we must first hope for those results. We do not know if these results will happen, but we do believe that they will.
Trust
The reward of faith is a confidence both in another person's honesty and their reliability. When we trust, we believe that someone is telling us the truth because they have proven to be truthful. We know that someone will do what they say they will do because they have proven to be reliable.
Forgiveness
In the times where we fail to be honest, or others have been dishonest with us; or perhaps our faith has not been rewarded because we have not been faithful enough; or perhaps we have been untrustworthy, or our trust has been
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violated, the forgiveness that we extend to others and accept from others allows us to repair and to possibly restore our relationships. Forgiveness allows us to release others or even ourselves from the responsibility and blame for having caused harm. While it may not always restore the previous level of relationship, it does allow the process of healing to begin to repair damaged relationships.
Teaching & Learning

In all of your endeavors, you must seek to gain both knowledge and wisdom through the processes of teaching and learning. Your formal education will only introduce teaching and learning by first teaching you how to learn. You will then continue to engage in teaching and learning for the rest of your life. This engagement is necessary to achieve the vision you establish for your life that you will execute through your life's mission. Once you take ownership of the process of teaching and learning, you will eventually learn how to teach yourself, and will then spend the rest of your life learning and teaching. You will take ownership of this process as soon as you discover that you want to know more than you presently do. At that point, you will embrace the importance of learning, unlearning, and
Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) relearning.
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You will learn and teach many facts, principles, and thoughts throughout your life. A list of key teaching and learning topics and elements follow that you should master, because you will use and will encounter them repeatedly ...
Writing
Writing is the process of organizing and expressing thoughts. It is the tool we use to give birth to our ideas in ways that can convert them into mission-oriented actions.
Reading
Reading is the process of interpreting organized thought. It is the tool we use to unlock and to discover the ideas and actions conveyed through writing.
Math
Math is the science dealing with the logic of quantity, shape, and arrangement. It is the tool we use to count the costs of our ideas and actions to ensure that we have the financial,
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natural, and human resources necessary to implement them.
Language
Language is a system of communication that uses sounds and symbols. Mastering language is the key to mastering writing, reading, and math.
Literacy
Literacy is the ability to understand language.
Discourse
Discourse is speech and writing using verbal expression (words).
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is the process of analyzing (breaking down) situations. It is a key component of problem solving.
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Problem Solving
Problem Solving is the process of analyzing (breaking down) situations and synthesizing (putting together) solutions. Remember that ministry and entrepreneurship allow you to apply problem solving principles in a manner that directly benefits people.
Leadership
Leadership is the process of inspiring and guiding others. Good leaders are those who have been inspired and guided by others in a manner that equips them to effectively guide and inspire others.
Teacher
A Teacher is the leader in the learning process. The teacher is considered to be the foremost student.
Student
A Student is the primary recipient of learning. Note that effective learning allows a student to
Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) become a teacher.
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Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the process of teaching children.
Andragogy
Andragogy is the process of teaching adults.
Knowledge
Knowledge is the information retained from engaging in teaching and learning.
Education
Education is the process of acquiring knowledge.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the process of applying knowledge.
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Awareness
Awareness is a measure of the knowledge level acquired.
Ignorance
Ignorance is an accurate measure of lack of knowledge.
Arrogance
Arrogance is an inaccurate measure of lack of knowledge.
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Index
authority, 5, 7, 8, 10, 16 awareness, 5 beliefs, 5 body, 9 character, 13 courage, 7 education, 4, 21 faith, 20 fears, 7 forgiveness, 21 honesty, 20 knowledge, 5, 21, 25, 26 language, 23 leader, 6, 24 leadership, 17 learning, 10, 21, 22, 24, 25 love, 7, 8, 17, 18, 20 math, 17, 23 mission, 17, 18, 21, 22 name, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 personality, 12 power, 5 problem solving, 17, 23, 24 reading, 17, 23 relationships, 4, 10, 18, 21 student, 24 talents, 9 teacher, 24, 25 teaching, 15, 21, 22, 25 temperament, 13 thinking, 12, 14, 16 time, 6, 7, 10, 13 trust, 20 vision, 17, 18, 21 wisdom, 5, 11, 15, 21 work, 5, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 work ethic, 16 writing, 5, 17, 22, 23

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Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Part 2: Discovering and Embracing Our Foundational Beliefs

I would like to briefly define and discuss each of these principles.

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Ministry & Entrepreneurship

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Part 3: What We Must Do

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Habits (Breaking and Building)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Answering to a Higher Calling

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Teaching & Learning

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) relearning.

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

natural, and human resources necessary to implement them.

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT) become a teacher.

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

Reach Then Teach (DRAFT)

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