Pre-Conference: Bullying Prevention The CHARACTERplus Way®

Monday, June 17, 2013, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

How do you create a culture of allies?
How do you respond to bullying actions?

The answers to these two questions provide the basis of effective bullying prevention. The CHARACTERplus Way® is an evidence-based process that builds positive school culture. When it is combined with a thoughtful, systematic approach to defining bullying actions and consistently applied consequences, school communities have reduced bullying dramatically.

Diane Stirling and Tami Bopp coordinate CHARACTERplus' Professional Development for more than 75 districts. They have worked with experts in bullying prevention, trained educators and brought students together in summits. They discovered in Stan Davis’ work a kinship in the essential role of school climate and a response to acts of bullying that works. They combine the wisdom from these two bodies of work --Transforming Climate and Culture The CHARACTERplus Way and Schools Where Everyone Belongs by Stan Davis--with the actual experience within schools.

Participants will learn strategies that
• Increase students’ sense of belonging, autonomy and competence
• Foster student leadership and a proactive response to peer cruelty
• Deepen staff to student relationships
• Use class meetings to set norms/rules/expectations for classrooms
• Use surveys to learn, focus response, and “norm” the positive strengths of peer culture
• Identify bullying actions with student input
• Develop a rubric-based system of consequences