The goal of character education is to teach students to understand, care about, and, most important, act upon core ethical values. Character is what you do when no one is looking. These journals encourage reflective thinking, which is fundamental to the development of an intrinsic motivation that doesn’t rely on external recognition or rewards.

Our 2004 Program Evaluation indicates that using the Weekly Journals produces more positive outcomes such as:

• greater impact on student self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship skills
• greater boost to the school climate
• greater boost to teacher morale
• more student conversation about character issues
• greater decrease in student teasing and/or bullying