One of the most important jobs that any teacher has is teaching students how to make good decisions and how to be responsible. Often it would appear, though, as if our students would rather learn anything except these lessons. Can students be taught responsibility? If so, then how?

Solutions, etc.'s team of K-12 educators has made responsibility one of its major focuses. In fact, one of Solutions, etc.'s favorite mantras is "Responsibility IS the Content". In other words, teaching responsibility is just as important as teaching our classroom content. Responsible students will be successful students. Irresponsible students will be unsuccessful students. Therefore, if we want content success, we better make responsibility the content.

So how does a teacher teach responsibility? The answer is: The same way we teach our content. We must give students opportunities to be successful. We must give them chances to learn from their mistakes. We must hold them accountable to a high standard, but also invest time teaching them why that standard is important and how and why they should strive for it. We don't expect students to enter our classes already being experts in History, Math, Science, or English. Instead we invest time and energy teaching them these important topics. Likewise, we should not expect them to enter our classes already being perfectly responsible.

As teachers we need to be realistic enough to expect our young students to make poor choices and mistakes. However, we must be not by cynical in our realism. Rather we should remain idealistic enough to believe that we can help our students learn to make better choices. Students will not learn these lessons, though, if we do not give them the opportunities to do so.

Solutions, etc. believes that students must be given multiple points of entry into the curriculum. In other words, teachers must give students second chances. Schools must create ways for students who choose poorly to work themselves out of the hole they have dug.

Some teachers argue against giving students second chances. They say that there aren't second chances in the "real world". We believe this is absolutely false. For example, if you do not pay your light bill your power will be turned off. But forever? No - you are given a second chance to pay the bill plus a late fee. We believe that students need a chance to pay their bill along with a late fee.

A Solutions, etc. workshop on helping students recover from bad choices focuses on:
1. Making the case for giving second chances,
2. Stating and then rebutting the arguments against giving second chances, and
3. Providing tested examples of ways to give second chances.

Our students are capable of making some amazingly poor choices. However, what it all comes down to is that we have an incredible opportunity to help them grow and mature. Let Solutions, etc. help you in your quest to help them.