I used to think that spending class time on character education was a luxury. It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was important, but with limited instructional minutes and pressure to perform to benchmark assessments … who had time for character ed.?

I don’t think I’m alone in making that judgment call, and I think there are a lot of problems caused by our collective lack of attention to character education. It’s really not something we should leave solely up to parents or to chance.

Since my focus has largely been on STEM Challenges for the last decade, I wanted to hone in on character traits I could explore with students that would help them not only in STEM fields, but in all of life. I call these 25 traits “STEM Ideals“.

What are STEM Ideals?

Try STEM Ideals for Free!

The best way to get a good sense of the STEM Ideals is to try them out. You can grab the posters and activities for set three (Guiding Principles) for free by filling out the form below the images.

Character education is more important now than ever! Check out these other free ideas for your upper elementary students and let us do the planning for you! 

Increasing a Positive Self Image through Writing // Samson’s Shoppe

The Importance of Character // Tried & True Teaching Tools

Classroom Kindness Challenge // The Stellar Teacher Company

Character Education in STEM Classes // Feel-Good Teaching