Contemporary World Issues Course Syllabus

Mr. Taylor

 

 

Contact Information

Room: 129

Phone: 425-204-4245

Email: jeff.taylor@rentonschools.us

 

DISTANCE LEARNING IS O.V.E.R.

Accept it and move on. Leave behind any notion that you can get an A, let alone pass a class, without attending. Leave behind any notion that you can get all that you need off of Canvas. Leave behind any notion that you will have days where we “don't do anything” in class. Leave behind any notion that simply turning something in on Canvas guarantees you an A. Leave behind the notion that classes begin and finish at your convenience. Leave behind the delusion that you “Work” better at home. That is not a statement on the environment. It is a statement about choices. You are choosing to "work" at home and play at school. I will not honor this choice. Welcome to the Real World. Adulthood is not about freedom. Ask any adult if they get to do whatever they want whenever they want. When they stop laughing they will tell you that adulthood is the crushing weight of responsibilities, mixed with the constant soul-sucking consequences. 

Syllabus Highlights:

• This class is easy to the point of being insulting. Come to class, try, you’ll be fine.

• Citizenship is worth 20% of your overall grade.

• Phone violation (notice there is no s) will result in the complete loss of your citizenship points.

• The only way to earn your citizenship points back is by attending class for 15 straight days with ZERO acts of electronic malfeasance (Phone, computer…anything more advanced than a sundial) 

• You will not be allowed to submit or make up work for unexcused absences. 

• Late work will be accepted but at a reduced rate (See below)

• Every class will begin with a 5-minute writing activity. You will write for 5 straight minutes. Stay hydrated!  

• If you are tardy (by absentia or action) you will not be allowed to make up or submit your entry task. 
• If you have a 504 or an IEP talk to me so that we can make a plan to meet your accommodations/modifications. Many of these plans include language like "mutually agreed upon" which means we actually need to work together. 

 

 

 

Course Structure

 

This course is going to feature varied methods of instructional strategies including but not limited to, Project Based Learning, small group work, Socratic Smackdowns, debates, moral dilemmas, student teaching, guest speakers, discussion, inquiry lessons, jigsaw, deliberate discussions, etc. Students will take responsibility for their own actions and allocate their time efficiently: keeping up with the readings, doing all of the assignments, approaching me with any questions, handling make-up work, and playing an active role in your education. One of my many goals is to take the focus from counting points and squabbling over letter grades. This course is about acquiring knowledge, challenging oneself, developing life skills, and discovering a passion for learning through history. In the end, the class is truly about how you choose to see the world…Choice is powerful, so choose wisely.

 

Required Materials

1. Pens…I hate pencils with the fiery passion of 1000 suns. They are antiquated math sticks.
2. Almost everything we do is on your computer 

 Hazen Core Beliefs:

We pride ourselves on our focus on character education.  When referring to classroom expectations there is no need to go beyond our core beliefs: Pride, Unity, Achievement, Equity, Excellence & Service.

Course Goals: By the end of this course you will have

Take a greater responsibility for your learning

Demonstrated the ability to write clearly, concisely, and critically

Found your voice and be prepared to use it- you will need it

Developed an understanding of how politics, culture, religion, and economics interrelate

Cultivated the ability to critically analyze historical documents and developments

Developed a sense of historical-mindedness or thinking historically

Cultivate 21st Century skills needed for the future

 

Keys to Success: There are several keys to success for this course. They are also vital life skills.

Accepting the challenge: You are in school to learn and the only way to accomplish that is to challenge yourself. As a teacher, I am not doing my job unless my students are placed outside of their academic comfort zones and forced to face weaknesses in an effort to improve.  CHOOSE GLORY OVER COMPLACENCY.

Handling stress: You are going to experience stress and frustration.  It is a natural part of the learning process and life.  The object is to learn how to handle these feelings, know when to seek help and how to approach it, and persevere through it all to become a stronger student and person. Do not give in to panic. Talk to me first. Don’t panic until I tell you it is time to panic.

Preparation: You absolutely will not be successful or be able to follow what is going on in class if you are not prepared.  Allocate your time and do not procrastinate. This is a discussion-based class, so your attention is a must. 

Mind Set: Too many students psych themselves out by focusing on the negative or stacking up any number of tasks against them.  Remember this will be hard work, but not as much as it will be time-consuming.  If you spend more time doing the work than complaining about doing the work you will be better off.  Apply yourself, manage your time, and put in the time.

Following Directions: The directions are the treasure map to an easy A. They tell you exactly what to do and the quickest route to getting it done. Utilize them and ask questions. Many students will lose points because they decide to ignore the directions and guess at what is expected.

Communication: Communication is everything.  Students must be willing to seek help if they are confused or clarification if they have a question from their teacher, parents, fellow classmates, etc.  Students should also feel comfortable approaching their teachers, parents, or administrators if there are any problems inside or outside of the classroom. 

Assessments: Assessment in the class is going to vary.  It is a part of my educational philosophy that I should diversify my instruction to cater to an audience of students who learn in different ways.  This carries over into assessment in that each student is going to be given the opportunity to assess through their strengths and also work on their weaknesses.  So, assessments will not always be the same. 

Extra Credit Opportunities: YUP plenty of that. I would encourage you to create extended learning opportunities for yourself. Basically, if you come up with something you think should be worth extra credit I am pretty good at showering Canvas with extra points.

Classroom Participation: Classroom participation is very important to the success of this course as a whole. It is expected that every moment you spend in my presence is spent in pursuit of your perfect virtue. REMEMBER you actually chose to be here. Compulsory school effectively ends when you turn 16. So if you are here you are working. If it is CWI great, if it is math, great, if it is your HSBP weird, but whatever. Anime, car videos, makeup tutorials, Twitch Streams...non of this is in accordance with your perfect virtue. If you make the choice to be off task  The allotment of participation points is up to the discretion of the teacher and represents a meaningful portion of your grade.

Miscellaneous Policies: 

~10% of each assignment is for Quality and Editing.  Lack of care or concern will impact your grade. 

- I do not accept incomplete work.

Plagiarism & Cheating: AI=Plagiarism. Enough said. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated or taken lightly. Expect the harshest punishment allowed under RSD guidelines. Several papers will be turned in electronically through www.turnitin.com, an anti-plagiarism internet site.  I cannot stress this enough...the work we do in here is either so weird or so specific that ChatGPT can't help you. Moreover, most of the assignments are completed on Google Assignments. This means that I own your work. I see every keystroke, every edit, every time you open or close the assignment. I know to the minute how long you worked on stuff. The first thing I look at when I grade your stuff is your edit history. If I see work get turned in with 3 edits and one of them is 5 gigantic paragraphs repeatedly and poorly citing a 2007 University of Halifax study ctrl-v'd on there, you are toast. 

Attendance & Tardies: The school’s policy on attendance and tardies are clearly detailed in the student handbook. Student learning is negatively affected if they have excessive absences. In addition, a student walking into class late is disruptive, counterproductive, and disrespectful whether intended or not. Students will not be allowed to submit work on unexcused absences.

Contact Information: The easiest way to contact me is email. I embrace a partnership with parents and look forward to establishing a line of communication.  In fact, parents can actually join the class on Canvas. You would receive all of the class updates, assignments, announcements, and grades in real-time.

Late Policy: If a student misses an assignment with an excused absence, they must turn in that assignment in a timely fashion in accordance with how many days they missed. This puts the responsibility on the student. Late Assignments will be downgraded by 10% a day (for each of the first 5 days). After 5 days work can be submitted for up to 50% of the value of the assignment, unless previously discussed with the teacher. Students should communicate with the teacher in advance for an extension. This policy is consistent with the Social Studies Department at Hazen High School. That being said…TALK TO ME if you know something cannot be completed on time. It is an actual adult life skill. Treat me like a person and I promise to do the same to you. 

Personal Tutor: Students will experience stress and some difficulty when they are being challenged. This is an intentional component of any challenging course. Learning how to handle stress or problem-solve difficulties are essential life skills that can only be learned through experience. With that being said, when things are difficult come and see me. I am not nearly the Bond Villain that I am made out to be.

WARNING: Some topics discussed in history are controversial, deal with morals and religion, involve political views, or tackle racism, sexism, gender discrimination, or homophobia. I want to be very clear that at no point am I sharing my own views on these matters or influencing students one way or the other. I am the least important person in the room.  My role is simply to facilitate conversations, helping students to understand issues, so they can develop educated opinions on topics that have affected people in the past and today. Most of history involves humans disagreeing and as students of history we must analyze issues to understand the actions and motives of those who lived in the past and present. In addition, it is paramount to model that there are multiple sides to every issue and the only way to have an educated opinion is to understand the views of those on both sides. Communication is the foundation of our educational experience so please contact me with any concerns (sooner than later).

 

 

 

Classroom Policies

 

Students should familiarize themselves with the policies, procedures, and consequences outlined in the HHS Student Handbook (The green one). All policies will be followed in this class, in particular those related to tardies, electronic devices, academic dishonesty, make-up work, dress code/ID, and behavior.

 

 

 

 

 

Modules of Study

 

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Unit 1: Human Rights/Social Justice   Unit Description/Objectives: A Social Justice/Human Rights framework is a way of identifying issues of unfairness and inequity while illuminating freedom and possibility for all.  It pays primary attention to how people, policies, practices, curricula, and institutions may be used to liberate rather than oppress those least served by national and international decision making. During the course of this unit students will look at Social Justice/Human Rights issues and how they play out within the global community.  Using historical context, students will analyze issues of Social Justice/Human Rights in regards to race, gender and socio-economic levels as well as trade (national and international), geography, environmental issues and cultural relevancy.  Students will understand the development of human rights on an international stage and how human rights issues can affect the interaction of nation groups.    Essential Questions/Objectives: ·     What is social justice/human rights? ·     To what extend does power or the lack of power affect individuals and groups? What is oppression and what is the root cause? ·     How do power structures of governments, politics, religion and society take away power from oppressed groups and how do they empower? ·     What are the major developing issues of injustice within our nation and the world and what can be done to respond to and prevent them? ·     What has been the historical response of the United States to internal and International SJ/HR issues? ·

Standards addressed: Civics 1.1.1 - Analyzes and evaluates the ways in which state and U.S. Constitutions and other fundamental documents promote key ideals and principles. Civics 1.1.2 - Evaluates how well federal, state, and local court decisions and government policies have upheld key ideals and principles in the United States. Civics 1.2.2 - Evaluates the effectiveness of federalism in promoting the common good and protecting individual rights, and the system of checks and balances during a particular administration, court, Congress, or legislature. Civics 1.4.1 - Analyzes and evaluates ways of influencing local, state, and national governments and international organizations to establish or preserve individual rights and/or promote the common good. Geography 3.1.2 - Evaluates the complexities of regions and the challenges involved in defining those regions. Geography 3.2.2 - Analyzes and evaluates the social and political factors affecting cultural interactions. History 4.2.1 - Evaluates how individuals and movements have shaped contemporary world issues. History 4.2.2 - Analyzes how cultural identity can promote unity and division.

Assessments: Identify and discuss the most pressing SJ/HR issue currently facing our nation and/or world today. Analyze a human rights issue and present in multiple different ways (blog, podcast, PSA) how this issue should be solved.

 

 

 

 

Unit 2: Conflict, Compromise, and Resolution   Unit Description/Objectives: When you’re faced with significant competing ideas/interests, is it better to be right or to make things work? This unit focuses on conflicts, first at the global level but also on the local or personal level. It analyzes the root causes of these conflicts and investigates approaches to compromise and resolution. Conflicts studied may be topics introduced previously this year, on-going global conflicts, or what is most pressing in the current day. As a culminating idea, the unit focuses on how compromise and resolution can be found for complex conflicts.  Essential Questions/Objectives: ·     What are the causes of conflict (on a global scale, within a nation, or at the local or individual level) and how does conflict play out? ·     How has a particular conflict changed and evolved over time? How has technology changed conflicts? ·     What possible outcomes (compromise, solution, or increased conflict) could arise from these conflicts? ·     How might compromises/solutions look to those involved and those who are just observers? ·     How can finding resolution/compromise be made a priority and help those in conflict come to an equitable solution?

Standards addressed: History 4.2.1 - Evaluates how individuals and movements have shaped contemporary world issues. History 4.2.2 - Analyzes how cultural identity can promote unity and division. History 4.3.1 - Analyzes the motives and interests behind an interpretation of a recent local, state, national, or international event. History 4.3.2 - Evaluates the ramifications of mono-causal explanations of contemporary events in the world. History 4.4.1 - Evaluates positions on a current issue based on an analysis of history.

Assessments: Students identify and analyze a current conflict (either global, local, or personal) by identifying the root causes of the conflict and events that have impacted the conflict. Students then identify possible solutions to this conflict and advocate for one approach to compromise and resolution, using evidence to support their position.