What are We Doing This Week?

• Monday, Feb. 2 -- Rope Activity, Pres. Weekly Address, Checkin, NSWA plan
• Tuesday, Feb. 3 -- "academic risks" discussion, NSWA plan, Student Senate prep
• Wednesday, Feb. 4 -- Student Senate follow up/report, NSWA plan
• Thursday, Feb. 5 -- TBA / NSWA / book?
• Friday, Feb. 6 -- Attendance & Participation Check in, book?

Course Guidelines -- Quarter 3 -- 2008-09

C.L.A.S.S.
(Community, Leadership, Action, and Solutions in School)
Quarter Three – 2008-09

C.L.A.S.S. is a service-learning course working to develop strong, committed student voices at Shabazz in areas of personal leadership, student government, community building, group dynamics, conflict resolution, and problem solving. Understanding education policy, the public education process, and what it means to be a leader and positive contributor within a community will be our priorities for the quarter. Students will be required to complete a variety of academic assignments, actively participate in discussions, and contribute to hands-on activities. Students will also examine and develop an understanding of leadership standards and group dynamics through an analysis of a variety of text and media sources. We will be reading a fiction text as a whole class this quarter to assist with our understanding of leadership characteristics. Students will deepen their understanding of current educational issues by using Shabazz and the Madison school district as a test cases or lab site. Members of the course must bring with them a strong desire to enhance their current Shabazz community, a firm commitment to follow current Shabazz policies, an ability to complete individual assignment responsibilities, and a willingness to proactively work in cooperative groups.

To earn credit in this course, students are required to fulfill ALL of the following:

1. develop and maintain a positive rapport with Shabazz staff and students (this includes following the three main Shabazz policies);

2. maintain a positive attendance record in the class;

3. pro-actively participate in class discussions, group trust building activities/stress challenge programming, project planning, committee assignments/projects (i.e., all-school meetings, information gathering and delivery in classes, school site clean-ups, school improvement activities, etc.);

4. plan and implement a New Student Welcome Activity (This service component is required and is a single opportunity that cannot be made up.);

5. build organizational skills;

6. complete written assignments as requested. The components for third quarter may include:

• A) Analysis of Leadership. Each student will read about, analyze, respond to, and discuss in class our standards of leadership. We will be reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit to direct our understanding of leadership development.
• B) Journal Responses to various articles, texts, media pieces, and/or events during the quarter. This includes individual reflections on service components during the quarter.
• C) Final Reflection / Personal Assessment of Progress. Individual reflection writing on work throughout the full quarter.

7. assist with at least 1 prospective “shadow” student visitations, including lunch and break periods and completion of the C.L.A.S.S. Visitation Feedback Forms;

8. develop and implement training sessions for future “shadow” guide leaders – This is a priority in the third quarter;

9. attend the MMSD Student Senate meetings and/or the Shabazz Lunch Advisory Group meetings. Student Senate Meetings dates are posted on the door of Room 35 and on Denise’s Course Blog site. Report back to the class on issues and the meeting process;

10. consult with Student Senate coordinators and Shabazz staff re: community initiatives.


Case Study Options and Requirements:

• All-School Meetings (to be planned with Sally’s input)
• New Student Welcome Activity
• Information Delivery for student body
• Student Senate Meetings and/or Shabazz Lunch Advisory Meetings
• Conflict Resolution / Transformation Skills Discussion and Development as needed
• Increasing Student Voice/Leadership at Shabazz
• Analysis/testing of public relations “tools” used by Shabazz (i.e., Web site, UW/Edgewood/MATC class presentations, news pieces, BOE meeting presentations)
• Ongoing Birthday Greetings and care of Graduation Plants
• Analysis of Mission Statement and input on Policies and Practices
• Student Senate redesign input


The Process of Leadership:

By choosing CLASS, all students in this room have taken on the challenge to ensure that Shabazz continues as a safe, strong community that upholds its mission. You have agreed to act as strong supporting “voices” for your peers and school. As a CLASS student, staff and administration may often look to you to set the best example possible to new students, old students, staff, and the broader Madison community of what it means to be a positive Shabazz student. That is a big responsibility. Please evaluate your dedication to our school=s mission. Do you believe in the policies staff and students have set together? Do you really know how to follow those policies? Do you know your responsibility in making sure your classes run smoothly? Do you know how to create a safe and positive school environment in and outside of your classes? Are you ready to assess your personal leadership strengths and areas needing improvement? Are you prepared to serve as a voice for the school at district-level meetings? We must constantly re-evaluate where we are going with our individual responsibilities and our goals as a class and as a school. This type of processing and planning may seem tedious at times, yet it is crucial to keeping our cooperative education process strong at Shabazz. Let us all try to be patient with this process and use our resources to the best of our advantage.

Basic Class Stuff

Work Completion:

• Students must complete ALL assignments within the task guidelines to earn credit. Due dates are firm in this class. If a grace period is needed, a student must confer with Denise before the due date to work out a strategic plan for assignment completion. Due date extension agreements are made on a case by case basis. (Students with documented special education writing concerns must have a dialogue with Denise about those concerns in the first week of the course. Permission for extensions must be in line with a student’s IEP.)


Attendance Requirements:

• It is each student’s responsibility to ask for any assignments or responsibilities missed due to absences. Please do this on the day you return to class.

• The Shabazz attendance policy will be strictly enforced in all classes. Remember that all tardies are accounted for (3 tardies = 1 absence). Students arriving more than 15 minutes late will be marked absent. Students accruing more than 6 absences will no longer be eligible for credit in the class. Because this course is discussion and participation based, delayed credit is not possible.

• Students earn 1 comp. hour for each evening Student Senate Meeting they attend or for every 3 noon Advisory Meetings. Details of how that comp. hour works will be discussed in class. Students may only use that comp. hour for attendance in the CLASS class.


Book / Other Materials Return:

• All students must return books/other materials checked out for class (or for independent reading) to be eligible for credit. If a book is lost, talk with Denise about where you can find a replacement copy, or you may arrange for payment of the text with the office. Books have gotten extremely expensive in the last few years, so in order to maintain our excellent resource libraries here at Shabazz, we must keep close tabs on all our books.