Course Guidelines

C.L.A.S.S.
(Community, Leadership, Action, and Solutions in School)
Course Guidelines
Quarter One – 2009-10

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 both the public education process and what it means to be a leader and positive contributor within a community will be our priority for the quarter. Students will be required to complete a variety of academic assignments, proactively 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 texts, media sources, and presentations. Students will deepen their understanding of current educational issues by using the Shabazz site and Madison school district as a test case 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 actively 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 all classes;

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 first quarter may include:

• A) Analysis of Leadership. Students will analyze, reflect upon, discuss, and write about various articles, texts, media pieces, and personal leadership activities during the quarter.
• B) Personal Assessment of Leadership / Final Reflection. Individual reflection writing on leadership skills and student work throughout the full quarter.

7. positive 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. attend the MMSD Student Senate meetings and/or the Shabazz Lunch Advisory Group meetings. Student Senate Meetings dates will be 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;

9. begin to organize the Turkey Day Talent Show and the first round of auditions





Use the CLASS blogspot: http://shabazzenglishdeniseclass.blogspot.com/




Case Study Options and Requirements:

• • All-School Meetings (to be planned with Aric’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
• • Ongoing Birthday Greetings
• • Analysis of Mission Statement and input on Policies and Practices
• • Preparations for Shabazz Thanksgiving activities

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 supportive and leading “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 prior to the start of class upon your return to school.
• 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 has a heavy discussion and participation requirement, 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. (Maximum of two comp. hours.) Details of how that comp. hour works will be discussed in class. Students may only use the 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.