Course Syllabus
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This page updated 10/10/24 |
Image Credit: The compass rose above is from a map displayed in our classroom. Information about it is available here
Introduction and Expectations 2024-2025
Welcome to World History! (And welcome to WHS!) It is an honor to be a part of this particular year in your high school career. It’s also an honor to have you join me in the study of World History, a task that is truly worth our time and effort because it helps us become better writers, readers, critics, thinkers and citizens, and because, as we step forward across the AI threshold into a new era in human history, your expertise and knowledge matters more than ever. The Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework tasks me with helping you and your classmates become “thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and complex world.” The world is changing fast. This discipline is part of what will help us all keep up, and more than that, have power in it.
ESSENTIAL CONTENT
We will start with a study of the different, but also interacting regions of the 12th century world. Our final unit will have us reflecting on how much the world changed by the early 19th century. For context, we will sometimes study topics that fall outside this time span. Along the way, you will see how human history unfolded across time and how human interactions differed and are similar across regions and major trade systems. We will finish in June with a required final experience that will guide you through a synthesis of what you learned and be an opportunity to meaningfully showcase that learning.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS
The course is designed to provide you with a strong foundation for further work in Social Studies and other courses, and for the ways you will learn and contribute beyond the classroom. It will support your growth in in the following areas:
- Reading, watching, and listening to understand
- Analyzing events by noting connections, making comparisons, documenting patterns, and explaining change over time
- Selecting and using effective (SPARC) evidence in all work
- Making, supporting, and interrogating historical claims
- Communicating ideas and understandings with clarity
ESSENTIAL POLICIES
Academic Integrity
We will collaborate, but work you submit and notes you take are assumed to be your own unless you state otherwise. In general, acknowledge what you owe to others (this includes machines) and make sure you understand when it’s appropriate to share your own work with other students. You should review the school’s policy on academic integrity on pages 39-41 of the Student Handbook. Violations of the policy can result in you earning no credit, and consequences grow stiffer if violations pile up over your time at WHS.
- When you use others’ exact words in your own work, use “quotation marks” and cite your source.
- When you use others’ ideas, give credit.
- When you get help from others on an assignment, acknowledge that.
- NOTE: Providing dishonest help (helping someone else cheat) is also a violation of academic integrity.
- NOTE: The Student Handbook states that “Students may not use an artificial intelligence program to aid their work on an assignment unless explicitly directed to do so by their instructor.” We will talk about and *perhaps* use some AI tools, but it would be a mistake to show up to a gym, watch people work out and think you are building your strength. Relying on AI for your school work would be a similar mistake.
Grading
Assignments are designed to assess your knowledge and skill and will take many forms throughout the term ranging from formal essays, paragraphs, reflections, inventories, small and large projects, tests, quizzes, discussions, creative performances and presentations. A record of completed/missing assignments, scores, and sometimes comments and feedback will be posted in PowerSchool. Feedback will also come to you in places like written assignments, on google doc comments, in class during whole-group instruction, and in group and individual conferences. It is a good idea to check your grades in PowerSchool about once per week. In each term, assignments fall into two main categories and will weigh as follows:
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Category |
Weight |
Year-Long Grade Calculation |
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Major Assignments (2-3/term) |
50% |
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Minor Assignments (5-15/term) |
50% |
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- Major Assignments: These 2-3 assignments per term will range in value from 50 to 100 points. You will have at least a week’s advance notice and often 1 or more days in class to work on them. You will have an opportunity to resubmit one Major Assignment each term to earn up to 80% of that assignment's possible credit. To qualify for resubmission opportunities, you must have submitted on time an honest attempt at completing the assignment in the first place. When you may resubmit work, you will have 1 week after receiving a score to do so. This allows time to use feedback, and possibly office hours and/or the SS Lab, which you should do.
- Minor Assignments: These 5-15 assignments per term will range from 5 to 50 points. You will have advance notice and need to prepare for some of these. Others will take place within the flow of class instruction.
- Cycle Quizzes: These are Minor Assignments and take place approximately once per cycle, generally on day 5, and are used to assess your grasp of content from the prior cycle. There will be 4-6 per term. Your lowest Cycle Quiz score in each term is dropped.
- Homework: Assigned most days and sometimes assessed through reading checks.
Though not all class activities will be “graded,” they all matter. It is a mistake to skip or brush off ungraded assignments; they are designed as opportunities to practice core skills, develop and refine your grasp of course content, and receive feedback.
Deadlines, Late Work, Extra Time
Do your work and be honest with yourself and with me when you miss something or need help—HONESTY is one of your most important “character muscles,” and muscles gain strength with repeated use. Flex! Be sure to communicate with me when deadlines and/or workload are getting tricky.
- DEADLINES: Assignments are noted in each day’s Launch entry. They are also posted in Canvas so that they appear in your Canvas Calendar. Classwork due in class should show as due by the end of the school day or at a specific time. Because you should go to bed by 10, homework will show as due by 9:30 pm on the day it was assigned, though for homework, unless otherwise noted, you may have until the start of our next class meeting, which could mean you have a couple of extra days.
- LATE, INCOMPLETE, MISSING & MAKE-UP WORK: It is important to complete work according to the assignment schedule to take advantage of the read-digest-practice-perform rhythm built into the class and to avoid work pile-ups. Work that is not submitted is MISSING. Submitted work is LATE if it is submitted after I have collected or checked an assignment (eg. work you are to submit at the beginning of class is late if you submit it half-way through class). Work is INCOMPLETE if it does not reasonably demonstrate an honest attempt to complete all parts of an assignment on time. Neither Late nor Incomplete work qualifies for resubmission, and after 2 calendar (not school) days it will be graded as is. Missing work will be indicated in PowerSchool with a score of 0 (or a score that rounds to 0 according to a system I use to track the reason for missing work). Work you miss due to an absence from school is MAKE-UP WORK, not Late work (see below).
- EXTENSIONS/EXTENDED TIME: Individual’s education plans, religious and ethnic holidays, having 3 major assessments on the same day (see Handbook page 32), and other circumstances may mean you need consideration around assessment and/or assignment schedules. When you become aware that you need more time than is planned, it is your responsibility to be in communication with me as far in advance as possible to discuss the possibilities. During an approved extension, PowerSchool may indicate a score of .08 until work is completed.
Attendance and Make-Up Work
There may be times when you miss class. You can’t really make-up the magic of an in-person class, but you should do the best you can. It is your responsibility to let me know (ahead of time if possible) if circumstances are such that we need to make special accommodations for an absence. It is an especially crucial responsibility of yours to learn about and complete your written work, as well as get notes and announcements. Use the (1) Launch, (2) Canvas, our (3) Student Materials folder, (4) classmates, and (5) me to find out what you missed and fill in the gaps. It is unlikely that you will be able to get caught up without coming in for extra help. Email and the time right after class is great, but you will likely need office hours. Check my schedule.
- Be ready to take a quiz or test you miss or turn in any papers or projects that were due the day you return from an absence, unless we have arranged otherwise in advance. If you miss class with an excused absence, you may have up to a full week to make up work that was assigned while you were away, but you need to be in communication with me as soon as you return to school. Email is great, but you will likely need in-person support, . While you tackle make-up work, stay on track with current assignments so you don’t get further behind! PowerSchool may indicate a score of .04 until make-up work is completed.
- TARDIES: Should you arrive late (with or without a pass), do your best to unobtrusively work your way into the flow of the class. 3 unexcused tardies or a single unexcused tardy of 29 minutes or more are considered cuts by my and the school’s policy. Page 13 of the Student Handbook has details. If you miss a quiz (or part of the time for a quiz) due to an unexcused tardy, you are not entitled to extra time to make it up.
- CUTS: If you are at school, but do not attend class, it is a cut. Also, missing a more than 29 minutes of any single class is considered a cut, even if the minutes out of the room don't happen all at the same time (ie. late 10 minutes + 2, 10 minute bathroom/water breaks = cut). If you cut class, you are not entitled to make up work or assessments for that day.
- I am required to post attendance in PowerSchool. I can only enter unexcused absences, so if your absence needs to be excused, please follow-up with your house assistant.
Extra Help
- The work we do in this class is important. You can do it. I will help you. Effective students ask questions and get help. They also responsibly help each other. Be effective.
- The Social Studies Lab is a rare and wonderful resource--take full advantage for help with reading, writing and studying! It will be staffed by history department colleagues (and me sometimes) who give expert advice that is in-line with my and the department’s expectations. The schedule is posted in our room, linked in Canvas, linked on the launch, and in our Student Materials folder.
- It is VERY IMPORTANT that you use class time to ask questions. Plus, you can email and/or use times I am available to work with you outside of class. The doc with my schedule is linked on Canvas, the Launch, and is also in our Student Materials folder
- NOTE: It’s fine to stick around after class to ask quick questions, compare schedules or check-in, but I won’t write you a pass to your next class unless it"s a DR.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE STUCK ON A HW ASSIGNMENT AND CAN’T REACH ME
Take a breath, don’t panic, reread the directions, look up a couple of iffy words, review what we’re up to in class…basically, do an appropriate and responsible amount and style of work…make an “honest attempt.” In general, the purpose of HW is to do your best in a setting where you are on your own, so you have a chance to experiment and develop your knowledge, strategies and skills. It also helps us see what your best looks like at that particular moment. In cases where I become aware of an error in the directions, a technology glitch, or a real need for clarification, I will update the Launch and in Canvas as soon as possible, and I don’t hold my errors against you. So before you email, check Canvas and/or the Launch. And if you email, please realize that I may not see your note until the next day.
Materials
Each day, please bring: your charged laptop, a working pen or pencil, and your Social-Studies-Only-Not-Too-Big-3-Ring-Binder. Many students also appreciate having headphones and highlighters to use in class, and their own set of colored pencils or markers to use at home. Please use materials you already have rather than purchase new ones. I have a few binders I’m happy for us to reuse!
THE BOTTOM LINE
Your community, this country and the world need you and all your classmates to become skillful, knowledgeable and principled people who know how to learn, work together, and make things happen. Much is and will be asked of us. So together, we must create and maintain a productive, positive learning environment for every person in our class.
Other Useful Links & Info
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Lunch Schedule |
1st: 10:55-11:24 2nd: 11:24-11:53 3rd: 11:53-12:22 |
SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT LUNCH SHIFTS
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Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 5 |
Day 6 |
Day 7 |
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3rd |
2nd |
1st |
1st |
2nd |
1st |
3rd |
Course Summary:
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