Instructor: Ashley Carruth
Primary Email: [email protected]
Course Digital Portfolio: www.animasleadershipdevelopment.weebly.com
Office Hours: By appointment. If you need extra help, please make an appointment with me by talking to me in class during work time or emailing me. FYI: Wednesday is the only day after school I can meet during the fall. However, lunch or before school are also great times!
Course Overview
Leadership Development is designed for students interested in developing their leadership abilities and applying leadership skills in tangible ways to better the Animas or broader Durango community. In this course students will increase their own leadership capacities through feedback, reflection and practice. Students will hear from guest speakers in the field of leadership development and/or who have leadership experience in our own community. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to try on various leadership styles and skills through small group facilitation and student-run lessons, all with direct coaching and feedback from classmates and Ashley.
A portion of class time each week will be dedicated to students’ project work time with the goal of applying course content to students’ own self-selected leadership roles, be it as a student Ambassador at Animas, a captain of their soccer team, a member of MYAC, or a volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club. Lastly, students will work together to plan an off-campus leadership retreat that could involve an overnight/camping trip.
Essential Questions
- What is leadership?
- What are characteristics of an effective leader?
- How can you be an authentic leader?
Student Learning Outcomes
Through active engagement in the course and course materials, students will:
- Show a deepened commitment to developing oneself into a confident, authentic and capable leader.
- Identify one’s talents, how to develop them as strengths, and link them to the work of the leader.
- Study and practice various skills related to effective leadership.
- Experience the challenge of working on a team and practice the skills of good team leadership and membership.
- Apply leadership skills as an act of service to improve the Animas or broader community
Course Topics
- What is leadership? Assumptions, definitions, and models
- Values and principles of effective leaders
- Personal mission statement and values exploration
- Organization mission and vision statement
- Different Leadership Theories and Styles
- Communication
- Listening & Asserting Skills
- Giving & Receiving Feedback
- Difficult Conversations
- Conflict Resolution
- Group Facilitation
- Group Dynamics/Collaboration
- Interpersonal dynamics and importance of emotional intelligence
- Group-think
- Decision-making
- Community organizing
- Power/Authority: What does influence mean? Leadership as stewardship and service
- Mentorship and cultivating leadership in others
Assignments
Personal Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan……………………………………………………………........................................................15%
After studying a strengths-based framework for leadership, you will take a survey to determine your own strengths and weaknesses. You will then write a 3-5 page essay outlining your personal mission statement and values as well as your philosophy for effective leadership. This essay will also include an action plan that will guide your project work over the course of the semester and establish personal leadership development goals based on your strengths/weakness as well as the needs of your organization.
Digital Reflection Notebook…………………………………………………………………………………….........................................................20%
This journal will take the form of a google doc, shared with Ashley at the start of the semester. The journal will consist of short responses to daily starters, readings and in-class activities. This notebook is intended to help you to reflect on and react to readings and class sessions, put course topics into practice, and connect course material to your own life – personally and academically/extracurricularly. The reflections will ask you to think critically about the assigned readings, class presentations activities, and discussions. You are expected to do the readings and assigned reflections before the class session in which they will be discussed.
Get Energized!...........................................................................................................................................................................................................5% Each student will lead the class in one ice breaker or energizer activity (in the form of a game or initiative), lasting five to ten minutes, during the semester. These engaging activities help build your toolbox of skills and ideas you can use as a group facilitator, and help build comfort, familiarity and fun within your group. This also gives you experience instructing and leading. For ideas, check out: http://wilderdom.com/games. As a part of this assignment, you’ll be expected to prepare and turn-in an “activity plan” (typed), which is like a lesson plan. A template will be provided for you.
Retreat Planning Participation………………………………………………………………………………........................................................15%
We will work together as a class to plan a retreat for the end of the semester. This will put your group work capabilities to the test!! While I have some ideas for what this retreat may entail, I am going to leave it up to the class to determine the purpose, goals, schedule, activities and location for the retreat. I expect each student to actively participate in the planning process and fulfill their assigned planning role.
Final Leadership Vision Reflection…………………………….……………………………………….........................................................35% Write a 5-6 page reflection representing your personal policy about leadership: What leadership means to you (including how the meaning may have changed through this course) and what you have learned about yourself as a leader using the concepts covered in the course (both readings and class sessions). Your reflection should be specific and personal and should represent the primary ideas you have been thinking and writing about throughout the semester. In addition, your reflection should contain one or two commitments to behaviors you wish to develop or improve upon personally as a leader. Additionally, you will reflect on to what extent you achieved your action plan goals for your designated leadership role outside of class, discussing what you did well, what you could have improved upon, and what obstacles stood in your way (either externally or internally).
- You will be given 10 minutes during the last few class sessions to present your final paper to the class and receive feedback from your peers.
- Preparing Feedback for Peers…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10%
- Something you really value about them as a leader.
- Something constructive that will help the person grow as a leader.
Required Class Materials
- Laptop
- Folder to hold class handouts (a 3-ring binder is NOT required. Feel free to get one for ALL classes, but there is no need to have a 3-ring binder for each of your classes at Animas)
- Composition notebook for creative-writing prompts, occasional journaling and note-taking.
- Pencils or pens
- USB device
- Highlighter or colored pens for marking texts
- Daily Planner
Responsibilities for Teaching & Learning
I have several expectations that deserve special mention up front:
- That you come to class prepared and on-time;
- That you make honest efforts to be prepared to participate in class discussions by completing the assigned reading for that day;
- That discussion and class participation are required and expected of all; and,
- That you come to class ready to do “real work” together with the understanding that education is an active rather than passive process.
Part of my job is to help you grow and stretch as a learner by providing timely, specific feedback on your work both in-class and out of class. Some of this feedback will involve grades.
To help you know my expectations and grading “style,” an “A” means the student has, in some way, exceeded the expectations of the assignment. A “B” to me means that the student has met most/all of the expectations of the assignment. A “C” means the student has met the minimum expectations of the assignment. Any major assignment (essays, exams, projects) lower than a “C” will be graded a “D” or “F” but will be handed back for the option to redo for a better grade. (You will have typically have one week to redo the assignment, although we can negotiate a deadline that makes sense based on the amount of work required to re-assess and your own workload in other classes/life.)
I will commit to making my expectations as clear as possible regarding each assignment and there will be opportunities (within reason) to re-submit work after feedback is given should that be desired.
At this point in your high school career, education is a shared responsibility. Your success in this course, as it is in life, is directly related to your active involvement in the learning process. My responsibilities as an educator include providing a variety of learning opportunities and experiences related to the course objectives described above as well as to share my passion for the Humanities.
As I allude to above, your responsibilities include showing up, contributing in class, conducting discussions, engaging with your classmates, completing the assignments on time, and asking questions of anything for which you are unclear.
Email Etiquette: How to effectively communicate with teachers
Subject: E-mail Format
Dear Students,
E-mail is a useful mode of communication, particularly during the school day when teachers tend to be busy and might forget information transmitted orally during the course of the day. You should use email to communicate any of the following types of information: future excused absences, late work excuses, requests for extensions on projects, to schedule a meeting with a teacher, to ask questions you might have that have not been addressed during class, etc… Email should always include a clearly stated purpose, necessary background information, a recommendation or action plan and clear and concise writing.
Please keep in mind that you are communicating with a teacher in writing about your work. That means you should read over what you wrote before you send it out and correct any typos or errors. Do not use text message abbreviations or emoticons. I “m not ur bff,” so do not send me emails that read like text messages you would send to a friend. ALWAYS begin your email with a respectful greeting (Dear Ashley, Good morning Ashley, Hello Ashley, etc...) and conclude your email with an appropriate closing such as Sincerely/Respectfully/Best Regards, Your Name). Following these guidelines will help you make good impressions not only on your beloved Animas teachers, but also with prospective employers and college professors.
Sincerely,
Ashley Carruth
Norms and Expectations
Minimum standards for written work
o Practice like you’re going to play! In other words, your written work should be high quality and professional. In our fast-paced digital world, it is all-too easy to shoot off a professional email to a teacher, boss, or admissions officer, riddled with errors. However, that reflects poorly on you and may lead to a missed opportunity. Thus, to help you practice like you’re going to play, and set you up for success beyond my classroom walls, I am obligated to hold you to a high standard of writing for all assignments. This means assignments should be free of major grammar issues. And unless otherwise indicated, papers and assignments should be typed and double-spaced in 12 point font, using one inch margins.
o I invite you to hand in a draft of any assigned formal written work in advance of the due date for preliminary feedback.
o Important note about grammar: If there are more than five significant errors in grammar on papers, I will stop reading your paper at that point, automatically deduct 10%, and hand it back to you for a re-write, which you will be expected to turn in the following class. I will give you two opportunities for this during the semester. After the third time this occurs, papers with significant grammar issues will be graded accordingly, and thus likely to receive a “D” or an “F.” The take home point here is if you are challenged by grammar, then I urge you to use your classmates, family members, or teachers as proofreaders.
We will use technology respectfully and responsibly.
This means that you are not distracting yourself, classmates, or me with your phones, laptops, or music during class. Music will be allowed on headphone during independent work time. This also means that only 2-sided printing will be accepted.
We will be nice to each other.
Mean, intolerant, or profanity-ridden speech will absolutely not be tolerated. We will be discussing many controversial topics and I expect all students to do so with empathy and an open-mind.
Lateness
I check attendance during the first 10 minutes of class every day. If you're late and unexcused, you miss credit for the starter and are marked late.
Food and Beverages
Research has linked nutrition with cognitive outcomes. In other words, what you eat affects how you think (Schoenthaler and Steiner). Healthy foods fuel healthy minds. Thus, I encourage you to bring healthy snacks. Keep the room clean and you can keep this privilege.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if I am sick or miss school?
It is your responsibility to read my DP blog, stay abreast of our course material, and contact me to let me know why you are absent. When the absence is excused you will have as many days as you were absent to make up the work. If the absence is unexcused the missed work may not be made up for credit. You do need to make-up missed starters.
Can I get extra credit?
No. But if you have turned in sub-par work, please talk to me about the potential to further demonstrate your learning.
When are assignments due?
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin
An effective leader is prepared! For class this means having completed the readings and assignments prior to class. On that note, assignments are due in the first five minutes of class unless otherwise noted. Anything turned in later than five minutes after class has begun will be docked an immediate 20%. You have up to one week from the deadline to turn it in for up to 80% credit. After that, you will receive a zero for the assignment. Make sure all printing is done before the deadline.
Can I get an extension?
In many college environments, students are granted extensions only in rare and exceptional circumstances- illness, death in the family, significant life circumstances, mental health issues, etc. In moving towards a more college-like approach, this year I will only be granting extensions to students who have an exceptional circumstance that requires an extension.
Things that do NOT qualify as exceptional circumstances include but are not limited to include: Sports absences, procrastination, minor colds/injuries, failure to understand the assignment directions that we went over in class, family trips/vacations, general varieties of teenage angst.
The 1-per-student Extension Rule and Request Guidelines
However, I also understand that you have busy academic and personal lives and in order to help you be healthy humans, I will allow each student ONE (1) extension request per semester. The request should be submit to me in an email by 6pm the evening before an assignment is due. Please indicate in your email request the reason for your request and the date by which you think it appropriate to submit the assignment.