Welcome Sulli Leaders 2014

Course Framework

Sullivan Heights Secondary School

Community Leadership    

Jeff Vaughan

2014

By registering in this course, you have identified yourself as a leader – someone who has chosen to take a proactive and central role in developing positive school culture.  Your backgrounds, strengths and interests are varied and I believe that such diversity can only strengthen our program and therefore the school as well.  Your success in the course and the success of the program depend on your personal / social responsibility and investment in a healthy class dynamic.  Leaders at Sullivan Heights are role models respected for their independence, motivation, organization and charity.  We are team players who are visible by all members of the community. 

Communication

To facilitate better communication I urge students to check email regularly.  Please initiate contact by sending me an email at vaughan_j@surreyschools.ca so that I can set up a mailing list. Furthermore, I invite you to follow me on Twitter @MoVaughan42 and at this blog teachervaughan.blogspot.ca Students and parents should not hesitate to email or call me at the school any time at extension 3131. Remember that good communication is critical to becoming a good leader.

Course Materials

1. Bring your AGENDA, your JOURNAL, a pencil, and positive energy to every class. 

Course Content

Leadership Theory                                            Peer Teaching / Community Involvement

- Leadership Styles                                             - Global Issues

- Lesson Design                                                   - Charity and Altruism

- Team Building                                                  - Group Management

- Conflict Resolution                                           - Lifestyle Awareness

- Initiative and Stewardship                                 - Active Citizenship

Activity Planning/ Management                       Promotion and Communication 

- Activity Selection                                             - Event Promotion

- Meeting Organization                                       - Communication

- Event Planning                                                  - Fostering Positive Culture

CPR certification

Emergent Curricula

Assessment

Student and Teacher Interviews

Peer and Self Reflections (blog portfolio / journaling)

Hero Project and Legacy Project

Participation, Class Contribution, Personal and Social Responsibility

Volunteer Hours (2 hours / week)

Volunteer Hours

20 of the 40 hours should directly contribute to the benefit of Sullivan school community and culture.  Volunteer opportunities must contribute to a Greater Common / Public Good. Record volunteering on the SERVICE HOURS page of your agendas with dates and sponsor information.

Volunteer Possibilities

- School store operations, school sign, school orientations

- Supervision: Homework club, FitClub, open-gym

- Elementary school play days and events

- Set-up for school events (athletics, dances, drama productions)

- Team manager, trainer, coach (elementary school, community)

- Participation in school clubs and councils (e.g. Global Issues, CVC, Duke of Edinboro, Grad Council, Student Council)

- Volunteer driving for school events

- Work in the community (Parks & Recreation programs, City of Surrey, sport camps, day cares, churches, community centers, YMCA, extended care facilities, food bank, SPCA, shelters, soup kitchens)

Costs

Historically, leadership classes have expressed the need for LEADER shirts so that they are identifiable during the various events they organize and develop a proud sense of belonging.  Student-designed shirts will cost about $25 each. CPR certification is $10. Please feel welcome to approach Mr. Vaughan privately to discuss any financial shortcomings.

Events and Field Trips

Below is a list of the kinds of events, activities and field trips that the leadership class has undertaken in the past:

- Terry Fox Run and Head Shave          -Sullivan Shoreline Cleanup

- Cops for Cancer                                 -SD36 Climate Challenge

- Grade 8 Retreats                                -Maple Leaf Day Activities

- Grade 8 Spooky Spirit Day                 -RELEAF tree planting

- Sullivan Spirit Pep Rally                    -HOO DONE IT?

- Energy Ambassadors Program            -Culture Case

- BRIDGES high school transition        -Salvation Army Kettles

- Youth Stewardship Initiative              -Campus renaturalization

- Holiday Charity Drive                        -Family Sponsorship

- Christmas Bureau                               -Surrey Food Bank

- Snow shoe adventure                          -Grouse Grind

- UBC ropes course                              -Curling with seniors   

- Milk Run                                           -Sun Run

- One-Less-Car Initiative                       -Children Hospital Carnival

- Sullivan Street Hockey                       -Lunch-time Intramurals

- Grad vs. Teacher challenges                -Orienteering & Geocache

- BC Hydro Power Smart Campaign       -One Tonne Challenge

- Voyageur Canoeing                            -Campus beautification

- Parks Lend-a-Hand                             -Me to We campaigns

- SD36 student Leadership Conference    -Street Squad               

- School Surveys and Orientations          -We Day

- School Garden                                    -Fruit & Veggie Program

- Translink TravelSmart                         -Earth Day Assembly

- School icebreakers & teambuilders       -Surrey Green Team

By signing below, I ________________________ have accepted the above leadership-class expectations and acknowledge that it is my responsibility to attend all scheduled meetings.  I will record in my agenda all class meetings and events, referring to it regularly to facilitate my organization and preparedness.

_______________________              _____________________

         Student signature                         Parent /guardian signature

Final Portfolio Assessment "Report Card" Post

Thanks to Mr. Neufeld for constructing the following framework with which we can better organize our reflective post:

There are Four pillars to provide evidence (screen shots + links) for, each worth 25%.

For report card posts in grades 8/9 we are legally required to provide a letter grade, and in 10-12 we need an actual percentage to go along with the more meaningful formative writing, so after discussing your semester you will need to put a summative evaluation on it.

As a way to help you organize your thoughts, the following breakdown for the "four pillars" and thematic questions can be used, but you may move beyond these in your explanation.

1) Participation- this category includes all of the factors around your ability to participate and the quality of your participation of in-class activities. Some things to consider would include: attendance and punctuality, wearing gym strip (actual change of clothing from what you wear the rest of the day),  physical presence/activity level during games, intensity of participation, skill level in various games, and the motivation behind your selection of activities on choice days. Missing “sometimes” or having “no strip” more than once or twice should result in a failing mark here.

2) Social Responsibility and Contribution to the Class- this category includes all of the factors that led to your improving skills around working with peers to make everyone's experience more successful. Some things to consider would include: examples of leadership (organizing others, encouraging peers), examples of initiative (helping with equipment, helping with other classes WITHOUT being asked to), positive energy and social dynamic during activities, honesty during competition and on fitness scores, and connections with the community/volunteering. Needing reminders from a teacher to do the above items negates their impact… thus resulting in a failing grade here. If you need to talked to, you didn’t do well.

3) Healthy Living - this category includes all aspects of your past, current, and future data and goals on your health and fitness. Some of the things to consider would include: your actual fitness scores and what they teach you, noteworthy changes in your fitness, some of the barriers/limitations you face in participating, dietary choices and extra curricular activity choices and their impact on overall health, injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation, and future plans/goals for overall health choices. This is the connecting piece between class and life… if you have no evidence of choices/activities outside of class you should be failing this section.

4) Digital Portfolio and Reflective skills: this category includes all aspects of your blog posts. Some of the things to consider would include: the total collection of digital evidence and number of posts, the quality of the selection of evidence as a demonstration of learning, the quality of the summaries/explanation of the evidence (with reflection of effort, new learning cited, research included, and future goals/plans set), the usefulness of comments on peers blog entries as a part of socially constructed learning and assessment, and your ability to synthesize your entries into a summative final post which provides evidence for your learning. 

Exemplary blogs will contain some of the following: videos of weight room workouts, videos of themselves in the weightroom, images and video of fitness and games, reflections about diet with evidence of meals, evidence of exercise outside of school, a reflective post about the quality of your blog as compared to others, multiple posts about your fitness scores on testing days (beep, vertical), a mid term post, a final post, at least one post with evidence of social responsibility choices you make in class, plus others.

We have worked very hard to create opportunities for you to learn about being intrinsically motivated, to learn about and find value in personalizing your experience to best suite your own physical needs, and we have devalued the external motivators like grades as a reason for being your best. However, along with our legal obligations, we would like to have you understand the spirit of what grades are supposed to reflect, and rather than having your "stories" be excuses for unfair teacher assessed grades, have them be your evidence for co-constructed grading. To do this you need to be honest about the four pillars of learning and how well you approached each of them.

While they are not set at 25% each, if you have minimal evidence for one or more of the pillars this should signal to you that you were NOT successful in that area, which would then be reflected in you self assessed final grade. Your final post should have evidence. The goal here is for you to be able to critically and honestly see yourself within the context of the pillars and the class. Nobody is perfect and nobody is without hope... finding yourself in the middle will be more rewarding than anything I as a teacher can ever say about you. Good luck!!

MARCH 5th 2014 Interim Report

Sullivan Heights Active Learning Department Interim Report

Monday March 3^th 2014

Dear Parents and Students:

Students have been invited to blog about their Active Learning journey; to reflect on new and emerging understandings related to their physical education.  At this point in the semester, they are also to include a work habit (Good, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement) and its justification. Some themes to reflect on might include:

attendance and punctuality

-      -  noteworthy changes in fitness (with documented evidence)

-       - contributions to the class social dynamic

-      -  factors that influence work ethic and effort

-       - preparedness for class (PE STRIP), leadership

-       - comments on skill development

-       - level of commitment to extra-curricular, daily physical activity (with examples)

-       - dietary choices and their influence on health, energy levels, and performance

-       - injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation

-       - connections with community, active citizenship, volunteering

-       - aspects of the course they are enjoying / like to see changed

-     -   identification of barriers / limitations to participation in physical activity

-    -    personal goals and plans for continued growth

You are invited to visit you child's blog and please join in the conversation.

Thanks for sharing! 

Sullivan Heights Active Learning Department

2014/15 Leadership Class Legacy

Sullivan Leadership Legacies

At the beginning of the semester you were asked about how you’d like to be remembered as a Sullivan leader.  Over the past few months, our class has participated in a number of environmental stewardship initiatives (REleaf planting, Invasive species removal, Partners in Parks), humanitarian projects (Food Drive, Movember Stache N Dash, Food Bank volunteer, God's Little Acre Farm harvest, Xmas bureau family sponsorship, CPR certification) as well as acts of leadership (gr 8 retreat, school tours, Remembrance Day).  In-class activities have afforded a number of varied opportunities to work collaboratively and creatively to broaden and deepen your leadership skills. 

Furthermore, each of you has been engaged in hours of extra-curricular active citizenship as volunteers in the school and the larger community.  It has been said that receiving is in the giving and it is my hope that you have grown and become enriched as a result of your charity.  Believe it or not, you have made a difference in someone else’s life, so here is your chance to share and articulate those lessons inherent to your volunteer experiences.

Using the prompts below, along with samples taken from your journaling / portfolios, I invite you to document your legacy as a Sullivan Leader.  You may use any media of your choosing including: text, art, music, collage, poetry, multi-media, theatre, and comedy.  Because your learning is something very personal, not to mention complex and usually messy, this work is to be your own.   You have all worked to foster an inclusive and welcoming class environment in which all members feel safe in taking risks and sharing their ideas, so embrace the freedom of letting your heart continue to guide you now.

In the continued spirit of student empowerment and surrendering the control of your learning back to you, we will decide as a class the best format for our presentations.

Legacy presentations will be shared in late - January concurrently with your final exit interviews.  Experience tells me that students will need at least 5 minutes to share their learning along with another 5 to field questions.  I have every confidence in your abilities and trust that you will each invest in your work with the kind of quality that you and the group deserve as well as with the vigor that a senior level course warrants.  There is no such thing as a ‘B’ leader.

- Most powerful experience in the course…

- What I bring to the class dynamic…

- How I contribute to the class community…

- How I’ve grown…                           - New understandings about leadership…
- Something that I’ve been working towards improving…

- My goals for the class and the degree to which I achieved them…

- My most memorable moment as a teacher…  As a learner…

- My hero / mentor / icon (same or different now?)…          My "Issue"....

- Plans for continued growth as a leader…

Sullivan Heights Active Learning Department Semester - End Formal Report

Sullivan Heights Active Learning Department Semester - End Report

January 2014

_________________________________ has been invited to blog about their Active Learning journey; to reflect on new and emerging understandings related to their physical education.  At this point in the year we also need to co-construct a summative assessment by attaching a letter grade and work habit for the Ministry report card.  Support your suggested grade with evidence / artifacts and by elaborating on some of the themes / class-values listed below:

-      noteworthy changes in fitness (with documented evidence)
attendance and punctuality

-      contributions to the class social dynamic

-       factors that influence work ethic and effort

-       preparedness for class, leadership

-       comments on skill development

-       level of commitment to extra-curricular, daily physical activity (with examples)

-       dietary choices and their influence on health, energy levels, and performance

-       injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation

-       connections with community, active citizenship, volunteering

-       aspects of the course they are enjoying / like to see changed

-       identification of barriers / limitations to participation in physical activity

-       personal goals and plans for continued growth

You are invited to visit http//:____________________________________________ and please join in the conversation.

Mr. Vaughan

Sullivan Heights Active Learning Department

Welcome Leadership Class

Hi All.  As we work together to co- construct our first formal assessment, I thought it appropriate for you to be commenting on your learning with respect to the value statements that you created together.  Please use them to prompt not only a G, S, or N work habit but to launch a deeper and richer reflection.  Please also invite your peers and the people at home to comment on your thinking.  After all, the Latin root word for assessment is "assidere" which means to sit beside. Here are YOUR words:

As Sullivan Leaders We Value:


- respecting others, ourselves, and the opinions of everyone.

- individuality and being able to express ourselves freely.

- creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment.

- keeping a tenacious nature about our passions.

- providing others with similar opportunities as our own.

Summative Assessments

All year we have fostered a student-centered learning environment where you have been invited to construct and re-create your experiences.  I hope that your active learning journey has been a conscious one and that you've become a more reflective learner as a result.  To honour the personal and messy nature of learning, we believe that you need to be the primary authors of your assessment. The blog offers a forum where that assessment can be shared in its rich, complex, and whole state.   Here is your chance to reveal / make transparent your process by bringing attention and meaning to your emerging understandings.  When thoughtfully chosen, digital artifacts strengthen your posts because they not only serve as evidence but can crystalize a communication that words alone may not articulate. This learning is not limited to just your physical education but should consider all aspects of health.  Please invite your peers and parents to read and comment on your post. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to continuing our assessment conversation with each of you in person over the next two weeks.

If you are stuck, here are some guiding questions / themes to consider when writing your summative post.  These are meant to simply steer your conversation and not to limit it.

- Comment on your; attendance / punctuality / readiness to participate.

- Comment on any changes to your fitness.  Provide evidence of the change.  Reflect on why the change happened.

- Comment on how you contribute to our class dynamic?  What do you bring?  Give examples.

- Comment on what it means to you to be physically educated?  How are you ready for independence?

- Reflect on what barriers might be keeping you from succeeding a healthy, active lifestyle.  Troubleshoot those obstacles.

- Suggest a grade that attempts to reflect you learning / performance / understandings / contributions...