Global Communities

Thomas Edison High School 2017-2018

Global Communities Mr. Johnson Room 303 612-668-1300 [email protected]

Course Description Global Communities is a semester long course where students will gain an understanding of Global Issues, Global Interactions, Culture and Environmental relationships between other nations and the outcome it has on planet earth. In addition we have outside agencies such as World Savvy and Spark-Y coming in and guiding a couple of units.

Course Overview of Units Throughout the course of Global Communities, you will be covering the following units below:  Global Issues

 World Savvy

 Natural Disasters

 Culture

 Environmental

 Spark-Y

Tommie Creed

Team: I will respect myself and others by being open-minded and a good communicator.

Opportunity: I will prepare for college and the career of my choice by being a thinker and becoming more knowledgeable.

Make a Difference: I will honor myself, my family and my school by being principled.

Make it Right: I will restore my relationships and advocate for myself. I will be caring and try to understand others by being an inquirer.

Integrity: I will make good decisions. I will stay balanced and be reflective about my choices.

Excellence: I will do my personal best and a positive risk-taker. MYP Fundamental Concepts Throughout the year, our curriculum will support the three underlying principles of the I.B. Middle Years Programme: inquiry, action, and reflection. We will ask questions about math and the world around us, apply math in our community, and think deeply about what and how we are learning. MYP Global Contexts You will be learning Human Geography through six Global Contexts. The Global Contexts give meaning to what is learned through the exploration of real-world problems. Through inquiry and active learning, you will use higher-order thinking skills to deepen comprehension and reflection to better understand yourself as a learner.

Identities and relationships: Explore identity; beliefs and values; personal, and physical, mental, social and spiritual health. Also, look at human relationships, communities and cultures. Think about what it means to be human. Orientation in space and time: Explore turning points in humankind from discoveries and explorations to the relationships between individuals and civilizations. Do this through different perspectives, not just yours, but also others in Minneapolis, the U.S, and the world.

Personal and cultural expression: Explore the different ways that we discover and express ideas and feelings on everything from nature to culture. Think about all the different ways that we reflect on and enjoy our human creativity, and our appreciation of “beauty.”

Scientific and technical innovation: Explore the relationship between people and the natural world and the impact of scientific/technological advances on communities and environments. Also think about the impact of environments on human activity; how do we adapt?

Globalization and sustainability: Explore human-made systems and communities; and how our local experiences at home affect the whole world. Reflect on the positive and negative effects of world “interconnectedness.” Is it sustainable? Will it last?

Fairness and development: Explore rights and responsibilities, especially the relationship between different communities around the world. Do we share what we have with other people? With other living things? Can we all achieve equal opportunities and peace?

Personal and Fairness and Identities and Orientation in Scientific and Globalization and Cultural Development Relationships Space and Time Technical Innovation Sustainability Expression What is the What are the What is the How do we nature and consequences Who am I? meaning of understand the How is everything purpose of of our Who are we? “where” and world in which we connected? creative common “when”? live? expression? humanity?

Resources Students will need to access my webpage where some online assignments will be posted. You will also need access to student portal where your latest grades are. Make sure you keep an eye out for the Assessment category because that section is worth 80% of your grade.

What to Bring to Class  Binder with all material (MUST HAVE IT WITH YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY!)  SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH (I WILL NOT PROVIDE PENCILS ANYMORE!)

Grading Policy Please refer to the Thomas Edison Student Handbook for our school-wide assessment policy. Grades will directly reflect achievement of academic standards. 80% of your grade in this class will be based on your academic achievement on learning targets and MYP assessment Criteria. 20% will be based on academic practice, such as homework and other things you do to get ready to show your learning.

Grading Breakdown 80% Assessments/Learning Targets Learning targets are based on MN state standards and aligned to MYP assessment criteria. You will have several opportunities to demonstrate your comprehension of each learning target throughout the unit. These opportunities will include tests, quizzes, projects, class work, and additional assessments. Learning targets will be graded using the rubric shown:

Score MCA Terms Description Got it and more! 7-8 EXCEEDS Excellent, exceptional, extended Got it! 5-6 MEETS Consistent, accurate Kinda got it! 3-4 PARTIALLY MEETS Basic, simple, inconsistent Don’t get it! 1-2 DOES NOT MEET Developing, limited, partial Didn’t do it! 0 Unacceptable, inaccurate, insufficient evidence

20% Academic Practice These activities allow you to become proficient with the learning targets. These activities include homework, group work, and individual class work. To be successful in this class, completing homework assignments is a necessity.

Comparison of Rubric Grading to Grade Scale Rubric Score Description Grade Scale Letter grade 7-8 Exceeds/Exemplary 91-100 % A (87.5%) 87-90 A- 6 Meets 83-86 B+ (75%) 79-82 B 75-78 B- 5 Meets 71-74 C+ (62.5%) 67-70 C 63-66 C- 4 Partially meets 59-62 D+ (50%) 55-58 D 50-54 D- 3 Partially meets 0-50 F (37.5%) 2 (25%) Attempted/ 1 (12.5%) Does not meet 0 Not attempted If you do not complete any of the academic achievement assessments, you will receive an incomplete (I) for the quarter. You must show evidence of proficiency in order to get a grade for the course. After mid-quarter of the following quarter, any unresolved incompletes will become F’s and result in no credit.

Attendance and Tardy Policy: 5 Tardies- Phone Call Home 8 Tardies- Dean 10 Tardies- Meeting with Assistant Principal and Parent

Academic Honesty Policy Please refer to the Thomas Edison Student Handbook.

Classroom Conduct Expectations Behave like a young adult and we won’t have any issues, if not then the proper actions will be taken: one-on- one teacher conversations, referrals, deans, phone calls home, etc…