1. Contemporary Issues & Leadership Back to School Night 2016 Mr. Matt Mirabito mmirabito@tenafly.k12.nj.us

2. Course Proficiencies Please click on the link below to find objectives and progress indicators for the following courses of study: Contemporary Issues and Leadership

3. Course Description The objective of this course is to examine thoroughly international, national and local events as they happen. We will be investigating the important social, political and economic issues that form their historical roots. The course would utilize various newspapers, newsmagazines, news shows and Internet news sites as its main “texts.” It would be a flexible and dynamic class due to the very immediacy of the topics discussed each day.

4. Curriculum Mondays Round Table Discussion of Current Events (Peer Led) Present news based on a current event topic and discuss the significance and impact of the event. Tuesdays Discussion of Current Events From the previous day, honors students will select one student to present their current event to the class. Students provided background information, articles, and notes on topics that are currently dominating the news.

5. Curriculum Wednesdays & Thursdays Leadership & Hot Topics Students will be given background information, articles, and notes on topics that are currently dominating the news. On these days, CNN Student News will be utilized as an anticipatory set. Materials from Brown University’s Choices Program will be utilized to investigate current issues in depth. In the fall semester, class time will be allocated to explore the nature of leadership. The class will investigate how leadership character develops, what makes a leader, what makes a good leader, questions if leadership can be taught, how you can lead yourself, why leaders lose their way, how to deal with success, and lessons that can be learned from everyday leaders.

6. Curriculum Fridays Assessments On Fridays, students will be evaluated on their knowledge of current issues and leadership. Assessments can be in form of CNN News quizzes, Hot Topic Exams, Essays, or completing Choices Program challenges.

7. Choices Program – Brown University The Choices Program is non-profit organization based at Brown University. The curriculum is based upon current and historical international issues. Choices materials incorporate the latest scholarship from Brown University and beyond to draw connections between historical events and contemporary international issues. In each unit, a central activity challenges students to consider multiple viewpoints on a contested issue. Students examine the historical, cultural, and political background of the issue to prepare a coherent presentation. Follow-up discussion demands analysis, and evaluation of conflicting values, interests, and priorities. Ultimately, students are expected to formulate persuasive arguments and express their own views.

8. Choices Program – Topics The Choices Program Curriculum (CPA) Civil Rights Environment Fog of War Foreign Aid Genocide Human Rights Immigration Imperialism International Trade Nuclear Weapons Terrorism U.S. Role in the World United Nations The Choices Program Curriculum (Honors) Afghanistan Africa Brazil China Cuba Hiroshima India-Pakistan Iraq Mexico Middle East North Korea Russia’s Transformation South Africa

9. Leadership Contemporary Issues in Leadership 7th Edition by Rosenbach, Taylor, and Youndt The book provides an interdisciplinary approach to the topic of leadership and draws together new material describing the chief concerns facing leaders today. It contains the latest essays to clearly communicate the contradictions and paradoxes of leadership from historical to contemporary perspectives and global to individual considerations. Students will investigate how leadership character develops, what makes a leader, what makes a good leader, questions if leadership can be taught, how you can lead yourself, why leaders lose their way, how to deal with success, and lessons that can be learned from everyday leaders.

10. Leadership (Honors) The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All by Michael Useem A collection of nine true stories used as case studies in the area of leadership. In these stories leaders are born and tested. The cases can be applied universally. Each account is about an individual who faced unusual circumstances and overcame them using critical leadership skills. Each of the nine stories Useem describes depicts challenges that had to be thought through in order to have a successful outcome. The leaders in these stories displayed the courage needed to lead while facing challenges. Useem examines each story and develops the following key lessons for leaders to take heed of: Knowing yourself Gaining commitment Remaining steadfast Expecting much

11. Grading News Quizzes/Current Event Reflections/Group Discussion Facilitation 15% Choices Program Simulations 25% Hot Topic Exams/Essays 30% Fall Semester Project - News Presentation 30%

12. CNN Student News Each day, CNN produces a web based 10 minute news broadcast designed specifically for adolescents and Each day, CNN produces a web based 10 minute news broadcast designed specifically for adolescents and created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show.

13. Community Service As part of our affiliation with the Bergen Volunteer Centers and the Mayor of Tenafly, we will be scheduling field experiences for the class to become familiar with the inner workings of the Tenafly community and the issues impacting it daily. Field experiences may include trips to: the police station, mayor’s office, DPW, Law and Public Safety Center, Federal Court Houses, Country Jail, hospitals, etc. Field Experiences will take place during both semesters. “Hot Topic” days will be used to introduce and investigate issues affecting the Tenafly community to serve as a foundation for the final presentation at the end of the year. The first semester will focus on gathering evidence from secondary sources and experience based homework where students are given tasks that require them to travel the town and investigate a variety of issues and culminate with a project satisfying a local need.