Syllabus:
     
Health and Human Development

Syllabus
Spring , 2003  

The Instructors:

Ms. Monteleone
smonteleone@mchschool.org
(310) 440-3500 x4069 

Course Overview:

* Course Goals: The goals of this course are twofold: each student will become aware of the ways that she/he can pursue wellness in her/his own life, in her/his own way; and she/he will develop the skills to be able to do so.  Throughout the course of Health and Human Development, the ongoing questions will be: What does it mean to be healthy? and What does it mean to be Jewish and healthy?

* Course Themes: Three common themes will be explored throughout the Health and Human Development Course: communication, violence, and the media.  We will examine how each of these subjects enhance health or create barriers along the path to achieving wellness.

Requirements and Expectations:

* Classroom expectations: Students will come to class on time, prepared and ready to learn each day.  Students not in their seat when class begins are tardy.  Being prepared includes having the following materials at the start of each class period:  pens (blue or black ink), pencil and eraser, class notes, and any completed assignments due that day.

 * Behavioral expectations: All students will show respect for one another; this includes respecting one another's opinions and ideas, even if they are different from our own.  Put downs of any kind will not be tolerated.  Students will participate actively in class discussions and collaborate with peers as appropriate.  Students' conduct in class will be reflected in their participation grade, as well as their conduct grade.

Communication:

In the spirit of healthy communication, I am always willing to speak/meet with both parents/guardians and students - for any reason - in order enhance the learning experience of students in the Health and Human Development Course.  Please do not hesitate to contact me at the email address or extension listed at the top of the syllabus.  Students are expected to contact me whenever they miss class to find out what they have missed.  They may do this via email (at the address above) or voicemail, or they may come directly to my office upon their return to school.  It is the student's responsibility to contact me immediately if they are unable to complete an assignment on time or if they have questions about the assignment.

Back to Top

Work Required:

Most of the assignments in Health and Human Development will be submitted electronically through First Class Handin and Handout Folders.  All students are expected to utilize their First Class accounts to submit assignments and to communicate with the instructor.  Graded work will be returned to the students via First Class (Email).  Students are expected to keep all graded work in an electronic portfolio on the student's First Class desktop.  In order to minimize technology-related problems, students are strongly advised to back up all of their work on their computers at home, their network folders at school, floppy disks, and CD-Roms.  Course work includes the following:

* Journal entries will be assigned on a daily basis. The journal entries will ask the students to respond to the assigned readings, current event articles, or interactive Internet or multi-media resources.  Journal entries will be graded on the student's ability to think critically on the piece, and he/she has related the topic to the his/her personal health.

* Warm-up Activities: Students will usually complete a warm-up activity upon entering class each day.  The warm-up activities will allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their comprehension of the assigned readings or the lessons from previous days.

* Required Readings and Responses: Before coming to class each day, students will be required to complete the set of readings assigned for that unit.  Many of the readings will accompany a journal response or worksheet that the students must complete and submit in their First Class Handin Folder before coming to class.  

 * Book Reports: Students will be required to complete two book reports, one from the Social Health Unit and one from the ATOD Unit.  Students should choose one of the following books for the Social Health Unit:

            The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

         Hard Love, by Ellen Wittlinger

         Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Students should also choose one of the following books for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Unit:

          Smack, by Melvin Burgess

          Go Ask Alice, Anonymous

Students must purchase both of the books they will read for the book reports from the Student Store by Friday, February 7th (B-day) or Monday, February 10th (A-day).  

Book Report #1 is due Thursday, March 20th (A-day) or Friday, March 21st (B-day). 

* Tests and Quizzes: The teacher reserves the right to give scheduled and unscheduled tests and quizzes on the assigned readings and class lectures.  Short examinations and activities will be given at the end of each unit to assess the students' mastery of the material from that particular unit.

Assessment and evaluation:

Each student will receive a letter grade determined according to the following criteria:

      Assignments                   40%

        (Warm-up Activities, worksheets, journal responses, portfolio checks)

      Participation                   25%

      Book Reports                  20%

      Unit Assessment     15%

The participation grade will be calculated 4 times during the semester and will reflect: 

•  Active participation in class discussions. 

•  Ability to work in cooperation with others. 

•  Willingness to respect individual and classroom boundaries. 

* Conduct Grade Policy:  Participation in class will also affect the student's conduct grade.  Repeated inappropriate participation such as talking out of turn, engaging in side conversations with other students, and interrupting other students or the teacher will result in an N or a U on the progress report or report card.  Students who choose not to participate in the class discussions will not receive higher than an S on the progress report or report card.

* Work Habits Policy:  Late assignments will be reflected in the work habits grade.

• 4 missing assignments will result in an N on the progress report.

• 6 missing assignments will result in a U on the progress report.

• 8 missing assignments will result in an N on the final report card.

• 12 missing assignments will result in a U on the final report card.

* Absence Policy: Being absent from class is not an excuse for missed or late work.  Students who miss Health class for any reason should visit the Health website to look up information and assignments s/he missed.  Upon returning to school following an absence, students are expected to complete any missed work by the next class period.  Students can get this information from the Health website, a classmate, or from the teacher.

Schedule of Work: 

Please note this schedule is only tentative and may change during the course of the semester. 

 I. Social Health

      Relationships

      Interpersonal Communication

      Sociocultural Aspects of Health

II. Mental Health

      Introduction to Mental Health

      Personality Development

      Self-esteem

      Values

      Managing Stress

      Mental Health Disorders  

III. Physical Health Promotion

      Eating Disorders

      Nutrition and Fitness

      Sleep

      Chronic Disease Prevention

      Infectious Disease and Hygiene

IV. Personal Health and Safety

     Injury Prevention

     First Aid and CPR

V. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATOD)

      Introduction to ATOD

      Substance use, misuse, and abuse

      Social norms

      ATOD and the Media

      ATOD and Violence 

VI. Sexual Health

      Reproductive system

      Sexual orientation

      STDs/HIV

      Pregnancy Prevention

      AOD and Sex

      Violence and sex

      Sex in the Media

CPR Certification (Part of Personal Health and Safety Unit):

All students will learn the basics of first aid and CPR during the Personal Health and Safety Unit.  CPR certification classes will be offered.   ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Health and Human Development

Spring, 2003

Acknowledgement

I, the student listed below, and I, the guardian of the student listed below, have read and understood the information in the Spring  2003 Health and Human Development Syllabus.

Please sign below in acceptance of the above statement.

Student's Name

Printed ___________________________________________

Signed ____________________________________________ 

Guardian's Name

Printed  ___________________________________________

Signed ____________________________________________

Date ________________________

*In order to facilitate communication, please provide the following information:

(Please print legibly.)

Guardian's personal/preferred email

 _____________________________________________

Guardian's private/preferred voicemail

__________________________________________

Back to Top