Friday, August 3, 2012

High School Sociology Syllabus

I have alluded to it a variety of times and people have asked for it.  I perceive it as nothing special, but please feel free to take it and modify it however suits you.

The link for my entire set of docs (will be updated soon) is here:
https://sbhs-sbhsd-ca.schoolloop.com/sociology

This includes a link to a .doc version of the file below.


SOCIOLOGY
COURSE EXPECTATIONS & ACADEMIC SYLLABUS
Mr. Schallhorn
Class Behavior Expectations: What I expect from you!
®      This is a “Safe Classroom” and therefore certain types of behavior are encouraged and others discouraged.  I hope all students will feel welcomed and included and be free from harassment based upon ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation or any other difference.  I encourage you to take risks, share ideas and stories appropriate to the class.  Respect is a very big issue for me.  To that end, I expect all of us to avoid “put-downs” as well as derogatory comments or gestures.  Should I do any behavior that violates this principle, please call me on it.  You and I are responsible for every behavior we do. This is a college-prep course and you will be treated as responsible adults, not children.

We will observe three fundamental rules:
1.       all students have the right to express their own ideas, and
2.       all students' ideas are to be heard and treated respectfully.
3.       Each student will bring the text, paper, unit materials, and writing utensils to class (be prepared)

Introduction:
                Greetings!  I am Mr. Schallhorn, your teacher for this course.  You ought to know a few things about me.  I taught in Indiana and Illinois for 15 years (1987-2001) and began at San Benito High School in the fall of 2001.  I have taught Psychology, Advanced Psychology, AP Psychology, Government, Sociology, Honors Sociology, Comparative Religions, World Geography, Philosophy, Anthropology, US/World History/Government (Civitas), Hindu Literature, American Metropolis, and Popular Culture.  Over the years, I have coached volleyball and basketball.  I’m also a bit of a computer and video geek.  Basically, I have been into a lot of different things.

To paraphrase Emile Durkheim (a famous sociologist) - Society was/is more powerful than any of us and is beyond our personal control.  It’s separate from us, yet we are a part of it and it’s a part of our consciousness.  It outlives all of us and we depend on it.

                Introduction to Sociology is one semester course for seniors intended to give you a broad picture of the field of sociology with an emphasis on preparation for college and critical thinking.  This course is all about problem-solving and working in groups.  The course will offer you a set of intellectual tools with which to more accurately understand the society in which you live.  Your participation, discussion, and feedback are needed.  Group activity, work and cooperation are heavily emphasized.  Most of the readings in this course are on the college level.

Things you ought to learn by taking this course:

A.      To understand how sociology views society and to develop a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the complex society in which we live.
B.      To explain the relationship between the most basic cultural concepts: values, norms, roles, and sanctions.
C.      To explain why people behave the way they do employing the concept of socialization.
D.      To explain why people deviate from and conform to the norm.
E.       To evaluate our society's system for dealing with deviants and deviance.
F.       To identify and explain the basic causes for human hatred and prejudice.
G.      To explain the unique position of blacks in our society and why they are in that position.
H.      To critically examine how the school as a social institution has molded their behavior.
I.        To understand the nature and variability of cultures in order to better understand our own.
J.        To explain human motivation in terms of interaction and group membership.
K.      To begin to be able to explain human behavior in terms of abstract sociological concepts.
L.       To analyze how families and family systems influence their behavior.
M.     To identify major social concerns and understand their importance so that students as future citizens will be better prepared to confront these problems.




Course Content
Units Covered
1.       The Sociological Perspective
2.       Culture
3.       Socialization
a.       Education
b.       Sex and Gender
c.        Media
4.       Race and Ethnicity
5.       Families and Intimate Relationships
The grade you earn will be based upon the number of points within the context of the following weights.
·         Classwork/HW/Projects/Essays=40%
·         Quizzes/Tests = 40%
·         Final Exam = 20%
Final Exam—Yes, we have one.
The final examination will be comprehensive (cover the entire course) and will represent 20% of your semester grade.
Grading Scale:
92+ = A
90-91.9  = A-
88-89.9  = B+
82-87.9  = B
80-81.9  = B-
78-79.9  = C+
72-79.9  = C
70-71.9 = C-
68-69.9  = D+
62-67.9  = D
60-61.9  = D-
Below 60%  = F

Procedures
Materials: bring daily your textbook, loose-leaf (binder or notebook) paper, notebook, folder, pens/pencils

Attendance:
·         Please make note of the San Benito High School Attendance Policy.  Everyone is expected to be in class.  This is a participation and experience-based class and although class notes can assist in making up information, nothing can totally replace the experience of being in class. 
·         Be sure to go to attendance to obtain an Admit Slip. 
·         ***I will not allow you in class without an admit slip/pass/being on excused list after an absence.

Late Fees” (for homework and other assignments)
  1. For major assignments (40 points and above), late assignments will have a penalty of 10% per school day. 
  2. Late homework is worth 50 percent of its original score if it’s done well and turned in by the day of the exam. 
  3. If work is turned in after a unit exam, only completion credit is available.

Assignments—General:

Every assignment will be labeled with the following information
(if not, it will be counted as a late grade): 
·         Staple all assignments before class begins
Name (First and Last)
Class/Period
Assignment/Title of Assignment
Date turned in
To the left, the format
Ü
To the right, an example
Þ
Charles Schallhorn
Sociology—5
Syllabus Project
January 4, 2014

Testing procedures:  Tests will be given at the end of most units.  Quizzes will be given at a variety of times during the course.

Extra credit:  Extra Credit may be earned only after the regular work is completed.  It will be available only at the instructor’s discretion.  Most often it will be for a superior effort on an assignment.

Participation:
·         I strongly encourage you to participate in class discussions and activities.  Students assist in creating the atmosphere and mood of the class.  Please become actively involved when appropriate.  Participation in a class such as Psychology where we will be doing many demonstrations and activities will enhance your interest in class and learning.
·         You are also encouraged to bring into class any materials, ideas, news, articles, artifacts
·         Positive class participation is expected.  It includes: paying attention; not sleeping in class; looking interested in the class material; asking questions about the material you've read; bringing in cartoons, magazine, newspaper and journal articles related to the topics studied; being willing to summarize the content for the class; arguing with me on the basis of evidence/logic; and actually contributing something to the class activities of the day.


Topics We Will Examine


·   The Sociological Perspective
·   sociological points of view on group behaviors
·   Durkheim and studies on suicide
·   suicide from both sociological and psychological viewpoints
·   Culture; definition
·   language and culture
·   values, roles, status and rules of cultures
·   American culture
·   Socialization; agents of socialization;
·   personality as created by the social processes;
·   sociological theories of socialization;
·   the roles of the media, education, birth order and family;
·   Social Structure and Interaction; 
·   groups, roles, status
·   nonverbal communication
·   Sex and Gender
·   Sexism
·   gender role socialization
·   Deviance
·   personal abnormality
·   the handicapped
·   history of deviance
·   theories of deviance
·   crime, prisons, and penal reform
·   Race
·   Ethnicity and Prejudice
·   sociological definition of minority
·   causes of bigotry
·   stereotypes
·   prejudice
·   discrimination
·   sexism
·   theories as to the causes of prejudice
·   History of prejudice in the U.S.
·   Sexual Harassment
·   Multiculturalism
·   The Family and Intimate Relationships
·   What is love?
·   family types
·   forms of marriage
·   historical change of the American family
·   attraction
·   relationship issues
·   perspectives on families
·   Social problems
·   Current Issues as decided upon by class


•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••


Readings
1.         You are expected to read all assignments given in this class (text, boxes in text, handouts, additional readings)

2.             I will give periodic "pop" quizzes on the readings but, in most cases, I will require you to turn in notes over the reading the day the assignment is due or assign a worksheet to go with a reading.  Handing in the assignment when you return can make up a missed assignment.

Academic Integrity and Ethical Standards

                Students are expected to abide by ethical standards in preparing and presenting material that demonstrates their level of knowledge and which is used to determine grades.  Such standards are founded on the basic concepts of honesty and integrity.  An Academic Integrity Policy is an important part of your academic life.  You are responsible for knowing, understanding, and following that policy.  Should any questions arise regarding the policy and your activities, please contact the instructor as soon as possible.

------------------------------------------------------------cut here-------------------------------------------------------
Please sign below and return to the instructor.
I acknowledge my reading of the course syllabus and the demands and responsibilities and consequences that will be required for the Sociology Course.  Extra help is always available—set up an appointment for before or after school.
Student Name (print):

Student Signature

Parent Name (print)

Parent Signature:


Textbook Companion Sites-Great Resources

While writing the blog on choosing a textbook, I decided also to do a post that has a listing of sociology text companion websites as well.  Some have freely available instructor resources while some have them password protected.  Please do take some time to check out these resources and bookmark those that have been most helpful.  If there are any activities or ideas worth sharing, let me know and you or I can blog them.  


Check out the activities that are posted on these sites-let us know which ones are working for you in your classroom.


McGraw-Hill's Mega-Site of Sociology Instructor Resources for the Schaefer text
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073404144/sitemap.html


Richard Schaefer's Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 4/e
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072435569/student_view0/




John J. Macionis' Sociology 10th Edition
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_macionis_sociology_10/




Henry L. Tischler Cengage Advantage Books: Introduction to Sociology, 10th Edition
http://www.cengage.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=9780495804406


William Kornblum  Sociology in a Changing World 
8th Edition ©2008   ISBN: 0495096350http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780495096351&discipline_number=0



Essentials of Sociology 
6th Edition ©2005  ISBN: 0534626769

David B. Brinkerhoff, Lynn K. White, Suzanne T. Ortega, Rose Weitz
http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534626769&discipline_number=14




Social Problems Supersite
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_socialprob_sprsite_1/11/3023/773890.cw/index.html




Henslin's Sociology Quizzing and Review Materials
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_henslin_essentials_5a/9/2534/648834.cw/index.html




Henslin's Sociology Spanish Quizzing Materials
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_henslin_sociology_8/43/11215/2871175.cw/index.html






The Teaching High School Sociology Web Site

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Sociology Textbooks

I am a bit biased when it comes to sociology textbooks.  I dislike most of them.  David Nehring has a nice blog post about soc texts and their value in this post.

I would rather go back to the "old days" when I had no text and put together a reading list that accomplished the goals I had for the unit/course. That said, in the world of sociology texts, there are some good books out there.

Concerns in Selecting a Sociology Text

  • Is the subject matter high school appropriate? (what grade levels are being taught?)
  • Is the reading level appropriate to the students I have (not the ones I wish I had)?
  • Is the reading engaging for a high school level student?
  • Is the content substantive enough so there will not have to be much teacher-added explanation? 
  • Are the complex ideas simplified enough to be understandable, but still retain the complexity?
  • Is the text one that my school board would adopt--or is it too controversial? (some communities are more conservative than others--in fact, some would not even allow sociology)
  • What kind of funding do I have?  Will I be able to afford the ancillaries?
  • If the book is a college intro book, will the binding hold up for more than two or three semesters?
  • How much will I have to supplement the text?  Is the book solid enough in terms of content for me to use frequently or will I be using photocopies of articles more?
  • How extensive are the ancillaries?  To what extent will they be able to assist me?
    • Test bank (if this will be a part of your course)
    • videos
    • additional primary source readings
    • Presentations/lectures--are they more than just chapter outlines?
    • online tutorials, glossaries, flashcards, etc.
    • webquests online?
    • Instructor's Manual--are there good activities for engaging students?  Who has written them--a theoretician or a practitioner)?



Publisher Reps
McGraw-Hill Higher Education
McGraw-Hill High School Teachers (there are several HS level soc texts)
Cengage Rep Finder
Pearson Rep Finder (for college teachers)
Pearson Main Page (rep finder is in top right corner)
Bedford-St.Martin's
Worth Publishers

If you know of others, please leave a comment.


If you were to go to Amazon.com and look for sociology texts, you'd get a nice list.

The list of possibilities from ecampus.com

Textbook.com offers this list

To be honest, I've not examined the sociology texts available in the past eight years.  When I created the sociology course at my school, I adopted the Diana Kendall book, Sociology in Our Times.  I really liked the approach that she used--her examples were relatable and her point of view as a woman gave her some gravitas in the eyes of my students.  The text also had great ancillaries.  Henslin and his texts are pretty popular and with the ones I've read, one cannot go wrong with either of them.









The Teaching High School Sociology web site

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I'm New to Teaching Sociology: Now What?

Let's assume that you were like me 25 years ago and given an assignment to teach sociology at the high school level.  I had taken some sociology courses, but I had no usable textbook and was pretty clueless.  Where do you begin?  What should you teach?  What the heck is sociology and how is it different from psychology or history anyway?

There are a few steps to take if you are completely new to sociology.  Feel free to skip steps based upon your experience level.

Step 1:  Determining what sociology is


Check out this entry of defining sociology:
http://teachinghighschoolsociology.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-is-sociology-some-definitions.html

Get your hands on as many good sociology readers as you can find.  Read the intro chapter from at least three different texts.  That will give you a good idea of the readability of the text as well as a better understanding of the sociological perspectives.  It will take some time, but will be well worth it.


Step 2:  What should be in my sociology course?

The American Sociology Association Curriculum--click here for link
This is an intro college curriculum, so high school teachers can leave out a few topics.  What I teach can be found at this blog entry.
http://teachinghighschoolsociology.blogspot.com/2012/03/sociology-what-to-teach.html


Step 3:  What are some basic tools that I can use to make sure I stay ahead of the kids?


Read, that is to say, actually study the textbook/reader you are using.  Underline, highlight and mark up the text with questions in the margins.  This intellectual dissection of the material will give you knowledge of the topic, but also insight into what the students are experiencing.

But as I was reminded at the AP Psychology reading, when faced with a question, ask the student, "how would you understand it?"  As they explain, listen and see if it makes sense.  If it does not, ask follow up questions for clarification.  You do not need to know everything.  Keep some notecards around for kids to write questions on.  Admit when you do not know an answer.  Tell the kids that you'll need to look it up, that you do not want to give them wrong or misleading information.  The more honest you are about this, the more forgiving and supportive they will be.


Step 4:  How can I get my kids interested and still "teach" sociology?




This is where projects come in.  Sociology is not on anyone's list of standardized testing.  It's nearly always an elective.  Know your students.  What interests them?  Using your library media teacher (if you are fortunate enough to still have one), co-create at least one project where the kids are NOT doing a "bird project*"  Make the project on that allows the kids to get creative but still deal with sociological concepts.

Find some controversial readings about a topic that interests them.  Ask questions.  What do they think?  WHY have they reached that conclusion?  How does this debate tie into sociology?

Check out the various projects on this blog and in other teaching sociology blogs.  There are some really amazing ideas out there.


*a bird project is one where a student tells you the name of the bird, what it looks like, what it eats, where it lives, how long it lives, etc. It is a regurgitation of easily 'googled' facts and requires virtually no thinking. These are to be avoided like the plague and replaced with projects that include critical thinking and higher order thinking skills. Acknowledgement to Dr. Doug Achterman who has helped me create a variety of projects in my classes.


Step 5:  Where can I get support?

The ASA Sociology listserv
The Teaching High School Sociology Blog
Sociology Sal's Blog, "Ways of Thinking"
Join the ASA High School Affiliate Program (January to December)


Step 6: Knowing Yourself


Know that it will take you at least a couple of years (four or more times teaching the course) to get comfortable with teaching sociology.   Accept that.  The sooner you do, the more you will enjoy the course while you keep learning about it.

photo credit: http://awkwardlistdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ahhh.jpg

The Teaching High School Sociology web site

What is Sociology? Some Definitions

The quotes below are taken directly from the cited web sources.  I claim no personal ownership of them.  I am simply trying to show some differences in comparison of definitions/explanations of sociology.

I do find the differences pretty amazing.  I would venture that the differences are due to the social influences of each of the authors' own organizational pressures.  Who is their audience?  What level of sophistication can they employ?  Some are descriptive and others tell the reader what sociology can do. Why the difference?  Perhaps that is one activity a teacher could try in a class.  Collect these and other definitions of sociology and attempt to construct a definition/explanation that accurately reflects how the teacher is going to teach the course.

My definition would look something like this (subject to changes in my mood and current reading).
Sociology is a field of study possessing tools and perspectives that allows for a user to examine all social interactions, from dyads and triads all the way to societies and planet-wide social groupings.  These tools allow for description, understanding, analysis, and prediction of social behavior.  A person taking a course in sociology will never be able to view the world in the same way as prior to the course.    While there will be some overlaps in topics with the other social sciences, the sociological imagination enables a view of the world around us that the student/teacher to engage in the topics in a depth and complexity not offered by other fields.


Wikipedia

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science (a term with which it is sometimes synonymous) which uses various methods of empirical investigation[1] and critical analysis[2] to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity. For many sociologists the goal is to conduct research which may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, while others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. Subject matter ranges from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macrolevel of systems and the social structure.[3]The traditional focuses of sociology have included social stratificationsocial classculturesocial mobilityreligionsecularisationlaw, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are affected by the interplay between social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to further subjects, such as healthmedicalmilitary and penal institutionsthe Internet, and the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge.
The range of social scientific methods has also expanded. Social researchers draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitativetechniques. The linguistic and cultural turns of the mid-twentieth century led to increasingly interpretativehermeneutic, and philosophicapproaches to the analysis of society. Conversely, recent decades have seen the rise of new analyticallymathematically andcomputationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and social network analysis.[4][5] Sociology should not be confused with various general social studies courses which bear little relation to sociological theory or social science research methodology.

The American Sociological Association
Sociology is:
  • the study of society
  • a social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies
  • the study of our behavior as social beings, covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes
  • the scientific study of social aggregations, the entities through which humans move throughout their lives'
  • an overarching unification of all studies of humankind, including history, psychology, and economics


Dartmouth Sociology Department


What is Sociology?
Sociology enables us to understand the structure and dynamics of society, and their intricate connections to patterns of human behavior and individual life changes. It examines the ways in which the forms of social structure -- groups, organizations, communities, social categories (such as class, sex, age, or race), and various social institutions (such as kinship, economic, political, or religious) affect human attitudes, actions, and opportunities.
The discipline also explores how both individuals and collectivities construct, maintain, and alter social organization in various ways. Sociology asks about the sources and consequences of change in social arrangements and institutions, and about the satisfactions and difficulties of planning, accomplishing, and adapting to such change. Areas studied in examining social dynamics include: culture, values, socialization, cooperation, conflict, power, exchange, inequality, deviance, social control, violence, order and social change.



WhatisSociology.com
Simply put, sociology is the study of society.  This study uses a lot of different methods in order to investigate the way society works and why humans do the things they do as a society.  Sociology is a very broad term that covers a wide range of areas.  Trying to some it up in just a few paragraphs would not be possible, but I will try to hit some of the main points.
In addition to being the study of society, sociology looks at the social lives of individual people, groups or people and entire societies.  It takes a look at and studies our social behaviors, whether they be short interactions between people that don't know each other or social processes that span the entire planet.  It studies social aggregations from a scientific point of view to look at the groups and social circles that people move through during the course of their lives.  Mankind, psychology, history and economics are all studied and combined to get overarching results that compare to one another.
Simply put, sociology is the study of human behavior, particularly in groups.  Contemporary sociology deals more with conflict orientation.  The functionalism movement of sociology is now considered to be obsolete.  Samples are taken from large populations and broken into subsets.  The way a sample is selected is known as sampling.  Samples are usually chosen at random unless there are specifics in that population for which then a strategy for selecting samples will be implemented.  Other sampling methods can also be used when random sampling is not possible.
Topics in sociology are many.  The range and scope of these topics can include things like culture, law, the economy, environment, education, gender and more.  It's all about studying behavior in different settings, comparing people of one particular group to those of another group.  For example, sociology can affect the environment in various ways.  Researchers study the relation between social factors and their effects on the environment.  I guess one study could investigate why people of a particular social group litter and why those in another do not.  Education is also another big part of sociology.  This is the study of how educational institutions play a role in social constructs.  School systems usually mold people at a young age for better or for worse.  Good schools usually lead to better societies while bad schools can lead to more crime in a social circle.
There are so many ways that sociology can be viewed and studied.  This is why there are entire degree programs at colleges in various parts of sociology.  Man has been on the planet for a very long time, and we are still trying to figure out what makes them tick.  It seems that another million years will pass without anyone really knowing the full explanation of why people act and behave the way the do in certain social circumstances, especially with the way technology has changed things so recently.






A Youtube Definition taken from a Sociology DVD
The Teaching High School Sociology web site