[ Lesson Plan ]

WHYCAREER READINESS?

Nebraska Department of Education

WHYCAREER READINESS?

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WHY [ Career Readiness? ]

Time50 minutes

To ols |Eq uipment| Suppl ie s :

• Eightsheetsof8.5X11withonenumberwrittenoneachsheet– interest approach

• SevenstatementswrittenonawritingsurfaceorPowerPoint–interest approach

• HabitudesforCareerReadyStudentsbooks–objective 1

• Onelargeposterforeverythreeorfourstudents–objective 2

• Anapple–objective 3• AppleproductsuchasiPad,

iPod,iPhone–objective 3• Worksheet,oneperstudent–

objective 3• Post-Itnote,oneperstudent

–review and summary

GoalCreatebuyinandestablishaneedforbeingCareerReady

Student Learning Ob ject ive sAs a result of this lesson, students will…

• UnderstandthedefinitionofaCareerReadystudent.

• Compareandcontrastjobsandcareers.• DemonstrateaneedforCareerReadiness.

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Intere st Approach[ APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES ]

Activity: Face the FactsBeforestudentsarrivewritethefollowingnumbersoneightdifferentsheetsofpaper–onenumberpersheet.

260,000 74 59 10,000 3.5 62 75 9.6

Alsowritethefollowingstatementsontheboard:1. ______Nebraska’sunemploymentrate.2. ______UnemploymentrateforAmericansaged20-29.3. ______Numberofrecentcollegegraduatesstillworkingatorbelowfederalminimum wageof$7.25perhour.4. ______PercentageoftheworkforcewhowillbeGenYby2025.5. ______Numberofbabyboomerswhoretireeachday.6. ______Percentofbusinessdecision-makersand______percentofhighereducation administratorswhogiverecentcollegegraduatesa“C”gradeorlowerfor preparednessintheirfirstjobs.7. ______Percentofbusinessesagreethattheymustpartnerwithcollegesanduniversitiesto providebusinesscurriculathatproperlypreparestudentsfortheworkforce.

Tellstudentstopartnerwithsomeonesittingclosetothemtomatchthenumberswiththecorrectstatement.Studentsshouldcapturetheirguessesonapieceofpaper.Givethepairstwominutes.

Askafewstudentstoshare.Astheydeterminethecorrectnumbers,haveastudentvolunteertomovethenumbersnexttothematchingstatement.Itshouldread:

1. 3.5–Nebraska’sunemploymentrate.2. 9.6–UnemploymentrateforAmericansaged20-29.3. 260,000–Numberofrecentcollegegraduatesstillworkingatorbelowfederal

minimumwageof$7.25perhour.4. 75–PercentageoftheworkforcewhowillbeGenYby2025.5. 10,000–Numberofbabyboomerswhoretireeachday.6. 59percentofbusinessdecision-makersand62percentofhighereducation

administratorswhogiverecentcollegegraduatesa“C”gradeorlowerforpreparednessintheirfirstjobs.

7. 74percentofbusinessesagreethattheymustpartnerwithcollegesanduniversitiestoprovidebusinesscurriculathatproperlypreparestudentsfortheworkforce.

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PROCESSING QUESTIONS:• Whatsurprisesyou? Reframe: What stands out to you? • Whatcorrelationscanbemade? Reframe: How does one statement or fact impact another statement or fact?• Whatdothesenumbersmeanforyourfuturecareer?

KEY POINT: Thereisaneedtopreparenowforyourfuturecareer.

Explainthatyouareabouttoembarkonatasklikenoneother.Thisisaboutknowingyourstuff.Thisisaboutrelationships.Thisisaboutmakinghealthychoices.Thisisabouthavingknowledge,driveandconfidence.Thisisaboutthenextstepinlife.It’scalledbeingCareerReady.

TRANSITION: Sowhatdoes“CareerReady”evenmean?

Ob ject ive 1 :Understand the definition of a Career Ready student.[ APPROXIMATELY 12 MINUTES ]

RevealthedefinitionofaCareerReadypersontothestudentsbyeithershowingitonaPowerPoint,referringtoaposterthatwillcontinuetohanginyourclassroom,writingitontheboardorhavingthemturntopage3intheirHabitudesbook.Askthemtoreaditsilentlyandunderlinethewordthatstandsoutthemosttothem.

PROCESSING QUESTIONS:• Afterseeingthisdefinition,whichwordpoppedouttoyou?Why?• Whatotherwordsarecritical?

Explainthatwewillbegintobreakdownthisdefinitiontounderstanditevenbetter.

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DIRECTIONS:• Splitthestudentsintofourgroups.• Eachgroupwillbegivenasetofwordstodefinefurther.• TakeeachwordandexplainwhatthismeansinthecontextofCareerReadiness.

o Whatdoesthiswordmean?o Whataresynonymsforthisword?o WhyisthiswordimportanttothedefinitionofCareerReady?o Forexample:theword“ready”meanswearefullyprepared.Theword“ready”iscritical

becausestudentsshouldbefullypreparedtoentertheworkforcewiththeskillsandexperiencestheyneedtobesuccessful.

• Discussthesewords,takingnotesifnecessary.• Bereadytoreportback.• Revealandassignthefollowingwordsorphrasestothegroups.

Tip: display these on a PowerPoint or whiteboard.

GROUP 1 GROUP 2 GROUP 3 GROUP 4CareerReady

Capitalizes

PersonalStrengthsTalents

EducationExperiences

BringValueWorkplaceCommunity

PerformanceSkill

DiligenceEthics

ResponsibleBehavior

Settheexpectationthatadifferentstudentwillreportoneachwordassignedtothegroup. Forexample:ifthegrouphasthreewords,wewillhearfromatleastthreestudentsinthegroup.

Giveafewsecondsforthemtoidentifyonepersonforeachwordandhavestudentsshare.

Forgroupstwoandfouremphasizethedifferencesbetweeneachoftheassignedwords.Continuallyrelatetheirresponsesbacktotheurgencyofpreparingnowfortheircareer.

TRANSITION: Nextwewillexaminetheword“career”evenfurther.

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Object ive 2 :Compare and contrast jobs and careers.[ APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES ]

Dividestudentsintogroupsofthreeorfourandprovidethemwithonelargeposter-sizedpaperpergroup.Theycanputtheseontheirtablesorpostthemonawall.Havestudentsdrawalinedownthemiddle,labelingonecolumn“Job”andtheothercolumn“Career.”

Explaintothestudentsthattheywillhavefourminutestolistasmanydifferencesbetweenthetwocategoriesaspossible.Itisimportanttonotethattheyarenotlistingdifferenttypesofjobsorcareers,butratherthedifferencesbetweentheterms.

Afterfourminutes,havestudentssharethemainitemsontheirlists.ThenrevealthislistonaPowerPoint,whiteboardorposter.

SHARE THESE POINTS:• Individualscanchangejobswithoutchangingcareers.• Apersonwillnormallyhaveseveraljobswithinthesamecareer.• Acareertakesgoal-setting,centeredontheindividual’sspecializedstrengths,talents,

experiencesandeducation.

ASK STUDENTS TO SHARE WITH A PARTNER:• Nameajobyouhavehad(mowinglawns,babysitting,etc.). Whydoyouviewthisasajobandnotacareer?• Nameacareeryouwouldliketopursue.• Whataresomejobsthatcouldhelpyoupursuethatcareer?

TRANSITION: So,wehaveexploredtheword“career.”Let’stakeadeeperlookatbeingREADYforourcareers.

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Object ive 3 :Demonstrate a need for Career Readiness. [ APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES ]

Activity: Apples to Apples Inthesamegroupsofthreetofourstudents,assignhalfthegroupsanapple(asinthefruit)andhalfthegroupsanAppleproduct(asinaniPad,iPhone).

Note: If possible, place the assigned product in front of the student groups.

Usingtheprovidedworksheet,havestudentsbrainstormandlistalljobsneededtocreatethisproductanddeliverittoconsumers.Explainthattheyareonlyworkingontheleftsideoftheworksheetatthispoint.

Aftertwominutes,askthemtothinkoutsidethebox.Whatotherdepartmentsdowenotthinkof,butstillareneededtocreateormarketthisproduct?(HumanResources,Finance,Marketing,Distribution,etc.)

Givestudentsoneadditionalminutetocompletethelist.

Telleachstudenttochooseonespecificoccupationfromthelistjustcreatedbytheirgroupwitheachstudentinthegroupchoosingadifferentoccupation.

Havestudentswritetheirchoiceinthetopboxontherightsideoftheworksheet.

Explainthattheywillbeexaminingtheoccupationtheyhavejustlistedandwilllistthestrengths,talents,experiencesandeducationneededtobesuccessfulinthisrole.Theywilldothisbycompletingtheremainingfourboxesontheworksheet.

Allowonestudentpergrouptosharethelistfortheoccupationtheychose.

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PROCESSING QUESTIONS:• Whatsimilaritiesdoweseeamongthesecompletelydifferentcareers?

o POINT:Someskillsareuniversal.• Whatdifferencesdidyoufind?

o POINT: Eachcareerisuniqueandneedsaseparatesetofstrengths,talents,education,andexperiences.

• Whatwouldhappenifyouswappedskillsets,talents,educationandexperiencesof,forinstance,thefarmerandthecomputerscientist(orpossiblyusetwocareersthestudentshavejustdiscussed)?Howsuccessfulwouldtheybeintheirnewroles?o POINT:Eachcareertakesdeliberateplanningandeveryexperience,strength,and

trainingshouldfurtherwhereyouwanttogoinyourcareer.• DoesthefarmerrelyonthecomputersoftwareengineerswhomaketheiPadsandother

technologies?Viceversa,doesthecomputersoftwareengineerrelyonthefarmer?o POINT:YES.Nocareerismoreimportantorbeneficialthantheother.Itjust

dependsonhowtheindividualcanbestusetheiruniquestrengths,experiences,educationandtalents.

Rev iew | Summary[ APPROXIMATELY THREE MINUTES ]

OnaPost-Itnotehavestudentswritea“tweet”aboutCareerReadiness.Reviewthattweetsare140characterslongandthereforethewordscapturedonthePost-Itnoteshouldbe140characters.Includehashtagsand@symbolsifnecessary.

Challengethestudentstobecreativewiththeirtweets.Thetweetsshouldstartout“#CareerReadinessis…”

Offeraplaceintheclassroomforstudentstodisplaytheir“tweet”Post-Itnotes.PerhapsdrawtheTwitterlogoonaposterorwhiteboard.EncouragestudentstotweetapositivemessageaboutCareerReadinessastheyleaveclass.

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Source s :

1. 3.5–Nebraska’sunemploymentrate. http://www.dol.nebraska.gov/infolink/OtherFiles/MSR.pdf2. 9.6–UnemploymentrateforAmericansaged20-29. http://growingleaders.com/blog3. 260,000recentcollegegraduatesarestillworkingbelowfederalminimumwage. http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/07/07/how-to-stop-stressing-over-your-

childs-job-search/4. 75–PercentageoftheworkforcewhowillbeGenYby2025. http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-need-to-learn-these-14-rules-2013-95. 10,000–Numberofbabyboomerswhoretireeachday. http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/2012/03/23/the-baby-boomer-

number-game6. 59percentofbusinessdecision-makersand62percentofhighereducation

administratorswhogiverecentcollegegraduatesa“C”gradeorlowerforpreparednessintheirfirstjobs.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamakabani/2013/12/05/study-reveals-surprising-facts-about-millennials-in-the-workplace

7. 74percentofbusinessesagreethattheymustpartnerwithcollegesanduniversitiestoprovidebusinesscurriculathatproperlypreparestudentsfortheworkforce.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamakabani/2013/12/05/study-reveals-surprising-facts-about-millennials-in-the-workplace/

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APPLES TO APPLESWorksheet

NAME OF PRODUCT: Chooseone careerfromthelistyourgroupjustbrainstormed:

Listallthejobsneededtocreatethisproductanddeliverittoconsumers.

Strengths: Education:

Talents: Experiences:

It is the policy of the Nebraska Department of Education not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, age, or national origin in its

education programs, admission policies, employment, or other agency programs.

This project was funded through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, administered through the Nebraska Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the United States Department of

Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.