Putting the Pieces Together

Diane Hamer                                                                          Angela Stoffel

Career Resource Center Director                                           MSUM Intern 1998-1999

Faribault High School                                                            Faribault High School

Faribault, Minnesota                                                              Faribault, Minnesota

Description of the Lesson

Putting the Pieces Together is a sequentially, developmentally based career Exploration Curriculum based on Grand Forks Consortium Model (see references). This curriculum is provided for all 9-12 grade students and is facilitated by guidance and career center staff at Faribault High School. Specific activities are used at each grade level to help students see the broad scope of opportunities available after high school. This curriculum will help students answer the following questions: Who am I? What are my interests? What do I do well? Each grade level has unit goals that support the Minnesota Graduation Standards Objectives in Decision-Making Career Investigation. Each lesson is designed for a 50 minute period for one week. The following is an example of a lesson plan for 10^th grade students.

Introduction:

Each student is provided with a student booklet with objectives, unit goals, and activity sheets used throughout the lesson. The Grade 10 Educational/Career Planning Unit is designed to provide a continuation of the educational career process for all students in the Faribault Public Schools.

Unit Goals:

o       Skills Inventory-You will complete the Skills Inventory and find career area that reflect your interests using the MCIS computer program and other resources.

o        Communication Strategies-You will use effective communication strategies to interview someone in a career of your interest and to develop and present a career report.

o        Educational Plan-You will update your career portfolio to further reflect your goals, activities, interests, skills, work experience and volunteer work.

LESSON ONE

Objectives:

            Students will…

            Understand the importance of setting career goals

            Realize the costs of independent living

Materials:

"Odds on You" activity Booklet                                   

dice

Costs of Living Independently worksheet                     

Classifieds from newspaper

Motivation:

"People never plan to be failures; they simply fail to plan to be successful"

                                                                                    -William A. Ward

Procedure:

Introduce "Odds on You-Could This Be Your Life?" activity.

Divide students into groups of two, distribute directions and dice, refer to tally sheet.

Distribute want ads from newspaper classified section and discuss readiness for living on your own. Have students visualize that they have just graduated from high school and need a full-time job. They have no training/experience beyond high school so must identify jobs in the ads for which they qualify. Make list on board and have students discuss types of jobs typically available. Most pay minimum wage and may not be careers wanted for 50 years of worklife.

Do some math calculations to determine typical monthly income for minimum wage jobs, knowing that this is not including deductions for taxes, Medicare, etc. Have students then work on budget worksheet to determine what they think are realistic costs of living, based on their knowledge so far. Student volunteers may give their ideas for each category, then share cost averages for students to compare. Gather ideas from the group of how balance could be established with minimum wage income and costs of living. Encourage creative thinking! The concept which should come forward is that students do not have to feel "stuck" in low-paying jobs-they can increase skill levels by furthering their education. Generally, higher wages are related to further education and training. Discussion and refection time.

Progress Check:

Students will complete the "Odds on You-Could This Be Your Life?" activity and indicate their understanding through class discussion. Reflection Questions-

o        Are you satisfied with how chance decided your fate?

o        Did you experience a feeling of being out of control?

o        What can you do to improve your odds of success in your future career?

o        For those who experienced role reversal, how did you feel about it?

Connections to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains

After completing this unit, the students will be more aware of their interests and how their interests relate to the world of work. They also will become familiar with a variety of career related resources to be utilized for career research. The Graduation Standard 3501.0448, Learning Area Eight (Decision-Making-Career Investigation) is emphasized in this unit.

Reference and Resources

Axvig, K., Carlson, P., Larsen, J., Peterson, P., Quick, J., Rindt, L., Schatz, G. (1997). Putting the Pieces Together, Grand Forks Consortium: Grand Forks, North Dakota.