Week of 3-12-12 to 3-16-12

Students in all classes are engaged in a Career Portfolio Project:

IGD

First, decide what kind of job you seek. It could be a real job that interests you or simply the job of reaching the next grade level in school.

Write down everything you can think of about yourself. List every job you've ever done (real jobs, household chores, extra jobs at school such as hall monitor, line leader, or crossing guard). List your education — schools, grades, special classes (such as a basket weaving class or a karate class). List your extracurricular school activites (football, band, chess club, debate team). List your activities outside of school (camping, skateboarding, raising chickens). List any awards you've won, honors you have received, or special recognition.

Research resume writing. Use the materials provided in the classroom or from other sources to gather more details about the different types of resumes. Choose one or more formats that you feel will work for you.

Look at sample resumes you or your class have collected. Identify those that have a style or format you might like to imitate or borrow. See how much detail each type of resume includes.

GDP & AGD

Write a prospectus. Have each student write a prospectus which describes the methods of research, study, and materials needed. Each student needs to tell you how they plan to accomplish this career goal

Research online databases. Each student then needs to research items such as the average salary in your area, growth trends and required education. Bookmarking helpful articles will quicken this process for your students. 

Provide each student with a general resume and cover letter template that can later be catered to their individual career. 

Locate a downloadable job application that students can practice on completing, but do not allow them to submit it. Make sure that you follow copyright laws when downloading the application. 

Create an invention, theory, or practice. After researching the career thoroughly, allow students to create a product that could improve various features of each student's individual career. Then each student shouls construct an instruction manual that will explain the process or component of the product. 

Conduct in-class interviews. Designate a couple of class periods where you conduct formal job interviews. Allow the students watching to provide constructive criticism after each interview is over to maintain learning.

Ask students to respond on a teacher created web log reflecting on the process and how it has impacted their decisions after graduation.