Montachusetts Technical High School

Grade 9 School Counseling Curriculum

Katie Taylor, Fitchburg State University

Unit: Developing Career Awareness.Lesson # 1Grade Level: 9

Title: Teaching students how to access and utilize Career Cruising.

Time needed: 45 min

Curriculum Links:

  • NationalCommon Core:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

  • ASCA National Student Standard(s):

Standard A: Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions.

C: A1.1 Develop skills to locate evaluate and interpret career information.

C: A1.2 Learn about the variety of traditional and nontraditional occupations.

C: A1.3 Develop an awareness of personal abilities, skills, interest and motivations.

Standard B: Students will employ strategies to achieve future career goals with success and satisfaction.

C: B1.2 Identify personal skills, interests and abilities and relate them to current career choice.

C: B1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of the career-planning process.

C: B1.5 Use research and information resources to obtain career information.

C: B1.6 Learn to use the internet to access career-planning information.

C: B2.1 Demonstrate awareness of the education and training needs to achieve career goals. \

  • MA Curriculum Frameworks:

Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12

1.Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, andissues,building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

2.Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Monty Tech Mission Statement: Every Student will graduate from Monty Tech with the skills, knowledge and abilities to be a productive and effective member of an ever-changing society.

Materials:

  • Computer lab
  • Direction sheet
  • Printer for student’s results
  • Access to student email and Career Cruising website
  • Smart board to follow along

Planning Reflection:

  • I will be teaching students the facts, information, and ability to research career options. Students should leave with a knowledge base of what careers would suit them and information about those careers. They will also leave knowing how to use the Career Cruising website to continue their research throughout their time in high school.
  • Base line data that can be gathered includes their initial thought on career choices and their skills and abilities.The goal of this activity is not to have students decide on a specific career right now; it is to give them exposure to all the resources they can use to assist them in making decisions for their future.
  • To collect information prior to this activity I will be using a form where the students choose what career choices they are currently interested in.
  • After the activity I will have a print out from the website of each student’s career interest and career choices recommended for them based on their interest, skills and abilities. Students will eventually have to review their career choices, and either validate or revise their plans to coincide with their current goals after gaining valuable information.
  • I will assess whether students learned based on if they were able to make a list of career choices they would consider and have access to knowledge and facts about those careers. I will also be looking for students to be able to access the Career Cruising website. This way they can continue to learn about career options. The students can also use this website to help them search for colleges and trade schools.

Teacher/Counselor Performance Objectives

By the end of this lesson I will:

  • Help students to become aware that education is essential for almost any job placement. This curriculum will empower students to enhance their future through informed decisions.
  • I will provide students with career information including what type of education is necessary and potential earning ability for that career.
  • I will give students the tools and information necessary to start thinking about future careers which will also assist them in choosing their trade here at Monty Tech.

Student Performance Objectives:

Cognitive: BTEOTLTSW

  • Locate and log onto the Career Cruising website
  • Identify their learning style

Affective: BTEOTLTSW

  • Have acquired personal understanding of career interest areas as evidenced by reviewing printouts of their Career Cruising responses.
  • Developed awareness that they can log onto career cruising independently outside of school for continued exploration

Behavioral/Performance: BTEOTLTSW

  • Complete the careermatchmaker questionnaire
  • Complete the learning styles inventory
  • Explore career areas they are interested in
  • Participate in class career discussions
  • Look up the trade they are interested in here at Monty Tech to find information to help in their decision making process

Pre Assessment:Students are provided with a list of shops and a general description of the shop located in their student handbook. Students are to choose 9 shops that they are interested in exploring. We will be able to see whether gaining information about the shop’s career field influenced their final decision for the shop they choose.

Post Assessment:

Students will again be asked to choose the shops they are interested in ranking them from one to six. We will then compare their original choice with their final choice. We will be able to see how many:

1. Changed their shop choice

2. Changed their career field

3. Career Cruising’scareer suggestions matched the field they were interested in

Each student will also leave with a print out of careers they might be interested in and their learning style.

Description of the activity:

1)I will engage the students in a discussion of how different careers have different education and training requirements. I will point out that those requirements affect the planning they have to do to prepare themselves.

2)I will take students through the steps of how to log on to the Career Cruising website. They will be able to follow along with the smart board at the front of the classroom.

3)I will have students take the career matchmaker questionnaire. I will talk about how career assessments should be seen as tools for finding suitable careers, rather than as tests that will give them a definite answer as to what they should be.

4)I will have students read through their results after finishing and click on any career they might be interested in to find out more information.

5)I will have them choose the trade that they are considering here at Monty Tech and look at the education level required, Salary information, job description and working conditions.

6)I will also have students complete the learning style inventory. I will then discuss the different types of learning styles and how knowing their own can help them in the classroom and workplace.

7)I will have students print out their list of careers with information about those careers and their learning style results.

8)I will remind them about the fact that they can log on the Career Cruising website from anywhere including their home to access career information.

Modifications for differently abled students:

Students with learning disabilities will be provided with additional support in reading and understanding the questions and results. The amount of questions will also be modified for students who take more time to complete them.

ELL students can switch the language preference at the top of the page on the career cruising website. There is a pull down menu that will allow students to access the site in English, Spanish or French.

DATA Analysis and Summary:

After gaining information on the shop that students were originally interested in, 90% changed their shop choice; 80% changed within their original field, while 20% changed their field entirely. Career Cruising matched students to the field they are interested in 40% of the time, and to a different field 60% of the time.

The data suggests gaining information influences students shop choices. The data also suggests that career cruising gave students facts needed to compare careers, make informed decisions and broaden knowledge about careers.

Next steps can include students continuing their career research in school and from home now that they know how to logon and access Career Cruising.

Portfolio Creation Statistics

100 % of 9th grade students completed their CC portfolio

27 % saved careers that they are interested in

4 % logged on from home

The rate of students that have logged on from home as of now is very low. A goal in the future will be to increase this rate. Also hopefully students will log on from home as their need for college and career information increases and they prepare for life after Monty Tech.

Reflection:

For future lessons it would be helpful to get more pre and post data including:

  • Knowledge students have about career before and after Career Cruising.
  • Assessment of whether students felt Career Cruising was helpful.
  • If students feel they have enough information to make an informed decision.

Resources:

Career Cruising. Web. Nov 2013.