Ms. Iber’s Professional Communication Module Overview
LESSON DETAILS
LessonTitle:
  • Professional Communication
/ Instructor:
  • Vicki Iber

Discipline/Curriculum Area(s):
  • Practical Applications/Life
/ Learner Level(s):
  • Adult

Summary paragraph: This lesson set is broken into three 30-minute sections. All of the sections work together to form the Professional Communication lesson; however, each lesson is a stand-alone segment. The students work in teams for all segments, is it makes it less intimidating for them, gives them peer-feedback, and promotes communication.
The first segment imparts knowledge of Internet searches, what to look for, specific sites to go to. This is a hands-on lesson. An indirect by-product of this lesson is the ability to search online for employment opportunities.
The second segment is the entire process of emailing from sending to receiving. This also has an indirect benefit; that is, being able to communicate with potential employers and others via email.
The last segment is the introduction to etiquette when writing; how to address a professional letter, words to choose, words not to choose. The output of this segment is basic, common language used in professional, courteous communication.
Because I teach displaced workers and the uneducated, I do not have any idea of skill-level until the students arrive. I create my lessons for the lowest possible skill set—which can be none—and have a back-up for the more advanced, should I have any sign-up.
Two of Judi Harris’ genres that I believe apply to my lesson plan structure and my method of instruction are Simulations and Peer Feedback. Simulations will be an exceptional way to have the students practice what I want them to learn. I plan on combining simulations with peer feedback activities by having the simulation be sending correspondence to a partner or partners and having the partners provide feedback to each other. I think having the students engaged will motivate them to want to learn more.
I believe that most of the activities in my lesson plan fall under Knowledge on Bloom’s taxonomy matrix, at some level, comprehen[vli1]sion, but not for my base beginners. On Tomei’s taxonomy, Literacy and Collaboration; the students work in pairs, so Collaboration applies, and Literacy applies because it is the basic learning that the students are to receive.
The strategies that I use are a combination of:
  • Computer-Assisted Instruction: All of the items I will be working with will involve the computer.
  • Cooperative Learning: I will have the students work in pairs.
  • Constructivist Learning: I will allow the students to think about why these lessons are important to them and how the lessons tie in to what they know and how they can use them in the future.
The theory that I use will be a combination of Constructivist and Directed. Because I only have my students for a short period of time, and have to make sure certain tasks are learned in that time frame, I will use mainly directed; however, I believe I can incorporated some constructivist techniques within the lesson. I believe that the students will benefit most from hands-on and paired activities, but they must be tightly organized.
Major Lesson Goals:
  • Assist displaced workers in finding work
  • To begin to develop the skills needed to amalgamate into the workplace in a new function
  • Encourage interaction between students to bolster communication skills

Lesson 1 Title: Internet Research
Descriptions: This lesson provides the basic instructions to allow the students to search the World Wide Web to locate their State Representative.
Lesson 2 Title: Drafting, Sending, and Reviewing Emails
Descriptions: This lesson has the students work in teams of two to create an email and send it to their partner to review.
Lesson 3 Title: Written Etiquette
Descriptions: This lesson combines the basic principles of writing thank you letters and letters to their representatives.

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Iber CIP

Curriculum Integration Plan
CURRICULAR DETAILS
Lesson Title and Topic(s):
  • Internet Research

Performance Objective(s):
  • To be able to search out and locate appropriate personnel (via the Internet)
  • To demonstrate the ability to navigate the WWW

INSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
Suggested Materials and Resources:
  • Computer
  • Access to the Internet

Instructional Strategies:
  • Computer-Assisted Instruction: All of the items I will be working with will involve the computer. The primary goal in this segment is to navigate the World Wide Web (WWW) and locate specific items.
  • Directed: While the students will be working at their own pace and with partners, they will have basic instructions that I will provide.

Teacher Preparations:
  • Make sure connections to the Internet are working
  • Assign a unique logon for each student

CURRICULAR DETAILS
Lesson Title and Topic(s):
  • Drafting, Sending, and Reviewing Emails

Performance Objective(s):
  • To be able to perform the mechanics involved in sending and receiving emails.
  • To have the base knowledge of professional emails
  • To have the concepts of format, security, and a brief explanation of spam

INSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
Suggested Materials and Resources:
  • Computer, equipped with an electronic mail agent
  • Unique email address by which each student can send and receive individual emails
  • Internet connection

Instructional Strategies:
  • Constructivist Learning: I will allow the students to work in pairs to search for a particular person to send a “request for information” email.

Teacher Preparations:
  • Make sure connections to the Internet are working
  • Assign a unique logon for each student
  • Make sure email is configured properly on each comp

CURRICULAR DETAILS
Lesson Title and Topic(s):
  • Written Etiquette

Performance Objective(s):
  • To draft and send professional letters for various types of reasons
  • Political (e.g., for grant requests)
  • Thank you letters (e.g., interviews)
  • To have a base knowledge of appropriate wording, addressing, etc.

INSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
Suggested Materials and Resources:
  • Computer, equipped with an electronic mail agent
  • Unique email address by which each student can send and receive individual emails
  • Word Processing Application
  • Printer, connected to the computers

Instructional Strategies:
  • Cooperative Learning: I will have the students work in pairs to send each other thank you memos and request information.

Teacher Preparations:
  • Make sure connections to the Internet are working
  • Assign a unique logon for each student, and that the login in written down by his desk for future reference
  • Make sure email is configured properly on each computer
  • Provide samples of professional letters
  • Make sure printer is connected, has paper, and is in working condition
  • Make sure all computers are configured to the printer
  • Ensure that Word is installed and working on each of the computer

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Iber CIP

Curriculum Integration Plan
Teacher Procedure (10 mins.) / Student Procedure (20 mins)
Introductory Activity:
  • Interactive Word [vli2]form to introduce the instructor to the student’s knowledge. Note: because most students are beginners, the interactive Word form may be done together using a projector and laptop.
  • An overview of the three segments to be covered, presented on a PowerPoint presentation
  • Questions to the students about how they believe the lesson will benefit them outside of class
  • These questions will be for all three segments
/ Introductory Activity:
  • Fill out the Introduction Word Form. Respond to the question: “How will this lesson benefit me?”

Concept Development:
  • Place the students into pairs
  • Provide several search engines for the students to locate their state representative
  • Provide guidance, perhaps indirectly, as the students search for their state representative
  • If the team members live in separate areas, they may have to search for more than one person
/ Concept Development:
  • Students will work in pairs to search for their state representative. They may or may not know the person’s name before they arrive to this lesson. With guidance, they will learn not only the location, but the name of the state representative

Closure:
  • After all teams have located their state representative, have the students discuss the searching process
/ Closure:
  • Students will discuss in a whole group, how they found the searching process went. Discuss whether they will find it helpful in the future with other activities, such as looking for future employment

Extensions:
  • If the students already have experience searching and are familiar with the Internet, I will try to pair up the advanced students together and allow them to explore the possible reasons why one would need to locate their state representative
  • If the Internet connection fails, we will go onto the next segment, and eventually we will write to a fictitious state representative.
/ Extensions:
Assessment:
  • If the students all succeed in finding their state representative, I will deem it a success
  • In the discussion after the searching, if the students provide useful reasons why they can use these skills, that’s also successful
/ Assessment:
  • If the students can tie in their lives with the new skills, then they will feel successful
  • If they see a purpose, and that can be shown by their verbal responses

Teacher Procedure (10 mins) / Student Procedure (20 mins.)
Concept Development:
  • Show, on a PowerPoint, a few examples of emails that are written properly and some that are not
  • Remind them that format does not always remain in tact. Concentrate on the content, not the look.
  • Walk through how to select an addressee out of the contact list, as well as type in a new address. Also, how to check for new messages
/ Concept Development:
  • Continue in the same pairs
  • Students are to draft and send an email to their partner
  • Upon receipt of message, the partner should critique the content and provide feedback to his partner

Closure:
  • Encourage feedback regarding the content of emails.
  • Comment on how easy was it to send and receive emails
/ Closure:
  • Listen to and dialogue with each other regarding the whole email process of sending and receiving emails
  • Will this skill be beneficial?
  • Was it hard?
  • Was it impersonal? Were they ways to reduce the aloofness of emails?

Extensions:
  • If email is not working, continue with the same process only use Word instead of the email application, and print the “email” and give it to the partner
/ Extensions:
  • Procedures should be the same as with the email application

Assessment:
  • Query students to see if they find value in this skill
  • If everyone has succeeded in sending and receiving an email, success has been achieved
  • Depending upon the answers that the students talk about, will also indicate success or failure
/ Assessment:
  • If the students have succeeded in sending and receiving emails, they can count this as a successful activity
  • If they believe it can be useful in the future, it can also be counted as successful

Teacher Procedure (10 mins) / Student Procedure (20 mins)
Concept Development:
  • Show, on a PowerPoint, a few examples of professional letters that are written properly and some that are not
  • Remind them that format counts on professional letters. Concentrate on the content, as well as the look
  • Provide a handout that states the basic elements of a professional letter (e.g., margins, carriage returns from the top to the first line)
  • Discussion of what the elements in the handout mean (e.g., full justify, double-spacing)
/ Concept Development:
  • Continue to work in the same pairs
  • Students will draft a letter using Word to “their state representative” using the name and address that they located earlier, ensuring that the address is in the proper place and that the indents are correct
  • Print the letter and give to their partner for feedback

Closure:
  • Encourage feedback regarding creating a professional letter
  • Ask if the students can see value in this exercise
  • Provide feedback to the students on their letters. Let them take home the ones they created, as well as the handouts, as future reminders
/ Closure:
  • Discuss the different kinds of professional communications
  • Was it difficult to keep all of the information straight?
  • Do they see value in the lesson?

Extensions:
  • If the word processing application is not working, hand written letters can be created to simulate electronic letters
/ Extensions:
  • Same procedure as electronic

Assessment:
  • If a letter was created, a basic sense of success was achieved
  • Verbal communication with each other as well as the instructor
/ Assessment:
  • Successful letters created
  • If they see value in the lessons

Wrap-Up: 20 mins. / Final Assessment
To close the session, the students will play a round of Computer Jeopard[vli3]y using an interactive PowerPoint presentation. / The Jeopardy game is designed to test the skills and knowledge the students have attained over the last three segments.

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[vli1]This is where I include Tomei and Bloom.

[vli2]This is where I introduce the Interactive Word Form.

[vli3]This is where I incorporate the Interactive PPT