Career Exploration

0 Career Exploration How can I choose a career that interests me?

0 This Unit: Career Exploration This Career Exploration unit is the second of four units and will allow students in grades 5-8 to: • Job shadow 4 different job sites and fill out weekly evaluation forms • Identify strengths and needs in relation to jobs they are interested in, and the skills needed for these jobs • Narrow down their preferred jobs to 1-2 that both interest them and fit their abilities • This unit was developed for middle school aged students but could easily be adapted for high school students who have not yet been introduced to this information. Transition Services Preparation & Training

Career Development Series This is the second of four units in the career development series. For more information about the four units and an introduction into the three stages of unit development, refer to the Career Development Series PowerPoint. Career Awareness Career Preparation Career Exploration Career Assimilation Transition Services Preparation & Training

Understanding by Design Stage 1 :Identify Desired Results • Identify external standards and overall unit goals that are relevant to the students’ strengths and needs • Use state academic standards and benchmarks • Incorporate individual student needs and IEP goals • Blend the state standards and student goals to create: • Relevant, authentic unit questions that …, • “Hook” students and …, • Address key misunderstandings. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Stage 1: Identifying Desired Results-Applying Academic Content Standards(Ohio Department of Education) Transition Services Preparation & Training

Unit Design Process Stage 1: ~Identifying Desired Results~ • Identify enduring, inquiry-based questions to focus unit, based upon: • Academic Content Standards • Student Needs: identified as Career Preparation targets: • Narrowing career preferences through: • Job shadowing • Evaluating job shadowing experiences each week • Identifying strengths and needs in relation to these jobs • Resulting in the Unit Question: How can I choose a career that interests me? Transition Services Preparation & Training

Unit Design Process Stage 2 : ~Determine Acceptable Evidence~ • Develop assessments that demonstrate thorough unit learning • Use the Six Facets of Understanding (from Understanding by Design) • Multiple assessments strategies ensure thoroughness of learning • Use the Unit Question to focus the assessments • Incorporate the academic content standards across the Six Facets Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 -The Six Facets of Understanding - for the Career Exploration Unit Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Stage 2: Continued Transition Services Preparation & Training

Unit Design Process Stage 3 : – Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction– • Develop learning activities that : • Develop the knowledge and skills needed to successfully complete the assessment and…, • Demonstrate thorough unit understanding (the Six Facets) • Use the Unit Question to review and reflect on learnings throughout the unit. • Use an inquiry-based approach that explores different aspects of the unit question. • Use reflection to re-explore the question as students learnings increase Transition Services Preparation & Training

Flow Chart for the Six Facets Transition Services Preparation & Training Review and probe continually:How can I choose a career that interests me?

Stage 3: Planning Learning ExperiencesA Few Suggested Activities Activities— Lots of possibilities! Research different jobs and what is required of each – pick the top 3 and write or explain why they picked each Write a fictional story about a job they would like to pursue in the future Research and discuss whether or not their dream career of the future is realistic Work in groups to think of ideas for matching strengths and limitations with careers Take surveys to identify their interests and what careers they might enjoy—and relate this to daily activities they enjoy List different jobs, the skills required for each, and evaluate how well their own skills match the requirements List strengths and limitations in everyday life activities: What thing do I do well? Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Language Arts Benchmark: Locate and summarize important information from multiple sources. Facet 6: Self-evaluation, Part 1 Activity: Students will summarize and self-evaluate skills for chosen career. Behavioral Objective: Students will summarize their preferences across all 4 jobs their (a) weekly ratings, (b) conflict experiences, and (c) wage and deductions information with summary correctly reflecting success across ratings and conflicts on 3/4 jobs. Prerequisite Knowledge: • Students can summarize across a single topic or source. Lesson Procedures: (a) Introduction: The teacher will ask students if they believe they are successful on the job shadowing, then ask how important this is in choosing a job for one’s future. Teacher will then probe if they believe their supervisor has the same evaluation of the students as their own. The teacher will then pass out copies of both evaluations (from the current job) to compare. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Language Arts – cont. (b) Steps for Learning: 1) The teacher will have the students compare one week’s ratings at a time. Teacher will role-model differences in evaluation as needed, and how to compare across each factor. Continue across all weeks. Students will review how and write one sentence that summarizes each week. Compile these into one paragraph about job shadowing. 2) Have students use job shadowing logs (and supervisor reports) to identify conflict situations. Students will write one sentence summarizing their interpersonal skills for each job site, and then compile these into an overall summary. 3) Students will review their wages and any unique deductions (e.g., union dues) for each job site (see math lesson). They will write a one-sentence summary of their satisfaction with their wages (with deductions) and compile this. 4) Teacher will ask how students how the various types of information can help them make a determination about their most successful and satisfying job. Teacher will guide students into using all types of information to generate one evaluative summary: beginning with rating data, then interpersonal info, salary, and students’ evaluation and conclusion. 5) This can be done in steps, one job site at a time and then compiled at the end. This lesson’s results is then used to determine the career to research (Facets 1-2) and to create the final self-evaluation (Facet 6). Adaptations: Younger or or lower-functioning: do in small stages, give a summary or paragraph model to follow, use color coding to compile summaries across jobs or information source. Older or higher-functioning: have students generic their own rubrics regarding effective summaries and use peer evaluations of final products. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Math Benchmark: Develop meaning for percents, including percents greater than 100 and less than 1. Facet 3: Application Activity: Finding percent taken out of paycheck for taxes, Social Security, etc. Behavioral Objective: Students will use real or realistic salaries for each job site: using each check, students will compute the total wages and then the percentage of each deduction from the total, as listed on the check, with 4 out of 5 computed correctly. Prerequisite Knowledge: • Students know about paychecks, but may not realize they will have deductions. • Students have computed percentages before in textbooks. Lesson Procedures: (a) Introduction:The teacher talk about receiving paychecks for work (and/or their job shadowing). She will show a paycheck and ask why the total and the gross are different—why do we receive “less”? Teacher will guide the discussion to taxes and what they provide for us (U.S. Pres, state governor, and various services). Teacher will ask if everyone has the same amount (and will compare several checks). Teacher will ask why amounts are different (to guide inquiry into what is “fair”). Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Math - cont. (b) Steps for Learning: 1) Teacher will use proportions in real life (recipe for a gallon of punch vs. a quart) as a link to percentages—how things can be “equal” or “fair” even though amounts are different numerically. 2) Teacher will compute real-life example as percentage (have students assist) then ask how class can use the same procedure to compute tax deductions to see if they are “fair”. Start with federal tax. If students each have paychecks then use these (or get additional checks to compare). Have students calculate percentage and put in a class-wide chart. 3) Then have students calculate other deductions (and include all major types including union dues, benefits, etc.). Have students add info into classwide chart. Students can work in pairs or small groups to support and review calculations. 4) Examine class-wide calculations. For differences in tax rates, have students examine yearly federal tax tables to explain how size of income impacts rate of taxation. Compute other deductions and compare. Add up all deductions to double-check gross and net wages. 5) Have students compare wages across their gross vs. net wages across their 4 job sites to determine preferred career. Adaptations: Younger or or lower-functioning: have formula for percentage calculation posted and use calculators; use colored pie charts to demonstrate percentage size of each. Older or higher-functioning: have students use the federal tax tables in the spring to calculate their annual tax percentage rate, and have them fill out a tax return. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Science Benchmark: Use skills of scientific inquiry processes (e.g., hypothesis, record keeping, description and explanation). Facet 3: Application Activity: Students will record their observations at their job shadowing sites using job performance rating scales and a weekly log. Behavioral Objective: At each job shadowing site, students will record at least 2 sentences each week (including any interpersonal conflicts) and do a weekly self-evaluation on job performance, for 7 of each 8-week job placement. Prerequisite Knowledge: • Students will have some previous experience with self-rating and with keeping logs or journals. • Students are completing their first week at their job site. Lesson Procedures: (a) Introduction: Teachers will ask students if they believe they will be successful on their job sites, and why they think so. Then ask how students will be able to “prove” they are successful—how can they collect evidence of this. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Science – cont. (b) Steps for Learning: 1) Teacher will show the weekly job performance evaluation forms and discuss how each factor relates to the jobs students have just started. Teacher will inform student that supervisors also will be filling out identical forms to compare. 2) Teacher will ask about interpersonal conflicts on jobs—have they had them in the past, at home, in school, etc. S/he will ask how students resolve them and why it is important to cooperate at work. Teacher will ask students to remember when they have done a scientific log or personal journal in the past. S/he will model how this log will be used to note feelings during the week and also any conflicts. 3) Teacher will announce that this is the end of the first week and time for the evaluation. S/he will pass out the forms and support students as they work through the form. 4) Teacher will then ask students how they felt and emotions regarding their first week—what did they feel while they were on the job and were there any conflicts. S/he will pass out logs and ask students to write at least 1 sentence about their feelings and 1 sentence explaining any conflicts. 5) Teacher will continue doing this each week. At the end of each 8-week job placement, teacher can use these to compile into a summary (see Lang. Arts). Students can develop a hypothesis about their continuing success at each site and use the data to verify or modify. Adaptations: Younger or or lower-functioning: help students go through item by item for the self-rating, and focus on each sentence/topic separately for the log. Provide a model with a scenario, then work with the class to do a “practice” self-rating and log. Older or higher-functioning: have students discuss and generate hypotheses based on self-evaluations initially in the lesson, and then use data to confirm; use more complex versions of the self-rating forms and require longer logs with more detail: have class make a rubric for logs re: feelings and why & who/what/when/where/why for conflicts. Transition Services Preparation & Training

Benchmark: Analyze examples of interactions between cultural groups and explain the factors that contribute to cooperation and conflict. Facets4- 5: Perspective and Empathy Activity: Students use their job site evaluations and logs to develop perspective and empathy in understanding their supervisors’ responses. Behavioral Objective: Using the job evaluation forms and logs from job shadowing, students will identify at least 1 difference in perspective and at least 1 relevant feeling of the supervisor that realistically explains a difference in opinion between the student and supervisors’ evaluations. Students will identify 4/5 times with appropriate explanations how cultural differences (hearing vs. Deaf and ethnicity) do or do not contribute to the opinions. Prerequisite Knowledge: Students will have previous knowledge of some basic differences and potential conflicts between hearing and Deaf cultures, and between white and ethnic minority cultures. Lesson Procedures: (a) Introduction: Teacher will ask students for times when they have argued with family, friends, parents, supervisors, etc. Class will discuss some scenarios and probe differences in perspective due to role, experience, needs and wants, culture, etc. Class will role-play some of these conflicts to sensitize class to different perspectives and feelings. 0 Lesson Plan: Social Studies Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Lesson Plan: Social Studies - cont. (b) Steps for Learning: 1) Teacher will ask students if they remember any conflicts occurring at their job site. S/he will pass out logs and evaluations for students to identify and verify. Each student will identify (highlight or take notes) several conflict situations. 2) Students will each choose one situation to present to the class (or work in groups). Students will identify their own perspective and feelings about the conflict, and then the supervisor’s (or co-worker’s) perspective and feelings. 3) Discuss each as a class to evaluate these perspectives. Use role play to probe and experience more deeply, as needed. 4) Teacher will probe/ask specifically about cultural differences for these conflicts. Begin with some issues identified from the lesson intro and link or scaffold to job site situations. May have students review by listing primary sources of cultural conflict that they have experienced at school with hearing individuals and between cultural groups. Use these lists to review and evaluate the job site conflicts. 5) Have students work in small groups/pairs to review their remaining conflicts to identify (a) perspectives and reasons, (b) related feelings, and (c) contributing cultural differences, if any. Have students work increasingly independently/in groups for future job site conflicts. Adaptations: Younger or lower-functioning: students may need more role play experiences to generate perspectives and feelings of others; may need specific examples of cultural differences. Older or higher functioning: students can work increasingly on their own, or link to hypothesis-generating (science) with problem-solving to develop solutions, or be expected to describe perspectives and feelings in greater depth and with greater interpersonal insight. Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Setting Up a Job Shadowing Program:Tips for Teachers • Many times special educators will be working on their own to set up job-shadowing programs. Work-study coordinators and others normally assigned to this may already have a full load of high-school age students. Most importantly, IT CAN BE DONE! See some of the other tips on this website for ideas. • Step 1: Make a list of jobs/businesses that your students are interested in as well as other jobs that you think other students in the future would be interested in • Step 2: Look up places of interest in a local phonebook and record the contact information (if other teachers in your school have set up similar programs, collaborate with them to make a list of contacts and information) • Step 3: Call the business, find out if they are interested in working with your students - find a person who you can continue to contact about this information • Step 4: Explain the unit you are working on with the students, what you expect from the worksite, about job shadowing, and the weekly job shadowing forms • Step 5: Obtain information such as: • Hours of operation • Specific jobs at this work site • Job descriptions • Step 6: Continually update this information – contact the businesses again to make sure they are still willing to work with your school Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Setting Up a Job Shadowing Program:Tips for Teachers • Organization: • Keep a binder with all the information for each job shadowing site • You can make a chart to keep track of all the important information • Collaboration: • Contact others in your district or school who are willing to help (vocational education teacher, special education teacher, etc.) • Speak with friends and family, as well as the family of your students to find out if they may know businesses which may be interested in having your students participate • Other important information to keep in mind: • Transportation – how will the students get to and from the work site? Check with others teachers in the school to share resources – maybe transportation systems are already set up • Time – will the student go to their job site before, after, or during school hours? • Initial Entrance into the Job Shadowing Site – how will the student start out their first day at the job site? Will a person from the school accompany them? • Communication – how will the deaf student communicate with others at the work site? This could be discussed in class and a list could be made of a variety of communication modes that could be used • Permission and Liability Forms – use existing forms that are used at the school • Be persistent and stay positive!! Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Sample Job Shadowing Chart Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 Sample Job Shadowing Evaluation Form Transition Services Preparation & Training

Career Books • Cool Ideas for Kids Who Like… • Author: Diane Lindsey Reeves • A series or books, each relating to a specific theme • Books include: Animals and Nature, Science, Math, Music and Dance, Money, Computers, Art, Writing, Adventure, Travel, Talking, and Sports • Each book focuses on about 15 occupations with related information, such as the first-paying job a person got in this field, their current position, as well as suggested reading, websites, and organizations. Transition Services Preparation & Training

Career Books • Cool Careers for Girls… • Author: Ceel Pasternak • A series of books, each relating to a specific theme. • Books include: Sports, Engineering, Health, Computers, Food, Travel & Hospitality, Law, Performing Arts, Animals, Environmentalists, Crime Solvers, Cybersecurity and National Safety and Construction • Each book profiles about 10 women from different professions in this area. Information includes: a general description of the job; how the individual began and progressed to her present level; how the individual overcame some of the difficulties of being a female in a male-dominated profession; salary range of the position; and a career checklist. Transition Services Preparation & Training

Resources for Teachers • America’s Career Info Net – Informed Career Decisions • www.acinet.org/acinet/default.asp • Becker, R. L. (2000). Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory: 2 (R-FVII:2). Columbus, OH: Elbern Publications. • South Central Career Information System - Developing a Career Portfolio: • http://www.sccis.org/main/educators/lessonplans1.htm • Education World – ways to incorporate career education into classroom activities • http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson160.shtm • Quintessential Careers: Your Job Search Starts Here • http://www.quintcareers.com/ • Career Development and Employment – Making Career Decisions • http://www.vuw.ac.nz/st_services/careers/career_development/making_decisions.html • U.S. Department of Labor - in-depth description of many different careers • http://www.dol.gov Transition Services Preparation & Training

0 References • Brolin, D. E. (1997). Life centered career education: A competency based approach. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children. • Luft, P. & Koch, L. (2005). “Career Development: Theories for Transition Planning”. Transition Planning for Secondary Students with Disabilities. Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall. 83-108. • Marshall, L. H., Martin J. E., Maxson L. & Jerman P. (1997) Choicemaker: Self Determination Curriculum, Choosing Employment Goals. Longmount, CO: Sopris West. • Ohio Department of Education. “Academic Content Standards.” 2004. http://www.ode.state.oh. us/academic content_standards/. • U.S. Department of Labor. 2005. http://www.dol. gov/. • Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Transition Services Preparation & Training

Career Exploration