Course Profile
Learning Strategies 1: Skills
for Success in Secondary School, Grade 9 open, Catholic
Unit 3: Becoming a Lifelong Learner: Applying Personal Management Skills and Planning for Learning
Activity 1 | Activity 2
| Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5
Unit
Developer(s)
G. Benvie
A. Carey
T. D’Acunto
A. Mastroianni
M. Nasello
K. Pond
Development
Date: March 1, 1999.
In this unit, students demonstrate their understanding and use of personal management skills, competencies, and preferred learning styles through activities involving the planning and selection of school programs, and the development of a learning plan. Students demonstrate study skills, organizational skills, and the management of time, stress, and information. They are able to identify and explain how these can affect them in a variety of situations and settings, as well as utilize available school and community resources to support their learning needs. Students examine the relationship between their emotions and their learning, with particular emphasis on anger and stress management.
Ontario
Catholic School Graduate Expectations: 1e, 1g, 1j, 3a, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4d, 4e, 4f, 4g, 5b, 5h,
7b.
Strand(s): Learning Skills, Personal Knowledge and Management Skills,
Interpersonal Knowledge Skills
Overall
Expectations: LSV.01X;
PKV.01X - PKV.05X; IKV.04X.
Specific
Expectations: LS2.06X; LS3.01X - LS3.05X; LS3.08X; PK2.01X;
PK2.02X; PK2.04X; PK2.05X; PK3.01X - PK3.05X; IK1.03X; IK1.04X; IK2.02X;
IK2.03X.
|
Activity 1 |
Looking Back: Have You Met Your Goals? |
210 minutes |
|
Activity 2 |
Managing Stress and Emotions |
210 minutes |
|
Activity 3 |
Being Assertive and Advocating for Self |
210 minutes |
|
Activity 4 |
Planning for High School |
140 minutes |
|
Activity 5 |
Finding Work: Practical Tools |
280 minutes |
· Book the computer lab for three sessions throughout this unit.
· Arrange for a guest speaker to participate in mock interviews.
· Prepare a formal test for content in Activities 2 and 3.
· Classroom expectations for group work
· interviewing
· consultation
· goal-setting
· poster making
· whole class discussion
· reflection
· Venn diagram
· role playing
· interpretation of pictures
· case studies
· brainstorming
· group work
|
Teacher Observation Checklist |
Diagnostic/Formative |
Teacher |
Activity 1, 4 |
|
Rubric for Written Work |
Formative |
Teacher |
Activity 1, 3, 5 |
|
Oral Communication Rubric |
Formative |
Teacher |
Activity 2, 4 |
|
Quiz/Paper and Pencil Test |
Formative |
Teacher |
Activity 3 |
|
Group Work Observation Checklist |
Formative |
Teacher |
Activity 5 |
Townsend, W.J. Study Skills Workshop. Kitchener, ON: Brownlee Publishing, 1987.
Good News Bible: Sirach 1:22, Sirach 6:9, Matthew 21:12, Amos 5:10-12, Amos 5:21-24, Ephesians 4:26.
Songs from the musical Godspell, e.g., Blind Fools
Ontario
Universities Application Centre
www.ouac.on.ca/osca/
Ontario
College Application Centre
www.ocas.on.ca/ocas/
MazeMaster
www.mazemaster.com
(This site offers a wide variety of accesses to employment opportunities.)
Career
Explorer
http://cdn.cx,bridges.com/explorer/student.htm
Harris-Bowlbey, J. J. Spivack, and R. Lisansky. Take Hold of Your Future, 2nd ed. Leader’s Manual, 1991, American College Testing Program.
Ministry
of Education and Training. The Edge.
Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998.
or www.edu.gov.on.ca
Ministry of Education and Training. And Finally I Did Get a Job. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998.
Time: 210 minutes
Students apply the skills learned in Unit 2. Particular attention is paid to time management, study and organizational skills, and goal setting. Each student is interviewed by the teacher and is responsible for demonstrating how they are developing their own management skills in a practical manner. This one-to-one consultation equips students with practical feedback to ensure academic success.
Strand(s): Personal Knowledge & Management
Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations:
The Graduate is expected to be:
4e - a self-directed, responsible, life long learner who sets appropriate goals and priorities in school, work and personal life;
4f - a self-directed, responsible, life long learner who applies effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, time and resource management skills;
7b - a responsible citizen who accepts accountability for one’s own actions.
Overall Expectations:
PKV.01X - explain how their competencies and interests affect their learning;
PKV.02X - describe and evaluate the ways they learn best;
PKV.03X - identify and define the personal management skills, habits, and characteristics required for success in high school;
PKV.04X - demonstrate understanding of how their personal management strengths and challenges affect their learning in secondary school.
Specific Expectations:
LS3.05X - demonstrate an ability to manage their own learning (e.g., through the use of study skills, organizational skills, time management, stress management, information management);v
LS3.08X - produce and evaluate learning plans that identify learning strengths, barriers, needs, goals, and strategies for success in high school and incorporate them into their annual education plans;
PK3.03X - demonstrate behaviours that reflect self-motivation (e.g., persistence in completing work they find difficult or boring, overcoming procrastination);v
PK3.05X - demonstrate effective use of time management strategies to accomplish school, family, and community responsibilities.
· This activity is the application of skills learned in the first two units. It is important that this activity be ongoing throughout the course. Students must constantly review their goals and strategies to determine if they are being achieved and to ensure that they are aligned with those in the AEP. Set a schedule for individual interviews with the students to review their work and give feedback.
· Provide exemplars of different plans and samples of calendar types to review what works. Encourage the students to consider a variety of ways of organizing depending on their needs but, more importantly, taking into consideration what works for the individual.
· Have a planned activity for the students while the interviews are taking place. This activity should focus on practical skills taught in Units 1 and 2.
· Collect samples of a variety of pamphlets or brochures as models from which students work.
1. Explain to the students the importance of periodic review of plans to assess their success in school. They must use a set of criteria to evaluate their plans. These criteria could include the following questions:
· Are you meeting your goals?
· Are your goals realistic and attainable?
· Do you need to change your goals?
· Are you meeting your deadlines for assignments?
· Are you procrastinating?
· Are you passing your tests?
· Are you achieving your desired level of achievement?
· How would you evaluate you effort level?
Lead a Socratic discussion focussing on ways students can improve and/or change their personal life management skills. Examples may include: whether a goal is genuine or merely wishful thinking, whether the students’ planning strategies are consistent with their learning styles, whether to use a different planner, how to be more organized, etc. Provide sample planners/organizers to view.
Conduct an individual interview with each student. Prior to the interview, provide students with a checklist of what to bring to the interview. The checklist includes:
· Their agenda/planner
· Their study schedule
· Three note books
· Three tests from different subject areas
· Two written assignments that have been evaluated
· Their learning portfolio
· Point form notes listing five strategies that they can adopt to improve their plan
Students should be prepared to discuss the checklist items.
Upon conclusion of each interview, provide each student with written feedback that includes recommendations to improve their academic success. A signature from a parent/guardian is required to confirm that the parent/guardian has reviewed these recommendations with the student. Teachers should also evaluate the students’ ability to manage their own learning using a goal-setting/organizational checklist. Students write a brief written response to the teachers’ written feedback and attach it to the recommendations. This response is placed in the Learning Portfolio and can be discussed with the T.A.P. teacher for inclusion in the Annual Education Plan.
While teachers are conducting individual interviews, students design a pamphlet focussing on “Tips for Success in High Schools”. This pamphlet should include strategies taught in Units 1 and 2: study skills, time management skills, note-taking, etc. Possible use of these pamphlets could include: distribution to Grade 8 teachers, guidance department, and display in a library or other prominent area.
· PK3.03X - Diagnostic/formative assessment by teacher for understanding and application of goal-setting and organizational skills using Teacher Observation Checklist.
· LS3.05X - Formative assessment by teacher of tips for success in high school pamphlet, for knowledge and communication using Rubric for Written Work.
· Clarify, simplify, and reduce the number of criteria used to evaluate student plans.
· Closely monitor the Personal Life Management strategies suggested in the student’s IEP and consult with the student’s special education teacher and parents for other strategies that may prove effective with the student.
· Provide written feedback that is clear and manageable with specific timelines for further review sessions. Feedback should be consistent with the student’s IEP accommodations.
· For specific accommodations, see student’s IEP.
Townsend, W.J. Study Skills Workshop Kitchener, ON: Brownlee Publishing, 1987.
Time: 210 minutes
In this activity the students learn how emotions impact on behaviour and, in particular, how they can affect learning. Students learn how stress can be positive or negative, and how to cope with negative stress. They identify anger within themselves and begin to learn how to manage it appropriately.
Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations:
The graduate is expected to be:
1j - a discerning believer formed in the Catholic faith community who recognizes that “ sin, human weakness, conflict, and forgiveness are part of the human journey”, and that the cross, the ultimate sign of forgiveness, is at the heart of redemption (Witnesses to Faith);
3a - a reflective and creative thinker who recognizes there is more grace in our world than sin and that hope is essential in facing all challenges;
4d - a self-directed, responsible, life long learner who responds to, manages and constructively influences change in a discerning manner.
Overall Expectations:
PKV.04X - demonstrate understanding of how their personal management strengths and challenges affect their learning in secondary school.
Specific Expectations:
PK3.02X - demonstrate understanding of the impact of emotions on learning and describe strategies for managing emotions effectively (e.g., anger management);v
PK3.04X - explain how stress can positively and negatively affect learning performance, and effectively use techniques for managing stress to maximize performance;v
PK2.02X - demonstrate understanding of the value of effective personal management skills, habits, and characteristics by analysing their use in daily life and their impact on academic, work, and life success;
IK1.03X - demonstrate understanding of how peer and social influences affect learning and identify strategies for responding to those influences.
· Obtain a visual aid where a variety of emotions are displayed, e.g., cartoons, magazines with pictures, etc.
· Book the library for a research project.
· Have some situational case studies, cartoons, or video clips of sitcoms where behaviours have been misunderstood.
· Contact the local mental health department or the school board’s psychological services department to book a guest speaker.
· structure and use of a Venn diagram (a diagram of intersecting circles).
· how to write an essay
1. Begin this lesson by putting a Venn diagram with four intersecting circles on the board. Elicit from the students the aspects of self, (i.e., spiritual, physical, intellectual, and emotional), and explain how they are integrated.
2. Students identify emotions by looking at pictures or cartoons of various characters. They expand their vocabulary of emotive words, starting with the generic terms happy, sad, angry, and frustrated, and then thinking of other emotionally descriptive words and listing them under the four basic terms.
3. Solicit from the students ways in which our emotions play a role in different aspects of our lives, for example, in decision-making, in our relationships, and in our communication. (It is important to emphasize that even though our emotions are not always stated, they still can have a psychologically powerful effect on behaviour.)
4. Students come up with examples of how their emotions can affect different learning situations. What happens to learning when they are upset, angry, excited, or bored? How can they overcome situations where emotions are interfering with the ability to focus?
5. Ask students how they identify specific emotions in others and how they can determine if their perception is correct. For example, when a student says, ‘I don’t think that teacher likes me,’ have the student identify the specific behaviours that led them to that conclusion. Ask them to think of other possible reasons for the teacher’s behaviour. Students use case studies, cartoons, or video clips to identify how behaviour is not always a good way to judge emotion or intent.
6. Have the students read aloud the article Twenty-Six Simple Ways to Change How you Feel (Prevention, August 1993). In small groups students take two ‘twisted thoughts’ from the article and give examples of when these might occur. Students role play these examples for the whole class.
1. Put the following definition of stress on the board: ‘An emotional response to perceived pressure.’ Solicit from the students what they think stress is.
2. Put the headings Positive Stress and Negative Stress on the board. Working in pairs, students come up with examples of both types of stress. Students share their examples with the whole class and explain their reasons for choosing these examples. Describe the ‘fight or flight’ response to stimuli (Fighting Invisible Tigers, pp 18- 22).
3. Lead a discussion to determine when stress becomes negative, bringing out examples of physical responses to stress: sleep problems, eating disorders, physical illness, and emotional overload which can lead to depression, anxiety, and an increased risk of suicide. The concepts of short and long term stress can be explored.
4. Students brainstorm positive ways in which stress can be relieved, (e.g., physical exercise, meditation or prayer, healthy eating, co-curricular activities, practising assertive behaviour, humour, etc). It may be useful to explore ways in which stress can be alleviated in an unhelpful way, (e.g., avoidance, procrastination, excessive sleep, excessive anger, withdrawal, drug and alcohol abuse).
5. Students select an example of a positive stress-management technique and write a short research paper on it. They present their papers to the whole class.
Optional Activity: The teacher can arrange for a mental health professional to speak to the students about depression and suicide prevention.
2. Introduce the concept of anger management by having the students describe observable signs of anger. The teacher should solicit responses that might not be immediately obvious, such as sarcasm, criticism, attention seeking, as well as some passive behaviours that attempt to elicit guilt from others. Be careful to distinguish between the behaviour and the underlying emotion and emphasize that one does not always justify the other.
Help the students to identify their own triggers for anger and what behaviours they tend to use to express their anger.
In groups, students discuss and list ways in which behaviours motivated by anger can create barriers in several aspects of their life (e.g., ‘road rage’, criminal activity, etc.). They discuss alternative ways of dealing with anger and share them with the class.
Use biblical passages and/or religious music to identify examples of when anger is justified and when it is not. Biblical passages which might be useful would be Sirach 1:22, Sirach 6:9, Matthew 21:12, Amos 5:10-12, Amos 5:21-24, Ephesians 4:26. Songs from the musical Godspell, (e.g., Blind Fools), might also be useful.
Students write a letter to a person who made them angry, explaining their perception of what happened and how it made them feel.
· PK3.04X - Formative assessment by teacher of project and oral presentation research for knowledge and communication using Oral Communication Rubric.
· PK3.02X - Formative assessment by teacher of letter re: anger management for knowledge and application using Rubric for Written Work.
· Preview vocabulary with students prior to participating in activity.
· Provide case studies at the appropriate student reading level.
· Provide a step-by-step guideline for research paper on stress management and reduce the content required.
· For specific accommodations, see student’s IEP.
Good News Bible: Sirach 1:22, Sirach 6:9, Matthew 21:12, Amos 5:10-12, Amos 5:21-24, Ephesians 4:26.
Songs from the musical Godspell, e.g., Blind Fools
Time: 10
minutes
In this unit, students learn the difference between aggressive and assertive responses. Using this knowledge students are given role-playing scenarios where they practise assertive responses to situations involving home, school, and peers. Becoming assertive assists students in becoming advocates for their own learning needs in school and in the community. They are able to identify available resources to support their learning and know how to access these supports.
Strand(s): Personal Knowledge and
Management
Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations:
The Graduate is expected to be:
1e - a discerning believer who speaks the language of life...recognizing that life is an unearned gift and that a person entrusted with life does not own it but that one is called to protect and cherish it.
3c - a reflective and creative thinker who thinks reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems.
Overall Expectations:
PKV.03X - identify and define personal management skills, habits and characteristics required for success in high school;
PKV.05X - demonstrate effective use of personal management skills in a variety of settings.
Specific Expectations:
IK2.01X - identify school, and community resources available to support learning and explain how and when to access them;
IK2.02X - identify individuals or programs that can assist with their specific learning needs (e.g., peer tutors);
IK2.03X - use effective communication skills to gather information and request assistance for their learning needs from peers, teachers, and/or school and community programs;v
PK2.01X - describe a variety of personal management skills, habits and characteristics that contribute to success in high school.v
· Teachers and/or students create Role Playing Scenarios for assertive response exercises.
· Students should be familiar with basic role-playing techniques.
3. Introduce the concept that individuals have different response styles to situations where they feel victimized. These response styles can be defined as aggressive, assertive, passive, or passive aggressive. Provide students with board notes describing each response style.
Ask students to describe the behaviour of someone who acts aggressively and someone who acts assertively. List these points on the board and ask students to come up with a definition of assertiveness. (The definition should include the idea that you must stand up for what you believe in, stand up to peer pressure, and defend yourself when you have been unfairly treated. However, it also includes respecting others.)
In small groups, give students scenarios and have them role-play situations to illustrate an assertive response. These on scenarios should reflect school, home and peer situations.
Lead students in a follow-up discussion focussing the fact that students must develop and practise assertiveness in order to become self-advocates. Provide a specific school situation and ask students how they would approach it to advocate on their own behalf. Examples could be drawn from the following:
· Student has been absent for two days and needs to speak to the teacher about work missed.
· Student does not understand why he/she received a failing grade on an assignment.
· Student is in a class where the teacher announces the student’s grades as he/she returns tests.
· Student is having trouble understanding a mathematical concept and has failed a quiz.
a) Students write a reflective journal in which they will describe two situations where they have not acted as assertively as they would have liked. They focus on reasons why this has occurred and describe how they could have approached the two situations in a more assertive manner.
b) Students also focus on their own learning needs and identify and describe how they access support in an assertive manner. This encourages students to be advocates for their own learning.
Administer a quiz covering material from Activities 2 and 3.
· IK2.03X - Formative assessment by teacher of reflective journal for knowledge and communication using Rubric for Written Work.
· PK2.01X - Formative assessment by teacher of Activities 2 and 3 of knowledge and communication using paper and pencil test.
· Provide students with a handout of the board notes.
· Give students case studies or examples of people behaving assertively or aggressively within the students’ realm of experience.
· Have students work in a group with other students of varying ability levels so that they can receive peer support.
· Individually conference with students concerning how they can advocate for themselves in the school community, given the IEP recommendations.
· For specific accommodations, see student’s IEP.
Hipp, Earl. Fighting
Invisible Tigers: Stress Management Guide for Teens. Minneapolis, MN: Free
Spirit Publishing, 400 first Avenue North, Suite 616, Minneapolis, MN, 55401.
ISBN 0-91579-04-OCPBK
Time: 140 minutes
Using a variety of resources such as the school calendar and post-secondary education material, the students demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of how to plan their own secondary school program in light of their future goals. Students familiarize themselves with credit requirements for diploma purposes. Students research post-secondary options.
Strand(s): Learning Skills, Personal
Knowledge and Management
Ontario
Catholic Graduate Expectations:
The graduate is expected to be:
1g - a discerning believer who understands that one’s purpose or call in life comes from God and strives to discern and live out this call throughout life’s journey.
3e - a reflective and creative thinker who adopts a holistic approach to life by integrating learning from various subject areas and experience.
4g - a self-directed learner who examines and reflects on one’s personal values, abilities, and aspirations influencing life’s choices and opportunities.
Overall
Expectations:
LSV.03X - demonstrate effective use of learning and thinking strategies and effective use of technology to enhance their research, learning and presentations skills;
LSV 04X - demonstrate an understanding of how the secondary school program is organized and describe requirements for graduation.v
Specific Expectations:
LS2.06X - use effectively a variety of information technologies (e.g., CD-ROM, the Internet, calculators, software for organizing notes, file management software) to conduct research, organize information, and acquire new skills;v
LS3.01X - explain the organization of the secondary school program, including types of courses and the destinations for which they are appropriate;v
LS3.02X - explain their own high school course selection in the context of the requirements for secondary school graduation;v
PK3.01X - use effective personal management skills (e.g., goal setting, time management, project management skills) to improve their results in selected school subjects.
· Course planner should be placed in Learning Portfolio. This information is useful for teacher responsible for Teacher Adviser Program (T.A.P.), for completion of the students’ Annual Education Plan.
· Familiarity with use of the Internet
1. Distribute the school’s course calendar and review course options available in each department. Also define pre-requisite courses and review the coding system. Talk about summer and night school courses and the advantages and disadvantages of these courses.
2. Review O.S.S.D. course requirements for graduation. Also review the requirements for the O.S.S.C. and the Certificate of Accomplishment.
3. Distribute a High School Course Planner. Students tentatively complete course options for Grades 10-12. During the completion of these planners, circulate in the room to assist the students. These planners are submitted for review and are shared with the teacher responsible for T.A.P. and the Special Education teacher responsible for monitoring the student’s AEP. and IEP. Students are required to provide a rationale for their choices.
4. Arrange for the class to visit the Guidance office to conduct a career/post secondary search. Students refer to their Career Inventory completed in Unit 1 and kept in their Learning Portfolio.
5. Based on their own career interests, students are asked to identify two possible careers that they may wish to explore. With the assistance of the guidance department the students are shown the various resources in the guidance department - University and College Calendars, career profiles, computer software, etc.
6. Students then complete a work sheet that requires them to conduct research related to their career interest. Areas to consider: career description, education required, University/College/Apprenticeship - description of program at an institution, admission requirements and High School courses recommended. This should be placed in the Learning Portfolio.
7. Students present their findings orally to the class.
· LSV.04X, LS3.01X, LS3.02X - Diagnostic/formative assessment by teacher of course planner for knowledge and application using Teacher Observation Checklist.
· LS2.06X - Formative assessment by teacher of student research for knowledge, inquiry, and communication using Oral Communication Rubric.
· Reduce the number of careers the student investigates in the Guidance Office if desired.
· Allow certain students to do their oral presentations with only the teacher.
· Provide more direction and conferencing when doing course selection. Consult with the student’s special education teacher and parent.
· Individually review the course calendar options, pre-requisites, and diploma requirements with students.
· Partner students when doing computer investigations. Give students step-by-step instructions when assessing information from Ministry Training websites.
· For specific accommodations, see the student’s IEP.
Ontario Universities Application Centre
www.ouac.on.ca/osca/
Ontario
College Application Centre
www.ocas.on.ca/ocas/
MazeMaster
www.mazemaster.com
(This site offers a wide variety of accesses to employment opportunities.)
Appendix A - High School
Course Planner
|
HIGH SCHOOL COURSE PLANNER |
|||
|
GRADE 9 |
GRADE 10 |
GRADE 11 |
GRADE 12 |
|
1. English |
1. English |
1. English |
1. English |
|
2. Religion |
2. Religion |
2. Religion |
2. Religion |
|
3. Math |
3. Math |
3. Math |
3. Option |
|
4. Cdn. Geog. |
4.Cdn. History |
4. Option |
4. Option |
|
5. Science |
5. Science |
5. Option |
5. Option |
|
6. French |
6a. Civics .5 |
6. Option |
6. Option |
|
7. Option |
6b. Career .5 |
7. Option |
|
|
8. Option |
7. Option |
8. Option |
|
|
|
8. Option |
|
|
|
9. Community Service 10 hours completed [ ] |
9. Community Service 10 hours completed [ ] |
9. Community Service 10 hours completed [ ] |
7. Community Service 10 hours completed [ ] |
|
|
10. Grade 10 Reading & Writing Skills Test [ ] |
|
|
|
Requirements for O.S.S.D. 18 compulsory credits 12 optional credits Success in Gr. 10 Reading and Writing Skills Test 40 hrs Community Service |
>Compulsory Courses> |
4 English (1 per grade) 1 French 3 Math (1 gr. 11 or 12) 2 Science 1 Cdn. Geography 1 Cdn. History 1 Arts 1 Health and Physical Ed. .5 Civics .5 Career Studies (Gr. 10) 4 Religious Education |
Plus: 1 additional credit in English or a third language, or a social science, or Canadian and World Studies 1 additional credit in Health and Physical Ed. or Business Studies or Arts 1 additional credit in Science (Gr. 11 or 12) or Technological Ed. (Gr. 9-12) |
Time: 280
minutes
In this activity students learn specific skills to enhance their ability to find future employment and learn how to do research on the Internet on this particular topic. They determine how various experiences can help them develop employability skills. Students work on developing their own resumes and interviewing techniques.
Strand(s): Interpersonal Knowledge and Skills
Ontario Catholic Graduate
Expectations:
The graduate is expected to be:
3a - a reflective and creative thinker who recognizes there is more grace in our world than sin and that hope is essential in facing all challenges.
5b - a collaborative contributor who thinks critically about the meaning and purpose of work
5h - a collaborative contributor who applies skills for employability, self-employment, and entrepreneurship relative to Christian vocation.
Overall
Expectations:
IKV.02X - use interpersonal and teamwork skills effectively in learning environments;v
IKV.04X - demonstrate an understanding of why, when and how to utilize available school and community resources to support their learning needs;
LSV.01X - demonstrate and use an increasing variety of numeracy and literacy skills.
Specific Expectations:
LS3.03X - demonstrate understanding of how volunteer activities (e.g., mentoring, tutoring, coaching, community service), part-time work, and participation in school life can develop and enhance employability skills and strengthen one’s résumé;v
IK1.03X - demonstrate understanding of how peer and social influences affect learning and identify strategies for responding to those influences;
LS2.06X - use effectively a variety of information technologies to conduct research, organize information, and acquire new skills;v
LS1.03X - demonstrate and use a variety of writing forms and use them effectively for a variety of purposes.v
· Book the computer lab or the library for research on-the-job skill web sites using the Internet. Students who require assistance should be paired with students who are more computer literate.
· Prepare an Internet Scavenger Hunt checklist of useful Internet sites.
· Have sample job applications available. Have the students bring two or three applications from local businesses which hire students.
· Have S.I.N. applications available for each student.
· Arrange for local business or community agency representatives to conduct a workshop on interviews and do mock interviews.
· How to browse for information on the Internet
· Where to access job applications
4. Ask students to think of all the things for which they might have to fill out an application, e.g., jobs, higher education, driver’s license. Write their answers on the board. Then have the students think of the kind of information that would be required on a job application form.
The students take out their various applications and scan them for common language and make a list of terms they are unfamiliar with to ask about. As a large group, discuss appropriate ways to answer the various questions on the application.
Discuss with the students the kind of questions that one cannot ask in an interview and why. Possibly invite a speaker who has experience in Human Resources.
Students review the necessary steps to getting a Social Insurance Number and fill out the application form. What is a S.I.N.? How is it used?
5. Have the students begin their search at the OSCA web page (Ontario School Counsellors’ Association: http://www.ouac.on.ca/osca/) which offers links to many sites related to career development. Direct students to the Career Information site, suggesting EDGE, which offers useful information related to the first steps in searching for work. Students list the information they find in this site and various ways in which to use it.
Students use the Internet Scavenger Hunt checklist to find useful Internet sites (see planning notes). Students record the address of the sites on the checklist.
Students share their findings with the rest of the class.
Students go through the Mind Maze web site (http://www.mazemaster.on.ca/all.htm). Instructions are found on the web site. Students write a brief description of this web site and a short reflection on the value of this website to their job search.
6. Divide the students into groups of four and assign one particular job to each group.
The following jobs are suggested: fruit salad maker, dog sitter, hockey stick maker
hat model
Once assigned a job, each group is responsible to complete the following activities:
· design a classified ad (This ad will be posted in the classroom)
· develop a written description of your assigned job.
· design an application form.
· develop interview questions. (The interview should be approximately five to ten minutes long.)
· develop a list of qualities that are deemed necessary for success.
Each student applies for one of the jobs – ads are posted in the classroom. Students may not apply for the job that they worked on in their group.
In the original groups, students review the employment applications and select two applicants for mock interviews.
A guest speaker (could be member of local business, human resources person or employment agency, co-op teacher, principal, etc.) conducts the interviews. This guest speaker should be given the job description, interview questions, and other pertinent information prior to the mock interviews. The guest interviewer provides verbal feedback to the class and focusses on the key ingredients to successful interviewing.
7. Students (in groups) make a list of experiences they might have, which they could use on a resumé.
Circulate and encourage the students to think of experiences which helped them develop skills they would not necessarily think of (e.g., volunteer work in their elementary school, looking after siblings, community involvement, etc.).
Generate examples of the various experiences that can teach employability skills and have students identify categories of skills:
Communication – Teamwork – Organizational – Technical
Discuss how the students have many hidden talents and skills to offer that they may not think of initially.
Discuss with the students the concept of a resumé.
Using Career Explorer http://cdn.cx,bridges.com/explorer/student.htm, students fill in their personal information to design their own resumé. They use the Skills Profile from their session on Mazemaster http://www.mazemaster.on.ca/all.htm to identify skills they have attained through their experiences (see Unit 3 Activity 2)
Once all the information has been entered, students can print a copy of their complete resumé for the Learning Portfolio.
Stress the importance of updating a resumé regularly and discuss how a resumé can be tailored to the position being applied for.
Discuss the purpose of a covering letter and how it also should be written with the particular job or company in mind.
Students view sample covering letters and discuss and list the characteristics of a good covering letter.
Students write a covering letter to accompany their resumé.
· IKV.02X - Formative assessment by teacher of students’ group work for knowledge, inquiry, and communication using Group Work Observation Checklist.
· LS2.06X - Formative assessment by teacher of students’ computer research for understanding and knowledge using Teacher Observation Checklist.
· LS3.03X, LS1.03X - Formative assessment by teacher of students’ resume and covering letter for knowledge, and communication using Rubric for Written Work.
· Place students in a group with peers of various abilities.
· Assist students with applications.
· Provide students with resume exemplars and guidlelines for resume writing.
· Students who require assistance should be paired with students who are more computer literate.
· For specific accommodations, see student’s IEP.
Career Explorer
http://cdn.cx,bridges.com/explorer/student.htm
Harris-Bowlbey, J., J. Spivack, and R. Lisansky. Take Hold of Your Future, 2nd ed. Leader’s Manual, 1991, American College Testing Program
Ministry of
Education and Training. The Edge.
Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998
or www.edu.gov.on.ca
Ministry of Education and Training. And Finally I Did Get a Job. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998.
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