|
EIGHTH
GRADE CAREER CHALLENGE
Irasburg Elementary School
Orleans/Northern Essex School-to-Work
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
OF PRACTICE
The Eighth Grade Career Challenge at Irasburg Elementary School provides students
the opportunity to learn about a specific career through research, a community work
experience, and the creation of a presentation. This presentation is first given
to a panel of community members and then to underclassmen in the form of a career
fair.
An interdisciplinary approach is the strength of this practice. A team of educators
from language arts, visual arts, technology, guidance, and family consumer sciences
work together to integrate components of the "Challenge" into their classroom
curriculum.
This "Challenge" is introduced to each member of the eighth grade in the
form of a letter, signed by all the involved educators, explaining that career education
is required at all grade levels. Students are asked to help educate the younger students
about careers at the school’s career fair. The letter also explains that to teach
something you have to become the "expert" and they are asked to become
the expert about a certain career and share that knowledge.
To prepare the students for their "Challenge", career awareness and exploration
activities take place in the fall. These activities are directed toward increasing
the student’s career vocabulary, knowledge of careers, and awareness of their interests.
Activities take place in the classroom with the educator and guidance counselor.
A representative from the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) also visits
the class. During these visits students complete interest inventories and map out
of which courses they will need to take in high school to prepare them for post-secondary
education. It is stressed to the students that they need to take the most challenging
courses during their high school years to keep their options open.
After the career awareness and exploration activities are completed, each student
picks a career that interests them. Students understand that they need to choose
different careers to have a successful career fair. However, if two students do pick
the same career then assistance is given in identifying other careers that are similar.
Once a student has chosen a career it is time to do some research using Internet
and library resources. After completing the research the student is to locate a job-shadowing
site that comes the closest to their career choice and make arrangements to visit
that site. Then the student uses their research and job shadowing experiences to
create a presentation that is both visual and oral.
Students are encouraged to practice their presentations as much as possible. Prior
to their final presentation, they are videotaped and fellow classmen provide input
on how the presentation can be improved. This helps each student realize that more
practice provides a higher quality presentation.
The first presentation given is to a panel of community members. The panel members
are given a rubric to use as an assessment tool. The students have seen this rubric
at the beginning of the challenge providing them with the opportunity to decide what
quality level they would like to achieve. The eighth grade class puts on a career
fair for the entire school fulfilling their challenge to provide younger students
the opportunity to be exposed to possible career choices.
BACKGROUND AND PLANNING PROCESS
Heather Winkler is the Guidance Counselor at both Irasburg Elementary and Waterford
Elementary. Educators at Waterbury Elementary developed the Eighth Grade Career Challenge
based on professional development they received that was geared toward a student-led
teaching approach by creating challenges. Ms. Winkler saw the impact this practice
had for students and introduced it to the staff at Irasburg Elementary.
Irasburg applied for and was granted School-To-Work funds from the Orleans/Northern
Essex School-To-Work Partnership to develop a school-wide career challenge. These
funds provided professional development, supplies, and resources to establish a sequential
career exploration program for all students in grades one through eight. The objective
of this project was to increase student’s vocabulary of careers in an engaging way.
Integrated into this schoolwide practice in the Eighth Grade Career Challenge.
Faculty from Irasburg School along with a key community member met to plan this interdisciplinary,
multi-age unit during a weekend retreat at the Balsam’s Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville
Notch, NH. As a model for the unit, the educators spent some of their time participating
in tours and presentations of the multiple jobs and training programs that are available
at the Balsams and its neighboring business Tillotson Glove Factory. Teachers planned
lessons so that their class would learn about a specific career cluster through site
visits, guest speakers, and other activities. The grade specific career clusters
are as follows:
First grade
– Agriculture, Forestry, & Natural Resources
Second Grade – Mechanical, Construction, Industrial and Transportation
Third Grade – Health
Fourth Grade – Social Science & Education
Fifth Grade – Art, Design, & Communication
Sixth Grade – Engineering, Science, & Computers
Seventh Grade – Personal & Consumer Services
Eighth Grade – Eighth Grade Career Challenge
IMPLEMENTATION
STRATEGIES
During the summer that followed the retreat, educators completed their lesson
plans. Then during the school year, the school-wide interdisciplinary unit was implemented.
The success of implementing the Eighth Grade Career Challenge is the team effort
put forth by the educators. This provides students with the much needed connection
between academics and career. Although this is an interdisciplinary practice, students
receive individual grades for work that is pertinent to a specific class. A grade
is given in language arts for the research paper, which is also used as a documentation
tool in their writing portfolio. The Visual Arts educator instructs students in how
to make their display board visually engaging. Students are taught how to mat their
written work, pictures, graphics, and other material. They are also shown how to
display these matted works on the display board. In Family and Consumer Sciences
each student is given a salary based on their career choice. Then this salary is
to be used while budgeting their living expenses. The librarian and technology educators
help students by teaching them how to locate and use resources to research their
career.
Although this practice is only its second year, the relationships between area businesses
and the school have increased. Students come back from their job shadowing experience
with renewed self-confidence because they have been treated like an adult in an adult
setting. Ms. Winkler has seen some of the most unmotivated students become excited
about actually relating their learning to real world experiences. Students also realize
that the team of educators are working together to assure success for them in their
project and that these educators respect them as the "experts".
EVALUATION/MEASUREMENT
The practice itself does not have any tools for measuring outcomes. However,
educators have noted that several students who were unmotivated in their academics
prior to the challenge now see the need to develop good academic practices for future
success.
CONNECTIONS TO VERMONT FRAMEWORK OF STANDARDS AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
This Eighth Grade Career Challenge meets a number of the goals set forth in the
Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning, as well as incorporating some of the
Essential Elements of Career Development.
| Communication
Standards |
| |
|
|
|
| |
1.11
|
|
Writing |
| |
1.15
|
|
Speaking |
| |
1.16
|
|
Artistic Dimensions |
| |
1.18
|
|
Research |
| |
1.21
|
|
Information Technology |
| |
|
|
|
| Personal Development
Standards |
| |
|
|
|
| |
3.7
|
|
Decision Making |
| |
3.15
|
|
Career Choices |
SUSTAINABILITY
It is the intent of the school to continue the career cluster school-wide interdisciplinary
unit and the Eighth Grade Career Challenge.
LESSONS LEARNED
- Job shadowing
is very appropriate for eighth grade students.
- Ongoing improvement
is necessary to keeping the "challenge" fresh and new each year.
- Try to get
parents involved right from the start.
- Has to be
team effort for success and for students to see how academics and career intermingle.
CONTACT
Heather Winkler
Irasburg Elementary School
Box 70, Route 58
Irasburg, VT 05845
(802) 754-8810
Heatherwink@yahoo.com |
RESOURCES
NOTE:
The following items can be downloaded as part of the complete packet (see "Other
Related Links" below).
- Irasburg’s
Career Challenge Proposal
- Rubric
|
