A Career Solution

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Title:

  Orientation to Career and Technical Occupations and Career Planning

  Course Number:

  9100110

  Career Cluster:

  Addl CTE Courses

  CIP Number:

  10989999CE

  Course Type:

  Middle School

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “A Career Dilemma.” See CPALMS resource ID#221975.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will learn how traits like metacognition, mindfulness, fortitude and critical thinking apply to their ability to function in everyday life, including the workplace. They will be given the opportunity to have supervised and intentional discussions about the personality traits needed to be successful in various careers. They will also receive direction about how to improve these traits within themselves.

  In the domain of critical thinking, students will understand that certain skills and interests are needed to obtain and maintain a source of income, they will also explore ways to pivot when their skills and interests don’t align with what is needed for a particular career choice.

  In the domain of collaboration, students will discuss and work together to identify different career paths and the personality traits needed for those paths.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Describe the role of personality knowledge and goal setting on career planning.
  • Identify basic steps of career planning and goal setting.
  • Use digital tools to share goals and ideas with classmates.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Have a student led discussion amongst their peers.
  • Work collaboratively.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What aspects of our personality should be considered when choosing a career path?
  • Why is goal setting important in career planning?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. As an introduction, have students take a poll to choose a career that interests them most from a provided list. Use the attached Career Solution PPT, slide 2. The teacher can name each career and have students raise their hands to indicate their choice, have individual students share, or tally the different choices on the board. Ask student volunteers to share the reasoning for their choice.
  2. After students have made their selections, introduce the case study, “A Career Dilemma,” (see CPALMS resource ID# 221975). Students will read the case study and discuss it using the following discussion questions. Questions are also listed in the Career Solution PPT, slide 4. See "Teacher Notes" for some suggestions arranged by class situation.
     • What personality traits does a line cook need?
     • What could Billy do to increase those traits in himself?
     • If Billy doesn’t work as a line cook, what else could he do that still allows him to do something he enjoys?
     • Based on Billy’s personality test results, what other career options would you recommend to him?
  3. Once students have answered all questions (it should take about 10-15 minutes to read and discuss), students will complete their own personality test. Provide each student with a copy of the Personality Test handout (see attachments).
     • Students should complete the test prior to reviewing their "results" on the last page of the attachment. Teachers can print the first two pages separately from the last to help with this.
     • Provide a few minutes for students to share their results, and what they found surprising or what they expected. Teachers can use the Career Solutions slide 6 to elicit discussion.
  4. Next, have students practice identifying verbs that can be used for goal setting. Provide each student with a copy of the Career Verbs handout (see attachments). Students can highlight, underline or circle the verb in each goal statement. Discuss with students the importance of choosing the right verb or action when creating a goal. Successful goals are often specific and measurable.
     • Version 1 of the handout allows for underlining, highlighting or circling.
     • Version 2 of the handout allows for students to write the verbs into the boxes.
  5. Have students brainstorm and decide on a few career or future goals that they have for themselves. Tell students to consider using the results of their personality test.
  6. Next, have students work using a digital platform to create a vision board. Students will create 3-5 goals for themselves, short term or long term, that will help them towards a career or field that they are interested in.
     • Use the digital platform that is available in your district (i.e., Google docs, Canva, etc.) or a free online tool.
     • Students should be able to share their Vision Boards with classmates.
     • Students should include media (clip art, drawings, videos, etc.) to visualize their goals.
  7. To close the lesson, have students reflect and contemplate on the following questions. The following question starters can be used as an exit ticket, they are displayed on the Career Solutions PPT, slide 8.

     • Strengths that will help me succeed in my future career:

     • Actions I could take now to support my success in a future career:

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Digital discussions where students are giving feedback to one another need to be monitored. Use a platform that requires posts to be approved before they can be posted.
  • The teacher prompt slides (1, 3, 5, and 7) on the attached PowerPoint can be hidden so they do not display when projected to students. (In the preview pane, right-click on each slide and select "Hide Slide".)