Integrating College & Career Readiness Strategies in the Developmental Math Curriculum Elayn Martin-Gay

New Phrases in the Career Industry In recent articles about career readiness (remember workforce readiness?), there are two new words/phrases that continue to appear. They are “skill set” and “mindset.”

What are Skill Set and MindSet? Skill Set: “…the set of digital, social, and technical tools professionals use to be effective in the workforce.” Jennifer Fremont- Smith, CEO of Smarterer Mindset: “the lens through which you see and navigate life.” To be more specific: attitude, work ethic, determination, etc. Paul G. Stoltz, book co-author

 Polling Question

Skill Set vs Mindset? Which do employers prefer? One recent “study reveals that 96% of employers picked mindset over skillset as the key element in those they seek and retain.” Nicholas Boothman, article Another study reveals that 98% of employers would pick the person with the perfect skills and qualifications, but lacking the desired mindset. Paul G. Stoltz, book co-author

 Polling Questions

 Can we agree, as instructors, that our students have issues in both categories – skill set and mindset. To compound this problem, the difference between a student’s perceived skill set and mindset and actual skill set and mindset is usually great.  Let’s discuss ways that we can prepare these students for a career that asks for and requires competence and possibly excellence in both of these categories?

Let’s Begin: Let’s start by looking in the mirror and accepting an axiom. Axiom: For the most part, we have no control over the background of our students. Can we enter the classroom: with a positive attitude and willing to learn? knowing that we do not know everything? willing to look at each student individually?

Career Readiness vs College Readiness There is a huge overlap in these topics. Let’s identify some of the obvious ones: On-time Arrival Preparedness Organization Goal-oriented (We will return to this.) Strong Study Skills

 Polling Question

It is amazing how – with a simple change of vocabulary - a College Course turns into a Job  Of course, you are the employer and a student is the employee…  Homeworks are projects/reports due within the job.  Tests and quizzes are presentations.  Grades can be thought of as reviews in a job. These grades/reviews determine whether one is promoted in the job.

Setting Goals: Let’s return to setting goals. Most of our students have NEVER set goals for themselves. On the first day of class, have your students use a sheet of paper and write on it 3 things. - Their name – for your use only. - Their goal(s) for this course. - Finally – tell them this last – what they will do to accomplish their goal(s).

What to do with these Goals? Read them – they will surprise you. Give them back after the first test. Ask each student to write down (on the same sheet of paper) their progress in regard to accomplishing their goal(s) and how they might do better. Gather them again to hand back after the next test.

What is the purpose of all this? The purpose is to help our students with a realistic view of their skill set and mindset. Our students today are extremely out of touch with both of these – including how they manage time. (For example, they might tell you that they studied for hours. Upon further query, you find that most of their time was spent on things other than studying.)

Continuing with Our Goal of Integrating College & Career Readiness in the Classroom We MUST help our students obtain a realistic view of the amount of time wasted and the amount of time actually on task. Setting goals and revisiting them is one way to do this.

Other Ways to Integrate College and Career Readiness Continually show examples that mean something outside your classroom. For Example: -Most students do not know how to calculate GPA. Show them. Empower Students with Real-Life Facts. For example: - Show a graph of Unemployment Rates, Percent of Educational Levels, Annual Income by Degree earned, Fastest Growing Occupations by Percent, anything locally interesting – preferably in graph form.