Creating Free Career Lessons Pat Gray Elementary School Counselor St. Petersburg, Florida

Florida’s School Counseling Framework Career Development Standard 3: Students will acquire the self knowledge necessary to investigate the world of work and make informed career decisions. Competency 3.1 Develop self-knowledge through experience and exploration Academic Standard 2: Students will acquire the academic preparation necessary to choose from a wide variety of educational, training, and employment options upon completion of secondary school. Competency 2.1 Manage an educational and career plan to achieve goals

 ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success  Career Development – Standards guiding school counseling programs to help students 1) understand the connection between school and the world of work and 2) plan for and make a successful transition from school to postsecondary ed­ucation and/or the world of work and from job to job across the life span. This competency aligns with: Mindset Standards:2.Self-confidence in ability to succeed Behavior Standards-Learning Strategies: 1.Demonstrate critical thinking skills to make informed decisions 4.Apply self-motivation and self-direction to learning Behavior Standards-Self-Management Skills: 2.Demonstrate self-discipline and self-control 3.Demonstrate ability to work independently Behavior Standards-Social Skills: 1.Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills

5 th Grade Career Lessons - Topics  Week 1:  Relating success at school to success at work  Non traditional and traditional jobs  Introduction career exploration WEB Sites  Week 2:  Use of laptops – interest inventories, explore careers  Complete Rubric  Week 3:  Each group is given a card with a picture and their likes/dislikes  Job comparison - 3 careers to choose from – group decides best career

Why do you need to control your behavior? School? Job?  Remind yourself of the consequences  Ask your friends for help  Keep your mouth closed  Remind yourself of the rules  Turn your brain on before talking  Talk at appropriate times

Nontraditional job means…  US Department of Labor defines this as an occupation in which women or men make up 25% or less of the total workers in that job

Ways to teach non traditional jobs  Type out a list of non traditional jobs for women – list on one color sheet (I’ve used pink)  Type out a list of non traditional jobs for men – list on one color sheet (I’ve used blue)  Students then have to find a job on their paper they want to explore and be ready to answer this question: How much money can I earn  Share out as a group  Lists can be found on the internet

Non traditional jobs as a group activity  Create lists of non traditional jobs for both men and women.  Duplicate the lists for the number of groups you will have (I usually prepare for 6)  Cut apart the lists into single jobs and place in an envelope  Each group gets an envelop and then time to do the following before reporting out.  Divide into 2 groups: Jobs for Men or Jobs for Women  Find the highest paying jobs – what category were they in? Why?  Does it need to be this way?  Discussion on choosing the job that fits your interests and abilities.

SportHigh SchoolCollegeProfessional% HS to Pro Women’s Basketball 444,80915, % Men’s Football1,112,30364, % Men’s Baseball473,18429, % Men’s Basketball 545,14516, % So you want to turn pro! 2013 Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Student Resources

INTERESTSINTERESTS

Selecting a Career Each interest has a list of careers Each career will have this summary and a more detailed description

Teacher Resources

Interest Inventory – another free source 

Steps to Starting the Inventory 1.Explore Careers 2.Interest Assessment 3.My Next Move

Interest Inventory Scores Each of the 60 questions is answered using a bulleted list (strongly like to strongly dislike) When finished a score is received

Each category has a description of the type of career a student may be interested in researching.

Students pick how much preparation they would need. High school to a post graduate degree

Some Job Preparation

Extensive Job Preparation

Deciding where more jobs can be found.

Career Rubric Career 1Career 2Career 3 Name and Description of Career Monthly/Yearly Pay Education/training required Job Outlook (% of increase)

Ways to Use Rubrics  Each student has their own sheet to complete at least 2 careers  Have them choose a career based on the first initial of last name (this makes them look for something other than what they wanted  Have them choose a career based on their interest inventory  Have them choose a career from the Non Traditional list  Have them choose a STEM career  Choose their professional sports career and then something similar if they don’t make pros (athletic director, physical therapist, sports medicine, sports announcer, marketing)

Last Group Project Career 1Career 2Career 3 Name and Description of Career Monthly/Yearly Pay Education/training required Job Outlook (% of increase) Reasons to choose this career Which career did you choose for your person and why? Report out

Sample of Card given to group Artist Bank Teller Janitory

Sample of Card for Group Aerospace engineer Civil Engineer Pilot

Hair stylist Cabinet Maker Elementary school teacher

Other topics for the year  Decision making  How do you make a decision?  Organizational skills  Use calendars (daily, monthly, 3 months, yearly) and groups have to discuss the different ways to keep track of due dates for school