This is a site where any individual can dream about his or her future. Some people might say why should middle school students be interested in exploring the world of work. That is way in the future.Well, not really. A lot of you will be working during high school to earn money clothes, cars, college,etc. You will also be registering for high school courses in eighth grade. You should have some direction as to what courses you should take so you aren't wasting your valuable time in high school. Have fun and dream!
One of the most important decisions one will make with one's life is what career he/she will pursue in the future. There are many factors one must consider before deciding on a career. This website will, hopefully, enable the reader to explore many careers and find one that will interest him/her. Why are we thinking about careers when we are eighth graders? One reason is that we will be registering this year for our courses that we will take in high school. Another reason is that we should start realizing why we are going to school, the benefits of an education, what we want out of life, and how to obtain a successsful life/career.
The Decorah students visiting this site have already taken the Coin Junior Career Interest Survey. You have found that there are three career clusters that you are more interested in than others. That will be a great starting point for you when you begin your Career Quest. What an exciting project! You get to think about your own future!
Part One--75 points
Our mission for this quest is to explore various careers in which we are interested. We should examine the many factors that make up a career and decide on one and only one career. We will produce a typed 3-5 page paper on the career we have selected. That paper will include such factors as the following:
1. Reasons we selected that particular career
2. Nature of the work
3. High school courses and activities we should take
4. Post-secondary education required--college, vocational, military, apprenticeship, etc.
5. Tuition and expenses at selected schools--Talk to parents about this. Do they have money saved? In other words, how are you and your family going to pay for your education after high school?
6. Earnings-What is the salary you will receive? What are some fringe benefits you may get--e.g. health insurance, paid vacation, car, life insurance,etc.?
7. Outlook for the future-Will this job exist in the future? Will the number of opportunities for this occupation increase or decrease in the next ten years?
8. Advantages and diadvantages of this career
9. Related occupations-- Are there other careers that interest you in the same job cluster?
10. Conclusion-Do you still want to do this career? Why or why not?
11. Bibliography
Each of the items above, except the bibliography,should be at least one paragraph. Do not number your paragraphs when you write your paper. Keep a list of the Internet sites and print sources you use for your paper. Remember to use your own words in the body of your report. Please include a title page with your report stating the career, your English section, and the date due.
Part Two--25points
You will have your choice of doing one of the following projects for the second part of your quest. We will want to share what we have learned about our career with our fellow classmates. We can do so by doing one of the following:
1. Oral presentation--one to three minutes
2. Poster--colorful and including most of the information from your report
3. Skit--Come up with a creative skit on what your job would be like. Have some friends help you.
4. Job interview-- Tape an interview with someone who is currently working at that career.
5. Job shadowing--Spend part of a day or the whole day if possible watching someone doing the career you have chosen and present your thoughts on the experience either inwritten or oral form. Extra credit is possible here.
Using the Coin Junior results, select a few careers and explore information about them. Read a lot about various careers and find one that sounds fantastic for you. Take notes over each area of the report listed above. Remember your report must be in your own words. Also be sure to document what sources you used in your research. There also are a lot of print materials that are available in Mr. Gesme's room. They will be listed in the next section. Once you have written a paragraph, print it and give it to Mr. Gesme for help in proofreading. Once you have completed all ten paragraphs, be sure all corrections are made to your report and print your final copy. Do not number the paragraphs or have sub-topics between the paragraphs. Be sure to include a title page, page numbers,and a bibliography as your second-to-last page. The last page will be blank and will be used for teacher comments.
Internet
You will find the following Internet sites very helpful for the exploration of careers. There is a brief explanation of each site. Please try to stay within the site. All the information you will should need will be in these sites.
An all-inclusive site for the exploration of careers. Over 700 links will help the student learn about the nature of his/her career.
When you get to this site, type in the follwing question: Where can I find informationon a career?
Jobs for Students Who Like These Subjects in School
A terrific site for a student who has one or two favorite subjects he/she likes. This site connects the courses with possible careers that stress that subject. Great idea!
This is a tremendous site for those who don't want to go to a four year school. The many schools in the site are listed in alphabetical order or by career categories.
A good site that enables the student to find information about a particular career.
This site has most of the four year colleges' and universities web sites listed in alphabetical order. The student can research the college's admission procedure and requirements, tuition and expenses, majors offered, etc
Print Material
There are other sources in the library and in Mr. Gesme's room. Some of the materials are the following:
Peterson's Guide to Four Year Schools
Peterson's Guide to Two Year Schools
Occupational Guidance Pamphlets
U. S. News and World Report Best Jobs in 1999 issue
Various college catalogues
Part One
The teacher will use the table below to evaluate (grade) the career report. It must be remembered that it is the teacher's sole judgement as to assessing the student's paper and the criteria below.
Criteria Greatly Exceeds Standards-A Exceeds Standards--B Meets Standards--C Below Standards-D or F Writing mechanics such as spelling, punctuation, etc. Hardly any mistakes A few mistakes of the same nature Several mistakes of different nature Obviously no proofreading was done Content and organization All ten paragraphs are well developed and there is
transition between them. Great bibliography. Vivid
vocabulary. . Ten developed paragraphs. Little transition.Mistakes in
bibliography. Adequate vocabulary. Not enough details in the ten paragraphs. No transition
between paragraphs. Poor bibliography. Below grade level
vocabulary. Little paragragh development. Not all ten paragraphs are
included. Poor vocabulary. No understanding of a correct
bibliography. Little effort exhibited.
Part Two
In evaluatiing the projects for Part Two of Career Quest, the teacher will use mostly subjective judgement along with the specific criteria listed below.
Speeches-The student will give a one to three minute speech that will adequately exhibit knowledge of the career. The student will use eye contact, adequate voice, and good posture.
Poster-The student will show creativity in explaining his/her career choice in a visual format. Color should be used in an eye-pleasing fashion.
Skit-The sudent will show creativity in demonstrating how the career or job is performed. Does the skit explain to the other students the nature of the career.
Job Interview-The student will produce a document that lists the questions and answers of the interview in an effective manner so the teacher and other students will benefit from the interview.
Job Shadowing- See Extension.
In the last paragraph of your career report, state whether or not you still are interested in pursuing this specific career. What are some reasons why or why not? Summarize what you learned about this career and secondary education, post-secondary education, and the world of work in general
After the career report has been handed in, the teacher will give you an assessment survey where you will state how you liked this career project, if it was beneficial, were the Internet sites helpful, did you find some other sites that would be helpful for this project, and how could the teacher improve on this Career Quest project.
Some of the students that really enjoyed thinking about themselves and the world of work could do some other activities for their own learning and some extra credit. Job shadowing was mentioned earlier in this Career Quest. One could write about or video tape what he/she learned about the career by observing for at least a half a day someone doing that career. One could also make a list of at least fifteen other web sites that pertain to careers, post-secondary education, and the world of work. Be sure to write a brief summary of what would be found in the site and also copy down the URL of the site.
Notes to the Teacher
The goals for this webquest are many and varied. They include the following:
1. To use and improve research skills through the Internet and also print materials.
2. To be able to use writing skills, both mechanics and content, in an appropriate manner for a research paper.
3. To explore the world of work and find out what will be expected of the student when he/she is an adult.
4. To realize what high school courses the individual should take in high school.
5. To use higher level thinking skills to evaluate if this is the career for him/her.
6. To be able to use the keyboard and other technology to produce a career report.
7. To be creative in Part Two of the Career Quest.