DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Title of Learning Experience:

Researching Careers (REVISED 2/14/99, 4/10/99 and 7/6/99)

submitted by Paul J. Cavano, Poland Central School

LEARNING CONTEXT

THE LEARNING STANDARDS:

The primary learning standard upon which this experienced is based is
the English Language Arts Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding.

Listening and Reading (Intermediate Level)

Students will read the ideas of others as a way of gaining information and understanding and will analyze what they have read. Students will demonstrate these skills by following directions that involve a series of actions. Students will acquire, use information and show relationships by generating and writing their independent understanding of the careers.

Speaking and Writing (Intermediate Level)

Students will use writing as a way to communicate ideas and organize information. Students will demonstrate this ability by taking research notes and writing a report.

CONNECTIONS:

This experience has connections to the Mathematics, Science & Technology Standard 2: Informational Systems. Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

This experience also has connections to the Career Development & Occupational Studies
Standard 1: Career Development. Students will be knowledgeable about the world of work and explore career options.

STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW:
To succeed with this learning experience students will need to be familiar with note taking skills, research skills, the writing process of creating a report, how to find a specific site on the Internet and what a career cluster is.

PROCEDURE

STUDENTS:

Students will gain access to the Internet and proceed to the home page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. [ http://stats.bls.gov ]. Select the Publications and Research Papers link. Select the Occupational Outlook Handbook link. From there students can use three different links to find jobs or occupations that they are interested in exploring and researching.

Students will decide on three particular jobs or occupations to use in their report and proceed to read about those jobs or occupations and take relevant notes for their report.

TEACHERS:

Teachers will decide on the appropriate level of introduction and preparation necessary for their students to complete this assignment and provide this information to their students. These include, but are not limited to, the areas of research skills, note taking, and the access and use of the Internet.

Teachers will modify and produce the assignment guide to conform to their level of students.

Teachers will distribute the assignment guide, insure that students have sufficient access to the Internet and establish a timeline for the completion of the report.

Teachers will demonstrate how to access the site and preview the various options the students can use within the site to find information about careers, jobs or occupations.

INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS

INSTRUCTIONAL MODIFICATIONS:

Instructional modifications depend on the needs and abilities of the individual students. This report can be modified for students in three areas.

1. The expected performance level can be reduced or increased by changing the necessary amount of research. This can be accomplished by reducing the required number of jobs or occupations to be reported on from 3 to 2 or 1 or by increasing the number of jobs or occupations.

2. In addition, the expected performance level can be adjusted by modifying the overall quality levels when grading. In others words, the performance level can be adjusted by modifying what constitutes accomplished, proficient, developing and beginning responses.

PHYSICAL MODIFICATIONS:

Physical modifications of the classroom setting will depend on the resources available to the teacher and their decision on how to provide the Internet access to the students. The possibility exists that a teacher might already have a classroom that will provide sufficient access without any modifications. Some teachers might have the ability to import a cluster of computers or laptops that might require a special area of the classroom and additional electrical and telecommunication lines.

In my case, it isn't so much a modification of the classroom setting but the move to a different classroom setting. My students can gain access to the Internet in our library. Prior to assignment of this report, I arrange a class visit to the media center with our media specialist. She presents a short program for the students that introduce them to the resource center's procedures for accessing the Internet and a demonstration of how to use the hardware and the browser.

MATERIALS & SUPPLIES

STUDENT MATERIALS:
CAREER RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

The situation:  You will use the Internet to explore and learn about occupational clusters and career fields from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Your task:  you will research and take notes to be used to write a report that you could present to fellow 7th grade students on what you have learned about in THREE different occupations or jobs of your choice.  For each career you should tell what occupational cluster includes this job or occupation. Then you should provide specific information that explains the nature of the work, the typical working conditions of the occupation, where these jobs are available or who might employ people in this occupation, what training, qualifications and education are needed to become employed in this occupation, the job outlook in this occupation and the earnings and job advancement that may be available in this occupation.  In addition, your report should contain your own personal opinions concerning  these occupations and  include the most interesting and surprising thing you found out,  what you think you would like the most about the job, what you think you would like the least about the job and if you had to choose today, which job or occupation you would pick and why.

Accessing the web site:

Go to the home page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. [ http://stats.bls.gov ].

Select the Publications and Research Papers link.

Select the Occupational Outlook Handbook link.

Then select the Perform a Keyword Search on the Handbook link
Use this link if you have a specific job or occupation that you want to research

or

select Use the Index to the Handbook link
Use this link to find an alphabetical listing of occupations and jobs

or

select the Select From an Occupational Cluster link
Use this link to see the eleven different occupation clusters and the different kinds of jobs and occupations are in each cluster

From each of these three links you can link to a specific job or occupation that you are interested in exploring and researching.

Starting the Research:

You can browse through any number of different jobs or occupations covered by this site. Eventually, you need to decide on three to do your report on. Read the information provided for these specific jobs or occupations and take notes that will provide the information you will need for your report. Make sure your notes provide enough information to complete the report that you will be writing.

Use the following checklist to make sure your notes contain all the required information.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains the nature of the work.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains the typical working conditions of the occupation.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains where these jobs are available.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains who might employ people in this occupation.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains what training, qualifications and education are needed to become employed in this occupation.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains the job outlook in this occupation.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains the earnings and job advancement that may be available in this occupation.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains my own personal opinions concerning these occupations.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains the most interesting and surprising thing I found out.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains what I think I would like the most about the job.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains what I think I would like the least about the job.

_____ I have provided specific information that explains which job or occupation I would pick, if you had to choose today, and why.

_____ I am proud of the work I have done in gathering this information.

ASSESSMENT TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT PROGRESS

Student progress can initially be monitored by observation of their research. After that their notes can be reviewed or even collected and given a grade.

DOCUMENTATION OF STUDENT PROGRESS

Grading Rubric

I use 4 point grading rubric to assess student work.

A 4 means the student has demonstrated an accomplished degree of research and note taking.

A 3 means the student has demonstrated a proficient degree of research and note taking.

A 2 means the student has demonstrated a developing degree of research and note taking.

A 1 means the student has demonstrated an beginning degree of research and note taking.

A 0 means the student has demonstrated a degree of research and note taking that is totally incorrect, irrelevant, incoherent or not done.

The student's research is evaluated in 2 areas

The student's notes are evaluated in 6 areas

TIME REQUIRED

PLANNING

The amount of planning time will depend on the knowledge and level of the students.

I spent approximately 20 minutes introducing the concept of researching a topic and giving some recommendations on how to take notes.

Another 20 minutes was spent giving an overview of the assignment and directions with a detailed emphasis on the information that should be included in the report.

Finally 20 minutes was spent giving a demonstration of how to access the site and how to maneuver through it.

IMPLEMENTATION

I feel students should need at least an hour of time accessing the Web site. I give the students at least a week for the research and another week for the writing process before the final due date.

ASSESSMENT

It takes approximately 3-5 minutes to grade student notes using my rubrics and to write comments and suggest areas of improvement.

STUDENT WORK

Send samples of student work that reflect the diversity of students participating in the learning experience

Type your response here:

I don't have samples of student notes, but do have samples of the reports they made from their research and notes. These are samples of reports by 7th grade students.

STUDENT SAMPLE A

On Oct. 22nd the English class went into the library for careers. We had to take notes then right a report on the three careers. I chose to go to small business, sports coaching, and heating. I chose small business because I thought it would be fun to own a business. The sports coach because I really like sports. Heating seamed like it would be interesting to go to.
The small business is about starting your own business. There are lots of related jobs in this career like researcher, accountant, and teaching. You have to have business knowledge to be in this career. To be an advisor you would get about $28,000 a year. There really are no advancements in this career. When starting a new business you could make a lot of money or loose a lot of money. Sometimes you'll have to tell there business will fail. I thought business advisors would make a lot more money.
The main skill needed for coaching is motivation. You need a Masters Degree to teach.
You get about $25,000 a year. You can go from assistant to head coach. There are openings in this job all the time. I found out that teachers get payed a lot more than I thought.
In rescue there are different rescuers such as firemen, paramedics, ect... Skills needed are stabilizing patients and keeping things neat. Lots of training is needed for this job. You get payed any where from $19,000 to $23,000 a year. An advantage of this job is giving back to the community. A disadvantage is you can't save everyone. I found out that even though its volunteer you still get payed. I think being a sports coach would be the most favorable because it's a steady job. As long as I can coach I get a pay check. In the future I think I would have to learn a lot about one sport. Plus I would have to get a Masters Degree.

STUDENT SAMPLE B

I am writing a report that I am going to present to the 5th grade students on what I have learned about in three different career fields of my choice. I have chosen three career fields and they are; teaching, a insurance accountant, and a Marketing Director. I picked teaching as one of my career choices because I wanna teach when I grow up. I chose an insurance accountant as my second career field because I think that job is demanding and interesting. My third career field I chose is a Marketing Director and I chose that as a career field because it sounds like a high pay job.
The average number of years that a teacher works until he/she retires is about 20-30 years. There are many jobs in this career. You can teach art, science, social studies, english, french, spanish, etc. The starting pay is around $28,000. One advantage of teaching is having
breaks off. One disadvantage is having to do hard work. I think that the best thing about working as a teacher is being able to make a difference in kids lives. The most interesting thing that I found out about this field is that teachers get many breaks.
The second career field I researched was an insurance accountant. There are many jobs in this career field and they are Jr. Accountant, Manager, and Vice President. To apply to a job in this career field you have to go to college for at least four 4 years and get a Bachelor's Degree. The starting pay was about $20,000 dollars. An advantage of this job is if you don't like your company any more you can switch to another one. The disadvantage is you have to have work done at a certain time. The best thing about this career is being able to work with lots of people that are nice. The most interesting thing about this career field was that they can actually switch companies if they
want to.
The last job i picked was a Marketing Director. For marketing positions you have to go to college to apply for a job in her career field. An advantage is working in nice conditions. The disadvantage is that you always have to be positive with the public. I think that they should always be positive with the public and not have to be made to. Even if their mad they shouldn't be rude to the public, I think they should keep it to themselves. The most interesting thing about this career field was that accountants have nice working conditions.
Out of the three career fields I liked the teaching the best. I picked teaching out of the two other career fields because I've been wanting to be a Teacher for a long time. When I am old enough I think I will have to go to college and be positive towards children to become a teacher.

STUDENT SAMPLE C

We went to a career day last week in the library. I looked at three different occupations. A cosmetologist, a child care director, and a banker. All three of these seem like really enjoyable jobs.
My favorite was a cosmetologist. The basic things you need to be able to do is hairstyling, cutting, nails, coloring, perms, and you must contain a liscence. A cosmetologist must be at least sixteen years old to apply for a job. The advantage of the job is that you get to meet alot of people. The disadvantage is that you have to work very long hours. The average pay is $15,600 - $25,000 a year.
Another job I looked at was a banker. A banker needs a lot of math skills. You should never talk back to customers, she said. There are no big disadvantages. The average work day is you're on the computer, giving loans, helping tellers, opening the vault and getting money out. You need a lot of education to work this job. If you make a mistake, it is not that big of deal, you just call the customer and tell them what the mistake is. The average pay is $25,000-$50,000 a year.
The next job I wanted to see was a child care director. One big thing if you have this job is that you have to be able to be around young kids, and like kids. The advantages of the job is you do something different everyday. For example; one day you could be finger painting, and the day
after that you could be making things out of clay. It would be a very fun job. You need a two year degree and have to able to work with a budget. Working with the budget can be difficult, too.
I thought that these career fields were interesting. I got to learn about different jobs, what their pay is, and what their average work day is like.

STUDENT SAMPLE D

Careers

I am writing a report on careers that I would like to do someday. These careers are a Forest Ranger, a Wildlife Biologist, and, a Police Officer. I have choosen these careers because I like being out doors and working with people. I also like working with animals.
My first career was choosen in Forestry. The title given to this job is Forest and Conservation Workers. A Forester goes and checks on the trees. They make sure that loggers are logging in the right place. When a hunter is lost they go out and help look for them. Foresters usually
have to move to where the job is. They work for the state. They work between 40 and 50 hours a week. To become a Forester you need a high school diploma and two years of collage. You will need a bachelors degree if you want a higher job. The state and federal agenices require
workers to pass a written civil service exam. In high school courses in ecology and biology can be useful. The average starting pay is any where from $10,000 to $15,000. As a Forester you can make as much as $30,000. To be a Forest Ranger you have to be able to work outside and in wet, hot and cold weather conditions. As a forester you have to work with plants and animals. I love to be outside. I think that this would be a good job for me.
My second career choice is a Wildlife Biologist. A wildlife biologist keeps track of the animal in a area. You are responsible for enforceing regulations in an area. For example you mught take a census to see when the best time for hunting season is by keeping track of the deer in an area.
After hunting season you would have to do the same thing. To become a wildlife biologist you need to take math, physics, English, chemistry and biology in high school. It would be helpful to take a course in communications also. Most wildlife management jobs require a bachelors degree. Some of the jobs in this field may work a 40 hour week. As a wildlife management biologist you can earn from $15,000 to $36,000 depending on your education and experience in the job. You can work in these departments for the state and federal government: conservation, natural resources, wildlife, fish and game, forestry, and parks and recreation. I think that this would be a good job for me because I like working with animals.
My third choice for a job is a police officer. A police officers job is to enforce laws, make sure that people are not doing drugs, and going places and doing things they are not supposed to. To become a police officer you should take classes in psychology, typing, clerical studies, computer science, english, american history, public relations, sociology, business law, chemistry, physics, and driver education. It is mandatory that you have a high school diploma. You will also need a bachelors degree in criminal justice or law enforcement. once you enter the police academy you spend 8 weeks to 9 months in training. The areas of training are: penal law, civil rights, traffic control, investigation, auto accidents, making arrests, crisis intervention, and community relations. You also go through physical training. It includes: first aid, physical fitness, swimming, drill, and how to sick or injured victims and weapons training. To become a police officer you need to have a good temper. As a police officer you can earn between $28,000 and $30,000 if you ar an east coast officer. If you are a west coast officer you can earn between $37,000 and $40,000 a year. All officers starting pay is $18,000 a year. I think that this would be a good job for me because I like to work with the community.

STUDENT SAMPLE E

For the career report we had to pick three jobs. The jobs that I picked were Police Officer, Secretary, and Forest Ranger.
A police officer needs a college degree. A good thing the job is being able to help the community. A bad thing about this job is seeing people in the community doing awful things. The starting pay for this job is 18 thousand dollars. There are openings in this job yearly. In this job you can move up in different positions.
The next job I picked was a secretary. The education a secretary needs is a high school diploma. They also need to have some word positions skills. The high school student should have completed business course such as typing. If you go to college they sometimes offer a 1 or 2 year course. In order to get certified you need to take a two day exam. The starting pay for a secretary with a high school diploma is about 12,000 to 16,000 dollars, with a bachelor degree the
starting pay is 22,000 or more. The secretary can get a job at any business office .
The next career I picked was the job of the Forest Ranger. A high school diploma is needed for this job. If you only have a high school diploma you need to take a training course for two years. You also need a bachelor degree in forest technology. The starting pay of this job is about
10,000 to 15,000 dollars a year. The Forest Ranger works in the woods.
Those are my three careers. If I had to pick one to be I think I would be a secretary.

REFLECTION

I think there is a possibility to expand this research and report to the oral communication levels of the learning standards. Certainly, it wouldn't to difficult to expand each student's individual report to an oral presentation to fellow classmates. I've also got an idea about possibly setting up a "mock" career fair that would be yet another extension of this. This idea would involve the students selecting a single career. They would then do some further research so they would be able to pretend to actually be employed or trained in that career. Then a mini-career fair could be set up with one of the younger elementary grades. The younger students would then visit with my 7th grade students who give a short presentation small groups.

I was very satisfied with reports the students submitted. While there was a wide range in the content and quality of the reports, for most students this report ranked as one of their best individual efforts. In fact, a number of students showed a surprising, higher degree of scholarship on this assignment than they previously done on any other assignment.

 I don't believe that this experience really applies to ELA standard 3. Even though some critical analysis on the part of the students may be required, it is minimal. Therefore I have not included it in the learning standards section.