I recently read an article that said we need to shift our thinking about education from K-12 preparation to K-J preparation – “Kindergarten through Jobs”. It went on to discuss the importance of career preparation at all grade levels, and it made me think – what could I have done better to help kids connect to careers in my biology class? The result of my mental time-travel is below - a quick, practical way that you can help your students, regardless of age, begin thinking about careers.

NCL Seating Chart: Download the chart PPT template here.

Step 1 – Give each student a small slip of paper

Step 2  - Write the letters N, C and L on the board. Ask students to copy on their paper.

Step 3 – Decode the letters: N = name, C = career goal of student, L  = anything the student likes (could be a hobby, food, musician, tv show, book, etc.)

Step 4 – collect cards, open the seating chart template on your computer, and fill in the info

Step 5 – Keep your chart out as you teach. Make a habit of glancing at it and connecting to at least 3 students’ interests each class period.

This could be a direct content connection. “We just learned about photosynthesis. Jenny you want to be a nutritionist. How might photosynthesis impact the job of a nutritionist?” Or it could be used as a life check-in. “We have 5 minutes left of class. Taylor, what interests you the most about being a nurse? What’s your next step to prepare? John you want to be a mechanic – did you see that L Tech is having an open house this weekend?

*Want an added challenge? Put your chart in a sheet protector. Place a dot or check mark on each student as you make a connection. Try to connect with each student each week. 

It’s almost Christmas-like when they come in the mail. My grandma gifted us a Highlights subscription each year and I can remember flipping right to the hidden picture. Those were the days!

These days my magazines look different and don’t include hidden pictures, but they’re still fun to get in the mail and packed with nerdy things I love to read. The following was on the kitchen table last week and caught my eye.

It had some surprising statistics on where jobs really come from, but that’s not the angle we’re looking at today. (Although, if I’ve sparked your interest, check out the article).

Here are two quotes from the article that struck me:

“Companies can usually find entry-level people. Growth begins to stall when they can’t find supervisors.”

Most federal sponsored job training programs are targeted at entry-level employees, but what small businesses really need are supervisors.

While help from Washington may be an eventual step in the right direction, I’m thinking as teachers and school leaders, we have a direct line and much quicker access to these could-be-future-supervisors sitting in our classrooms and schools. As a Relevant Teacher you’re likely working on building these skills daily in your classroom.

Finish the sentence: Effective supervisors are ________. 

• Responsible
• Good Communicators
• Problem Solvers
• Goal Oriented
• Coachable
• Good at Providing Feedback to peers
• Etc.

What are some of the ways you have already helped students build and demonstrate these skills?

Pick a lesson you’ll be teaching within the next week. Locate an activity or assignment that allows for some supervisor skills practice. Below are a few ideas to spur your thinking:

• Coaching/Feedback to Peers: Pair students up to review and edit another student’s assignment before they turn it in. Provide each with a checklist of things to look for and sentence starters for a conversation such as, “You did ______ really well” or “One spot to take another look at would be _____” or, “If I were turning this in, I would estimate that I’d have about ___________hours/minutes/days work left to get it polished up.”
• Goal Oriented: Help students write and keep track of class or school related goals
• Responsible: Guide students in setting mini-due dates for themselves as part of a larger project. Refer back to them each day or every two days for a self-check on progress

You all have been telling us for some time the challenges you face in helping students expand their thinking in career planning. The purpose of these is to communicate with students that even though they may never be a rock star or professional skate boarder, there are many great careers in these fields that would allow them to work in the industry that they are interested in.  We have looked to pop culture for our inspiration and have designed 6 posters  “So You Want to be A…Celebrity Chef, Rock Star, Deep Sea Fisherman, Professional Skate Boarder, and Carnival Worker”.  Each attention-grabbing poster describes six other careers and how they might play a role with the title career of the poster. Great to kick off a classroom brainstorming activity for career awareness in other fields too! Click here to find these posters!