Blogging Assignment #3 - Your Research Questions

So far, you have identified your learning style and personal strengths. You have looked at 3 jobs that might fit your personal profile, and you have chosen one of them to research in depth for your project.

In your next post you will need to list some questions for your research.

Here's how to get started:
1. Get a Question Sheet from Mr. Holden's room.

2. Put your Research Topic at the top of the page (the career you have decided to research)

3. Use the grid to list as many questions about your topic as you can.  If you get stuck, look at the list of required items from the Assignment Sheet (the one with all the pictures) and think of questions for each of those items.

4. Pick 3 or 4 of your best questions to blog about.  You will use the title "My Research Questions" or "My Research Plan".  List your questions on your blog.

5. For each of your questions, think of a plan for finding the answer.  You may need to look at websites, ask folks who are doing that job, or look in books or newspapers.  You may find the following websites helpful:

US Bureau of Labor Statistics     Employment Projections  http://www.bls.gov/emp/
US Bureau of Labor Statistics     Occupational Outlook Handbook    http://www.bls.gov/oco/
        This gives the following information for many different jobs:

• the training and education needed
• earnings
• expected job prospects
• what workers do on the job
• working conditions

You will find other websites, such as Naviance, quite useful as well. Ms Callahan also has some excellent resources you may find useful in your research, so be sure to check with her.   Be as specific as you can in your research plan.

6. Your blog will be scored based on the number of questions you have listed and on your DETAILED plans for finding answers to your questions.

A REMINDER AS YOU GET STARTED:
As you begin your research remember that you will need to list your sources on your final project.  BE SURE TO KEEP A LIST OF YOUR SOURCES. You will need proper citations for every bit of data you use.

Also, your assignment requires you to use a graph or a chart in the answer to one of your questions, so keep your eyes open for a good graph or chart and good illustrations for your project. If you use someone else's information, picture, or chart or graph, you MUST have proper citations and permission to use it.

Have a great time as you get started on this important step in your project!

Blogging Assignment #2 - My Career Choice

In this assignment you will log into Naviance and look up three careers in your top clusters.  You will take notes about those careers, such as what they do, what skills or traits are needed, or any other information that you think shows that this might be the career for you.
BE CAREFUL!  You do not want to list Clusters or Pathways. You must dig all the way to specific jobs.

Next, you will get onto Blogger and write a five paragraph essay based on your notes.  Here is a suggested format for the essay:

    

PARAGRAPH 1 - Introduction.  Tell that you looked on Naviance.  Tell the names of the careers you looked at.

      PARAGRAPH 2 - Tell about the first career you looked at. Use your notes, but put your information into complete sentences.  Tell what people in that career do. Tell what skills are needed for that career.  Tell what personality traits and talents are needed.  Then, tell why you think you would be successful in that career. Use your green sheets to find things about you that match this career.

     PARAGRAPH 3 - Tell about the next career.  Use the same format as Paragraph 2.

     PARAGRAPH 4 - Tell about the next career. Use the same format.

     PARAGRAPH 5 - Conclusion.  Tell which career you have decided to research for your Exploratory Project.  Tell why you think this will be a good career for you.

This assignment is due and must be published by Monday, October 25.

Have fun!

Blogging Assignment #1 - Profile Summary Assignment

Profile Summary Assignment

Our first Blogging assignment for Exploratory Class is to use the two green summary sheets to write a description of yourself as a learner. 

First, use your notes from the light green sheet to help you describe your learning style and how that affects choosing a career path.  Your learning style may have an affect on the kind of post-secondary education you choose in preparing for your career. (Later on, you will also be exploring schools and colleges for your chosen career path.)  For example, if you are a person who does not learn well from words and books and you decide that a four-year college is not for you, you will need to look for careers that do not required bachelor's or advanced degrees.  If you are a person with an auditory learning style who learns best through listening and discussing, a correspondence college would probably drive you nuts.

Next, you will describe what you found out about your strengths using the multiple intelligences survey.  You will need to think about how these strengths fit different careers you are considering.  How would each career utilize the strengths you have? On the other hand, would you be happy and productive in a career that does not utilize your strengths?

Another part of your description will include the preferences and profiles that you discovered on the Naviance program.  The dark green summary sheet will have information from questions you answered about those profiles. You may want to go back now and think about the "extra credit" questions on this sheet; they should help you as you write this part of your profile.

You will be able to take most of your information from the notes on your green sheets, but you will certainly need to make some changes; use complete sentences and good grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Ask a partner-reader to find out what is unclear in your writing and revise so that others will understand what you have to say.

The last paragraph of your post will be the conclusions you have drawn about your future career. For example,

I need to find a career that allows me to be active, move around and use my hands.  It should be one that requires only two years of post-secondary education that uses learning by doing rather than book learning.  I want a career that uses my strengths in working with other people and with art.  I want to find a career in the human resources or manufacturing clusters.  It should have pleasant working conditions and a high salary, and allow me freedom to decide my own schedule.

Finally, you will publish your post.  This will be how you turn this assignment in, so make sure that your exploratory teacher has read and responded to the post. 

Have a wonderful time on your first blogging assignment.