P R O J E C T O V E R V I E W

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1 P R O J E C T O V E R V I E W Name of Project: Career Academy Duration: 4 Weeks Subject/Course: Advanced Integrated Language Arts Teacher(s): Ms. Jennifer Gessner Grade Level: 8th Other subject areas to be included, if any: Web 2.0 used in PBL: Technology Education and Art Students will experience several Web 2.0 experiences in this project. These may include Wordle, Prezi, Animoto, Wikispaces, Webspiration/Kidspiration, Gliffy, Kaplan Classroom Floor Planner, and Museum Box. Project Idea Summary of the issue, challenge, investigation, scenario, or problem: Students in 8 th grade advanced integrated language arts classes are studying careers and preparing for mock interviews with resumes and other essential items. This project not only aligns with a district initiative, but also follows the career unit, which will provide students with insight to be more successful into their inquisitive research. The entry event for the Career Academy project will involve our Director of Innovation and other administrators for our district. They will present the driving question to the students in an exciting and meaningful way. This may include a conversation about the career academy the district will be opening in the Fall of 2013, as well as potential locations for the new school, and an explanation of what it would mean to be the pilot group of students at this school. The entry event will need to spark questions in student minds about how their futures will be different than those of other generations. After the entry event, students will begin by analyzing their unique talents and interests and aligning those with a career cluster. Students will then be put into small groups based on their career clusters. Groups must decide on an approach to their research to help them design the school of the future. This research will include Web 2.0 tools, but will also require interviews and possibly even shadowing experiences of professionals in the various career areas. Each group will design an ideal career academy based on their career cluster. Because they are in career cluster groups, each group will probably take a very unique approach-and that is the beauty of it! Students will have to think of everything from designing the physical space, to drafting up an ideal type of curriculum. While brainstorming, researching, and collaborating, students will consistently be working on how they will develop a multimedia presentation to share with the community members, as listed above. Students must acknowledge that they will need to be persuasive in explaining their reasoning, so as if to sell their classroom plan. Students may actually be able to see their ideas come to light as the charter school committee could use their ideas in the real-world development of the new project-based career academy in our district. Driving/Essential Questions Education and careers of the future will look immensely different from those in the world we know today. Some of these careers will be developed based on innovations in technology that are not even in our realm of possibilities yet. If we do not prepare our students with the 21 st century skills that will be needed for these future jobs, we will be doing them a serious disservice. We need to rethink education. We need to rethink everything. These changes must begin with and be influenced by the most valuable stakeholders-you, the students! 2008 Buck Institute for Education 1

2 How do you prepare yourself for a career that doesn t yet exist? Content and technology Standards to be addressed: Write number and standard Technology Standards: A.8.5 Use Media and technology to create and present information. B.8.7 Communicate the results of research and inquiry in an appropriate format. C.8.1 Pursue information related to various dimensions of personal well-being and academic success. D.8.1 Participate productively in workgroups or other collaborative learning environments. Content Standards: (Common Core Standards for English/Language Arts) Craft and Structure: 4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. Text Types and Purposes:2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Production and Distribution of Writing: 4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Production and Distribution of Writing: 6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others. 21 st Century Skills to be explicitly taught and assessed (T+A) or that will be encouraged (E) by project work, but not Research to Build and Present Knowledge: 7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. Collaboration: Students will be collaborating in many meaningful ways throughout this project. Students will be expected to collaborate respectfully and demonstrate openness and acceptance of diverse T+A E T+A E Critical Thinking AND Problem Solving: There will be a high level of rigor infused throughout this PBL by the levels of critical thinking students must attain Buck Institute for Education 2

3 taught or assessed: backgrounds and experience. I have high expectations for my students to not only value individuals but to commit to shared responsibility as well. The following are the ways in which collaboration will be addressed in this PBL experience Students will be collaborating with their peers in small groups. These small groups will be formed based on their common interest career clusters. While students will be working in these common interest groups, there will still be several directions that each group member can go with their ideas. Students will need to find a meaningful way to mesh their ideas together for their final presentations, so that they can defend their unified design with confidence and clarity. Students will be assessed on their collaboration through the process of learning with a checklist, and by the final product with a rubric. Students will be required to collaborate with professionals in the area of their career cluster. Students will be responsible for deciding the format for this collaboration, but will be assessed with a point value system to judge the relevance of their selections. Students will be expected to understand systems thinking, as they will recognize how their visions (the small parts) add to the good of the group (the whole presentation.) Students will need to be evaluating their judgments and decisions throughout the process of this PBL. This will also require students to often defend their positions within their group, and ultimately in their final presentation. Students will need to ask significant questions of themselves, their group members, their teacher, and the experts they choose to collaborate with. Students will be presented with the problem of How do I prepare myself for a job that doesn t exist yet? Students must make their own decisions about the proper avenues to take to find a logical reasonable solution. Presentation: As students prepare for the final product that they will present to community members, they must consider their audience. Students will consider how individuals interpret messages in different ways. This will revisit our discussion of word choice and connotation. Students will be working on the life and career skills of planning and organization as they work to formulate this final product. Creativity and Innovation: Students will need to think outside of the box when compiling a logical answer to the essential question. The ideas that students create should be new and innovative, as the question is a question of the future. The teacher will be looking for Originality Inventiveness 2008 Buck Institute for Education 3

4 Consideration of successes and failures Realistic implementation ideas Long-term sustainability of ideas Willingness to refine or elaborate Technology: Students will be working with many quality sources in this PBL. Listed above in the Web 2.0 category are the specific types of tools students will be expected to use at some point in time. However, students will be taught to understand appropriate use through the following What are acceptable research policies? How can you establish if a website has credibility? Evaluate resources to see which will best suit ones needs. Students will also be asked to communicate through various forms of technology and be able to choose the most appropriate tools for the task at hand. Other 21 st Century Life & Career Skills: Initiative and Self-Direction (reflecting on the past to inform the future) Productivity and Accountability (active participation, managing goals and time, high quality work) Leadership and Responsibility (making appropriate personal choices) These skills will not be formally assessed at this time, but that might change as assessments and supplemental items are created. These skills will be necessary to be successful in the other areas, so they will be indirectly assessed in many ways. Presentation Audience: Culminating Products and Performances Additional products may be added and/or updated as the project gets underway. Group: Students will create a multimedia presentation within their career interest-based small groups. Instead of PowerPoint, students will be asked to experiment with alternative presentation mediums, including but not limited to Prezi, Love Binder and Animoto. Groups will also be expected to use a class wiki to organize and share their information. We will have fishbowl discussions as a class, and groups will be expected to reflect on the discussion they witnesses together to evaluate their ongoing progress towards their ultimate group goals. This will include written documentation of their conversations. Class: Students will present to their peers for initial practice and feedback. School: Community: Students will present to the major stakeholders in the charter school project, including the Superintendent, Director of Innovation, 2008 Buck Institute for Education 4 X X

5 other administrators and/or the school board. Individual: Students will either complete an interest inventory or use the career cruising software available at school to analyze their interests. These will be used to formulate groups and to guide each student s individual research components of the project. Students may be asked to create a Museum Box to showcase their unique talents and interests. Also, students will keep personal journals and other various reflective writing pieces, including on-demand ESP s (eight sentence paragraphs). Other: Experts: Web: P R O J E C T O V E R V I E W Entry event to launch inquiry, engage students: Our superintendent is a very skilled and engaging speaker. We have talked about him this year when discussing speeches in 8 th grade language arts, so students are interested in him already. He will be coming to speak to our students about the i-ready system in our district. I-ready is the district term for the goals and pathways we have established for all students to be college ready. (The icon is an I-pod with the apps acting as the district initiatives). I will be asking him to use this system to lead into the discussion about what students think they will do with their futures. Then, he will present them with a challenge. He will explain that we are now facing times where we are trying to prepare students for their future, but it is a future that we no longer can predict. He will challenge them to try to design a learning environment that would best prepare all students for a future that we know nothing about. He will give them a timeline and a budget, and introduce the audience for the final presentation. Assessments: If a checkmark is made in one of the following boxes, an assessment piece MUST be provided. Formative Assessments (During Project) Quizzes/Tests Journal/Learning Log Reflective journal and written response to literature Preliminary Plans/Outlines/Prototypes Rough Drafts Online Tests/Exams Practice Presentations Notes Cornell Notes Checklists Daily Observation Rating Concept Maps Other: CRS Practice Discussion Reflection Summative Assessments (End of Project) Written Product(s), with rubric: Eight Sentence Paragraph (ESP) Other Product(s) or Performance(s), with rubric: Technology Components Oral Presentation, with rubric Peer Evaluation Multiple Choice/Short Answer Test Common Unit Assessment Essay Test Self-Evaluation Other: Multi-media presentation checklist 2008 Buck Institute for Education 5

6 . Resources Needed On-site people, facilities: Sign-up for library time (2 days minimum for research) Sign-up for computer labs/laptops Counselor for help with career cruising Art Teacher/Digital Communications Teacher/Multimedia Club Teacher Library Media Specialist/Library Aides (research/acceptable use guidelines) o Make sure links/usernames/passwords work before students begin Check-out large group room for final presentations o Appropriate seating o Projector/Elmo/SMART Board o Large screen for easy audience viewing Equipment: Computers/Laptops Projector/Elmo/SMART Board Speakers/sound system Materials: ILA Binder (Integrated Language Arts) with a new PBL tab Clipboards for daily work, observations, and/or interviewing Pen/Pencil Jump Drive Community resources: Superintendent of WBSD Director of Innovation for WBSD At least one contact for each career cluster (in case students can t find their own) o Health Sciences o Business, Marketing, and Management o Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math o Human Services and Resources o Arts, Communication, and Information Professionals for final audience presentation 2008 Buck Institute for Education 6

7 Reflection Methods (Individual, Group, and/or Whole Class) Journal/Learning Log: Students will be using journals to reflect on their journey through this project. Students will also be using their journals to compose written responses to the research they read about. Focus Group Whole-Class Discussion: Students will be participating in large group circle discussion to report interest findings and to share research tips. Students are highly engaged in circle discussion in this classroom, so this is an effective motivational tool. Survey: Personality Inventory/Mosaic Career Clusters Interest Survey Rating Motivations for Working Survey (All to be included in lesson plans) Fishbowl Discussion: Students will be participating in a fishbowl discussion at least once per week. This will help students to evaluate their own group progress as they hear about the successes and struggles of other groups. Other: Students will be using checklists to reflect on their daily work. Students will complete a final reflection piece to reflect on their progress and learning throughout the duration of the project Buck Institute for Education 7

8 Project: Career Academy P R O J E C T T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G G U I D E Course/Semester: 8 th Grade Adv. Integrated Language Arts Knowledge and Skills Needed by Students (Learning Targets) to successfully complete culminating products and performances, and do well on summative assessments I will be able to select a variety of appropriate types of technology to compile a multi-media presentation. To do this, I will first need to know some of the Web 2.0 tools that might help me create my presentation. I may also need a review of common programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint; to be sure I know all of the helpful features. I will show that I have done this through the development of my Career Academy project presentation that I will make to the school board and others. I will be able to voice my interest and expertise on a career cluster of my choice. To do this, I will first need to be given some strategies for evaluating my own personal interests, personality, and learning style. I will also need to be taught how to use the West Bend School District career cluster model. I will show that I have done this through my self-reflections throughout this project. I will be able to demonstrate effective organization of data and my ideas. Scaffolding / Materials / Lessons to be Provided by the project teacher, other teachers, experts, mentors, community members Teacher: Will provide examples and demonstrations of Web 2.0 tools for students to try with their presentations. Some of these tools may be required. Library Media Specialist: Will do a mini-lesson on the most common/useful features for Microsoft PowerPoint, as well as features that students may find engaging and helpful. Student Experts: Students often know more about technology than we do. Before making any plans for the above, I plan to ask the students what they know about a variety of programs, and perhaps be able to have students be the teachers for their peers in some cases. Teacher: Will provide students with a personality survey, as well as values questionnaires and other activities. Library Media Specialist/Guidance Counselors: Will help students acquire access to the Career Cruising program and will show them the essential features. Students may also be asked to go to wicareerpathways.org to complete some of these activities. Students: The students will be creating a Career Map, which will essentially be a timeline of their interests and events in their lives that may relate to their future career choices. Director of Innovation for School District: Will be coming in to work alongside the teacher on the day of the career clusters overview for students. Teacher: Will model note-taking and organization for students through 2008 Buck Institute for Education 8

9 To do this, I will need to be guided with the use of notes and outlines, as well as other ways to organize information for different purposes, such as through the use of graphic organizers. I will need to find an organizational method that works best for me as well as for the members of my group. I will show that I have effective organization through the personal contributions I will make to our ultimate group presentation. I will be able to use self-responsibility to make appropriate selections while doing research. To do this, I will need to have some training on how I can get myself started every day. I will also need to know my school s acceptable research policies and how to evaluate a website for its effectiveness. I will show that I have made appropriate choices by being prepared, on time, on task, and being respectful to others in my working environment. the use of note cards, cornell notes, outlines, etc. Students: Students will be expected to try several organizational systems before they find a good match for themselves. Students will share their successes and failures of organization with their peers, so they all can learn from each other. Students will be encouraged to bring in organizational ideas from other classes they have had, as well. Teacher: Again, teacher will provide modeling for students. This is something that we have done all year long already, with daily warm-ups and such. Students: Students will be held to a high level of accountability. Students will take ownership of their learning and work, as they set their own schedules and goals Buck Institute for Education 9

10 P R O J E C T C A L E N D A R Project: Career Academy Start Date: March 2012 (when speech unit is over) M O N D A Y T U E S D A Y W E D N E S D A Y T H U R S D A Y F R I D A Y P R O J E C T W E E K O N E T h i s P B L w i l l b e c a r r i e d o u t i n 8 t h G r a d e A d v a n c e d W R I T I N G c l a s s e s. E a c h c l a s s p e r i o d i s 5 2 m i n u t e s. ENTRY EVENT INTEREST SURVEYS CAREER CRUISING INTRO TO GROUPS GAME PLAN Objective: Students will be presented with a problem that they will need to analyze in order to formulate a realistic solution. Lesson/Activities: 1. As students enter, colorful posters will be displayed around the room with career clusters on them. This will begin to generate interest. Students will also receive 5 post-it notes. 2. Once students have settled in to their seats, our guest speaker (superintendent) will begin the warm-up activity. Students are asked to place post-it notes on the posters around the room, for the career clusters that their family members are in. 3. Share observations from the activity as a whole class. 4. The superintendent will kick off this project by explaining the need for a new school, specifically designed for career preparation. He will also share the district s mission and Objective: Students will complete interest surveys to examine potential career matches. Lesson/Activities: 1. Class will begin in the computer lab immediately. 2. Students will be instructed to go to the website wicareerpathways.org 3. Within this website, students will take the Career Clusters Interest Survey. Once the survey is complete, students will have an online locker they can explore. It stores valuable resources for a student based on their suggested career clusters. 4. When the above is completed, students will take a written survey called Motivations for Working Survey, Assessment: Teacher will check students for completion of the survey and help to interpret any results. Students must print their final results to bring to class tomorrow. If time allows, students should complete an exit Objective: Students will analyze personal data and build database of career-related personal information. Lesson/Activities: 1. As students enter the room, they will receive a label with their Career Cruising username and password on it. It should be placed inside of their assignment notebook. 2. Class will move to the computer lab where our guidance counselor will join us to help us with career cruising. 3. Counselor will do a demo of the program. Students will then be sent on their own to review the results from their 8 th grade conferences. 4. Students will also add any personal information to their resume builder, as well as explore the other features and resources in the Career Cruising program, such as the college finder and career descriptions. 5. When students have extensively explored the website and Objective: Students will discuss their findings with interest-based small groups. Students will compare/contrast the findings of all students in the group. Lesson/Activities: 1. Students will walk in and will see a new seating arrangement by newly assigned group members. 2. The warm-up on the board will ask students to reflect on the two quotes with the group members (see attachment). This should be done on a warm-up slip with all group member names on it. 3. Discuss quotes as a class. 4. Teacher will introduce more specifics about the PBL and its requirements. 5. Students share Venn Diagrams and begin to form an understanding about their unique backgrounds and how they may be able to work together for this project. (Students will be grouped according to their top career Objective: Students will work collaboratively to prioritize a plan for research and to organize a presentation on their proposed solutions to the problem. Lesson/Activities: 1. Students find their groups from yesterday right away and sit down with their groups. 2. Students will go over the PBL requirements as a group and will begin to formulate a game plan (who can help, what resources are available, etc.) 3. Today is a brainstorming time, but also a time to begin assigning duties or an agenda for one s own group. 4. Students may visit the library if necessary. 5. IF students are finished early, they will show the teacher their ideas and will discuss with the teacher how to get started and be responsible for starting daily on their own from here on out. Assessment: Productive Group Work Rubric and Teacher 2008 Buck Institute for Education 10

11 iready system. 5. Our superintendent will take questions. 6. We will visit the potential open space for this new school, as students begin engaging in conversations about what they would do with the space. Optional-Students can take notes as they walk around the vacant room. 7. As class ends, our guest speaker will give students a budget and a timeline, and encourage them to be successful! slip to reflect on their findings. uploaded any additional information, they will complete a Venn diagram, comparing the results of yesterday s findings to today s Career Cruising experience. There are bound to be some differences, however the students will focus heavily on the similarities between the two. Assessment: Venn Diagram Look for students to draw conclusions about the meaning of their findings. This will be assessed formally tomorrow during group sharing. cluster choice). 6. Students share their graphed data from the Motivations for working survey. 7. Exit slip individually: Students will talk about one excitement and one fear regarding work with this group. In other words, what might go well, and what might you already be concerned about? Assessment: Productive Group Work Rubric and Reflective Journal (exit slip) Completion of Daily Observation Rating Rubric Assessment: Students will share their reactions/reflections to today s challenge on an exit slip before they leave the room. P R O J E C T W E E K T W 0 - F O U R The remaining time will be spent in groups, as students prepare their final presentations. This time is not yet formally planned out, as each group will develop their own plan and activities for each day. These activities will involve research, guest speakers, possible field trips, and work time with Web 2.0 tools to develop the final product. When presentations are finalized, I estimate that we will need to spend approximately 3 days for students to practice their presentations in class. We will spend two days giving final presentations to the school board (will take less time because we will use both class periods for the reading and writing block) Buck Institute for Education 11