Barry Mak - Burke Middle School, Career Education, Pico Rivera, bmak@erusd.k12.ca.us

School and Class Summary:

I am a teacher at Burke Middle School in the city of Pico Rivera, California.

I teach 1 section of Career Education. It is a mixture of 7th and 8th grade students. There are 34 students in my Career Ed Class. I also teach 7th grade life science (4 sections).

My Career Education class is divided into 7 neighborhoods (groups). Six of the groups have 5 students each with the seventh group having 4.

TRGC 2.1 Implementation:

TRGC 2.1 is taught mostly online. I rely heavily on my computer with projector. I also have some laptops but they are not very reliable. They are outdated Apple laptops and many are missing files or drivers which makes it difficult for the students to view the website. I do rely on my students to complete their assignments online at home and they have been very good at keeping up with their work. I have 3 desktops for the students who do not have Internet service at home, and they come in before or after school and during their lunch time to use the computers.

I find myself using the projector quite a bit, almost every day actually, to show the students the website. I also project all vocabulary terms before each lesson (I want them to know the vocabulary before starting each lesson). The questions from each lesson's personal reflection is also projected as well as the students' responses and classroom discussion.

I also project any work samples and examples so that students have an idea of what to do in each lesson.

(How is TRGC 2.1 taught- online or offline? Use a computer lab or portable laptops? How often is it used- once a week, 5 times a week?..)

Provide the following details for each session listed below:

- Is this session used in class?

- If not, why not?

- What changes did you make to the session?

- How long did it take to do this session?

- Challenges you experienced when doing this session?

- Attach any hard copy additional material you included for this session.

- Success stories using this session in class.

- Recommendations (technology or pedagogy) for this session.

Unit 1:

Session 1 The Spin Game

Session 2 The Dream

Session 3 What's My Line?

Session 4 Our Town

Session 5 Who Am I? Who Are You?

Unit 2:

Session 1 After Work

Session 2 Reality Check

Session 3 The Financial Picture

Session 4 Getting Away

Session 5 Spin It Again

Unit 3:

Session 1 Fair Play

Session 2 The Pink Slip

Ok, the first thing that comes to mind from this lesson was that I goofed! I wasn't supposed to let students know that anyone was getting a pink slip. I always do vocabulary before each lesson. I choose to do this because I would like for them to understand the terms when we start the lesson. Many were able to figure out that something was going to happen when they did the vocabulary (downsizing, relocation, economic recession, resource depletion, layoff, retraining, networking, résumé, and pink slip). So, the cat was out of the bag. It wasn't too bad though, and they still didn't know who was getting laid off.

I typed up pink slips for each student (I used the sample word file and copied and pasted parts). I used various reasons: downsizing, being bought out, health reasons etc.). I sealed each letter in an envelope and gave them to the counselor and had her call them into her office to deliver the bad news. When the call came in, the 7 of them thought that they were in trouble. One students asked if they were in trouble after I asked them to go to her office. I shrugged my shoulders and replied that I didn't know.

They took it very well; I was careful when I chose each student. They shared with the class the reason for their lay-off. I was careful to mention that they were not fired, but laid off. I also mentioned that it was not their fault or because of something they did directly. We talked about the High Five profiles that we could use in this situation: Change is Constant, Accessing Your Allies, Focusing on the Journey and Following Your Heart. We talked about the negatives (losing a job, not having an income) as well as the positives (time to look for a new job, changing jobs, going back to school).

I then had each neighborhood help their fellow classmate in preparing their resumes. I had them refer back to their role profile sheets to help with the resumes. Each student discussed their likes and dislikes about their former job and shared it with their group. They helped them start their resumes and I had them finish it at home.

I then had the entire class complete their resumes. I told them that pretty much anyone can get a pink slip at any time especially in today's economic situation and because of this, everyone has to be prepared. I printed out a blank resume sheet and had them complete it during classtime using their role profile sheets.

Session 3 Disaster Strikes

Session 4 Transitions

Unit 4:

Session 1 Think Again!

Session 2 Getting To Know Me

Session 3 Follow Your Heart

Session 4 The Big Picture

Session 5 Career Day

Session 6 The Final Spinb

Session 7 Wrap-Up