Work for 5/8 - 5/12: Thank You Cards & Catch-Up

Now that your placements have ended, it is time to thank those who have allowed you to shadow/intern/work with them.  On my desk I have 20 Thank You cards. Each of you will take one of the cards and write out a sincere message to your host for everything they have done this school year. You are to submit your cards to your sub by the end of class.

When you have finished your cards, you are responsible for using the rest of this week to complete any/all missing assignments from this semester.  A link to our N3 and N4 assignments can be found on pages 3 and 4 in the link here.

I will check in on you throughout the week.  I expect you to finish these assignments and have a great portfolio moving into your post-secondary life!

Website Update and Winding The Year Down

OK everyone, I did not like the hiatus from blogging our weekly assignments.  Maybe I'm just a creature of habit, or maybe I just feel more organized when I publish our assignments; either way, I did not like verbally ordering you guys around to do your work these past few weeks.  With that said, I've returned to publish your assignments online and guide as needed during class.  I believe we all feel a little more comfortable with this process.  The only difference moving forward is that I will allow you more autonomy on how to accomplish the tasks, as I will be more vague with my list of things to do:

1. Personalized Learning Plan - For the remainder of the year, you will take the mini prompts, discussions, and other in-class assignments and populate each section of the Personalized Learning Plan as instructed.  We have addressed each section/prompt already in separate assignments/bell ringers, so now it's time to take that information and enter it into the document.  This is necessary for completion of this course
2. Website/Online Portfolio - Please ensure your Weebly includes all the required artifacts from our WBL Checklist of Assignments

I know you're going to do an excellent job these last 4 weeks of class.  Looking ahead, we will be finalizing our websites, completing reflective assignments, and providing feedback/constructive criticism for next year's preparation.  I appreciate everything you all have done this year and hope you're getting the most out of this course!

Welcome Back After Your Last Spring Break

Well, the end is near.  You've completed your last Spring Break of high school and you're feeling some percentage of readiness for post-secondary life and some percentage of a desire to hold onto the last few weeks as a Senior.  Since we focused on completing our MB tests the day before Spring Break (thank you for doing that, by the way), we can resume our focus on initiative and self-direction.

I'm going to pass along your MB tests to be scored and you will see your results in due time.  Let's have a productive week!

Initiative and Self-Direction Continued

As busy as we all have been, we're going to have to continue to focus on the same standard as we had last week.  Initiative and self-direction are not assignments or tasks that can be attempted, completed, and then dismissed.  They are habits that must be cultivated.  You should develop a sense of pride in going above and beyond, so I'm going to re-post what I wrote last week.  We need to really try to engage in some meaningful discussion and put forth our best efforts when producing our artifacts (maybe you can demonstrate initiative and self-direction on this project).  See below for last week's post:

In the past, we've discussed the difference between your everyday teenager and the student that stands out among the rest.  We've talked about going the extra mile, finding something effective to do when others would rather socialize with a co-worker, taking a genuine interest in something a supervisor wants to accomplish for the organization, and what separates the good from the great.  This week, you're going to focus on taking initiative for yourselves at your placement and extending your learning beyond the everyday tasks you complete.

With your time at your placements, you are going to find AT LEAST ONE thing (task, discussion furthering your own knowledge of the position, underutilized area at the placement) that you are going to do UNPROMPTED and make it a point to complete on your own.  When you return to class this week, you're going to share out (discuss first) how it went and then create an artifact (picture with explanation, blog post, quick YouTube video) that demonstrates your dedication to taking initiative and being self-directed on the job.

I look forward to your projects and hope to see some cool videos or read some great blog posts.  Have a great week!  I'll see you all in class!

Initiative and Self-Direction

In the past, we've discussed the difference between your everyday teenager and the student that stands out among the rest.  We've talked about going the extra mile, finding something effective to do when others would rather socialize with a co-worker, taking a genuine interest in something a supervisor wants to accomplish for the organization, and what separates the good from the great.  This week, you're going to focus on taking initiative for yourselves at your placement and extending your learning beyond the everyday tasks you complete.

With your time at your placements, you are going to find AT LEAST ONE thing (task, discussion furthering your own knowledge of the position, underutilized area at the placement) that you are going to do UNPROMPTED and make it a point to complete on your own.  When you return to class this week, you're going to share out (discuss first) how it went and then create an artifact (picture with explanation, blog post, quick YouTube video) that demonstrates your dedication to taking initiative and being self-directed on the job.

I look forward to your projects and hope to see some cool videos or read some great blog posts.  Have a great week!  I'll see you all in class!

Looking Forward

It's the beginning of the last nine weeks of high school.  You are likely in the last six to seven weeks of your placements, and it's time for you to create a list of things you wish to do as the year winds down.  As such, this week's focus is going to be on what you do most, what you do best, and how you can utilize these skills as you proceed to college and/or the workforce beyond Work-Based Learning.
With that said, I would like you to put together a list of your normal duties at your placement and set a goal for improvement on at least one of them.  Your artifact this week will be to write a short blog post (150 to 200 words) about your duties and what you would like to get accomplished before the placement ends.  If you wish to make a video submission, make sure it is at least 2 minutes long and covers everything mentioned above. Either way, your submission should be posted by the end of class on Friday.

I look forward to a great end to the year.  As always, contact me if you need anything.  I'll be seeing most of you at your placements this week.

N3 Wrap-up and Website Updates

Hi everyone!  This week is going to be our wrap-up of N3 and update of your website.  Many of you have not shared all of your work with me, so by Friday, all of your work should be up to date.  Please refer to this Google Doc to find out what is required of you.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions beyond the Doc.  I look forward to seeing your finished product!