Continued Focus on Communication

When we enter professional life, we immerse ourselves in the jargon and principles of our chosen field and obediently follow precepts laid out by our respective priesthoods.   Yet we rarely put serious effort toward expressing ourselves in a language that can be understood by those outside our tribe.  Then we wonder why our efforts and achievements fail to resonate.
It has become fashionable to say that our present epoch is an information age, but that’s not quite right.  In truth, we live in a communication age and it’s time we start taking it seriously. -Greg Satell 

The above quote comes from a Forbes article/blog posted by Greg Satell back in February, and I have to agree with everything in this article.  This week, we will continue our focus on communication by finishing up some written assignments and then working on a presentation in which we take what we have written and lay it out for a specific audience: prospective WBL students.

Below is a breakdown of our weekly tasks:

Monday:
Clear Target: We can analyze and critique a writing sample
Basically, we have to finish up our newsletter creation by emailing our articles AND student profiles to Logan.  Then, you are to complete your blog entries, reflecting on your contributions to the newsletter.  When finished, we will discuss our work and our entries so that we can address ways to improve our performance.

Tuesday & Wednesday:
Clear Target: We can create an effective oral presentation
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will work together on creating a presentation about our newsletter.  For the reader, understanding what WBL is and how to become a better entry-level employee is interesting, but if we can focus on verbal communication, along with improving our presentation skills, we will be in a good position to really master Standard 7.
When making a presentation, it is in your best interest to condense all important points into short bullet points.  From there, adding images and planning to let your voice command the audience is the key difference between a poor presentation and a great presentation.  Too often, people just copy/paste their writing onto slides and add no graphics.  That takes the attention away from the presenter and accomplishes little.  This is why I will help you as you collaborate on your presentation.

Thursday & Friday
Clear Target: We can create an effective oral presentation
I realize the Clear Target is the same, but the task will be much different.  On Thursday and Friday, you are going to actually give your presentation on camera.  We will run through the presentation about 5 or 6 times, so that we can get the best footage possible and have something great to add to your websites.

Now, if we finish any of our assignments early (which is totally possible), we will focus on self-evaluation by completing the Student Self-Assessment of Skills and the Student Skills Assessment Rubric.  We will also blog about our experiences this week, either in class on Friday or over the weekend as a homework assignment.

That's it for this week.  I'll see you all tomorrow!

10/19/15 - 10/23/15: Standard 7 Focus

This week we will focus on the standard that separates a good job candidate from a great job candidate.  For this course, Standard 7 states:

Communicate clearly and effectively, verbally and in writing: Articulate ideas effectively in written communications with supervisors, coworkers, and customers by developing and delivering messages in written deliverables. Verbally articulate ideas effectively in interpersonal communications with supervisors, coworkers, and customers by developing and delivering messages in oral presentations. Demonstrate effective listening skills, attending to the meaning and intention of communications, by accurately paraphrasing what has been heard and by communicating with individuals of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and cultures.

While our focus this week will be on written communication, there are plenty of opportunities for you to speak with classmates as we complete our tasks this week, especially since you will be working as a team to complete your project between Tuesday and Thursday.  Please see below for what we will do this week to master a portion of our most important standard:

Monday: Professional Email Composition
Clear Target: We can create an effective professional email
Today's class will run a little more like a traditional class, in which I instruct much like a classroom teacher, as opposed to the facilitator you're used to.  We will begin class by opening up our Gmail accounts.  I will explain the importance of coming across as intelligent as possible when communicating with superiors, co-workers, and subordinates.  I will then show you a few emails I have sent to provide you with models of what works best for effective communications.  From there, we will come up with a scenario in which you have to email a supervisor and one in which you need to communicate to team members to organize your project for the rest of the week.

You will then compose two emails as discussed and send them to me for a grade.  This project may seem insignificant and tedious, but if you master effective email composition, you will have a leg up on your contemporaries, and will gain a significant edge in the workplace.

Tuesday through Thursday: Newsletter Creation
Clear Target: We can create an effective Newsletter
Each week in Virtual Enterprise, my HR and Admin departments create a company newsletter to distribute to the class.  By working each week on this, my students improve their writing and learn a lot about business issues.  Since you aren't all business students, the newsletter we make this week will spotlight our Work-Based Learning class and the interests you are pursuing.

Each section of the newsletter is to be written like a brief (200+ word) article.  You will need to do research on your section, using simple online searches.  Each student will be responsible for at least one section of the newsletter (some sections can be completed in pairs) and his/her brief student description (similar to an employee spotlight).  Here are the sections of the newsletter you are to complete this week:

• Cover Page - Be sure to include images and a title for the newsletter
• What is Work-Based Learning?
• The Importance of Safety in the Classroom and Workplace
• How to Apply for an Entry-Level Job (fast food, grocery store, etc.)
• Proper Interview Techniques
• What to wear
• What to bring
• When to show up
• The Importance of a Resume
• Why Make a Portfolio for College or Job Applications?
• Digital Footprint
• Social Media
• YouTube Channel
• Blog
• Personal Website
• What's a QR Code and how can you use one?
• Student Description (this should be between 150 and 250 words):
• Who are you?
• What career do you wish to pursue?
• How will you achieve your career goals?
• Which school will you attend?
• What will you study?
• What degree do you need?
• How will you accomplish your goal

For a point of reference on how to write, please check out this rubric my VE class uses for its newsletters.  Please work hard on this project.  When this newsletter is finished, you will have a nice artifact to include in your portfolio and can highlight it on your Weebly page.

Friday: Finish up Newsletter (if necessary) & Blog Entry:

Today you will blog about what you've done this week and how you think your work has improved your communication skills.  Discuss how your written and spoken communication has improved and what you feel is an important skill(s) you have learned or improved.  

Last Week Before Fall Break - Keep Moving Forward

This week, we have to hit the rewind button on our electronic portfolios.  While Portfoliogen is an awesome resource for creating student portfolios, the restrictions that the free version puts on us just don't provide us the necessary tools to make a comprehensive website.  That said, we are going to work on creating a Weebly page that allows us to really show off what we can do.

In addition to working on our portfolios, we will review our homework assignment in which we take as much of the footage we've made and make sure we have a good amount to include in our intro videos.  We will also work on practicing interviews for jobs at a Goodwill, fast food restaurant, or other side job opportunity.  By the end of the week, we will have completed the following tasks:

• Finalize resume (include QR code to blog)
• Complete practice interview
• Analyze and critique all practice interviews
• Work on a skeleton for our Weebly page
• Blog about our tasks

We will also have some homework over the break.  I have already emailed you about this, so you should know that the homework isn't hours and hours of busy work.  Rather, it is going to prepare you for what we do when we return from our 9-day vacation.

Below is a breakdown of our week:

Monday:
Clear Target: We can create a comprehensive functional resume
During our class time, I will circulate the room and offer suggestions on how each of you can improve your resume.  You must include every element of a resume in your final submission, and this will be the last time you have in class to work on this artifact for the remainder of the semester.  We will obviously re-visit this in February as we prepare for Mock Interview Competition.

Tuesday and Wednesday:
Clear Target: We can analyze and critique an entry-level job interview
In class, each student will sit down and interview with me for a position with either a fast-food restaurant, retail clothing store, or family-owned small business.  I will address the five questions mentioned in a previous blog that every student should be prepared for, as well as other questions that may come up based on your answers to these.  Be prepared to think on your feet and don't get nervous.  This is a time to work on your communication skills so that you're prepared for the real thing.

To assess these interviews, you will fill out the Interview Critique Sheet I shared with you in Sunday's email.  Your performance on the interview, as well as the detail you include in your critiques will determine your grade.

Thursday:
Clear Target: We can create an electronic portfolio
Sure, I know we can't make an entire website in 45 minutes.  I also realize we can't fully understand how to create a website in 45 minutes if we've never even tried to make one in the first place.  Today's class period will be dedicated to working in Weebly on making a skeleton for our electronic portfolio.

Your website should include:

1. A home page with welcome message
2. A short biography in a tab on your site
3. Links to various artifacts, such as
1. Your resume
2. Your blog
3. Your YouTube page (not yet started)
4. Your Intro Video
5. Your (appropriate) Social Media pages
1. This is a little easier if you have appropriate social media pages.  Think about how to address this if you have not yet set up a Google+ account or professional Twitter account

Friday:

Clear Target: We can reflect on previous successes and failures

On Friday, you will have the entire class period to compose a blog entry about your progress this week.  Please dedicate a few sentences (comprehensive paragraph) to each of the following topics:

1. Your self-assessment of your resume
1. Is your resume impressive?
2. What stands out?
3. What kinds of things could you do to make your resume even better?
2. Your performance on your interview
1. Were you nervous?
2. Did you have answers prepared for each question?
3. Did you make a good impression in your interview?
4. Do you think you would get hired based on your performance?  Why or why not?
3. Your experience working on Weebly for the first time
1. Do you have a solid grasp on what your site will look like?
2. Do you think this will help you get jobs? scholarships? college acceptance letters?
3. What have you finished so far?
4. What else do you need to add to this?
4. Are you starting to see the big picture? Do you see how the things you've completed in class will help you separate yourself from other students your age (your contemporaries)?

That's it for this week.  I'll address the homework you need to do next weekend in a brief blog entry and email.  I look forward to seeing you in class on Monday!