Information Literacy

This week, the focus for students on placements will be on standard 9, which involves demonstrating information literacy.  The specific elements of information literacy I would like you to focus on are synthesizing procedural instructions to apply them properly and ethical use of information. Many of you handle personal records, either at the medical office, in the classroom, or on the job.  Each day on your placement, write a list of procedures you complete and think about the management of sensitive information throughout your shift.  You will report back on these, either in written (blog entry) or verbal form (video or sound file) when you return to the classroom Thursday and/or Friday.

Students who are still in the classroom will revise our newsletter and Google Slides presentation and then practice presenting it to an audience.  On Monday, we’ll put the finishing touches on the Google Slides presentation and written newsletter.  If we have time, we’ll practice presenting the information.  We’ll obviously need to tweak the presentation and practice more on Tuesday, and once you’re comfortable with yourselves, I will video record your work.  On Wednesday, I will be out of the building during 6th and 7th periods, so you’ll be on your own trying to secure your senior experience.  With Wednesday’s class time, you will look for placements, either in the building or outside, and prepare a report on what placements you pursued.  

On Thursday, when some of our students return to class, you’ll present the video we recorded and your classmates will provide constructive feedback to help you improve your skills.  After this, the students who were out Monday through Wednesday will report back to the class about what they did on their placements.  We can discuss procedures and tasks you frequently complete and ethical management of information.

On Friday, everyone will share out how their week went and you will have the option of either blogging or recording (video or sound file) a reflection about this week’s focus - information literacy.  My hope is that some of you choose video or sound files, since that would allow you the opportunity to practice your MovieMaker skills.  When finished, you will share your work with me, and the entire class can view or listen.

You’ll open your blog/video/sound file by talking about how your week went.  Mention a highlight or something that went exceptionally well and then explain that this week, you’re going to address information literacy.  Use the guiding questions below for assistance.

Guiding Questions for Your Blog, Video, or Sound File:

1. What are some of the most frequently completed tasks at your placement?
1. Is there a name for the task?
2. What are the procedures?
3. If you fail to follow the procedures, how does it impact the business?
4. Do you work as a team or independently?
2. What type of sensitive information do you work with at your placement?
1. Do you have access to employee records?
2. Do you view personal information?
3. How are you supposed to handle this sensitive information?
4. What type of training did you receive regarding management of sensitive information?
5. What are the consequences if you mismanage this information?
6. If someone mismanaged your personal information, how would you react?  Is this something that guides you as you handle other sensitive informaion?

After addressing these questions, you can thank the reader/listener/viewer and encourage them to comment about your post and follow/subscribe.

You will be graded on how detailed you are with your work.  Single-word or single-sentence answers are obviously much less detailed than articulate, well-constructed paragraphs.  I look forward to reviewing your work.  Have a great week!

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 2015, 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 combining all our files into one Google Doc.  This file should include a design template, images, a cover page, and a table of contents. The reason why we’re going to make the file a Google Doc is so that multiple users can modify the file at the same time.  When finished, we will discuss our work and our entries so that we can address ways to improve our performance, as well as prepare for the rest of our week (hint: we’re going to make a presentation based on the newsletter).

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!

Communication

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.

After you complete your emails, we will take a look at the class newsletter my WBL students created last year.  This will serve as our model and the bar which this year’s students must eclipse.  We will then determine who will take the lead on each section of the project, and with the remaining class time, you can conduct some preliminary research.  By the end of class, you’ll share with me your findings.

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 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 for an Internship
• 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: Report Out & Blog Entry:

This week, in addition to our regular reports from students who have placements, you too will share out what you’ve done this week.  You can inform your classmates of their need to complete a student profile for the newsletter as well as let them know the hard work you’ve completed.  When finished, 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.  

Multitasking

This week’s blog isn’t going to be very long since most of you have found a placement and have been doing a lot of quality work.  I definitely notice a sense of pride when you share out your experiences for the week with the group and also understand you’re learning firsthand about life in the professional world.  Your weekly tasks will again be divided between those with placements and those still looking for placements.  Please see below for a breakdown of your weekly assignments:

Those With Placements

While you’re working or training, think of TWO different portfolio artifacts you could create based on what you learned or did for the week.  When you arrive in class, we will begin working on them.  Suggestions for portfolio artifacts include:

• Instructional/Training video of your own
• Video footage of you working in the office
• An interview with one of the professionals (hint: your workplace mentor is a great candidate for this)
• An audio recording of you discussing some of the things you learned for the week
• Think about creating a 3 to 6 minute podcast with one of your classmates in which you share out what you learned for the week.  This could be almost identical to what we do on Fridays in class

When you return to class on Friday, we’ll work on how you make one of these in your own time outside of class or even on the job (remember to remain HIPAA compliant)

Those without placements

1. In addition to searching for and finding your placement, publish your Weebly page.
2. Create a class Weebly page similar to what my class created last year.  
3. Create a class Twitter page similar to last year’s Twitter page
4. Create a class YouTube page similar to last year’s YouTube page
1. I suggest creating a class email account and Google+ profile as well

Divide these tasks among yourselves and work diligently.  Once the accounts are created, I’ll let you know what to post.  I look forward to seeing your progress.

On Thursday and Friday, we’ll continue to work on the promotional video our administration suggested and write a short blog entry about your week.  Be engaging with the reader when you’re writing so you don’t sound like you’re strictly reporting facts in an interrogation.  This will make the blog easier to read and will make the assignment more fun.  That’s it for this week.  I look forward to seeing you in class!