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!

Last Week of Presentation Preparation

This week will be the last week we focus on preparing our "Creativity and Innovation" presentations for our workplace supervisors.  We will utilize class time to refine our presentation, work on potential objections that may arise to our proposals, and come off as articulate as possible when approaching a supervisor with constructive feedback.

So far our presentations are sounding excellent.  I look forward to hearing what kind of change (for the better) that you can bring about at your placements.  Enjoy the 3-day weekend and I'll see you next week!

Continuing Preparing for Presentations

This week's post is going to be short and sweet.  Although we planned preparing presentations to our workplace supervisors, more pressing issues hogged the spotlight in class this week.  I am actually glad we had a chance to discuss real life customer service scenarios some of you have encountered as hosts, waitstaff, and interns, as well as helping prepare for Friday's pep assembly.  Discussing these issues while they're fresh in your mind is important, so it's not a big deal if our presentations took a minor back seat last week.

Of course, since we didn't get a chance to review much of anyone's presentation, this week we need to get at least two to three presentations reviewed.  This Thursday and Friday, our main focus will be giving quality feedback that can help make changes.

I can't wait to hear what you've prepared.  I'll see you soon!

Presentation Practice

Standard 5 states:

Demonstrate creativity and innovation: Use idea-generating techniques to explore divergent and atypical questions and perspectives to develop original ideas for products or solve problems – such as a constructed object, proposal, presentation, solution to a problem, service, system, work of art, writing sample, invention, event, or an improvement to an existing product. Exhibit insight into the particular needs and interests of the target audience that are driving the process of innovation.

Approaching your supervisor with a suggestion for improvement is always a challenging task for anyone, especially someone who might just be an intern or entry-level employee.  However, when your suggestion is substantiated with evidence and a desire to improve the efficiency of the organization, the suggestion could be very beneficial for both the organization and the employees.  That said, we are going to take your work from the past few weeks and begin to practice approaching and presenting to your supervisors this week (and likely next week).

With your time in class this week, we will take our time going over HOW to present your suggestions to your supervisor as well as critique WHAT to do when you actually approach them.  We will take our time and make sure you are in a good position to succeed, and once you have practiced enough, you will be ready to go.

I look forward to hearing your ideas and working on your communication skills.  These next few weeks will be a lot of fun!

Continuation of Creativity and Innovation - Write Out a Plan

Standard 5 states:

Demonstrate creativity and innovation: Use idea-generating techniques to explore divergent and atypical questions and perspectives to develop original ideas for products or solve problems – such as a constructed object, proposal, presentation, solution to a problem, service, system, work of art, writing sample, invention, event, or an improvement to an existing product. Exhibit insight into the particular needs and interests of the target audience that are driving the process of innovation.

Now that you've identified a need for change and put some thoughts on paper (and in your blog post), it's time to do what separates the good from the great.  You're going to lay out a plan for implementing change at your placement.  It's not enough to say, "this needs to change." Rather, until you put together a strategy for making the change so that the decision-makers can consider it,  you're nothing more than a cynic.

That said, at your placement, please consider ways in which your change can and will successfully be put into action.  When you return to class, use your time in my room to map out a step-by-step process that will improve the efficiency of your organization.  With this in place, we will work on creating a presentation (formal letter, PowerPoint, video, etc.) of your choosing that will be introduced to your workplace mentor and/or direct manager.

Remember, you're not required to do anything earth-shattering (remember the white board over the sink example I explained last week).  You're just going to show your supervisors that you are capable of one of the 21st Century skills that others simply overlook.  I look forward to hearing about your plans.  Have a great week!

Creativity and Innovation: Changing Things for the Better

Standard 5 states:

Demonstrate creativity and innovation: Use idea-generating techniques to explore divergent and atypical questions and perspectives to develop original ideas for products or solve problems – such as a constructed object, proposal, presentation, solution to a problem, service, system, work of art, writing sample, invention, event, or an improvement to an existing product. Exhibit insight into the particular needs and interests of the target audience that are driving the process of innovation.

I really like how this standard is worded, and I want us to dive into this standard as much as possible this week, and, based on how involved our action plan is, next week as well.

The title of this week's blog will guide us toward our end goal of changing/improving upon a current procedure/practice at your placement.  While on the job this week, I would like all of you to analyze the everyday tasks and activities that the employees carry out.  Think of a problem that occurs frequently or a task that could be completed more quickly if something was changed.  After your analysis, you will return to class to devise a plan or proposal that you will present to your supervisor.  This week and next, you will formulate that proposal/plan and when it's complete, you will actually present it.

This week is strictly dedicated to thinking of the problem, devising a solution, and putting your ideas on paper (actually in your blog).  You will compose a blog post that describes the problem and your ideal solution, and next week, you will work on your presentation (can be in PowerPoint [yawn], on video, or in the form of an invention).  Either way, you will set your eyes on a solution and let your supervisor know how you can help the organization improve.  Students from other schools have used a project like this to earn a promotion or gain public recognition.  Who knows what great things will happen when you complete this.

Have a great week!  I'll see you all tomorrow.

Clear and Effective Communication - Publishing Your Weebly Pages

This week, we will focus on clear and effective communications in verbal, written, physical (body language), and digital forms.  While you are on your placements, please think about how your tone of voice, choice of words, body language, and outward appearance send effective messages with co-workers and customers.  Be cognizant of how you carry yourself outside the workplace as well, and see if there is a difference in your professionalism.  This week's artifact will be a simple 150+ word blog detailing your communication skills.

Additionally, many of you have either not published your websites or have left our artifacts that you actually completed (think letters of recommendation, resume, college/scholarship application reflections, gender identity blog entry, etc.).  You'll need to get everything published and updated by the end of this week so that you can follow up on your SMART goals in future blog entries, and so you can show off ALL of the work you've done this school year.

I look forward to seeing you all later this week.  Enjoy your placements!

Portfolio Update - SMART Goals, Vision Board, and Proofreading

This week's post will revolve around an email I sent you all earlier today.  By the end of this week, you will all have a more comprehensive Weebly that will begin to demonstrate all the great things you're doing at your placements.  See below:

By Friday, you will need to have your portfolio websites updated with at least the following:

1. 5 blog entries (either linked from your website or included in your website): This shouldn't be difficult since you were assigned six entries last semester and one last week.  See previous blog entries for different topics, but your most recent entry MUST include your SMART goals (Personal, Academic, Placement) Refer to this blog entry for an example of the minimum expectation for your SMART goals entry
2. Your Intro Video
3. A short bio/"About Me" writing piece (5 or 6 sentences) on the same page as your intro video
4. Awards/Certifications - load images of these as a slideshow
5. Work Samples - coordinate with your placement supervisor what you can and can't use.  Performance reviews, images of you working independently, and feedback from supervisors are all effective options
6. Vision Board - This can be either electronic (use snipping tool to paste images and quotes to an MS Publisher file in landscape orientation) or on paper (just snap a photo of your vision board and upload the image) - you must provide a short paragraph (5 or 6 sentences) about what is included in your vision board

All of you are doing great things on your placements, however there is very few, if any, tangible evidence of your great work beyond the stories you share with me in class on Thursdays and Fridays.  You must update your portfolios, as this is a requirement of the class and Ms. Peppard and I need to show Central Office personnel how effective your placements are.  We all know you are getting great experience out of this course, but you need to show evidence of it.

On Thursdays and Fridays, your time spent in class needs to be more productive.  All of your pages can and should be updated with the above information by the end of class this Friday, especially if you use the class time productively.

I've copied Ms. Brown and Ms. Peppard to this email so they are aware of the work you need to complete this week.  Next weekend, Ms. Peppard and I will select the two best portfolios to share with Central Office.  Take pride in your work and you will be greatly rewarded.

Update Class Sites and Personal Portfolios

The above image is taken directly from the FBLA competitive events scoring sheet and will be used to assess your work as we create a social media campaign for our WBL class.  

This week, we will use two of the FBLA Competitive Event Topics to guide our work as we demonstrate mastery in communication, thinking & problem-solving, and creativity.  The topics are vague, so I’ve set a daily task checklist to ensure we do our work effectively.  Please see below for our two projects:

Social Media Campaign:

In class, we will create social media accounts for our WBL Class (Northwest High WBL).  We will utilize this platform to promote the course.  This allows us to teach upcoming students what we do in class AND helps everyone in the class create a positive digital footprint.

Website Design:

We’ll also create a Northwest High WBL Weebly page, on which we will highlight our students (feel free to utilize what we included in our Newsletter) and some of the projects we’ve completed.

This week, we’ll simply focus on getting everything launched, adding effective introductory information, and connecting with people who we believe should learn more about what we do (think teachers, underclassmen, friends, and POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS).    Sure, this project is intended to be a learning experience, but if you put together something that will help you stand out among others, why not use it to your advantage?

Our Clear Target for each day this week is as follows:

We can create an effective online presence through effective use of online resources

Monday:

Objective: Create Google, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, and Weebly profiles

I’ll begin class by explaining the goal of this project.  Essentially, we want to raise awareness about our WBL class, so the best way to connect to those who will be interested is through their favorite channel – social media.

As a group, you will determine who will manage each account and begin working on the profiles for each.  For the Weebly page, one or two students can come up with a design and skeleton for the site, including what tabs the site will have, what links to include, and what kind of content (images, videos, writing) to present.  Social media pages will require images, a profile, and a number of groups to connect with.  This allows you to get noticed by the right people.  If/when you finish, use any spare time to take notes on what other quality accounts have on their profiles so that we are on par with the best.

By the end of class, each student will report out about how much has been finished.   

Tuesday:

Objectives: Make first posts online, Establish presence by tagging the right people, Connect all channels

Do you ever notice that most businesses have uniformity within their website, FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, and email?  This is obviously by design.  On Tuesday, you’ll make sure there is uniformity within our channels so that we have a truly connected identity.

Once this is accomplished, we will actually publish our first posts for our accounts.  Coming up with unique content that will attract followers isn’t easy, so this will take some time to think about.

Once we’ve sent out a few posts/tweets, we can start reaching out to people who might want to follow us or people who we feel would benefit from our message.  This also requires some thinking and research, but thankfully, the websites (and Google) will provide us with some assistance.

By the end of class, we will again report out on our progress.  Once we have uniformity across all channels, we can begin to work on our first big step with this project.

Wednesday:

Objectives: Prepare to give WBL Presentation, Practice run for WBL Presentation

Remember that Google Presentation we made about WBL?  Remember how we were supposed to film ourselves giving that presentation but our camera equipment wouldn’t be in for a few weeks?  Well, our equipment still hasn’t arrived, but we can definitely prepare to give our presentation and thanks to our smartphones, we can still film and load the videos!

On Wednesday, you will be given approximately 10 minutes to review your talking points for the presentation and practice them.  After that 10 minutes, you will have another 5 minutes to work together to establish who will be speaking and when (basically you’ll set the order for giving the presentation).  With the remaining 30 minutes, I expect you to practice giving the presentations at least three times.  After each practice presentation, we will discuss things that went well, things that could have been done differently, and how to make the presentation look and sound worthy of loading to our accounts.

This is not going to be easy, so don’t be upset or disappointed if you’re not perfect by the end of class.  Just be ready to film the presentation when you return to class on Thursday.

Thursday:

Objective: Film at least three takes of WBL Presentation, load presentation to YouTube (on your own time)

All the work you put in on Wednesday, both during and after class, will be put on display on Thursday.  During class, we will record at least three takes of our presentation, allowing us to select the best take to load to our YouTube Channel.  Feedback will be provided after each take, and we will have time to view each take to determine which one is best.

Friday:

Objective: Publish video across all platforms, reflect upon work completed this week.

Once the video is loaded to our YouTube, we can share the video via Twitter and Google+, as well as embedding it to our Weebly.  This will put a nice bow on the work we’ve done all week.

When finished with these tasks, you will compose a Blogger post of at least 250 words (try to stay below 400 words, though), with images and the YouTube video embedded to the post.  Use the following questions to guide your writing:

• Which social media platform did you work on?
• What did you notice about other effective accounts and how did you incorporate them into our WBL account?
• How well do you think you performed in the presentation?
• How will our social media platforms help others understand what we do in class?
• Do you think students will be interested in enrolling in WBL as a result of what we’ve posted?  Why or why not?

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

Thanksgiving Week - Option to Go to Placements Monday And Tuesday

Sadly, I’m not going to be in the building on Monday, as I will be with my Virtual Enterprise students at our Trade Fair competition.  Also, since many of you will be at your placements both Monday and Tuesday, the only work I have for you is to email me a brief message about how you are liking your job/internship/volunteer work leading up to the holidays.  I’m not going to bog you down with another written assignment, so make the most of your time at your placements.

For those of you who I do see on Tuesday, we will catch up on missing work (if any), view the final cut of our App Challenge submission, and discuss ways to do more fun videos with the limited time we have in class.

Finally, for anyone still in need of a placement, please make use of class time to apply for jobs, call potential internship hosts (use the list we discussed), and assist Ms. Brown with any work she has for you.  I will see you Tuesday and we will brainstorm a plan to get you in the field.  

That’s it for this week.  I look forward to seeing whoever is around on Tuesday!

Teamwork & Collaboration: Take Two

Last week, you focused on Standard 8, which relates to teamwork.  Since it was only a 3-day week, you really didn’t get a chance to immerse your thoughts in all of the team-oriented tasks you conduct.  That said, you will again focus on collaboration and teamwork at your placements.  To review, Standard 8 states:

8) Collaborate and work productively as a team member: Work effectively as a member of a team and address conflict with sensitivity and respect for diverse points of view. Demonstrate understanding of one’s own impact and build on different perspectives to strengthen joint efforts. Demonstrate leadership where appropriate on collaborative workplace tasks. Effectively employ meeting management strategies, such as use of an agenda, time keeping and meeting facilitation strategies, identifying action items, and scheduling next steps. Work-Place Example: A student works with a diverse team in a warehouse to pull ordered items, package, and ship the items on time. The student alternates between taking the lead and assisting others as the situation demands.

With that said, at your placements, you will again think about the following driving concepts:  

1. Analyze the instances in which you act as a leader and instances in which you follow the lead of others.  
2. Identify how you leverage your strengths with those around you to accomplish your tasks more efficiently.  
3. Finally, make a note of how you deal with minor/major conflicts regarding decision-making and/or distribution of tasks.

Students in the classroom will work on completing your Verizon App Challenge.  There are only a few details to finalize before creating your video, so this week will be a focus on refining and completing the written portion before turning your attention to creating the supporting video. You too will focus on these elements of teamwork:

1. Analyze the instances in which you act as a leader and instances in which you follow the lead of others.  
2. Identify how you leverage your strengths with those around you to accomplish your tasks more efficiently.  
3. Finally, make a note of how you deal with minor/major conflicts regarding decision-making and/or distribution of tasks.

It was pretty tough missing Thursday’s share-out so I’m excited to get back in the classroom with you guys and hear about all the great things that happened during the week.  Keep up the hard work and continue to take pride in everything you do.  I’ll see you tomorrow.

Short Week - Short Blog: Teamwork Focus

Since we only have 3 days of class (and two in which I'll be in the building), your assignments will be straightforward and team-oriented.  That's convenient since we have a standard that focuses on collaboration/teamwork:

8) Collaborate and work productively as a team member: Work effectively as a member of a team and address conflict with sensitivity and respect for diverse points of view. Demonstrate understanding of one’s own impact and build on different perspectives to strengthen joint efforts. Demonstrate leadership where appropriate on collaborative workplace tasks. Effectively employ meeting management strategies, such as use of an agenda, time keeping and meeting facilitation strategies, identifying action items, and scheduling next steps. Work-Place Example: A student works with a diverse team in a warehouse to pull ordered items, package, and ship the items on time. The student alternates between taking the lead and assisting others as the situation demands.

With that said, here's our breakdown for students who have placements:

On Monday and Wednesday, please focus on things you do collaboratively.  

1. Analyze the instances in which you act as a leader and instances in which you follow the lead of others.  
2. Identify how you leverage your strengths with those around you to accomplish your tasks more efficiently.  
3. Finally, make a note of how you deal with minor/major conflicts regarding decision-making and/or distribution of tasks.

Students in the classroom will re-focus their efforts on completing the presentation and newsletter, working as a team to complete this project.  Since we made use of class time to help teacher mentors and observe students in classrooms last week, we did not make much progress on this task.  You too will focus on these elements of teamwork:

1. Analyze the instances in which you act as a leader and instances in which you follow the lead of others.  
2. Identify how you leverage your strengths with those around you to accomplish your tasks more efficiently.  
3. Finally, make a note of how you deal with minor/major conflicts regarding decision-making and/or distribution of tasks.

I won't be in the classroom on Thursday, but you will be responsible for a blog entry that addresses all three of the aforementioned areas of focus for the week.  I look forward to reading your entries.  See you all Monday!

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!