A College Transition Honors Course
2007-2008
Instructor: Mary Ellen Alagna malagna@princetonisd.net
Welcome! I am excited about working with you this semester. I hope that your journey through this Program will be personally rewarding and academically successful! This ISMP Program enables you, a high school student, to glimpse the “real world” and interact with career professionals. It is designed to help you build a knowledge base about your specific career choice and develop skills that you will use both in college and the professional world.
This course represents a change from teacher directed work to student initiated learning. This is the same learning process you will experience in college. Instead of wondering, “What does the teacher want?” your focus is “What do I need to do to benefit from this task, project, or course?” The hope is that you switch from pleasing the teacher to answering your own learning questions. Your actual benefit from this course is reflected in the amount of effort you put into the activities. This effort involves not just time but sincerity of work. The burden of fulfilling course requirements and deadlines is yours. As your teacher, my role is to facilitate your progress, help you understand your goals, and assist you in locating mentors. To accomplish this, we will periodically meet to assess your progress and outline goals. As in a college course, all requirements are detailed in this syllabus. Please use the syllabus to check tasks, products, and due dates. It is your responsibility to meet the goals. I am always available for questions or clarifications—just ask! All of the forms for this class are in a folder on the P drive.
The Independent Study mentor Program helps develop accountability and employment skills. The learning tasks and weekly accountability records are similar to those used by professionals and corporations in the “real” world. Every task is a building block to the next task. Specifically, this course develops skills in these areas:
1. Time management: Set personal goals, establish work timelines, fulfill responsibilities, meet deadlines
2. Professional skills: Business etiquette, telephone skills, appointment verification, thank-you notes, timely response, attention to detail, business introductions, interview skills, attentive listening, delivering “your” message
3. Interpersonal skills: Personality profile, leadership assessment, fulfilling commitments, accountability, overcoming frustration, building positive business relationships, understanding management styles
4. Intelligence skills: Initiative, resourcefulness, research skills, independent thinking, critical problem solving, product development, independent accountability
GRADES:
This class is a senior honors seminar demanding advanced work. The benchmark grade in this class is an 80. Specifically, if all deadlines are met and all items completed then your grade will be an 80. If you are late with items or missing required components, your grade will be lower. Failing grades are given for lack of work, effort, and quality. The quality of your work and your work ethic or effort will determine if your grade will be above an 80. Students whose effort is exemplary and whose work is distinguished will earn the highest grades.
Your six weeks grades are based 50% on weekly tasks and 50% on six weeks products. Points are docked for not meeting deadlines. Your semester test will be your project and its product.
Grades are given at the three week and six week mark. All of your work is to be documented in a notebook known as the Process Record. This Process Record should be kept up-to-date and will be assessed several times each six weeks. It will be checked over, remarks will be made, and we will discuss your progress, strengths, and weaknesses in a meeting.
To succeed in this course, time management and responsibility are essential.
Accountability: The minimum time required for this course is six hours a week – one hour for each class period and one other hour spent on course tasks. The key to success in this class, in college, and in the professional world is accountability. This means using class time productively, keeping accurate and current records of your work, performing each task to the best of your capabilities, having personal pride in your work and in your productivity, and working consistently rather than at the last minute. Can you produce for yourself?
The purpose of this course is to investigate a career path of your choice. This career should be one you actually hope to pursue as an adult. At the beginning of the class, you are to choose a self- help book, read it, and write a two-page paper (12 font, normal margins, double spaced) that is an assessment of the book and specific tips that will help you achieve your future goals. The paper is not a summary of the book. Choose one or more of the specific tips and strategies offered by the author, explain it or them, and discuss specifically how you will apply it to your life.
Suggested books are:
· The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
· Russell’s Rules
· Life Strategies for Teens by Jay McGraw
· The Essential 55
· Self help/guidance book of your choice
PROCESS RECORD: All Semester
You are expected to keep a record of your tasks and learning for this class. This record is a 3” notebook known as the Process Record. You will need 18 dividers, one for each week. Please build the Record from week 1 to week 18, so I always see your latest work first.
· 50% of your process record consists of your weekly tasks and major products.
· 50% of your process record consists of your research information
WEEKLY REPORT: All Semester
The weekly report is a critical component of success in this course. The template is in the course folder. Each Monday you are to email me your completed Weekly Report and then begin a new one. It is to be opened first thing every day and used so it is an active document. It begins with your goals for the week. This helps you get organized. Next, each task is to be broken into specific steps and a schedule of work is created. The third section is a record of the work you accomplish, including dates and times. This should be specific – not “research” but “researched career sites in Gale databases”. The fourth area is a RESEARCH LOG. In this section you are to copy and paste web sites you research or write out book or other print source titles and for each research source you are to write a brief summary of the source, the information you learned, the dates you accessed or read it, and your opinion of the information’s usefulness. Include Internet print-outs and copies of articles as needed to support your research. The best logs correlate to the weekly focus. Sample:
Week One: Self Analysis
01/04/07: Internet search for career assessments. Found a useful site at www.review.com/career My results are included and discussed in Conclusions.
01/05/07: Video and book research about career field
Peterson’s Career Guide listed top five schools in my field. Video was too elementary; books too detailed.
01/08/07: Internet personality test search using Google. Most test sites have fees but a free one is at www.test.com.
The last and most important section is Conclusions and Reflections. This should be an in-depth discussion of what you have learned and what you think about it. I read this section carefully. The final entry is your next step – what you plan to research the next week. This should be an outgrowth of your learning this week – something you learned sparked your curiosity and you now want to know more.
Research is critical to this course. Your research will enable you to ask intelligent useful questions in your interview. The culmination of this course is an original project of professional quality that represents your K-12 education. Your research should provide areas of interest and ideas for this project.
The focus of the first six weeks is discovery – discover your personal strengths and weaknesses, discover specifics about your chosen career, discover professionalism in your work and your personal interactions. This six weeks contains many “school” tasks. Five major products are due: Resume, Inspiration brainstorm, Self Help Book Paper, Interview Questions, and Annotated Bibliography. Organization and time management are critical to success and meeting deadlines.
Week One: Self Analysis – Discovering strengths and weaknesses 1/08 -1/11
Tasks: (1) One hour - Explore
the career section of the Gale Databases
(2)Take Career
tests and personality profiles, design and develop your resume, . Use
the Internet and other sources and
find
applicable tests and templates. There
is a document in the initial six weeks folder that lists
career/personality
test sources. Print the tests you take, your results,
and then comment on them in your weekly report. (3) Look at
sample resumes
before designing yours. Develop your resume. (4) Course calendar
- create a course calendar with due dates for this class and your
other classes. Also inlcude major life events such as prom.
There is a calendar template in Word.
Products: Resume, calendar, results of the personality and career tests, weekly report with research log
Week Two: Database Research 1/14-1/18
Tasks: (1) Research using
databases: EBSCO, ERIC, TEX SHARE Find two articles in each
databses pertaining to your career choice. Print. Read and
highlight. (2) Open a word doc and title it MLA Documantation of
Sources. Access the Purdue University Owl writing lab on the
Internet. Cite your sources using their models. (3) Write ONE 75
word abstract summarizing ONE article and include MLA citation.
Products: Abstract, self
help paper, weekly report with research
log
Week Three: Annotated Bibliography Research 1/22-1/25
Tasks: (1) Visit CCCC library or other college library, meet with the librarian, research using their online databases, check-out book, read professional magazines, begin Annotated Bibliography in the MLA format. (2) Revise reume.
Products: College Library research Assessment (form in P drive), Revised resume, Weekly report with research log
Week Four: Inspiration 1/28-2/1
Tasks: (1) Brainstorm
Week Five: Career Research 2/5-2/9
Tasks: Research and read professional magazines, continue Annotated Bibliography, narrow the scope/direction of your career focus to a specific job, begin preparing interview questions based on information you have learned through research
Products: Weekly report with research log, Annotated Bibliography
Week Six: Interview Preparation 2/12-2/16
Products: Interview questions, weekly report with research log
First Six Weeks Grade:
50%: 6 weekly reports, Library Visit Assessment, Employability skills (Initiative, work ethic)
50%: Resume (revised), Inspiration brainstorm, Annotated Bibliography, Self help Paper, Interview Questions
Assessment is based on quality of product – thoughtfulness, depth, original thought, honest evaluation.
EVERY PROFESSIONAL CONTACT BY EMAIL, PHONE, OR IN PERSON MUST HAVE A FOLLOW-UP THANK-YOU FROM YOU WITHIN THE WEEK. PLEASE ASK FOR AND KEEP BUSINESS CARDS. IF THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT ON THE BUSINESS CARD, PLEASE ASK FOR IT. PLEASE INCLUDE HARD COPIES OF THESE THANK-YOU NOTES IN YOUR PROCESS RECORD. YOU CANNOT MAKE AN A IN THIS COURSE UNLESS THIS IS DONE.
You must check with me before leaving the building. I have to contact Ms. Hague. Please schedule your interviews so you are not absent from very many of your classes.
You must have a minimum of 5 professional contacts.
Week Seven: Phone/E-mail Interviews 2/20-2/23
Tasks: Brainstorm with parent/teachers/others for possible professional sources for phone/email interviews, locate phone numbers and email addresses, enter this information on the contact sheet, conduct phone/email interviews
Products: Contacts brainstorm, interview assessments (use specific form) for every interview this 6 weeks, weekly report with research log
Week Eight: Phone/Email Interviews 2/26-3/2
Tasks: Continue with phone and email interviews, revise interview questions as needed, write assessments, write thank-you notes
Products: Interview assessments, revised questions, weekly report with research log
Tasks: Continue with phone and email interviews, revise questions, write assessments, write thank-you notes
Products: Interview assessments, revised questions, weekly report, research log
Week Ten: Professional Shadow Visits 3/19-3/23
Tasks: Analyze phone interviews for possible shadow
visits, make shadow appointments, shadow professional, write a thank you for each shadow visit Products: Potential shadow list, shadow visit assessment, weekly report, research log
Week Eleven: Professional Shadow Visits 3/26-3/30
Tasks: Brainstorm with professionals for project ideas. Create detailed webs (by hand or with Inspiration) about several project ideas. Include the project scope, purpose, usefulness, audience, what you need to know, where you will find this information, who can help you, and the type of help they can provide. (See form) Continue shadow visits
Products: Project brainstorms, shadow assessments, project webs, weekly report
Week Twelve: Project Proposal 4/2-2/5
Tasks: Complete proposal for project (use specific form and have parent signatures). Document anticipated time, cost, production needs, possible problems, target completion date. Parent/mentor signs this proposal. Continue with shadow visits.
Products: Product proposal, shadow assessments, research log, weekly report
Second Six Weeks Grade:
50%: 6 weekly reports, thank-you notes, contact brainstorm, revised interview questions, Eskills
50%: Interview assessments, shadow assessments, formal product proposal
PRODUCING: Third Six Weeks
The final six weeks of the course is the results phase. Your semester test grade will be your project. All work for this six weeks is devoted to designing an original, innovative, creative PROJECT that reflects thought, depth, effort, and knowledge. The project includes a PRODUCT. This project with a product is a culmination project for your high school career and should reflect your best work ever!! It is to your advantage to move through the weekly tasks as quick as possible to have time to complete your product.
DAP Requirements: Finalize Mentor (Only for those earning a DAP diploma)
Based on your professional contacts and shadow experiences, decide upon a Mentor to work with to complete your project. Please explain program and time requirements to your mentor (see form), and ask the mentor if they can help you. For the DAP a minimum of 3 mentor contacts are required:
1. Brainstorm project ideas and sign form
2. Review project work and receive feedback, sign form
3. Evaluate completed project and product, sign form
Week Thirteen: Project Timeline 4/10-4/13
Tasks: Review and refine project proposal, break project into specific tasks and create project timeline (use form), continue shadow/mentor visits, research as needed, work on project/product
Products: Shadow/mentor assessments, weekly report, project Timeline,
Week Fourteen: Product Outline and Project Work 4/16-4/20
Tasks: Create rough draft/outline/storyboard/scope of project product. Update Timeline, continue shadow/mentor visits
Products: Project storyboard or outline, revised Timeline, weekly report
Week Fifteen: Product Development 4/23-4/27
Tasks: Work on project with mentor assistance and research as needed. Revise Timeline as needed. Continue mentor visits. Schedule presentation. Create guest list.
Products: Mentor verification (DAP students), weekly report, Timeline
Week Sixteen: Product Development 4/30-5/4
Tasks: Design and deliver your own invitation to the presentation, continue working on project and products as needed. Revise Timeline as needed, invite guests.
Products: Invitation, Timeline revisions, weekly report with research log
Week Seventeen: Product Completion 5/7-5-11
Tasks: Finish product. Submit to mentor for review.
Complete product reflection/analysis. Meet with me to present product and project
Products: Final product, weekly report, research log
Week Eighteen: Presentation – “GO LIVE!” May 15, 2007
Tasks: Rehearse!! Turn in Process Record!! Present!!
Products: Write SELF ANALYSIS – 2 page paper of your reflections on your work this semester –see form for instructions.
DAP candidates: Ask mentor to complete evaluation.
BE SURE TO TURN IN NOTEBOOK FOR FINAL GRADE
The presentation is a professional event. You must dress, speak, and act professionally. You will receive a 70 for the entire presentation if you do not dress, talk, or act professionally.
Final Six Weeks Grade:
50%: 5 weekly reports, project timeline, employability skills
DAP students: shadow/mentor assessments, mentor agreement, mentor verification,
50%: Invitation, Self Analysis Paper