Career Preparedness

2014-2015 School Year

Syllabus

Business, Management and Administration Program

LaTonia Johnson, Room E109 Phone: (205) 652-1501

Email: b Address:

Course Description

The Career Preparedness course focuses on three integrated areas of instructions--academic planning and career development, financial literacy and technology. Course content ranges from college and career preparation to computer literacy skills to ways to manage personal finances and reduce personal risk. The area of technology is designed to be interwoven throughout course instruction. Mastery of the content standards provides a strong foundation for student acquisition of the skills, attitudes, and knowledge that enables them to achieve success in school, at work, and across the life span.

As part of preparing student to be college-and career ready, this course also equips them with the skills needed for business and industry, continuing education, and lifelong learning. Acquisition of these skills is achieved by incorporating content and strategies that can easily allow students to meet the required 20-hour online experience as defined in the Alabama State Department of Education’s High School Distance Learning: Online/Technology Enhanced Course or Experience Guidance document.

Career Preparedness is a one-credit course required for graduation that can be taught in Grades 9-12; however, it is recommended that students take the course in Grade 9.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) and the Association for Marketing Students (DECA) are cocurricular components of this course. These student organizations enhance classroom instruction, develop leadership skills, and provide opportunities for professional growth and service.

Prerequisite(s)

No Prerequisite

Course Goals

Students will:

·Demonstrate knowledge of a systematic approach to a decision-making process, including factors regarding academic planning and career development, financial literacy, and technology.

·Understand the effect of workplace behaviors.

·Analyze personal skills, interests, and abilities and relate them to current career opportunities.

·Determine the correlation of personal preference, education, and training to the demands of the workforce.

·Investigate the postsecondary/higher education admissions process, including completing admission and financial aid applications.

·Examine the employment process, including searching for a job, filling out a job application, writing a resume, developing and practicing interview skills, and completing required employment forms.

·Generate an electronic portfolio using digital tools, including a cover letter; a current resume; a completed job application; interest, aptitude, and achievement assessment results; curriculum samples; four-year high school educational plan; education/career preparedness checklist; and other examples of academic and career preparedness achievements.

·Diagnose problems with hardware, software, and advanced network systems.

·Demonstrate advanced technology skills, including compressing, converting, importing, exporting, backing up files, and transferring data among applications.

·Compare functions of various operating systems.

·Analyze cultural, social, economic, environmental, and political effects, and trends of technology to assess emerging technologies and forecast innovations.

·Demonstrate appropriate digital citizenship through safe, ethical, and legal use of technology systems and digital content.

·Utilize an online learning-management system to engage in collaborative learning projects, discussions, and assessments, and assessments beyond the traditional classroom that are goal-oriented, focused, project-based, and inquiry-oriented.

·Explain specific steps that consumers can take to minimize exposure to identify theft, fraudulent schemes, unethical sales practices, and exorbitant service fees.

·Develop a plan for managing earning, spending, saving, and giving using spreadsheet, online resources, or commercial software.

·Evaluate the effect of personal preferences, advertising, marketing, peer pressure, and family history on consumer choices and decision making in the marketplace.

·Distinguish differences between the purpose of saving and the objectives associated with investing.

·Analyze various types of financial institutions.

·Demonstrate how to manage checking and savings accounts, balance bank statements, and use online financial services.

·Determine advantages and disadvantages of using credit.

·Examine why credit ratings and credit reports are important to consumers.

·Determine the type of insurance associated with different types of risks, including automobile, personal and professional liability, home, apartment, property, health, life, long-term care, and disability.

·Develop a plan for financial security in the event of disaster, including secure storage of financial records and personal documents, available cash reserve, household inventory list, and medical records retention.

Essential Question(s)

  1. How can you determine the opportunity costs of a decision?
  2. How can you determine the trade-offs of a decision?
  3. What is the best way to solve a problem that doesn’t have an obvious answer?
  4. Why are appropriate workplace behaviors beneficial to employees and employers?
  5. Why are inappropriate workplace behaviors not beneficial to employees and employers?
  6. What are procedures for addressing inappropriate workplace behaviors?
  7. What does diversity in the workplace look like?
  8. What are my personal areas of interest and aptitudes?
  9. How do I complete a four-year high school education plan?
  10. What are my individual career options from the 16 National Career Clusters based on my interest and aptitude assessments?
  11. What are specific job descriptions, requirements, salaries, and employment outlooks for individuals career options?
  12. What are the safety and health standards in the workplace for daily procedures, emergency procedures, equipment/tools, dress, and use of technology and work area maintenance?
  13. What is the relationship between educational level and lifetime earnings?
  14. How does this affect potential lifestyle?
  15. What kind of postsecondary educational opportunities does our career require?
  16. How do you apply for admission to college?
  17. How do you complete the financial aid process for college?
  18. What is the employment process?
  19. How is a job search conducted?
  20. How do you file out a job application?
  21. How do you write a resume?
  22. What are interview skills?
  23. How do you interview?
  24. What are employment forms?
  25. How do you complete employment forms?
  26. How are self-assessment beneficial in career planning?
  27. How do you professionally create and develop business documents?
  28. How do you create and format a variety of personal and business related documents?
  29. What is an electronic portfolio and why is it important?
  30. How is multimedia software used to enhance informational presentations?
  31. How does preventive maintenance impact productivity?
  32. How do you troubleshoot hardware?
  33. How do you troubleshoot software?
  34. How do you troubleshoot advanced network systems?
  35. Why is it important to develop a personal financial plan?
  36. How do you determine wants and needs?
  37. How do you determine your income earned from sources other than your wages?
  38. How would you create and utilize a budget?
  39. How can I determine the most appropriate investment tools?
  40. What can financial institutions do for me?

Course Outline

1st and 2nd 9 weeks3rd and 4th 9 weeks

Personal Decision MakingManaging Finances and Budgeting

Academic Planning and Career DevelopmentSaving and Investing

Technology Skill ApplicationsBanking and Financial Institutions

Credit and Debt

Risk Management and Insurance

Grading Scale

A = / 100-90
B = / 89-80
C = / 79-70
D = / 69-60
F = / 59-Below

Assessments/Evaluations)

Evaluations will be based on the following:

Daily Assignments / 20%
Assessments (Quizzes, Tests & Exams) / 35%
Content Notebook / 15%
Major Projects / 30%
Total / 100%

Supply List for all courses taught by Mrs. L. Johnson:

  • 1-inch binder with side pockets
  • Sheet protectors
  • Pack of black/blue ink pens (to be used throughout the course)
  • Pack of #2 Pencils (to be used throughout the course)
  • Jump/flash/thumb drive (at least 4GB)
  • Spiral tablet (just for this class)

Textbooks/Materials

·Online Resources/Internet

·Computer Applications for Business

·Software: Keynote, Pages, Numbers, IPhoto

CTSO (Professional Organization)

All business students are also encouraged to join (FBLA), Future Business Leaders of America. FBLA is a student organization that helps enhance course instruction, develop leadership skills, and provide opportunities for professional growth and service.

Articulation & College Credit

Students following the suggested course sequence for Business/Marketing Education may earn up to 9 hours college credit for courses they have taken. These courses include: Business Technology Applications, Business Technology Applications Advanced, and Multimedia Design. Please see a guidance counselor for a TAP (Technical Advanced Placement) booklet which outlines additional courses that can be taken for college credit.

Culminating Product(s)

Students prepare for competitive events.