Teller Elementary School: Challenge Project
Careers
The Challenge Project is an optional activity for students who want to extend their learning experiences, to work beyond the classroom requirements, and/or to explore alternative topics. Families may need to lend support, encouragement, and assistance at home. The Challenge Projects are organized by Ms. Bass, Teller’s GT Specialist.
1. Using the Internet, take a career inventory. If you need help, ask a parent or teacher to help you. [These are available in English and Spanish.]
2. Consider the results of the career inventory, as well as your personal wishes, and choose a career that you might like as an adult. Gather resources about that career. A parent, Ms. Bass, or your teacher can help you in the library. Your parents and teachers can help you on the computer.
3. Research your career of interest and create a clever way to show what you have learned. Try to answer the following questions:
· What does this job involve? Exactly, what does a person in this job do day-to-day?
· What will the general conditions of this job be? (Where will you work? With whom will you work?)
· What kind of education or training would you need for this job?
· Do you need a license or do you need to pass a test to have this job?
· What personal qualifications are needed (such as perseverance, outgoing personality, bravery, etc.)?
· What are the tools of the trade? What technology is needed?
· How much money would you make in this job?
· Are there jobs similar or related to this job?
· Will this kind of job continue into the future or will technology make it disappear (obsolete)?
· How will this job allow you to contribute to your community?
Do one or more additional projects about careers.
4. Interview someone who has the job that you are interested in. This may be a telephone, personal, or email interview. Prepare at least ten questions to ask. Make sure that you send that individual a thank-you note after the interview.
5. Make a dictionary of the special terms, slang, jargon, and specialized words used in this occupation. Make sure that your dictionary is crafted in a fun and unique way.
6. Give an example of how your schooling today is important to your future job. SO…think about what type of math is used in this career field or how reading and writing are needed. THEN tell about a situation that might happen in the job that would require reading, writing, speaking, listening, presentation, or math skills. Demonstrate the skills you would use in this situation. If you need help, ask a teacher or parent.
7. Arrange a day when you shadow a professional in the career you have chosen (work closely with a parent). This could be done together with #4 above. Write a summary of your day.
8. If there is an association affiliated with your career choice, contact them (or look at their website) seeking more information.
9. Make a poster or display showing the career’s pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) that would affect you personally if you had that job (for example: long hours, great satisfaction, low wages, travel, etc.).
10. Is there a code of ethics for your career field? For example, doctors have the Hippocratic Oath. If so, locate the code of ethics and determine if you can agree or disagree with these values. If there is not a code of ethics for your career field, develop a set of values for your career field.
11. What are the controversies of the job that interest you?
12. If you were to have this job, would you be creating a product or providing a service? How is that important to you?
13. Does this job have any safety issues that you should be aware of? What are some precautions that people in this job need to take? Try to develop a new safety procedure or a new piece of safety equipment for this job.
14. Create letterhead stationery, a business card, or a special logo for yourself or the job that you picked.
15. Work with an adult to create a resume. Consider ways that you have already earned money (chores, lemonade stand, recycling, babysitting, etc.). List your education so far. What are your strengths, talents, and abilities? What achievements or awards have you earned? Who might give you a positive reference? [A resume template is included.]
16. What sorts of working environments would best suit you and why?
17. Are there specialized vehicles that are involved in the job that interest you? Did they attract you to this job, or are they just part of the job?
18. What kind of classes might you take in middle school that will support your interest in the job you chose?
19. If interested, pick a broader question, as related to careers, and answer in a well-developed paragraph.
· How do some occupations help to keep our society the same, while others foster change?
· How are different jobs valuable to society and how should the amount of money a person makes be decided?
· What makes a vocation a science or an art?
20. Read and respond to a career moral dilemma that follows.
Moral Dilemmas: Careers
Pick one of the following and write your response in a well-developed paragraph. Explain your decision fully.
A. You and your boss are golfing. You are a better golfer. Do you let him/her win?
B. You are a lawyer. Your client confesses to a terrible crime. Nevertheless, you can free him/her because the evidence was obtained illegally. What do you do?
C. You and a colleague are competing for a promotion. You discover that your colleague made a serious mistake, but he/she can still correct it. Do you alert your colleague?
D. Your boss demands to know what another employee is saying behind his/her back. It is not flattering. Do you tell your boss?
E. You are the president of a large corporation. A student asks to interview you for a school assignment. You are very busy. Do you make the time?
F. There are no women in senior positions in your department. A vacancy arises, but a male applicant is better qualified. Do you hire a woman anyway?
G. You feel that you are underpaid. Do you still give your job 100%?
H. You like and respect your boss. Your boss is fired unjustly and you are asked to take his/her place. Do you?
(taken from the game “Scruples”)
21. Using the template and examples below, create a poem highlighting your hypothetical career.
Begin with “The real me is…” and name your profession“I follow a path of…” or “The path I choose to follow is…” Use figurative language to describe the path to your career. Try to create a simile or a metaphor
“I (use a verb that describes how you will move) in the footsteps of …” (include three famous people from your career field)
“It is important to me to…”
“I am helped along the way by…”
“My inspiration comes from…”
“I am going to … (how will you leave your mark in the world?)”
Examples:
The real me is a hockey player
I follow a slippery silver path of glory
I glide in the tracks of Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Gordie Howe
It is important to me to continue their tradition of excellence and sportsmanship
I am helped along the way by the endless hours of practice and drill I do everyday
My inspiration comes from Cammi Granato – she has inspired me to fulfill my dreams
To believe in myself
Even when others doubt me
I am going to go to the Olympics to bring home the gold
The real me is a painter
I waltz beneath the skies of starry starry nights
My hand moves in the light of van Gogh, Monet, and O’Keefe
It is important to me to capture flowers at sunrise sparkling with dewdrops
My brushes help me along the path of wonder and dreams
I am inspired by the silver moonlight pouring through my windows
I am going to sign my name in ribbons of rainbows
22. Design your own project that relates to careers.
My First RESUME
name
Email address (if you have one)
Street number and name
City, state, zip code
Phone number
______
Position you are seeking
ABILITIES, TALENTS, STRENGTHS
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (ways that you have earned money)
· ______
· ______
· ______
ACHEIVEMENTS AND AWARDS
· ______
· ______
· ______
EDUCATION (grades, schools)
· ______
· ______
· ______
REFERENCES (people who can recommend you)
· ______
· ______
· ______