Who to Take to the Prom

APPENDIX 5.01

Decision Cards – Appendix 5.01 (1)

Who to take to the prom

/ Which tennis shoes to buy / Whether to repair or replace your car
Which college to attend / Which courses to take / Which of 2 activities to attend
Which car to buy / Whether to go to the game or study / Whether to allow someone to copy your work
Which major to choose / Whether to get a pet or not / Whether to engage in sexual activity or not
Whether or not to drink alcohol / Whether to use illegal drugs or not / Whether to lie or tell the truth
Which career to pursue / Whether or not to accept a job offer / Whether or not to quit a job
How to best help a friend / Whether or not to report a friend for shoplifting / How to spend “extra” money

The Decision Making Process – Appendix 5.01 (2)

Directions: Describe each step of the career decision making process.

1. Define Your Needs and Wants: ______

______

2. Analyze Personal Resources: ______

______

3. Identify Your Career Choices: ______

______

4. Gather Career Information: ______

______

5. Evaluate Career Choices/Make a Decision: ______

______

6. Plan How to Reach Career Goals: ______

______

LIFELINE EXERCISE (INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION)

Appendix 5.01 (3)

PURPOSE: To heighten awareness of the many decisions we make in our lives. To introduce decision-making concepts.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Individual, group discussion.

ESTIMATED TIME: 30 minutes.

POINTS TO INTRODUCE THE ACTIVITY:

We make decisions every day. Some are small, while others have far-reaching ramifications.

We make decisions in different ways. Sometimes we spend lots of time thinking and planning decisions, and other times we make “snap” decisions.

This activity will cause us to identify some decisions we have made and help us to begin to learn about our decision-making style.

ACTIVITY: pages 438-439

LIFELINE EXERCISE Continued

Step 1

You have made many decisions over your lifetime. Draw a line across the page that symbolizes your life. Draw the line up on the high or rewarding points of your life and down on the low points of your life. At each of these points, write the event that stands out at that time. Your lifeline is unique; no two lines will be the same.

AGE

Step 2

On your line, place the following symbols:

! Where you took a risk in making a decision.

XWhere you encountered an obstacle preventing you from getting or doing what you w anted.

OWhere a critical decision was made for you by someone else.

+Where you made a good decision.

?What critical decision do you see coming in the future?

LIFELINE EXERCISE Continued

DISCUSSION POINTS:

Upon completing your lifeline answer the following questions:

What are some good decisions you have made?

Which decisions did someone else make for you?

Have you ever taken a risk in making a decision?

What kinds of obstacles have you encountered?

What kinds of decisions were the hardest to make or took a lot of thinking and planning?

What are some decisions facing you now?

Decision-making is an on-going process that involves certain skills that can be learned. Effective decision-makers have more control over their lives and make choices that lead to greater satisfaction. How will you apply this activity to your “real life” situations you are facing at this moment in your life?

Narrowing Career Choices – Appendix 5.01 (4)

Directions: Using the careers that you researched in Competency 4.0, work through the Decision-Making Process to narrow your career choices.

Define Your Needs and Wants

How does the occupation fit your personal and lifestyle goals?

Occupation 1 / Occupation 2 / Occupation 3

Analyze Your Personal Resources

How well does the career match your personal characteristics, interests, values, learning styles/preferences and abilities?

Occupation 1 / Occupation 2 / Occupation 3
Personal Characteristics
Interests
Values
Learning Styles
Abilities

Appendix 5.01 (4): Narrowing Career Choices Continued

Identify Your Career Choices

Match career options to personal goals and resources (Use Personal Career Profile Sheets from Competency 4.0)

Research Your Career Choices

Gather Information researched in Competency 4.0.

Evaluate Your Career Choices/Make a Decision

Based upon your research, how do you evaluate your ability to succeed in each occupation?

Plan How to Reach Goals

Set Goals

Plan formal and informal learning experiences (Competency 3.0).

Goal: ______

Formal Learning ExperiencesInformal Learning Experiences

Decision Making Practice – Appendix 5.01 (5)

To complete this activity, students are to practice using the decision-making process. Using the following outline to explain and use the process.

Identify possible career choices.

Make a list of possible career resources to use and analyze them.

Collect personal (self) and career information.

Evaluate possible career options and make a decision.

Plan how to reach personal and career goals.

Discussion Questions:

What type of resources were use to reach your decision?

What personal (self) information was needed to reach a decision?

What career information was needed to reach a decision?

What options were considered to reach a decision?

Why is decision making important to the career planning process?

Decision-Making Styles – Appendix 5.01 (6)

Assume that high school graduation is coming up shortly. What are you going to do after graduation? Explain how someone would use the following decision-making styles to make this decision. Then identify your decision-making style.

The agonizer:

The mystic:

The fatalist:

The evader:

The plunger:

The submissive:

The planner:

Which decision-making style do you most frequently use?

What evidence supports your answer?

Is your style the most effective way to make important decisions? Why or why not?

How could you develop more effective decision-making skills?

Decision-Making Styles Answer Key

Collect information about alternatives; evaluate the information, and ends up not knowing what to do because the data is overwhelming.

Makes the decision based on a hunch or “gut feeling.”

Spends little time gathering information because he/she believes he/she has no control over the choice.

Avoids making the decision.

Most likely to choose the first alternative which becomes available.

Wants parents or someone else to make the decision.

Uses a systematic decision-making process.

Family Job Tree Essay – Appendix 5.01 (7)

Instructions: Draw your family job tree and write a one page essay. Your essay can either be handwritten using ink or word processed with a computer. The essay should answer the following question: In what ways do you think your family history of jobs/careers might affect your career choices? Your essay will be graded using the rubric below.

CRITERIA: / Excellent
4 / Good
3 / Fair
2 / Poor
1 / SCORE:
Topic / Directly relevant, answers question / Somewhat answers question / Remotely related to topic / Does not answer the question
Organization / Well organized, events logical / Mostly organized, points not always connected / Somewhat organized, events jump around / Not organized
Opening and Close / Clear beginning and end / Either opening or close lacks impact / Fair opening and close / Opening and close ineffective
Creativity and Originality / Very creative, original approach to answering question / Parts creative and unique / Somewhat creative / Lacks creativity and originality
Interest Level / Vocabulary varied, details are vivid, essay easy and enjoyable to read / Vocabulary varied, mostly enjoyable to read / Vocabulary is consistent, details lack “color” / Needs descriptive words
Grammar and Spelling / All correct / One or two errors / More than two errors / Frequent errors
Neatness / Word processed or very neatly written / Legible handwriting or word processed with some formatting errors / Part difficult to read or sloppy / Illegible or
used pencil
Timeliness / Handed in on time / One day late / Two days late / 3 or more days late
29-32 = A / 26-28 = B / 24-25 = C / 22-23 = D / TOTAL

Identify Your Obstacles – Appendix 5.01 (8)

Directions: Record 3 major decisions that you have made or are currently facing in the space provided below. For each decision (D1, D2, and D3), rate the importance of each of the obstacles on the chart below. With decision 1 in mind, place a D1 in each column to rate the importance of each obstacle. Repeat the process with D2 and D3.

D1: ______

D2: ______

D3: ______

External Obstacles / Slightly
Important / Moderately
Important / Very
Important
Family expectations and responsibilities
Societal Stereotyping
Other societal expectations
Other:
Internal Obstacles
Fear of making a bad decision
Fear of taking a risk
Fear of failure
Fear of change
Lack of self-confidence
Stereotyping about self and others
Procrastination
Other:

What would you say are your 3 most important obstacles to making good decisions?

______

______

______

Adapted from: Farr, Michael. (1990). Making Good Decisions. Jist Publishing.

My Perfect Job – Appendix 5.01 (9)

Directions: As you complete the questions below, imagine yourself in the perfect job.

Location:

In my perfect job, I would stay in the US. _____ Yes_____ No

The region of the country that I would like to work in is: ______

In my ideal job, I would work in a foreign country._____ Yes_____ No

The climate where my ideal job would be is: ______

The size of the city that I would work in is: ______

I would work in the following setting._____ Rural_____ Urban

Work Site:

In my ideal job, I would work:_____ Inside_____Outside

I would work for:_____ A big company_____ A small company

I would: _____ Stay in one place_____ Move around

In my ideal job, I would want to wear clothes that are: ______

My ideal work site would have some kind of equipment in it. _____ Yes_____ No

Tasks and Responsibilities:

My ideal job would involve:_____ Physical Tasks _____ Mental Tasks _____ Both

The amount of time I would spend working with data and information: ______

The amount of time that I would spend working with people: ______

The number of people that I would work with: ______

The amount of time that I would spend working with equipment: ______

I would be: _____ A leader_____ A follower

I would be: _____ A planner_____ A doer

The skills that I would use in my ideal job: ______

During a typical workday, I would: ______

Appendix 5.01 (9): My Perfect Job Continued

Co-workers:

In my ideal job, I would have a boss who is: ______

I would be a boss or supervisor._____ Yes_____ No

I would be part of a team. _____ Yes_____ No

The number of people working with me would be: ______

My coworkers in my ideal job could be described as: ______

I would work alone._____ Yes_____ No

List 10 careers below that match your preferences for location, work site, tasks/responsibilities, and coworkers.

My Skills and Abilities – Appendix 5.01 (10)

The skills and abilities you already have will help you find a job. Listed below are some skills. Circle the ones you have. At the end of the list, add any skills you have that are not listed. In the second column, next to the skills you have circled, write some jobs where you could use these skills.

Skills

Jobs

Alphabetize
Answer the telephone
Bake
Build things from wood
Care for a pet or farm animal
Care for houseplants or a garden
Care for young children
Clean a house
Cook
Create arts and crafts
Draw well
Fix broken items
Speak a foreign language
Add and subtract quickly and accurately
Have clear handwriting
Keyboard
Know about clothing and fashion
Know how to play games and sports
Lift heavy things
Play with children
Run copy machines and fax equipment
Serve food
Sew
Speak clearly with pleasant voice
Wash hair
Talk easily with people
Teach children
Use a cash register
Write well

Do any of the jobs you listed above appeal to you as career choice?

Why or why not?

Adapted from: Berk, Amy. (2006) TeenWork: A Guide to Finding Jobs – Teacher

Resource Guide. Tinley Park, Illinois. Goodheart-Willcox.

Name ______

Decision Making Activity – Appendix 5.01 (11)

Getting to know yourself takes time and effort. It involves learning how to make your own decisions and identifying your values and skills. Complete the following investigation into how decision making and your values, interests, personality, and skills affect you and your job. After completing this activity, you should be able to:

use the seven-step decision-making process
compare your values and interests with your chosen career
assess whether or not your personality and learning style(s) are compatible with your chosen career

The seven steps in the decision-making process are to:

(1) Define your needs and wants.

(2) Analyze your resources.

(3) Identify your choices.

(4) Gather information.

(5) Evaluate your choices.

(6) Make a decision.

(7) Plan how to reach your goal.

1. What kinds of decisions will you make in your chosen career?

2. Explain how you will use the seven-step decision-making process in your

chosen career?

3. How did you come to the decision to pursue your chosen career?

Appendix 5.01 (11): Decision-Making Activity Continued

To know yourself, you must be able to identify your values and interests.

4. How do your values compare with the values of your chosen career? Are

they similar or not? Explain.

5. Will your chosen career allow you to put your values into practice? If so,

how? If not, why not?

6. Will this career encourage your interests and favorite activities? If so,

which ones? If not, why not?

7. In your career, will you mainly work with data, people, or things? Give

details.

8. Do you like this aspect (working with data, people, or things) of your chosen

career? Explain why or why not.

Appendix 5.01 (11): Decision-Making Activity Continued

Knowing yourself also involves identifying your skills and understanding your personality.

9. Will your career utilize your aptitudes and abilities? If so, how? If not,

why not?

10. Is your personality compatible with your chosen career? Explain.

11. Is your learning style compatible with your chosen career? Explain.

Decision-Making Profile – Appendix 5.01 (12)

List 5 major decisions that you have had to make, your approach to each situation and the outcome.

Decision #1

______

Approach Taken

______

Outcome

______

Decision #2

______

Approach Taken

______

Outcome

______

Decision #3

______

Appendix 5.01 (12): Decision-Making Profile Continued

Approach Taken

______

Outcome

______

Decision #4

______

Approach Taken

______

Outcome

______

Decision #5

______

Approach Taken

______

Outcome

______

Appendix 5.01 (12): Decision-Making Profile Continued

II. Analysis

What does the information suggest about your approach to decision-making? Are there any patterns present?

______

Was any one approach more effective than the others?

______

What are some of the strengths suggested by your past decision-making style(s)?

______

What are some potential areas for improvement as suggested by your past decision-making style(s)?

______

III. Planning

Potential Areas of Improvement / Strategies for Improvement / Expected Outcome