bit.ly/ktcelainfo-- Link to classroom activities give students access to class activities to help them self-direct their learning

We are trying something in my class currently to help the students complete their assignments.  This is little address is typed into the address bar on any search engine and will bring the students to my webpage.

On this webpage, it names all the assignments that were to be completed, provides rubrics so they know how they will be graded, and also gives them updates on important dates to remember.

The address is bit.ly/ktcelainfo.  Please feel free to check out what your student is doing from week to week.  If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a private message at debrarajaratne@kentisd.org or post a comment on this blog.

Q3 Week 2 Update

This week at KTC, our topics will be this:

• Cover letters (select classes)
• Finishing our thank you letters to our interviewers
• Pre-test on job posting vocabulary
• Looking at real job postings in their fields

At KTC, we want them to know and practice the writing and revision process and do this through various writing projects such as their career exploration project, resume, and thank you writing.  

Most importantly, at the Kent Transition Center, we know that our students will one day go out into the world looking for jobs and need to understand what is mentioned in job postings and what those words mean. 

ELA Class--Q3 Week 1: This Week @ KTC

Quarter 3 Week 1--WWYD--What Would You Do?

This Week @ KTC 

This week at KTC, we are havingt the students think through a real life situation and respond to us.  I have given them a situation and I want them to think about what they would do.  They are taking this instance and responding to it via Google Drive and sharing their thoughts with myself and others.  The response has been quite interesting.  We are noticing that there are some misconceptions about the world of work that our students need helping working through.  The example is below.

Situation: 

You have a job.  In your opinion, you have been a good worker and feel that you work hard every time you come to work.  You've been working for less than six months and you would like a raise.

Questions for Students: 

In your opinion, should you get one?  Yes or no and why?

What might be some other information that you don't yet know that could affect whether you get the raise or not?

What questions might you need to ask or information you need to know before asking your boss for the raise?

October-November ELA Update!

Since September, students have been busy.  Along with their skills in their classes, they have also been exploring who they are, what they are interested in doing, and creating a research project. 

Since September, they have:

• Took skill assessments on Career Cruising
• Determined their natural talents and transferable skills
• Identified their personality “color” and their traits or characteristics
• Identified their learning styles
• Identified what they value out of a job (work values)
•  Using Google Drive
• Created a rough draft of a resume
• Created a presentation about themselves and jobs they would be interested in.

The students have been working so hard and we are just about ready to wrap up this Career Exploration session with them. 

Please note that their projects are completed using Google Drive which can be accessed anywhere using the internet.  Please feel free to take a look at your student’s project or have them practice presenting it to you.

In December, we will also start talking about:

• Completing applications (online and paper)
• Preparing for interviews
• Undergoing 2 practice interviews\Participating in the first KTC job fair.

I am so excited for this year and I hope that you and your child are as well. 

Once again, if you would like to speak with me, please give me a phone call or email.  Don’t forget to check us out at ktcelainfo.blogspot.com!

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Debra Rajaratne

(616) 301-8837

debrarajaratne@kentisd.org

October 31- November 4: Work Values Assessment Wizard

Have you ever wondered what motivates people to go for certain jobs?  At KTC, we are trying to help our students understand what they hope to receive from a job--what they value as important.

Our students completed a work values assessment on the Work Values Assessment Wizard where they moved values around into an interest level spectrum.  After all 20 of the cards were in the 5 columns, they submitted it to find out the their primary and secondary work values.  

From there, they would go to the O-Net Work Values site, they can  research the jobs that fit the values they identified as important to them.  

October 24-28: Resume--Downloading the Template, Uploading to Google Drive, and Beginning to Complete.

The Kent Transition Center likes to use technology to help our students learn anytime, anywhere, any place, and any how.  One way we help our students use this is by using technology.  

We use Google Drive and Google Apps extensively to help the students with reading, writing, revision, and collaboration with teachers and their peers.  In ELA class, they accessed the ELA Moodle page, found the resume template, downloaded it, and uploaded it into their drive!  The students are using this technology and doing great!  The students also have shared it with myself (and their content area teachers) so that we know the progress they have made and help them in the revision process.

We also LMS (Learning Management Systems) and OLE (Online Learning Environments).  Currently, some teachers are using one, another, or both types of services.  For example, the ISD provides Moodle to the teachers so that they can post all their resources or units online for the students to access even if they're off campus.  Also, all the the teachers at KTC use Edify, a learning management system that allows them to put pre-tests, post-tests, and formative lessons or assignments in between, to help our students achieve growth.  This LMS also allows for the teacher to track the progress of the students and also observe how well they are achieving the standards for the content area.  

At KTC and Kent ISD with our use of tech, OLE, and LMS, we lead learning!

Career Exploration Part II: Career Cruising--Matchmaker, My Skills, and Learning Styles

This week, the students are completing the Matchmaker, My Skills, and Learning Styles inventory on Career Cruising (www.careercruising.com).  

The students are completing this so they know what things they like to do, pinpoint what they do and don't have an interest in, and jobs connected to those skills and interests.  There are 116 questions; the more questions the students answer, the more the jobs will match their personality.  The test is very easy and the students answer the questions based on this color scale rating system.  

After they have completed the questions, they will then assess their skills for these jobs.  The program will give them a letter grade for this job.  If they get a D or E grade, it doesn't mean that they can't do the job, but that they need to improve their skills in order to do the job well.  

Last but not least, the students take a learning style assessment where they determine in which mode they learn best.  The students received their results and learned what the words visual, tactile, and auditory meant.  

This was a great way for the students to find out who they are and it was really helpful for students who had no clue what careers matched their personalities.

Welcome to the Kent Transition Center!

Who Am I?

My name is Debra Rajaratne and I am the English Language Arts instructor at KTC.  I was born in Kingsley, MI, and am the second youngest of 5 girls.  I attended Kingsley High School, Northwestern Michigan College, and Grand Valley State University graduating with a bachelors degree in group social studies education and a minor in English.  I love to sing, travel, cook, and learn new languages.  I also have a masters degree in educational technology and I hope to achieve another masters degree in administration or a doctorate in educational technology.

What Do I Do?

I will be getting your student prepared for the world of work and independence through increasing vocabulary, writing for employment, and speech for employment.  We will be learning new vocabulary throughout the course of their classes, producing various types of writing, researching, and presenting our ideas and ourselves through speech and presentations.  We are currently working to get your student a 1/2 credit of English this year to aid them in the graduation process.

We also have a partnership with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS).  MRS works with people who have disabilities of any kind, to help them find and keep a job.  Also, after becoming established with MRS, if you ever lose a job, you can contact MRS and they will help you find another.  KTC and MRS have partnered to help your student have the possibility of getting a paid job during the summer of 2017.  This is a real job, with a real paycheck, and is not for a grade like our work-based learning (year 2) program at KTC.  This is a real job to help our students get a start on gaining experience and your student has a chance to be a part of this program by attending KTC.  We will let you know what requirements you/they must reach and being making calls home soon.

In Conclusion

I look forward to this year with your child and if you or your child have any question, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Rajaratne
a.k.a Mrs. R
(616) 301-8837
(616) 965-1836

Today, we are learning about the EEOC and things that protect people from discrimination in the workplace.  We will be looking at some of the various protections people have in the hiring and firing process in the workplace.

After defining discrimination, we will look at the EEOC law and it's protections and look at case studies to define whether it was discrimination or not.  After that, the students will write about their reaction to these cases on the blog.

KTC Students Read Through The CA-7 Work Permit

KTC Students Read Through The CA-7 Work Permit

Today, we will be talking about CA-7 Work Permits and why we have them.  Students will be looking at these work permits, trying to understand that they explain the hours they work, the amount they can do, and the design of the document.


After reading through this informational text, they will also make a connection to history.  We hope that after reading through this document and looking at pictures of child labor in the past, they will be able to respond online to how they felt while talking about this subject and the negative impacts of child labor in the world and what they could do to stop child labor.


Students: 

After looking through the CA-7 Work Permit, "The Depressing Stories Behind 20 Vintage Child Labor Pictures" and/or reading "10 Countries with the Worst Child Labor Statistics," please respond to 2 of these questions:

1. How did you feel for the children in these pictures after reading/seeing these pictures and articles?

2. If you were to think of a job that would be dangerous for children, what would it be and why?

3. In your opinion, why do some countries use children as workers?


4. What could you do as a US citizen to stop child labor?

5. What was something you learned today that you didn't know before?

6. What was the most interesting piece of information that you learned about the CA-7 Work Permit that you didn't know before?


Resources to View: 

10 Countries with the Worst Child Labor Statistics:  http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-worst-child-labor-risks-2012-1#heres-a-map-of-child-labor-risk-across-the-world-12

Depressing Stories Behind 20 Vintage Child Labor Pictures: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30248/depressing-stories-behind-20-vintage-child-labor-pictures

Video Link--"India's Hidden Shame" http://www.bbc.com/news/business-25947984

Preparing for the End of the School Year: KTC Students Receive their Professional Documents Folder and their USB Drives for Work Documents

This week at the Kent Transition Center, the students received USB Drives and pocket folios so they could take their work documents with them when they leave KTC.  These drives have been given out every year so that the students still have their resumes, thank you letters, and cover letters with them as well as any other document they have completed in their time here.


The students were taught how to download documents from their Google Drive, save them to their USB drives, and how to eject them properly.  They were then to print out two copies of their resume and put it in the folder so that they would be prepared to drop them off to business if they saw a job they were interested in.  Lastly, the students were given a document that can be folded and inserted into their wallet that they could put all of the information on so they could complete a resume at a moment's notice.  Thanks to my old "lab partner", Sharon Jett, for making these--we still are using them today!


Our goal is to have our students not only complete these assignments but also to show them the value of being prepared, organized, and that what we have taught them can be used outside of our walls.  If there are any LEA's, counselors, or SPED teachers reading this, please make sure that your students update their qualifications, please help them look over their resumes to make changes, update their work histories, or even update their references; they all have a drive unless they were absent or if they lost it.  Thank you!

Thank You To Our Interviewers

This week, the students reviewed their observations/grade sheets from their interviewers.  We looked them over, discussed them, and then had the students create thank you letters to their interviewers.

The students were interacted with the lesson and also provided input to creating the thank you letter.  We reviewed the parts of a thank you letter by having the students stand and after they gave their guess at the name of the section, they sat down.  We also had a student come to the front of the class to be our typist while the others said what they liked, learned, or enjoyed about participating in mock interviews.

Once again, the students and myself would like to say thank you to those who participated and you will be getting your thank you letters shortly.

KTC + MRS Update: Where We Were and Where We're Going

Where we were: 
On Monday March 28th, we told 62 students that based on their behavior and completion of assignments in both my ELA/Career Prep program and their content area class, that they were recommended for the possibility of paid summer employment with Kent ISD and Michigan Rehabilitation Services.

Out of the 62, we were only allowed to have 30 students in the paid summer employment program and that the spots would be on a first-come first-serve basis.  Dr Kiley, the Work Based Learning Staff, and myself recommended the students take MRS employment packets home during Spring Break so they could complete it, have parents sign, and to allow them time to get their social security card, birth certificate, or state I.D. around so that a copy could be submitted to MRS.

Where we are now: 
Currently, as of Friday 4/22/2016, we have 30 applications in and some more on the way.  MRS was so pleased with the turn out that they are also allowing us to take 3-4 more (34 total).  Some students were so motivated to get this job, that we had one student turn their packet in the day after the meeting!

I am so proud of our students and the effort they are showing.  MRS is even hoping to partner with us more next year and offer us support in some areas where they have more expertise.  It is a very exciting time!  Thank you to the students and the parents for being open to this possibility!

Nailed It!: KTC Students Participate in Mock Interview #2

This past week, the students at KTC participated in their second mock interviews.  The students used the feedback sheets from the interviews in their first interviews to help them understand what they could do better and as a class, we talked about what not to say, brainstormed answer options, and composed our responses into complete sentences.

KTC also had businesses and organizations participate in our second round of interviews.  In the first round of interviews, we mainly had Kent ISD staff  and KSSN staff assist in interviewing our students.  In these second round of interviews, we had businesses that were excited to participate with our school to give our students this real life experience.

Some of the businesses and organization who participated were:

Valvoline Instant Oil Change (3 personnel)
Grand Rapids Building Services
The Waterworks Car Wash
D&W (SpartanNash)
Custom Profile
Kent ISD (Custodial department--2 personnel)
West Michigan Works! (3 personnel)
KSSN


Some of the KISD staff who volunteered to interview students were:

Kim Westdorp
Dena Harris
Amy Pierce
Craig Steenstra
Meghan Aupperlee
Marla Salmon
Linda Nawrocki
Tim Peraino
Ryan VanderMolen



This year, more than one student from every class impressed the interviewers!  Even more exciting, I was told by 3 different interviewers of 3-4 students that they would love to hire based on what they saw and heard in the interviews!


It was such a great week and it was so beneficial for our students.  Thank you to all who participated and made this a great real-life learning experience for our students.

KTC Students Ride the Rapid

MRS and KTC have increased their partnership with each other this year and are offering our students to have a paid summer job working at Kent ISD for our students.  These students who were recommended completed various MRS criteria and exhibited positive behaviors that would make them a great candidate for the jobs offered this summer.

In order to be recommended, one of the things that had to be discussed would be the development of a plan for their transportation to and from a job.  KTC has also partnered with the Rapid Bus to show our students how to Ride the Rapid, apply for reduced bus fare, and be aware of who to contact to give them the training outside of our walls.

Two classes, due to the Good Friday holiday, combined and had Rapid Trainers talk to them and teach them about riding the bus within the building while the other classes took a bus ride from the NE side of Grand Rapids to Central Station.

Things we learned about The Rapid Bus: 

1. Did you know that if you prove a disability of some kind, you can get a bus ride for only $0.85?

2. Did you know that if you apply for this reduced fare, you get a card that allows you to get that fare for 5 years?  

3. Some busses start as early as 4:30 or 5 am and go until 12:30 am?!

4. That each bus costs around $380,000 and that it takes 10 years to buy a bus for the fleet.

5. The Rapid Travel Trainers will come to your house and ride with you to any location to help you get used to riding the bus.  All someone has to do is call their office and make arrangements with them.

KTC is so grateful for the hard work and dedication of Cari Dennany and Sarah Green for showing us how to ride and also helping us explore Rapid Central Station, the Amtrak Train Station, and The Rapid Central Office.  It was so much fun and we look forward to completing bus training with you all next year!

Just Browsing: KTC Students Create Presentations on the Various Job search Agencies in Grand Rapids, MI and Summarize Information for Presentations

This week at KTC, the classes are looking at agencies who help companies of various industries in Grand Rapids, MI, find workers for open positions.  The students are to create a Google slide presentation with this information and present it to their classmates.  I opted to do this project because it informs the students about other agencies in the communities along with Michigan Works! that help people find jobs, but also puts the learning in their hands while also getting them to practice their presentation skills for their job interviews.

The students were given a rubric that explained what they were looking for, how the slides should look, and what they would be graded upon when presenting.



The students are being told how they would search for these agencies using Google Chrome and shown where to find the information.  The were also shown how to take large amounts of information and break it down into smaller amounts that are easier to handle using an online text compactor.  This site lets you copy information from a page of text or website, paste it into place, and decrease the word amount to as little as 20% of the original text.


The students are in complete awe that there are agencies that exist to help companies find workers like them and that there are so many of them in Grand Rapids and nation-wide.  The students will continue to work on this presentation next week and prepare for their Rapid Bus training as well.  They will most likely present the first week of the final quarter.

Preparing for the Real World: KTC Auto, Retail, and Facilities Maintenance Students Determine their References and Look at Job Postings

Today at KTC, we are having the students add references to their resume.  We have given them our rubric to tell them what would get them the highest grade but also told them that having all the information for their reference and from a great reference is what could get them their "dream" job.

I even showed them my list of references and prefaced it with telling them that I aimed to leave a great impression on the people I had worked with at every job so that they would have no problem being a reference for me.  This brought up a great discussion that many students their age don't realize; they realized that if they don't behave well for their limited pool of possible references (teachers, mentors, counselors, etc), that this does not help them in obtaining those references because references like reciprocity, a.k.a "The Golden Rule."

After added at least 3 references and all of their information so they could be contacted and so that the person is aware of how you met them, we moved onto looking at a job posting.  We looked at a job posting in an automotive setting and looked through it for hourly pay rate, job title, qualifications, and duties and responsibilities.  We talked through the job posting trying to help them understand what the company was looking for but also referenced what their math teacher, Anya VanElderen, referenced in her workplace math lessons about pay, deductions, and tax rate.

At KTC, we want our students to be aware of what they will encounter when they go into the world and being prepared and knowing how to read through a job posting is one of the most important pieces of information we can give them.

At KTC, we prepare students to be able to chose a career they want, learn about it, and do it.

That Should "Cover" It: KTC Students Create their Cover Letters

This week at KTC, the students are finishing their drafts of their thank you letters to their mock interviewers, they are taking a pre-test on cover letters, we will discuss and show what a thank you letter looks like as well as the requirements, have them take a post-test, and then start on their rough draft of the cover letter.

On the Moodle page, there is a pre-test that asks about whom the letter should be addressed to, what things you should mention, and how you should close your cover letter.

The students also will have a template (gotten from the MS Word templates) that they could use to help them complete the assignment.  The students are to have their rough draft to me by the end of the day by sharing it with me through Google.

At KTC, we want our students to leave our school being work ready.  I myself want to make sure that these students know how to create these documents, that they can make them on their own, but also give them the chance to make these documents on their own and provide feedback or a chance for revision if needed.

Giving Thanks: KTC Students Compose Thank You's

This week at KTC, students are beginning their rough drafts of their thank you letters to their interviewers.

All of the students are writing the thank you letters in Google Drive so that way they can share them with me or their teachers.  We briefly recapped the parts of a thank you letter with a template projected onto my white board with the help of the ELMO.  After that, I kept the template up and the students used it as a guide for how to do their thank you letter.  When they are done, they are to share it with me.

The main goal of today is for them to get a start on this thank you letter.  Next week, they will have comments on their document they shared with me so they can revise it.   Our goal at KTC is that when a resume, cover letter, or thank you letter leaves this building, it is employment ready.


They will also be starting on cover letters next week.  It should be polished and should hold to the conventions of English and to the high standard we have established at KTC.  This includes a pre-test, video for viewing, a picture to look at, discussion, rubric for grading, and a post-test.

The Rapid is Coming: Rapid Bus Training Set to Happen at KTC

The Rapid will be coming to KTC the week of March 28th to do both a presentation and interactive demonstrations about how to "Ride the Rapid" city bus system.

Many of our students at KTC do not know how to use public transit, also known as the city bus system.  This could be because they live outside of the city, they already have a bus transporting them to KTC, but also because they do not feel equipped or do not understand the system and are afraid of the experience.


The Rapid provides bus training to those who would like to learn how to use the city bus system.  The Rapid will come to your home and teach you how to ride the bus to your destination if you need to. All you have to do is go to https://www.ridetherapid.org/howtoride/travel-training or call the Travel Training office at 616-456-7514. 

A Living Document: KTC Uses Google Docs to Allow Staff and Students to Revise Papers

At KTC, we are using Google Docs as our platform for making, editing, and sharing documents.  The students at KTC have used Google Docs for their resumes, thank you letters (current assignment), and will soon for their cover letter.

On Google Docs, they will make their document, share it with me, I make comments or may tell them how to reword something, and then the students can go in and make the changes.




We opted for this after many students said they couldn't get their work done because it was in their file on our servers on campus or after they said that Microsoft Word didn't save their changes for them on their document.


Google Docs make it easy for them to type and make their changes.  We also love the fact that if a student can find internet, they can find their document and be able to work on it.





Please, encourage your student to work on their documents from home or anywhere they can access them.  These are graded assignments and we want them to do their best, which usually means that they made need more time than what they get while in their classes at KTC.  Thank you!

Let's Blog About It!: KTC uses blogs to communicate messages to the world and as a forum for discussion between teachers and students

At KTC this year, we are incorporating blogging into our classroom teaching and activities for students.  Some teachers are using Blogger, a free online blogging platform with out Google accounts, and Ryan Marklevitz (Hospitality instructor) is using KidBlog.

Randy Gebolys (Facilities Maintenance), Beth Mazur (Early Childcare Careers), Renee LaFurgey (Retail), and Clayton Powell (Automotive) are all using Blogger.  Clayton Powell and Randy Gebolys put questions on their blog for the students to answer and also require them to respond to another classmate's blog posting as well.

I have experience with Blogger through my Grand Valley State University Educational Technology degree experiences but I am truly excited that our students are using technology that allows them to communicate with each other, with others around the world, and in ways that college students are being instructed.

The students are beginning their online presence, we are getting the word out about KTC, and we're doing it in innovative ways.

At the Kent Transition Center, we lead learning.

Becoming Independent: KTC Students Use Assistive Technology to Break Down Barriers to their Learning

At KTC, many of our students come in with some sort of deficit.  The deficit that makes it hard for most kids to participate in my class is the lack of reading ability or reading skills and the the lack of fine motor skills or writing ability.

In traditional classrooms, these students need the help of someone who would read for this student. In my class, we are using technology to help the students overcome these obstacles by using text to speech and voice to text options on the computer.

Both of these functions are available with Google.  Google offers the Chrome Web Store which provides you with the ability to download numerous tools to help your students.  The one extension we downloaded was called SpeakIt! and will allow students to highlight text in a website (including Moodle) and have it read to them.  After it is downloaded to the student's Google account, it shows up in the far right corner of their web address bar.

Something else that is extremely useful for our students is the voice to text option that is now free with any Google account.  In a Google Doc, under tools, you will find the option of voice typing.  With this feature, you can click to use your microphone on your computer, speak into your computer, and the words you're saying appear on the screen.

Using Google has definitely helped my teaching and has helped my students both learn and become independent.

Ticket to Ride: Mrs. R provides incentives for participation

My name used to be Ms. Weber but since then, I have gotten married and now many students can't pronounce my name.  Many of my students just call me Mrs. R or Mrs. Raj.  In my ELA class at KTC, my class is the one that students tend to like the least.  They would rather be in their classes learning what they came to KTC for and don't understand why they have to learn English.

My class is not your typical English class.  While at their home schools may be reading books and doing reports, in my class they are speaking out loud, phrasing responses for interviews, reading through job postings, and other career oriented activities.

Headphones, candy, and multi-port USBs are some of the prizes raffled off so far.

I know that it is hard to keep their enthusiasm and focus for the hour they have my class so I offer incentives for participating in my class.  For every time a student responds, provides input/feedback, or asks a question related to the topic we are learning about, I give them a ticket which is then put into a raffle for something desirable.  This way, I hope to keep their focus on classwork and the subject area as opposed to something else.

Giving Thanks: KTC students review their interview progress, continue working on their interview responses, and learn the parts of a thank you letter

KTC students just underwent interviews last week with volunteers from the Kent ISD educational services center (ESC), Kent School Services Network (KSSN), Kent Career Technical Center (KCTC), KTC, and D&W Fresh Market.  The students had a great time and really impressed our interviewers.

This week, we hand back their grading sheets so that the students can look them over and see what they did well and what they can improve on.  The students were also told about the comments on the back of the sheets as well from the interviewers to them.  The students thought it was very nice that someone took their time to write specific things for all of our students.

Next, we tried to think about pinpointing what we could mention as a weakness for ourselves and a way we could overcome that obstacle or deal with the problem.  The students thought of 3 weaknesses and 3 solutions and wrote them down on a sheet for both myself and their content area teachers (Early Childhood Careers, Automotive, etc) could see.  We have been using the strategy that if you mention a weakness, that you need to add a positive to it such as a strategy for overcoming, dealing with, or improving that weakness.

Lastly, the students had taken a pre-test on the parts of a thank you letter, now they would be diagramming it out, labeling the parts, and using those notes to compose a thank you letter for their interviewers next week and help them ace their post-tests.

Leaving a Lasting Impression: Mock Interviews at the Kent Transition Center

This week at the Kent Transition Center, we had the students undergo a mock interview with someone they didn't know.  We had talked about interviewing in class since the end of the second quarter, but this was to be their pre-test to see what their scores would be with minimal to any coaching.  

2015-2016 Mock Interview Scoring Rubric

Most students on week 8 of the second quarter were shown the rubric that they would be graded by where as others were not due to exams and our school-wide field trip to the Michigan Career Technical Institute.  The students were very nervous and most hoped to do really well in their first practice interview here at KTC.

The rubric morphed this year thanks to some insight from someone who volunteered at KIH, our neighbor across the street, in their mock interviews for their students.  The new rubric judges the students more on their body language,
which has been proven through survey after survey, can fail someone's interview before they even answer the question of "tell me about yourself."  

Non-verbal mistakes made a job interviews (from a survey of 2000 bosses)

The students in week 3 of this quarter will be looking over this rubric and beginning to learn the basics of a thank you letter so that in week 6, they will be constructing one for their interviewers.  

On behalf of the students, who are in the process of beginning to compose their thank you letter, I would like to thank our interviewers for their time and their efforts.  It is by the cooperation of people like you, that we continue to help our students learn how to be successful adults and employable citizens.  Thank you so much for your time and we hope to call upon you in the near future.  

Our next round of interviews will be the week of April 18th-April 22nd, 2016.

Thank you to our first-round interviewers listed below: 

Kailey Specht
Glennda Parker
Marla Salmon
Kay Pugh
Craig Steenstra
Carol Paine-McGovern (KSSN)
Brenda Brower
Eric Kelliher
Kurt Helferich
Phil Winslow (D&W)
Robin Loughrin
Lindsay Tilley
Shay Kraley
Meghan Aupperlee
Dena Harris

Being "Resourceful": KTC Students Search for Websites, Videos, and More About How-To and How-To-Not Interview

This week at KTC, while the other students were going out for their interviews, the students were going onto the worldwide web and finding resources (websites, videos, and pictures) about interviewing.  They were researching what to and what not to wear, how to answer and how not to answer, and so many more connected to interviewing.  There were so many good resources found.  It was truly amazing.

I had created a Google Doc and shared it with all the students.  I asked the students to add their name and their resources to the document including the URL/web address and the picture if they could.  It was great to see the students using technology.  Many of them are now able to add another row to a table, know what a URL/web address is, how to copy and paste with command keys, and how to collaborate with each other online.  It was truly amazing and very exciting.

Tell Me What You See: KTC Students Offer Constructive Criticism to Classmates about Interviewing Skills and Weaknesses

This week at KTC, the students are practicing with each other to help each other find out what they are doing with their bodies and the things they need to work on.  The students are to ask each other the common interview questions and observe their classmate in 4 areas; eye contact, projection, posture, and response quality.  They are then to record this information on their sheet so that they can then respond in class discussion.  This was a great practice in constructive criticism for our students who sometimes don't take to redirection well and see all criticism as negative.

Also, the students were to watch either a classmate and myself go through an interview at the front of the room and for us as a class to help the student interviewee do better or watch a clip from YouTube and critique what that person had done in the video.  

Intro to Interviewing, Body Language, and Naming Strengths

This week, the students started thinking about how they are supposed to behave in an interview.  The students took a pre-test and a post-test and then we took notes and acted out how to behave in an interview.

The students learned how they should introduce themselves and what various scenarios would say to an interviewer.  We talked about how slumping or slouching gives a negative impression and then showed them how they should be sitting that shows that they are engaged and interested in the conversation.  We also talked about eye contact and offered alternative areas of the face to focus on if direct eye contact makes us feel uncomfortable.  This was such a fun lesson and I really like it because I get to act out things for the students and they get to show me how to behave or suggest what I should do.

Lastly, we had our students think about how to answer the question about what their biggest strength was.  Using a site I found on an adult education website, I had them circle things that they do well from a list of skills that are applicable to many jobs.  After circling them, we also brainstormed other skills that were not on the list that are good to have on a job and put them into an "I am ___________ because _________________," statement.  At KTC, while the lessons are fun, they are always focused on getting the students to formulate responses that would be appropriate for job interviews, resumes, and so much more needed to help them secure employment.

Links:
Strengths Worksheet

"Applying" Themselves: KTC Students Fill Out Practice Job Applications

In this lesson at KTC, we wanted the students to know the basics of filling out a job application.  Job applications are like reading Greek to students.  They don't know what the sections mean, they don't know what the words are, and they definitely don't have dates of the awards they've gotten, addresses, or phone numbers.  At KTC, we are trying to walk them through the parts of an application so they can then do it themselves.

All the students took a pre-test and a post-test on applications and how they are alike and different from a resume.  From there, we gave them an application and told them to complete it according to a rubric provided.  The students thought that an application would be easier than a resume, but many of them struggled more with the application rather than a resume.  I believe that this occurred because an application is not as flexible as a resume.

With a resume, a student can adjust the font size, the font type, spacing, and so much more whereas with an application, it is fixed and can't be changed.  The students tried their best to complete the application according to our standards.  It was so exciting to see students who were going to leave a blank spot on their application before telling their classmates to fill it in with N/A for non-applicable. Many of our students struggle with the paper applications because it is so dependent on handwriting and lack the fine motor skills to make their writing small and neat enough to be legible.

For those students, we also have an online option for their application, which is the online option.  I found this website that will allow the student to complete the information online and even let them
practice uploading their resume or documents to this site.  I was really happy to have stumbled upon it.  I hope that all the preparation we are giving the students proves to be beneficial in the future.

Links: Online Practice Application Site

It Just Comes Naturally--Determining our natural talents

    This week, the students went through a list of natural talents by True Colors groups.  After reading through the sections, they were to highlight the things they they can do naturally and enjoyed doing. 

The students were amazed but also confused.  Many thought that because they determined that they were certain color predominantly that they couldn't also have talents that belong to other color groups.  It was neat to see them learn new things about themselves.

Reflection:

Despite this being a neat lesson, I don't know if I would do this as a separate lesson next year.  It would be good to bring up the natural talents in the True Colors lesson. Also, we will have to work to go through the talents listed and simplify them for our students.  

Things of Value: KTC finds out what they value most in a job

This week at KTC, we attempted to have our students think about what they value especially when it comes to the workplace.  We used the resources provided on the Career OneStop website to tell the students what the 6 work values were and then we had them use a Work Values Assessment  (online) to see what their top 2-3 values would be.




After finding out their 2-3 work values, they could put it into another website and it would cross reference jobs with those work values.  Each one of the jobs that would come up on that list also was linked to the Career One Stop website so they could learn more about the career.

We also tried to talk about what the difference between ethics and values.  According to a career tech education teachers curriculum they had posted online, there are going to be many jobs where someones values will be put to the test by putting them in situations where they may have to go against what they have been taught to value.  It seemed like a really interesting thing to present to the students.


Reflection:
I don't think I would bring up ethics next year.  I think I would just have students define what a value is,  have them do the work values assessment to determine their 3 work values, and then have them put it into the website to show them the jobs that corresponded with their work values.  The day we did this in class, we had a technical problem that we couldn't get the students to do it online but did it with a paper grid and the different situations which they then ranked themselves.  Hopefully next time, we will be able to have the students do it online.

Links:
Career OneStop Work Values Homepage
Six Core Values Website
Work Values Cards
Work Values Online Assessment