Navigating the next four years. High School Preparation for 8th Graders.

Transcription

1 Navigating the next four years. High School Preparation for 8th Graders.

2 8th Grade High School Preparation & Beyond... This book will contain information relevant for your son or daughter to: prepare for the high school transition; learn about the Career Cruising Website; begin the career cruising process of building a portfolio; provide future data for 4-year course selection and planning.

3 Where to begin? High School Selection Process: Are you a Raider or a Redwing? Once you have selected the school of your choice the rest becomes much easier. North High School Counseling Website School Counselors: Judy Rowe jrowe@sheboygan.k12.wi.us Jenny Marks jmarks@sheboygan.k12.wi.us Chia Xiong cxiong@sheboygan.k12.wi.us Trevor Tagel ttagel@sheboygan.k12.wi.us Brian C. Pilz bpilz@sheboygan.k12.wi.us 8th Grade Orientation: Jan. 16th 5:45 pm Younger students will be assigned to the same counselor as their older siblings. Counselors follow their assigned students through high school to graduation. South High School Counseling Website 8th Grade Orientation: Jan. 3rd beginning at 5:30 for tours and orientation. 2

4 Why Career Cruising and how does it work? Career Cruising is a system set up to aid your son or daughter throughout the high school process allowing them the ability to work with career clusters, hobbies and interests etc. so that they can see which direction they should look when planning the next four years of high school. The system is user friendly and incredibly helpful. Each of your son/daughters counselors will utilize this tool when working with them the next four years in an effort to ensure they are academically driven toward the field/career and strong interests of their choice. # Electronic Tracking of Development Activities: # *Document their work and volunteer experience # *Record their extracurricular activities # *Catalog their skills and abilities # *Record awards or certifications they have received # *Upload related documents, such as artwork, essays or # letters of reference From the career cruising website: The course planner module helps students plan courses that reflect their career aspirations and graduation requirements. it brings together critical information including credit history, course descriptions, diploma tracking, pre-requisite requirements and suggested courses. Tools for Students *Save career matchmaker and other assessments results. *Record their short/long term goals. *Bookmark careers of interest and record their thoughts about each career # Create Career and Education plans # *Create a personalized 4-year high school plan # *Create a prioritized post-secondary education plan # *Use the information in their portfolio to create # # customized, professional resumes # *Share their portfolio with parents, advisors, post- # secondary admissions staff, and potential employers.# # *Bookmark schools that offer the education and training they need *Identify their career cluster and pathway interests *Track career planning activities, such as job shadowing, career fairs, campus visits, and internships. 3

5 Logging into Career Cruising It will be very important that you build your portfolio to better assist you in reaching your academic and career goals. 4

6 Logging in to Career Cruising: 4.# Click Start. 1.# Go to 2.# Enter your username and password. # Username: SASD-llaster (first initial last name/lunch account# 5.# Answer the first 39 questions. If you need more information about a question, click on the More Info button beside the question. 6.# Your Matchmaker Results will appear on the screen. Click on Save to My Portfolio. # Password: (lunch account#) Your Matchmaker Results 3.# Check that you agree with the End User License Agreement and click Submit. 4.# On the left side of the screen, click on Portfolio Homepage. 5.# A box will appear asking for your address. Enter your address and click Save. 6.# You are now signed in to your portfolio. Part 1: Complete the Career Matchmaker 1.# Click on the blue Assessment Results tab on the left hand side. 2.# Click on Career Matchmaker. 1.# On the left side of the screen is a list of Suggested Careers for you. Scan the list. 2.# On the right side of the screen Career Cluster Recommendations are listed. Take a look at the two cluster recommendations for you. 3.# Under the Career Cluster Recommendations is a section titled Improve Results. There is a red bar that shows how many questions have to be completed yet. Click on Answer More Questions. These questions will help identify closer matches for you. 4.# Answer all the questions. You will be brought back to Your Matchmaker Results screen. Click on Save to My Portfolio. 3.# Click on New Matchmaker Session. 5

7 5.# Look at your Suggested Careers and Career Cluster Recommendations. They may have changed since you ve answered more questions. 6.# Look again at the section titled Improve Results. There is a red bar that shows how many questions have to be completed yet. # If your bar is not showing that all questions are completed, click on Answer More Questions. # If yours is showing that all questions are completed, move on to Part 2. 7.# Answer all the questions. You will be brought back to Your Matchmaker Results screen. Click on Save to My Portfolio. 8.# Repeat steps 6 & 7 until all questions are completed. Part 2: Review Your Career Matchmaker Results and Pick 3 1.# Explore the careers that appear on your Suggested Careers list. To do this, click on any career that interests you and read more about it. You can read about working conditions, earnings, education, and see interviews with real people. Use the buttons on the left side of the screen to view these different areas. 2.# To get back to your list of Suggested Careers, click on Back to Matchmaker Suggestions. 3.# You need to pick 3 careers that interest you most to save in your portfolio. When you find a career that interests you, click on the Save to My Portfolio button, located at the bottom of the tab menu on the left side of the page. This career will now be saved in the Careers That Interest Me section of your portfolio. Next to the career you selected, you will see an option to add a comment. Click on Add Comment and type in what you like most about this career and then click on Save. Do this step for all 3 careers that interest you most. Part 3: Find Schools Based on Your Career Interests 1.# Click on the Portfolio Homepage tab located on the left side of the screen. 2.# Click on the Careers that Interest Me tab on the left side of the screen. 3.# The three careers you selected and saved to your portfolio will appear. 4.# Click on one of the careers listed. You will see a profile for that career. Read the profile. 5.# Click on the Education tab on the left side of the screen. Read through the educational requirements for that career. 6.# Under Related College & University Programs you will find links to schools offering post-secondary programs related to that career. The most closely related programs are at the top of the list. (Note: There are a few careers that do not have any related college or university programs. If the career you are interested in does not have any related programs, select another career.) 6

8 7.# Click on a program name, and you will see a list of schools in Wisconsin where that program is offered. Browse through the list of schools. If you want to look at schools in other states, click the View Other States link at the top of the page. 8.# Click on a school name and read through the school profile. The blue tabs on the left let you look at academic information, expenses, student life and other areas for each school. 9.# When you find a school that interests you, click on the Save to My Portfolio button found on the lower part of the tab menu on the left side of the screen. 10.# You will automatically be taken to the Schools That Interest Me section of your portfolio. Next to the school you saved, you will see the option to add a comment. Click the Comments link and enter the program name and type of program. Click Save. 11.# You will need to follow these steps to save at least 2 schools that interest you. # # # # # # # # # # Part 4: List Some of Your Skills and Abilities This section of the Portfolio lists skills and abilities you have acquired through school and extracurricular activities. You can include computer skills, personal attributes, and language skills. Some of you did this section of the portfolio last year if so, just follow the steps and make any changes you feel are more accurate for you. 1.# From your Portfolio Homepage click on the Activities & Abilities tab. 2.# Click on Hobbies & Interests. 3.# Select one skill area at a time from the dropdown menu. # Attributes select this one first. # Computer Skills select this one after you ve completed all the steps for Attributes. # Language Skills select this one after you ve completed all the steps for Computer Skills. 4.# Check the skills you possess and record comments, including examples of how you have used this skill or how you acquired the skill. 5.# Click on Save at the bottom of the page. 6.# Go back to step 3 and follow the same steps for Computer Skills and then Language Skills. 7.# You can also enter other skills and abilities by using the Enter Your Own spaces at the bottom of the skills lists. 7

9 8.# You need to have at least 1 of your Skills or Abilities saved in your portfolio. Part 5: List Some of Your Hobbies and Interests 5.# Click on the Save button at the bottom of the page. 6.# Complete the above steps for all hobby or interest groups in the dropdown menu. You can use your Career Portfolio to store a variety of information about the extracurricular activities that you participate in, your skills and abilities, and awards and certificates you have received. Some of you did this section of the portfolio last year if so, just follow the steps and make any changes you feel are more accurate for you. 1.# From your Portfolio Homepage click on Activities & Abilities tab. 2.# Click on Hobbies & Interests. 3.# Select a hobby or interest group from the dropdown menu. The dropdown menu includes: Arts & Crafts, Collecting, Community Service, General Interests, Recreation & Outdoors, Science & Computers, and Sports. 4.# Check the activities that you participate in. For each activity, record your thoughts about the activity, such as what skills you have learned from it. For example, if you are an avid collector, you may have gained organizational skills. If you are involved in any hobbies that are not on the list, you can use the Enter Your Own spaces at the bottom of the list. You can also attach any related files by clicking on the Attach File link. 8

10 Navigating the next four years: Teens Starting high school is an overwhelming experience for any teenager. Whether you are coming from a middle school (grades six through eight) or a junior high school (grades seven through nine), there are many things about high school that are different from your old school environment, and you will experience many changes. You will face navigating a new school, making new friends in an unfamiliar class and getting to know new teachers. These new teachers will usually have higher academic expectations than your middle and junior-high school teachers. They want to help you get into college; in return, they expect you to work hard and improve your skills. Every person has a tough time at one point or another. Having trouble with school does not make you a bad person, or a dumb person. Getting a bad grade, or not understanding a subject, means you need a little extra help to do your best. The most important thing is to admit you are having trouble and ask for help. Ask the teacher what you can do, ask the school what extra help is available, ask your parents what they can do to help, and talk to your friends, who may have had trouble, too. Having trouble is not a bad thing, but if you ignore it, it will get worse. Remember you are a capable person, you can handle the stress, and you will be able to manage this. "SQ3R" is Not a Secret Code SQ3R is a mnemonic device (memory helper) for an old study method that has been used in education since the mid-1940s. Each letter stands for the first letter of a word (there are three "R" words). Here is the translation: # # Survey (or scan) the material (homework or jobrelated work), looking for the most important points and the basic flow of the content -- or just the headings. # # Question -- Write down several questions as if you were a teacher preparing a test for someone else.# # # Read the material, looking for the answers to the questions you wrote down. (Don't underline.)# # # Recite -- Write down the answers. # # Review -- Check the answers against the material.# ix

11 This system builds in the reinforcement that is essential for someone to retain what they have learned. For most persons, something read over once doesn't stick very well -- particularly if it is crammed in at the last minute (itself a stressful activity). Graduation comes sooner than you think. Ten things students can do to make a smooth transition from middle school to high school. 10. Be sure you understand how high school credits work and how many you are required to take. Find out more about credits in the career cruising website or on your high schools counseling webpage. 9. Learn to breathe really. Deep breaths can help lower your stress. Know the name of at least one adult at high school that you can ask for help. 8. Explore student organizations, athletics, band, choir and other options that exist for you at high school. It will help you form a supportive group of friends with similar interests, improve your leadership skills, and start building a resume for your college applications. 7. Keep an eye on upcoming events, grading periods, and announcements and write important dates in your planner. Where are they posted at the high school? Are they on the school s website? Is there a text blast or an ? Where is the conference period of each teacher listed? 6. Take advantage of any summer camps or orientation sessions offered at the high school. Learn as much as possible about the Preparing your portfolio and planning ahead will make this day an even bigger success. x

12 high school ahead of time. 5. Meet teachers, counselors, and the principal BEFORE school starts, if possible. Pay attention when they talk about attendance, grading, and tardy policies. 4. Get together with friends and find out what they know about high school. Chances are good you all know a little and can share with each other. 3. Be sure to complete your four-year plan. Ask questions if you don t understand. Four year plans will be created on your career cruising website in your portfolio with the help of your high school counselor. 2. Ask for help! Find out what tutoring or extra help is offered for academics. 1. Remember, your friends are nervous about high school, too. Stick together, and you ll find out that high school is not as scary as you once thought. Information pulled from the following websites: If you have any questions regarding high school registration, please don t hesitate to contact Mrs. Laster at or llaster@sheboygan.k12.wi.us Written materials will be sent home the week of January 1st and 8th graders will be registering for both North and South on Feb. 14th and Feb. 28th. I am strongly encouraging you to begin the career cruising portfolio prior to those meeting dates. xi

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