Career Ed. is taught mostly in the second half of the year through a major simulation activity. There will be a handful of activities through the fall in preparation helping shape an understanding of the meaning of a life career.
Simulation Project
This challenging and multifaceted project will be completed, partly alone and partly with a partner. The simulation will develop by stage. Each stage in meant to engage students in looking at how life and career choices blend and that opportunities and limitations are part of career selection. Individual activities will include the following. As they're assigned, links will appear here.
Phase One - Career Investigation
Resources - these sites and documents will be a big help in finding specific information
Tests
You will take three tests that will evaluate different aspects of who you are. Each test will provide some information to help you choose a career path. Use the test results plus other supports here to conduct your research. Complete each test, do a bit of checking on the suggested careers. Choose three for each test taken. It's from this list you will choose your final path and go deep with your investigation.
Test #1 Personality
This assessment will result in a four letter code. The code summarizes aspects of your personality. Once you have the code, go to the link below, select your code and consider some of the matching career options.
What do the codes mean? They are a combination of your tendency in four categories
Test #2 Interests
This test works to connect activities that interest you to careers that have similar characteristics. You want your life careers to be of the sort that will "get you out of bed in the morning." Take this quiz and develop a short list of three careers to include in worksheet #1.
Test #3 Abilities
This test wants to let you know which natural skills you may have and then connect those to work. Having some natural ability at a task means you will learn faster and find success easier at it. It doesn't suggest you will love it. In contrast, you may love the idea of a particular activity but find you don't have the talent for it. This test fills in some of the gaps the last two test leave out.
Note - this test will give you a series of career options that are separated by the level of education required. Be sure to examine them in each category
Phase 2 - Financial Management: Income Statement
Worksheet #2 - this document is completed as you proceed step by step through its completion. Do so neatly and in pen. The link is to a duplicate for printing at home if needed. If working with an assigned partner, be sure to include both after tax incomes. Ask when uncertain.
Accommodations
Realtor.ca - use to search for houses in the Saskatoon area
Kijiji Saskatoon - use this site to search for rental property
Mortgage Calculator - use the following criteria
Transportation
You may by new or used. One of the two vehicles must accommodate two children. You will calculate the monthly cost using the financial calculator. There are more options than listed here including using a manufacturer's online tools.
Autotrader.ca - choose Saskatoon, 250km
Kijiji Saskatoon - a good alternative for a used vehicle
Toyota.ca - nearly all manufacturers have page where you can price vehicles using a building tool.
Finance Costs
Finance Calculator - most people use some kind of loan to pay for their vehicle over a period of years. Use the link and follow these steps.
Insurance
Basic Insurance Costs - All vehicles in Saskatchewan require insurance. In this province, basic insurance is provided by SGI. Use this tool to locate your vehicles and their plate costs.
Food Budget Planning - you need to prepare a two week menu plan using the handout. We will later go "shopping" at a grocery store to price your choices.
Simulation Project
This challenging and multifaceted project will be completed, partly alone and partly with a partner. The simulation will develop by stage. Each stage in meant to engage students in looking at how life and career choices blend and that opportunities and limitations are part of career selection. Individual activities will include the following. As they're assigned, links will appear here.
Phase One - Career Investigation
- Worksheet #1 - this is a duplicate of the handout in class. You will submit a completed copy once you have completed the online assessments and research.
Resources - these sites and documents will be a big help in finding specific information
- Saskatchewan Job Bank Magazine - careers broken into categories with information specific to Saskatchewan. Up to date and helpful.
- Gov't of Canada Job Bank - this government site lets you search by career and location. It has lots of helpful info for this project. We will explore it together.
Tests
You will take three tests that will evaluate different aspects of who you are. Each test will provide some information to help you choose a career path. Use the test results plus other supports here to conduct your research. Complete each test, do a bit of checking on the suggested careers. Choose three for each test taken. It's from this list you will choose your final path and go deep with your investigation.
Test #1 Personality
This assessment will result in a four letter code. The code summarizes aspects of your personality. Once you have the code, go to the link below, select your code and consider some of the matching career options.
What do the codes mean? They are a combination of your tendency in four categories
- introvert/extrovert
- Sensing (hands on/practical) vs. Intuition (abstract, thinking about ideas and the future)
- Thinking (logical/reasoners) vs. Feeling (lead by the heart)
- Judging (planners, like order) vs. Perceiving (flexible, spontaneous)
- Check here for more detail
- other career options based on the code - click on your type to see the details
Test #2 Interests
This test works to connect activities that interest you to careers that have similar characteristics. You want your life careers to be of the sort that will "get you out of bed in the morning." Take this quiz and develop a short list of three careers to include in worksheet #1.
Test #3 Abilities
This test wants to let you know which natural skills you may have and then connect those to work. Having some natural ability at a task means you will learn faster and find success easier at it. It doesn't suggest you will love it. In contrast, you may love the idea of a particular activity but find you don't have the talent for it. This test fills in some of the gaps the last two test leave out.
Note - this test will give you a series of career options that are separated by the level of education required. Be sure to examine them in each category
Phase 2 - Financial Management: Income Statement
Worksheet #2 - this document is completed as you proceed step by step through its completion. Do so neatly and in pen. The link is to a duplicate for printing at home if needed. If working with an assigned partner, be sure to include both after tax incomes. Ask when uncertain.
Accommodations
Realtor.ca - use to search for houses in the Saskatoon area
Kijiji Saskatoon - use this site to search for rental property
Mortgage Calculator - use the following criteria
- Enter the purchase price of the house.
- Amortization (how low it takes to pay it off) use 25 years.
- Payment frequency = monthly.
- Under "Product" scroll down and select 5 year closed.
- Look to the right and record the monthly amount. The annual total will be that times 12.
- Property taxes, money paid to the city for services such as garbage collection, is usually in the listing. If it is not, come see me for help.
Transportation
You may by new or used. One of the two vehicles must accommodate two children. You will calculate the monthly cost using the financial calculator. There are more options than listed here including using a manufacturer's online tools.
Autotrader.ca - choose Saskatoon, 250km
Kijiji Saskatoon - a good alternative for a used vehicle
Toyota.ca - nearly all manufacturers have page where you can price vehicles using a building tool.
Finance Costs
Finance Calculator - most people use some kind of loan to pay for their vehicle over a period of years. Use the link and follow these steps.
- Input the price
- Skip down to duration. Use 60 months
- Set tax at 11%
- Use 5.9% as the interest rate. The monthly payment will be listed. Use it and the times 12 value on your income statement.
Insurance
Basic Insurance Costs - All vehicles in Saskatchewan require insurance. In this province, basic insurance is provided by SGI. Use this tool to locate your vehicles and their plate costs.
Food Budget Planning - you need to prepare a two week menu plan using the handout. We will later go "shopping" at a grocery store to price your choices.
PAA
Practical and Applied Arts is a generally integrated set of activities focused on skills that support or enhance learning. This year, I will focus on two broad categories.
Brickfilm Project
This activity asks students to envision, storyboard and create a short brickfilm using stop motion animation techniques. The project has three components.
Past Activities
- Integration of technology. Students will learn how to use cloud storage for sharing and collaboration as well specific features of Microsoft tools including Word, PowerPoint and Excel. This school year, students will be required to produce polished written compositions using Word templates, deliver individual and group presentations using PowerPoint and build graphs using Excel. I plan to do some coding as well, time permitting. It teaches algorithmic thinking and it's actually quite fun. My hope is to improve mathematical thinking as a benefit.
- Television production. This winter, all students will participate in the Telemedia program ultimately producing both an interview and television commercial at our studio. This current edition was produced by me for use by teachers in our division.
Brickfilm Project
This activity asks students to envision, storyboard and create a short brickfilm using stop motion animation techniques. The project has three components.
Past Activities
- PowerPoint Activity
- Typing Record Page
- Typing Tests
- If you scored less than 30 wpm - use practice lessons on the beginner lessons
- If you scored 30+ wpm - use the intermediate lessons
- MS Word Activity - follow the instructions
