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Course Objectives

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Student Resources

Student Resource 1.2

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Course Expectations: Plan Ahead

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Overview

Welcome to Plan Ahead! Over the next few months you will learn a lot about yourself. What’s important to you? What are you good at? What do you want to get better at? You’ll use this information to plan your high school education. You will also set goals for life after high school. You will begin developing a portfolio, which you will add to throughout your high school career.

In this class, you will develop skills for success in high school, college, and adulthood. These include managing your time and your money. You will learn what to say and how to act around different kinds of people. You will even learn the steps for getting a summer job or internship!

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Assignments You Will Complete in This Course

In this course you will:

–   Practice reading and writing to do well in high school, college, and career

–   Do research online

–   Learn about your interests, skills, and values

–   Learn skills for living on your own someday, like how to make a budget and stick to it

–   Speak in front of an audience (with lots of practice first)

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How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated:

–   Through your written assignments

–   By the way you act in class

–   By your work with a group or a partner

–   Sometimes with a quiz

–   Through assessment criteria and rubrics. Your teacher reviews these with you first so you know exactly what an assignment that is well done looks like.

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Your Portfolio

Your portfolio is a collection of assignments and personal reflections. The purpose of the portfolio is to help you keep all the work you are doing to prepare for your future in one place. Eventually, you will have materials that will be useful when you apply for internships, summer jobs, college, apprenticeships, and so forth. Throughout this course, you will create several different elements of your portfolio. Later on in high school, you will use the portfolio to help you make decisions about further education or career opportunities.

Student Resource 1.3

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Worksheet: What I Want for My Future

Student Name: _______________________________________________________ Date: ___________

Directions: Each of these goals is something that people might want. Read each one. Is this something you want someday?

Next, decide which of them you want the most. That is #1. Write that goal next to #1. Write the rest of the goals in order of how much you want them, with #10 being what you don’t care very much about.

If you want something that is not on this list, write it down by the number that shows how much you want it.

#1:                          

#2:                          

#3:                          

#4:                          

#5:                          

#6:                          

#7:                          

#8:                          

#9:                          

#10:                          

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Writing about Success

Now that you have thought about the things you want most in your life, complete the prompts below. For each prompt, write at least two complete sentences. For example, if your #1 goal is to become a famous chef, which is not on this list, your reflection could sound like this:

I think my life will be a success if I can become a chef in my own restaurant. To me, this is important because I love to cook and I make up new recipes all the time. My whole family loves to cook. Some of our favorite recipes have been passed down for four generations. Cooking is a really important part of my life and it would make me happy to cook as a profession.

This is the first entry in your portfolio, so take your time and think about what you want to say.

1. I think my life will be a success if I can…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

To me, this is important because…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

2. Success in my life will also mean that I…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

That is important to me because…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

3. Finally, I will be successful if I…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

That is important to me because…

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Before handing in your assignment, check to make sure it meets or exceeds the following assessment criteria:

–   The reflection is composed of at least six complete sentences.

–   The reflection uses the prompts to help explain what success means to the student.

–   The reflection is clear and thoughtful.

–   The reflection is neat and uses proper spelling and grammar.

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Based on the Plan Ahead educational materials made available by Gap Inc. at www.whatsyourplana.com and developed in partnership with the Pearson Foundation. Such materials are copyright © 2010–2013 Gap Inc. and all rights are reserved. The Plan Ahead educational materials are provided “AS IS”; Gap Inc. and the Pearson Foundation are not responsible for any modifications made to such materials.