Overview
Students are encouraged throughout TaTT 3 to look at their community as a workplace and learn that, just like their school, it is also a workplace. Students think about their own role as a citizen in their community and how their actions can affect its success. The role of Information Communication Technology is introduced to students as a strategy used by organizations to achieve their mission.
TaTT 3 is designed to prepare students for ongoing success in high school and represents the conclusion to the Thinking about Tomorrow Today™ program.
TaTT 3 Table of Contents
Unit One: I Need to Be Workplace Literate!
Whether students end their 12 years of public education with a job or go onto college, there are two important tasks that will be required of them. First, they will have to fill out an application and show a potential employer or college that they are an attractive candidate. Secondly, they will have to go to an interview, conduct themselves in a professional manner and answer some difficult questions. This can be very challenging and stressful for even those students who are successful academically.
In unit one, students will be exposed to the type of information that will be requested of them on an application by completing one. They will learn that employers and colleges require young people to be workplace literate, which is the foundation on which academic and job success are built. The unit includes a personal assessment that enables students to perform a self-evaluation and determine their own knowledge level of workplace literacy. Gaps are identified and action plans developed to acquire the missing knowledge.
This unit features several lessons on creating quality presentations and learning how to deliver them effectively. Students have an opportunity to teach workplace literacy to an audience, and in doing so learn to value this important foundation. The presentation section of this unit is great practice for that all important interview, which for many students, is right around the corner.
Lastly, students learn that being workplace literate now is in their best interest and doing so in school and in their community is a great place to practice.
Unit Two: My Community is a Workplace in Action
One of the emerging content areas in public education is called Civic Literacy. Civic Literacy can be understood as:
• Participating effectively in civic life through knowing how to stay informed and understanding governmental processes.
• Exercising the rights and obligations of citizenship at local, state, national and global levels.
• Understanding the local and global implications of civic decisions.
Note: These bullets are adopted from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
As students begin to experience their world beyond their home and school, they will become increasingly aware of the community in which they live and the services provided by their community. In this unit, students learn about the services offered by local, state, and federal levels of government. They learn that a government is a workplace and its success depends on the ability of its members to be workplace literate. Students also learn that resources are not limitless and their own personal behavior in their community can significantly impact how those resources, especially financial are allocated.
Students also learn that the success of a community depends in part on volunteerism. This essential component of government is presented to students so that they can begin thinking about how they might contribute to their community in a positive and giving manner.
The unit concludes with students assuming the leadership role of a “community of the future” with the objective of learning that meetings have agendas, people are assigned roles and responsibilities and that objectives are met ONLY when people come to meetings prepared and ready to do their job. In some meetings, students will need to come with their work already completed. This real world activity helps students understand the true meaning of cooperation and teamwork and why it is important for them to come to class prepared to do their job.
Unit Three: Using Information and Communication Technology
It is said that we live in an information-driven society. Virtually every business or organization uses computers to collect and access data, convert it into information and use that information to drive decision-making. This process is often referred to as Information and Communication technology, or ICT. As defined, ICT is the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information securely. What business or organization does not use ICT?
Students who graduate from high school proficient in the core subjects are only partially prepared to meet the needs of employers. Today, knowing how to use computers and software applications to help support decision making is a valued and necessary skill. Unit three is designed to introduce students to ICT and help them experience its value and learn that being ICT literate is not an option, it is a requirement.
To help students get started, they are introduced to the concept of ICT and how it used. They learn how to access and manage data (facts) so that they can convert it into information (knowledge). Unit three provides students with an opportunity to experience ICT by solving a real world problem. Acting as a real estate person, they will need to use their ICT skills to determine if their community meets the needs of a client. This activity enables students to experience the job of a real estate agent who wants to “make a sale.”
Unit Three concludes with students practicing how to take information and make a presentation. In Activity B, students will return to the Community of the Future activity from Unit Two and create a persuasive “document” that explains why they are supporting the budget and its corresponding initiatives.
Unit Four: High Standards, Big Expectations, Limited Resources
In today’s society, “accountability” has taken center stage in how businesses and organizations are managed. As a result, standards are created to guide these organizations as well as the people working there. The higher the expectations, the more “accountable” people and organizations become.
Unit Four enables students to participate in a real world situation of high standards, big expectations and limited resources. Taking on the role of municipal employees, they experience the meaning of accountability in their community. They are charged with the task of meeting the needs of citizens and creating a budget to support a municipal department. They soon realize the impact of limited financial resources, and challenge of being accountable to citizens. Additionally, students recognize that they must compete against other departments for the same limited resources. They experience how their language arts skills are utilized to create a compelling and persuasive argument in support of their budget request.
Unit Four concludes with students reviewing their mock high school application from unit one and determining the degree to which they are meeting expectations as defined by the application. The unit is designed to help students understand that like a town department, they too are subject to high standards, big expectations and limited resources.
Unit Five: Planning, Decisions and Consequences (PDC)
Many students wonder why they are in school and why they have to learn “all this stuff.” The answer is to plan for their future and practice good decision-making today. Unit Five is designed to help students experience the value and benefits of strategic planning. They learn how organizations deploy this process to plan ahead and meet their mission. The knowledge gained helps students recognize how the skills and behaviors required in school help them plan for their future.
The unit begins with students taking an idea and planning how they might use it to start a business. This requires critical thinking and recognition of how actions today influence the future. The ill-fated Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State illustrates the pitfalls facing those who do not plan ahead. Students investigate what parts of the strategic planning process were not completed properly and how proper planning could have avoided the tragedy.
The unit then moves back to the student with a question, “Are you strategically planning for your future?” Students review their mock high school application and assess their own personal progress since it was first completed. The completed application helps students recognize the potential consequences of an empty or incomplete application.
In Activity A, students strategically plan the future of a community with a big problem. They look at data, review information, and work together to put an end to the annual flooding that has been plaguing this community. They soon discover the true meaning of Complexity, Cooperation, Coordination, and Communication. Students practice strategic planning, presentation skills, public speaking, careful listening, cooperation, written communication and critical thinking.
In Activity B, students tackle a real issue or problem in their community through strategic planning. This activity personalizes the concept of PDCs and makes it meaningful and relevant to the student.
Unit Six: My Journey through the School Year
Students use their mock high school application to assess growth in personal value this year. Using materials from their on-line journal and workplace portfolio, students create a slide presentation documenting their ongoing journey towards becoming workplace literate and demonstrating mastery of their education. Through student-led conferences, students share their presentation and celebrate their accomplishments with a selected audience (Ex. Parents, mentors, teachers, etc.).