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Cheri McSheffery 3 best ideas.  Jan. 2018

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Cheri McSheffery 3 best ideas.  Jan. 2018

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1.  Student motivation:  On the first day of class I review the class requirements.  The STNA program has strict requirements of attendance, content and clinical time.  If the student meets all the requirements they are eligible to sit for the state test.  Once the state test is passed, the student may go into the nursing homes and hospitals and work as a state tested nursing assistant. For many of the students, this in itself is a huge motivator. The students will also receive 3 credit hours to be applied to their college education.
2.Collaborative social interaction:  The skills the students must learn is all patient care.  I have the students do as many skills as possible to each other.  An example of  that would be doing hair care.  I pair the male students with a female student.  This class seems to be a lot of fun for the students.  The girls guide the boys on how to put pony tail in, braiding hair and even messy buns.  I do not pair the same students together all the time.  I change it up.
3. Positive behavior: Lab grade reflects positive behavior. I will also utilize a Friday as a movie or make up day, or fun day. If the students do not show good/positive behavior in class, this could affect their eligibility to go into the clinical setting. I emphasize they will be providing direct patient care. Professionalism must be present at all times

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My best 3 Ideas

1. Student Motivation
I believe getting to know your students will help with student motivation. Students need to know that I have an interest in them and their success. When a student is feeling appreciated it creates a learning environment that makes them feel respected and safe and this approach will help motivate the students for learning.
2. Positive Behavior
One thing I have done to help with positive student behavior in my class is my students are on a lab point system with a reward after each month. My lab has some rules to follow such as safety glasses, uniform, working well and getting along with others, and staying on task. Each day I record points for each thing and at the end of every month a student may get to bring their vehicle in lab and work on it. This keeps my students motivated and on task as they have fun by treating it as a competition.
3. Collaborative Social Interaction
I will divide my student into small partnered working groups and the will complete lab tasks for the week by working with each other. At the end of the week we will switch the group up so that everyone gets a chance to work together. We also have Sophmore student tour our lab to see if they would be interested in the program their Junior year. I put my students in groups for this. My students will do demonstrations, tours and answer any questions they may have about the program.

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Collaborative Social Interaction – As a high level introvert myself I know that many ice breaker games are dreaded by other introverts.  However getting to know each other as class mates is too important to skip so it must be done.  I asked each student (I only have male students at this time) to introduce themselves individually to each other in the class.  Specifically they were to look the other person in the eye and offer their right hand, and say “Hello, my name is…” and begin getting to know one another as gentleman.  They were specifically to share a bit of information about themselves – nothing embarrassing, nothing extremely personal – just some hobbies, interests, or other facts.  I believe it served it’s purpose well.  They begin to make connections fairly quickly when they found another with a shared hobby or interest.  They began to respect each other for who they were.  New friendships were quickly made.

Encourage Student Motivation – For orientation night I set up a “razzle dazzle” demonstration on a CNC vertical machining center.  The purpose of this demo was to show the students some of the skills to be learned in the class, what the trade is all about and what industry is looking for.  A number of students and their parents developeda  clearer idea of what precision machining is all about.  The shiny metal piece they held in their hand put flesh so to speak on the concepts I spoke of.  One mother became quite excited to see what her son would be able to learn to do as she watched the machine run and observed the finished product.

Student Motivation – Similar to what Matt Kulbis mentioned in his idea #3, our class has undertaken several class projects structured in such a way that there was room for students to take ownership and assume leadership.  They have quite naturally learned to work together to meet the goals and objectives of the special projects and some of the strongest leadership has been drawn out from some of the seemingly unlikeliest candidates.  Their motivation has come from wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

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1.  On the first day of class, I want the student's to get to know one another, plus what their interests are.  I have everyone in the class come up with 5 interview questions.  Then I will draw random numbers that correlate with their names on the roster.  I will have the students come up in front of the class and have each student interview each other in front of the green screen and camera.  This activity will help the students learn about each other.  This activity also helps the student's feel comfortable in front of the camera. It also shows me how they comfortable they are in front of the camera.

2.  On the first day In theatre class, we play a improv game called "The Imaginary Ball."  The student's take turns throwing the ball to one another.  When the catch it they state their name, grade, and three interests.

3.  In my media class, we do pre game shows, newscasts and morning announcements.  After we are done filming, the next day we watch it as a class.  Then the students will write a reflection, informing me on what they liked, disliked and ways to improve for the the next time.

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This year is my first full year of teaching in a high school and I have found out that relationship building really is the best motivator and creates a positive attitudes and behaviors.
Positive Behavior and Student Motivation
1) On the very first day of class, I do the typical introductions beginning with introducing myself and sharing with the students not only about my credentials but about my family, including my dogs, cats, tadpoles etc... I do this sitting down in a desk, right next to them to prevent the whole "I am the teacher and you are the student" feeling. I want them to feel comfortable. I have the entire class introduce themselves with common questions such as, "why are you in medical technology class?", "what do you want to do after high school?". More importantly I ask them about their summer and what they did for fun and I make sure to relate with each story with a story of my own. My overall goal is to make them comfortable with me, to make them see me as a person with a life, not just a teacher who gives them tests. I use our entire first day keeping it light with a lot of discussion about fears, excitements, goals and family. This time is usually filled with a lot of laughs.
2) One of the ideas I use to keep my seniors motivated is to celebrate them being seniors. I give them special privileges for being seniors. Small things like using my microwave (only them), having a bulletin board they design and is all theirs. We celebrate their birthdays, we celebrate homecoming and prom. Of course these are rewards and if my class loses focus or can't stay on track, these privileges are suspended until they get on track. This rarely happens. I try to make my seniors feel special because they are and the feeling they get from these special privileges keeps them motivated and excited to be in class.
3) Another idea I use from day 1 is to make my students understand that when they enter my classroom and skills lab, they are to consider it showing up for work. They are expected to wear lab coats in the lab with name badges and perform as if they had reported for work. I remind them that when they come to my class, it is like they are auditioning for a job. I help my students receive internships, observations at local hospitals and my name is on their recommendations. How they perform in my classroom will determine if I recommend them for a job. They actually love this. They can act the part...in a safe place. Plus any chance they get to "play nurse", they take it! Of course to make it fun, I allow them to choose any color or pattern of scrubs/medical attire to wear and they can decorate their name badges to fit their personalities. We have a lot of fun which is the key!!

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I use improvisation techniques to get students to open up to the dance class setting as well as to open their minds and bodies up to the type of movements we will be doing in the class. I participate in each one of these with my students so they feel more comfortable opening up!
1. I use a game called "YEAH" " UGH". This is a body/spacial awareness technique. to break it down students will begin walking about the room saying yeah, yeah , YEAH maybe jumping going on their toes (staying on the higher plane of the body.) I will give a prompt and the students will switch into making the "ugh" noise and slowly moving their bodies to the ground and discovering what the floor and lower body planes are and what movement can be discovered in those areas. This is repeated 6-8 times or roughly 5-7 minutes. This activity gets the students out of the typical school mindset and into a more engaging mind/body setting. It has also helped the students become much more open with their fellow classmates.
2. For an Ice break I play a name game. One because it helps me remember names (I'm a visual/kinesthic learner) being able to put a movement to a name helps with memorization of student names with me and with each other. The name game broken down goes like this; Every body make a large circle facing inward. Usually I will start it just to give the students an idea of how to do the game. I say my name and as I am saying it I make up a move that goes with the amount of syllables in my name ( Ms. E gets two moves.) The students then mimic my name and movement. We continue to repeat each move as we add on with each student. At the end of the game I ask the students to face the mirrors and we take out the name part and just focus on the moves in order. The students by the end of this have collaborated and created about 30seconds of movement choreography! (this is a fun one to use in almost any class setting just to get students out of their seats too!)
3. Music. I use music every day in my class. It is a given for a dance class. BUT, I will switch up the genre of music I use depending on the general mood of the students. (Keeping it school appropriate.) When students seem tired or withdrawn I will typically use a more up beat tune or I will switch gears of my class to a more injury prevention/yoga class. And when they seem wound beyond return I try to neutralize them with something along the lines of instrumentals of their favorite radio songs. This will keep them energetic for the class and engaged but also allow them to not be punished for having energy that needs to be let out. A class like this we will typically work in the dance style of Contemporary or Jazz Funk.

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Student Motivation
At the beginning of the year I told the students they have the chance to earn an extra 20 points to there grade for each quarter they have perfect attendance. So far they all have taken to the idea and have made their own computation with each other in the class to see who will earn the most.
Encourage Motivation,
I have introduce the SKILLS USA program to my juniors using seniors and the accomplishments of other students here at the school to show how they can move forward in life using the skills they learn in this program. Being a former student and a skills participant
I can tell them how much this helped me in life and building my career.
Social Interaction,
Each Friday here at Sentinel Career Technology Center we have a Character Education where every student wears the same shirt and every class does an activity to get the students to interact with each other in games, worksheets, and other activity's. We played a game called Jenga you might of heard of this. We pull a block out and they is a number on it and with each blocked pulled they have to answer a question either in current events or they may be a question on the work we did so far in the class. I find that the students have fun moving around and listening to there colleagues answer questions.

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Rainbow Rules – Student Motivation

At our school, the entire first day is about going over the rules and expectations for school and for each class. The day begins with an assembly in which the administrators go over certain expectations for the year.  I, of course, have my own classroom rules, procedures, and expectations to go over, but on the first day I do not go over my traditional rules. I go over what I call the “Rainbow Rules” with my classes.  The Rainbow Rules include motivational ideas such as,

Keep Moving Forward – Don’t worry about where you are not. Work to improve from where you are.

Be Patient and Persistent – Be patient and persistent with yourself. We are learning new things.

Can’t may only be used with Yet –  I Can’t do this… YET.  You will eventually get it.

Failure is Good – It means you tried to do SOMETHING.

I start with these to encourage and motivate my students to put forth their best effort with all our projects, and to not play it safe within their comfort zone. This helps creates an atmosphere that is encouraging and accepting to learning, experimenting, failing, and succeeding.

Name Doodle – Social Interaction

Within the first few days of classes, I pass out a Post-It note to everyone and have them to doodle their first name, along with other doodles and words about them, what they like to do, what they are good at etc.  I do this along with them, and when we are finished we take turns introducing ourselves and sharing what we have doodled and why.  It gives us a chance to get to know a little bit about each other and learn about shared extracurricular activities, music interests, and hobbies.  Afterward, I have the students place their name doodle on their storage locker in the classroom to label their locker.  This identifies everyone’s locker, adds a personal touch, and allows everyone to see the Name Doodles we created. (Mine goes by my office door).

Critique Cookies – Positive Behavior /Work Ethic and Student Motivation

I insist that my students use their class time effectively and productively to develop and complete each design project I assign.  The day immediately following a project’s due date is set aside for a Class Critique of the completed projects.   If every student has used our class time effectively and productively, and every student has their project completed and turned in on the due date, I provide a snack for us to enjoy while we are critiquing and reviewing everyone’s project.   It is usually something simple like cookies or cupcakes, but no one wants to be responsible of robbing their classmates of the Critique Cookies.  This helps keep my students on task and working productively to meet their due dates.  It also helps makes our class critiques a celebration of their accomplishments and hard work.

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1) Collaborative Social Interaction:  I divided the class into smaller groups of 4 to 5, and then with markers and poster board, I asked them to create a "graffiti" board that displays why young people are important in the work force today.  I used the "Rosie The Riveter" poster as an example of the importance of women in the work force during WWII.  These posters were laminated and displayed in the halls of the school.
2) Early in the year, I devote some lab time for my students to have an opportunity to discuss their goals for the class, their reasons for joining, and what their current thoughts are about a career.  I challenge them to speak one at a time, to look at each other in the eye, and to respectfully ask questions of each other.  I coach them at times, if needed, but mostly I am an active participant  in the conversation. This really hits on all 3 of the categories.
3) Student Motivation: From the first day of class, I attempt to shift their thought processes from the traditional teacher-student relationship (which they are accustomed to), to a manager-employee relationship.  I remind them often, in the lab, to think like a PC Analyst rather than an end-user.  I let them know that the only difference is that they are getting paid with grades at this point.  This allows them to get a view into what the IT work environment is like.  It teaches them to think differently, which in turn, keeps them motivated.

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Student Interaction/Collaboration
I enroll all of my students in a class on www.typingclub.com. It is a free site for students to learn and improve on their typing. The best part is that they can compete against each other on a leaderboard. Most of my students seem to like it and I am able to give them bellwork that is applicable for the rest of my course content.

Student Motivation
A lot of teachers I know have students fill out a form about student interests. Because my class is about Microsoft Office, I have my students gear all of their assignments toward their interests. One of the assignments I did last year was a PowerPoint on a process or review. One student did a presentation on how to bake a cake and she actually brought it into class to share.

Motivation
There is a sentence that I've heard or seen a lot the past few years, fail forward. My class is mainly based on master of skills. I want my students to not be afraid of failing as long as they are working and turning in their assignments. The show Luke Cage on Netflix uses the quote of "Always forward". I'm going to Photoshop a picture of Luke Cage with the quote of Always fail forward and post it in my room and in my Google Classrooms.

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Student Motivation
In the first two days of school I give students a questionnaire which asks them what there hobbies, interests, and activities they do outside of school.  We also discuss their hobbies and interests and I question the students to provide examples of pieces/parts that are produced for the hobby or interest.  Since everything is produced it is easy to relate CNC Manufacturing to the individual students hobby or interest.
Student Motivation
Having a project based curriculum I always make projects such that they are personalized by each individual student.  Even something as little as engraving the squared up blocks of material with the students initials on a CNC machine makes the students excited and more interested in what they are doing.

Social Interaction
One of my machining projects is going to be a complete class assembly.  Each student will be responsible for machining a component of an assembly to specifications.  After all of the parts are machined the pieces will be put together. Students have to interact with each other asking questions about the dimensions of other students part features so that theirs can be adjusted while machining accordingly.  The entire class puts positive pear pressure on each student to perform the machining accurately cause they was to see and experience putting together the end product.

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Collaborative Social Interaction
Being a Fire Science Instructor, our class has close ties with the events that happened on 9/11/2001. I am currently having students work in small groups to create a presentation that will bring to light the events and emotions of that day. Groups are assigned a building or structure that was attacked that day (North Tower, South Tower, Pentagon, etc.). They then research information about the structure, how it was attacked, what the fire department response was like. We then discuss the emotional and societal response to the attacks. It is interesting to hear the students perspectives about the event, as many were not born yet!

Student Motivation
I administer a self assessment to gauge my students likes and dislikes during the first week of school. I not only like to assess students to be able to differentiate my lessons, but also to find their personal interests. This allows me to build quality relationships with the students and better learn what motivates them. After establishing this rapport, it becomes pretty apparent the best way to motivate each student.

Recognize Positive Behavior
I try to keep a constant emphasis on recognizing positive behavior. We have our class divided into three companies. I will then select a leader each of company or "Lieutenant" based on positive behavior. We also designate a Battalion Chief that oversees all of the companies. I like to find reasons to recognize students on a daily basis, but this offers a larger scale reward for consistently displaying positive behaviors. Another exercise we utilize is our "3 good claps". We recognize students' successes outside of my class such as winning a volleyball game by giving the student 3 good quick claps.

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Collaborative Social Interaction:  On the first day of each grades class we meet in the classroom where I introduce myself and tell them a bit about my history in the welding field. I go to each student as I call their name and ask them to tell me a bit about them and ask them to tell me why they chose this field of study and what their expectations are for this class. For my 10th and 11th grade classes I walk them around the Weld Lab and familiarize them with the machines and tools along with showing them samples of the different types of projects they will be doing. I will break them into small groups according to the number of projects and ask them to talk amongst themselves about what they see and how they think they will create each one and jot notes down on paper and I collect those papers with the groups names on them. After about 10 to 15 minutes we openly discuss each ones thoughts and ideas on each project. As we do each project and complete it I pull out their notes from the beginning of the year and compare. We all usually end up with a good laugh and it shows them how much they have learned and accomplished.

Encourage Positive Behavior: I encourage positive behavior by giving the students a cookout at the end of each grading period. The students receive points for being in uniform and on time to class or Welding Lab, NO horseplay either in classroom or Weld Lab, NO cell phone use in class or lab and timely completion of projects. They also have to assist each other when needed and have positive attitude in class. They have a word of the day they have to spell and know the definition of. I also tell them they need to continue these behaviors in their other classes. If they achieve the points needed for that grading period then on the last Friday they get to do classroom for 1st half of the day and we cook out the last half. The students love this and it is rewarding for them and helps them to achieve positive behaviors in their classes and will encourage it in there lives outside of school.

Encourage Motivation: I am very passionate about what I teach so I find it easy to motivate my students. I try to not just do standard projects but fun projects the students can take home such as: Copper Roses, Wind Chimes, Dice and Tool Boxes. We participate in Skills USA and all of the students look forward to going to Columbus to compete and possibly even farther. I explain jobs and pay scales that are out there and have a few of my past students come in to speak to them about where they have gone in their careers as welders. I explain to them welding is not just used as a job but as a form of art. This year I have a female student who was just placed in my class because she needed an elective. She really did not want to do it but I told her "You never know if you will like it unless you try it". So far it has her interest and she is learning something she never dreamed of. I always try and give them positive feedback even if they make mistakes. I have found if you point out the bad without the positive they give up and Giving Up is not in my vocabulary and they know this. Towards the end of the year I break the students into groups and allow them to create their own project from blueprint to completed and place them out in hall for other students and teachers to see. They love the feedback they get from their peers and fellow classmates. I have a board where I place comments they have made and pictures from beginning to end of the year so they can see how much they have changed and learned and they laugh at the way they were in the start.

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Student motivation – During the first week of the school year I had the students think of a goal. These goals were to be program oriented. The students then wrote their personal goals onto some thought bubbles and I posted them in the classroom. These goals are a visible daily reminder to the students of what they are “aiming” for. And I feel they really help set the tone for the learning environment.
Social Interaction – I have created some Kahoot games for the students to participate in. The students prefer to play Kahoot in teams, so our team grouping is always done at random. I use different methods to choose the teams like names from a hat, or neighboring partner schools. I utilize the random selection so the teams are diversified in a different way each time we play. This exposes the students to multiple the personalities and types of learners within their groups.
Social Interaction – Here at Sentinel Career and Technology Center we are a National School of Character. Every Friday I plan a character education and development lesson.  I have used a lesson called “Get off the Gossip Train” recently. In this lesson, the students squeeze some toothpaste from the tube and then write their name on a piece of paper and trace over it with toothpaste. This is meant to represent spreading gossip. In my Electrical Trades Program, we used wire lubricant instead of toothpaste. The students were then asked to put the wire lube back in the bottle. Once the students realized how difficult the task was they were told to compare this to cleaning up their gossip. We had group discussions. Comparisons of gossip at school, to gossip at work. We even had a discussion board on itsLearning. This really resonated with my students, and gave them the chance to see other people’s perspectives.

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Nicole Uhl- Best 3 Ideas

Collaborative Social Interaction
On the first day of class we plan an ice breaker game that usually makes the students laugh and have a lot of fun. The game is a classic called “Would You Rather.” The best part is it includes a beach ball. I take a regular sized beach ball, and I write the numbers 1-100 all over it multiple times. We hit the ball back and forth in the lab. When a student catches the ball, they tell me what number their right index finger landed on. I then read the question corresponding to that number. An example question might be “Would you rather always have a booger in your nose that moves back and forth every time you breath, or always have food stuck between your two front teeth?” This game is a lot of fun and the students tend to open up to one another after sharing their preferences.

Encouragement of positive behavior-
Every day is a game in my class. The class has an opportunity to gain points throughout the day by coming in uniform, always coming back from break on time, having cell phones in the shoe caddy, etc. I also have an opportunity to earn points when they do not follow the rules. If they speak when someone else is speaking, not coming in uniform etc. The game is designed for them to win, not for me to win. If they are winning at the end of the day on Thursday, they are able to wear their school t-shirts instead of scrub tops on Friday. They love this reward, but I would like to add others as I have more experience in the future.

Encourage motivation-

I have representatives from Skills USA come into the lab and talk about the opportunities they have to participate in student organizations. The senior students enjoy coming in to speak with the juniors, and the juniors enjoy hearing about the opportunities they have. After this presentation, they know that their motivation and grades play a role in their participation, and many of the students use this a reinforcement in their everyday learning experiences.

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1) Everyday I have a warm up on the board for students to respond to in their portfolios. The warm up consists of prompts that relate to the student's personal preferences. I ask them to write about their favorite holiday, musician, movie, etc. After five minutes the students are encouraged to share their responses. This gives us time to settle from their previous class, gives me more information about them and is a way to get them participating without the pressure of getting the "right" answer.

2) The Montessori style of teaching includes a prescribed format for meetings and we employ this format after labs. We all sit in a circle (usually outdoors in one of our log circles) and a greeting is thought up which each participant will respond to. The greeting can be "what did you have for breakfast" or "if you could start a charity what would it be called". One person starts and they shake the hand of the person next to them, saying good morning/afternoon and making eye contact. Then they respond to the greeting. The hand shake & greeting goes around in a clockwise motion until everyone has shared. It's fun to hear from each student and see them greeting their peers. After the greeting I will give a little reflection on what we did and why. Then there is time for students to acknowledge each other's work. They call out specific actions from specific students and then thank them publicly for their efforts. It's a great way to end the lesson and we often run over the bell just thanking each other for being helpful!

3) To boost student motivation I give them choices on how they will earn their points for lab. If they aren't into shoveling soil they can opt to record names for participation, turn the compost or be a source of encouragement to those who are doing the manual labor. The class validates everyone's participation so they are accountable to their peers.

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For a student motivational activity I made a bingo game with the names of the hand tools the students  needed to learn on the  bingo cards.  I had the tools laid out on a bench in the front of the lab.  The first few times I held up each tool and the students had to find the name of the tool on their card.  If the students didn't know the names of the tools in 20 seconds I gave them the name.  For my non readers I helped them sound out the names and they were able to find them.  They loved getting BINGO.  After a few turns I had each student come up and hold up the tools.  I told them to give the other students clues that they use to help remember the names.  This activity also helped the students come out of their shells and talk in front of the class.  This game motivated the students just by them wanting to win the game.

For a social interaction activity I gave the students 20 strands of spaghetti and some marshmallows. In groups of 4 they had to work together to build the tallest structure they could using all of their spaghetti and marshmallows.  This taught the students to work together and try suggestions members of the group had.  They had a good time and they learned to try new things and to work together.

Another social interaction activity I used the first day of school was a scavenger hunt.  Students had a paper that had boxes that said things like:  Had cereal for breakfast, Is an only child etc.  they had to search the room for students that could fill out a particular box. They could only use each persons name once so they had to talk to each person in the room.  The activity forced students to talk to each of their classmates.  There is a template for this activity on Pinterist but I custom made mine so that some of the boxes could only have one answer. The one on Pinterest was posted as a free download from  https://www.weareteachers.com/author/squarehead-teachers/.  The students loved this activity but it took a little time.   Most of my students that cant write can at least write their name and after they learned what the boxes said could go around the room and ask.  They also took the paper up to each student and asked if their name fit in any box.  That way they didn't have to read the box. It also gave me the opportunity to check out their reading and writing levels.

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1. Collaborative Social Interaction: On my first day of teaching, I used an Icebreaker game that students actually liked called "This or That." I'll provide the link below. Basically, students had to choose between two categories, and physically move from one side of the room to another depending on which choice they identified with. An example would be, "What's better, fries or candy?" The students loved engaging with one another and seeing how they related to other classmates. It was so successful that I hope to use this more in my classroom when we critique student digital work. For example, "which photograph communicates the message in a more productive way?" "Which photograph do you like more?" "Which photograph shows the elements of art in a better way?"

Link to purchase the pre-made template for "This or That" icebreaker
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/This-or-That-An-Icebreaker-that-Rocks-1977647

2. Encourages Student Motivation - luckily with Career Tech classes, we as teachers have the benefit of working with project-based curriculum. Throughout the year, I plan to have my own small-scale classroom form of Career Technical Student Organizations when these projects are completed. Students can earn awards for certain categories of digital media art creations. Attached is an example of some of the categories I have for Photography.

3. Collaborative Social Interaction: I haven't done this yet, but plan on having college-level digital artists from the local university (University of Cincinnati) to come into class to give presentations about their background, schooling, work experience, and to share portfolio images of work they've made. Afterward, those same students will partner with students to create a collaborative project that will be displayed in the school.

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Below are my BEST THREE IDEAS for how to create a learning environment that encourages student motivation, positive behavior and collaborative social interaction:

#1 - I take pictures of my students on their first day of class, print them, and display the pictures with their names and career goals inside my door/window area.  This way, all my students learn to know each others' names, home schools, and career goals.  After awhile I take them down and place them in individual student folders.  When they graduate, we review those folders with their pictures and career goals.  It makes a nice closure activity at the end of their senior year.

#2 - Within the first few days of my toughest course and typically before I start in on the hard material/content, I relate the career information (pay, benefits, hours, etc.) to that difficult content.  I use online job sites to find up-to-date information about jobs, for example, in the accounting field, that take high school, associate degree, bachelor's degree, etc.  Students create an Excel spreadsheet with information from the job ads such as educational level, job skills needed, education requirements, software needed, pay range, location, certifications.  This also gives me a quick pre-assessment of their spreadsheet technology skills.

Job sites:  https://www.indeed.com/ or https://www.monster.com/ or similar site

Activity:

#3 - Once I know my incoming students, I select the best communicators from my junior (soon to be senior) class and assign them 1-3 students who live in their home school districts (or close to them).  I have the incoming recruits' parents provide cell numbers and tell them what my plan is at the New Student Parent Orientation.  Then before school is out, I have the selected juniors (soon to be seniors) text or call the incoming students to answer questions, get to know someone in the program, and start the orientation process prior to school starting.  This also keeps questions that I would normally be answering all summer to just those that are key.  For example, my juniors (soon to be seniors) all understood the uniform process, so those questions could be answered by them.  This also gave my current students some help in training others and providing orientation-types of information.  This activity worked well and helped retain those who had signed up over the summer.