powerful QUESTIONSfor an amazing JOURNEY

careerEducation

Just Ask!

Teacher’sGuide

Just Ask! helps students to:

n Reflect on and evaluate their unique interests, skills and talents.

n Develop the “soft” skills they need to succeed in their personal and professional lives.

n Identify and initiate their “next” steps to move forward on their college/career journey.

Upon completing the 14 activities a student will be able to: (SLO)

n Identify their Holland Code and a career pathway that interests them.

n Choose a post-secondary education option that meets their needs.

n Recognize the advantages of a STEM –related career.

n Evaluate their soft skills – the ones employers seek in new hires.

n Create a career related experience outside the classroom.

n Ask powerful questions to gather information to make good decisions.

n Pack their bag for their college/career journey.

Resources in this guide enhance and extend college/career lessons with:

Just Ask!…Powerful Questions for an Amazing Journey

Just Ask!

This booklet will help students develop their critical thinking/questioning

skills as they prepare for life beyond high school. Filled with relevant

information and data, and designed for today’s visual learners, this

engaging booklet invites teens to think and take positive action steps as

they embark on their college/career journey.

Links to relevant Internet sites.

CACareerCafe.Com connections.

Suitable video clips.

Additional student activities.

Can you imagine your future?

What are you cut out to do?

What sparks your interest?

Why invest in your education?

Do you gravitate toward STEM?

Have you found the secret to success?

Do you get to the heart of listening?

Which questions help you dig deeper?

Why do you need the gift of gab?

Do you know the score?

Is your glass half full?

How well do you weather a storm?

Would you like hands-on experience?

Are you ready for what’s next?

pages 4 – 5

pages 6 - 7

pages 8 – 9

pages 10 – 11

pages 12 – 13

pages 14 – 15

pages 16 – 17

pages 18 – 19

pages 20 – 21

pages 22 – 23

pages 24 –25

pages 26 – 27

pages 28 – 29

pages 30 – 31

Table of Questions…

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Can you imagine your future? pages 4-5

Big Future

Show students this site and the Get Started section.

Encourage them to share and explore the site with

their parents.

You Can Go

Great site to motivate students to continue

their education beyond high school. Have your

students take and print their College Pledge.

This lesson introduces students to the

power of questions and calls on them to

answer self-reflection questions to get

them thinking about what they might

want to do with their lives.

Your imagination is your

preview of life’s coming

attractions. — Albert Einstein

Have students share their interpretation of this quote with the

person sitting next to them.

More Activities

The Question Game can be used to ntroduce a

new topic or to review for a test to help students

build their skills.

Best Possible Selves Exercise capitalizes on the

power of visioning.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

How Oprah Found Her Calling

Oprah’s video is a good way to motivate

students to be more self-reflective as they focus

on the Top 10 Questions activity. It’s important

for students to experience how asking and

answering questions can help them get in touch

with what’s important to them.

What Questions Did You Ask Today?

Chic Thompson, creativity guru and author of

What a Great Idea! 2.0, discusses the importance

of asking questions and touches on the research

behind why students stop asking. After viewing

the video, ask your students why they think

people stop asking questions.

CA Career Café: This California Community College site will provide students

with additional videos, resources and activities.

To begin, show them the Café home page and then view the Five Video…

Ask them: Where will you be 5 years from today?

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

What are you cut out to do? pages 6-7

This lesson introduces students to

California’s 15 Pathways and emphasizes

the varied career opportunities and

different educational requirements

within each Pathway.

Quote More Activities

Ask students to put this

proverb into their own words.

If you want to know the

road ahead, ask someone

who has traveled it. — Chinese Proverb

Who Do U Want 2 B ?

This site includes Information on California high school

and community college courses, career options, and

financial assistance. Use the Pathway Finders Quiz

See the CTE Toolkit Lesson Plans and handouts for

more activities around Career Pathways.

Did You Know?

Students who choose and follow a

career Pathway stay in school longer

and are more motivated to

complete their course of study.

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Video Clips

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

The CA Career Café – Explore section is a great way to

show students how to research and collect information

about the different Pathways. It also helps them

connect Pathways to careers.

Pathway Video

Because high school students in California are

encouraged to identify a Pathway, this video will

help students understand the why’s and what’s of

Pathways. This video is a good way to begin this

lesson.

Words from the President

President Obama addresses the importance of

getting education and training beyond high

school and encourages students to go to college.

Café Connections

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

What sparks your interest? pages 8-9

O*NET

This direct link will help students link their 3-letter

Holland Code to specific careers.

My Next Move

For a more extensive Holland Code online

assessment, your students may want to try this

one and compare their results.

In this lesson, students complete a

simple version of the Holland Code —

a self-assessment that will help them

identify careers that interest them.

Have students create a collage or a Pinterest page that shows their passions.

More Activities

You have to find what

sparks a light in you so

you, in your own way, can

illuminate the world.— Oprah Winfrey

Winning Combinations lets students apply the

Holland Code to specific occupations.

B Your Best helps students identify and articulate

what they do well.

Define Your Rainbow is a colorful and fun activity

that will get students thinking about what matters

to them.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

How to Find Your Passion

Ken Robinson’s “teachable moment” suggests

ideas on how students can find their element or

passion. After viewing, ask students to describe a

time they were in their element.

Ask: What were you doing when time stood still

for you?

Holland Code Video

Show this video after they complete their Holland

Code assessment. Ask students to take notes about

the description of their most dominant Holland Code

personality type.

Ask: How well does your Holland Code describe you?

Stop by the Start section of the Café and have students view the

Strengths video and complete the lesson.

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Why invest in your education? pages 10-11

FASFA

Students and their parents

can get information and fill

out an application for federal

financial aid.

EconEdLink

This site is the leading source of

online economic and personal

finance lessons and resources

for educators and students.

Georgetown University Report

View or download the report, The

College Advantage: Weathering the

Economic Storm.

College is an investment that involves

money and time. It’s a proven fact that

the more you learn, the more you earn.

This lesson presents the facts about the

value of post-secondary education.

Ask students to explain how the U.S. Job

Gains and Losses graph supports this quote.

More Activities

An investment in

knowledge pays the

best interest.— Benjamin Franklin

“Who Knows?” Bingo helps you find out what

students know about their post-secondary

educational opportunities.

Picking a College Decision Tree helps students

make a college choice that’s right for them.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Can a 2-Year Degree Beat Out a 4-Year Degree?

A college degree’s impact on earning potential is

well known, but does an Associate Degree have

more value?

Five Ways Education Pays

Learn about the other ways a college degree can

transform your students’ lives and lifestyles!

In the Success Tips section, review Be Money Wise, to give students additional

information and resources for financial aid.

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Do you gravitate toward STEM? pages 12-13

SMART Scholarships for STEM Students

Students could get paid to earn a degree

in science, technology, engineering, or

math — and get hired at graduation. It’s a

SMART deal offered by the US Department

of Defense.

Change the Equation.org

This site offers many resources

and links to STEM programs

throughout the United States.

iON the Future

Students can play STEM

games online as a “guest”

and learn more about

STEM career opportunities.

This lesson will help students

identify the advantages of a STEM

career and how they can get STEM

ready.

Ask students who Sir Isaac Newton was

and how this quote relates to his work.

More Activities

Millions saw the apple

fall, but Newton was the

one who asked why.— Bernard Baruch

STEM Brainstorm, an activity for small groups,

gets students to brainstorm ideas on why they

think students shy away from STEM.

iON Future Learning Guide has some great

STEM classroom activities and online resources.

http://cacareerbriefs.com/wp-content/uploads/MWTW-Teacher-Directed-Activities1-11.pdf

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

A STEM Education, Tools to Change the World

This Whitehouse video stresses the importance

of a STEM education. May be more interesting to

teachers or parents.

What Do You Want to Do?

This animated rap video, from the UK, describes a

range of career opportunities open to students with

skills in STEM.

In the Success Tips section, have students review Make Math Matter

to give them additional information about the importance of math.

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Have you found the Secret to Success? pages 14-15

CA Career Briefs

Try this Get Soft Skills classroom lesson if your

students are interested in workplace success.

Better Soft Skills

Get more compelling facts about the

importance of soft skills.

Regardless of their college/career path,

students need soft skills to succeed.

Many students do not have these skills

and don’t realize why they are important.

This lesson and those that follow will

introduce the most essential soft skills

and focus on why they matter.

Ask students to complete this sentence: The most important single ingredient

in the formula of success is…

More Activities

The most important single

ingredient in the formula

of success is knowing how

to get along with people.—Theodore Roosevelt

Mastering Soft Skills in the Workplace lets

students apply the Holland Code to specific

occupations.

Body Language provides some interesting

classroom activities for students.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Soft Skills-Communication

The Department of Labor created this video. It’s

clever but not sure how students will relate to it.

Hard Facts Behind Soft Skills

This video offers a good introduction to soft skills.

Make sure students understand the difference

between hard and soft skills.

Invite students to stop by the café and review the People Skills videos, quizzes

and activities.

Body Language

This video is a good way to introduce the

body language section of this lesson.

Soft Skills for High School Students

If you are looking for a video to show parents

or other instructors, this one is filled with good

research on soft skills and success.

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Do you get to the heart of listening? pages 16-17

High Gain

A good resource for teaching listening skills and a

free booklet on 21st century listening.

Bodylitics

You may want to check out these 3 great tips

guaranteed to make your students better

listeners.

Although students spend more time

listening than they do speaking or

reading, few students are good active

listeners. This lesson draws attention to

this important skill and why and how to

become a better listener.

Ask students: How does it make you feel

when someone really listens to you?

More Activities

Perhaps the most

important thing we ever

give each other is

our attention.—Rachel Naomi Remen

Improving Listening Skills with these skill

building classroom listening activities from an

Oklahoma Career Tech supplement.

R U Listening? calls on students to define the

Chinese character for listening.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Get Students to Listen in a more Focused Way

To pick up three quick and easy listening activities to

try in your classroom, watch this video.

Julian Treasure at Ted Talks

Julian Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears

for conscious listening. This video is 7 minutes, but

worth it.

While not directly related to listening, this café lesson, Conversations,

encourages students to listen and ask questions to learn from

professionals in careers that interest them.

How to be a Good Listener

This video gives students five great tips for better listening.

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Relevant Links

Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Which questions help you dig deeper? pages 18-19

To succeed students must have

good critical thinking skills — which

includes the ability to construct

“good” questions. This lesson focuses

on the basics of asking questions.

Ask students to explain to the person

sitting behind them, the first thing they

do when they run into a problem.

More Activities

When solving problems,

dig at the roots instead of

just hacking at the leaves. — Anthony J. D’Angelo

Getting Them Out of Their Seats and starting

conversations by asking questions using a concentric

circles format.

Getting Answer-Oriented Students to Focus on

the Questions by having students write questions

for a test.

Teaching Students to Ask Questions

Read how one instructor gets students

more involved in learning by creating

their own questions.

The Right Question Institute

Here you’ll find resources for

teaching two skills: to ask questions

and to participate effectively in

decisions.

Lite Mind

Try these 10 ways to

harness the power of

questions.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

5 Whys

This will help you with the 5 whys process —-

more appropriate for instructors.

Questioning Techniques

This is a good introduction to some of the

basics to asking good questions.

If your students are ready to reach out and make some connections, have them

try this Mentor lesson at the café.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Why do you need the gift of gab? pages 20-21

To thrive both personally and

professionally, students need good

face-to-face conversational skills. This

lesson is designed to get them thinking

and practicing conversing as they learn

to appreciate the advantages of

face-to-face conversation.

Ask students to describe a person they

know who has good conversational skills.

More Activities

Conversation costs

nothing, but can bring

you the world. — Catherine Blyth

Start a Conversation gives your students a chance

to initiate three short, friendly conversations.

Small Talk is a Big Deal will help students get

chit chat going. This activity does use workplace

references.

Pew Social Media

For more information on the Pew

Study cited in the lesson, use this

report.

Road Trip Nation

Show your students how students

are connecting via conversations

to learn more about people and

careers that inspire them.

Experience Life

Here are tips on how to improve

face-to-face communication in a

digital world.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Suggest your students visit the café and check out the Experience section. Here

they will find real world activities that will help them choose their career paths.

Small Talk

To introduce your students to small

talk, this short video is a good place

to start.

The Engaging Child

This will explain to parents why teens need to

speak, write and have conversations without

relying on technology.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Do you know the score? pages 22-23

The National Association of Colleges and

Employers (NACE) identifies teamwork as

a key employment skill, yet most students

have a limited understanding of how

teams work and what it takes to be a

good team player. This lesson addresses

the basics of teamwork and some

strategies for students to try.

Ask students to describe the best

team experience they have ever had.

More Activities

Teamwork divides the

task and multiplies

the success.— Unknown

Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success:

Teamwork Includes five excellent teamwork

activities, complete with directions and print

outs for you to try in your classroom.

Soft Skills to Pay the Bills

Developed by ODEP there are great

resources here focused on teaching

“soft” skills to youth, including youth

with disabilities.

Teamwork University of Kent

For your more experienced

students, have them try the

“Exercise on Team Working Skills.”

CA Career Briefs: Collaborate

To introduce the 4 teamwork

stages, use this classroom lesson

that includes a video intro.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Miracle on Ice

This video clip works well with the “Olympic Dream

Teams” section and what it takes to be a great team.

Lessons from Geese

Lessons learned from watching geese in flight

provides interesting insights into teamwork. Pair

this slide presentation and student activity for

some great discussion.

After your students have completed some of the teamwork activities, send them

to the Collaborative video, quiz and activitiy for People Skills number 2.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Is your glass half full? pages 24-25

This lesson offers tips and tools to

get your students to look on the

bright side and to understand the

advantages of having an optimistic

attitude.

Ask students to create a can-do

list for their weekly assignments.

More Activities

Success comes in cans;

failure in cant’s. — Unknown

A for Attitude gets your students working

together to reflect on the characteristics of a

person with a good attitude.

Short and Tweet offers students some sage advice

on a positive attitude and their career journey.

The Happiness Project

For books, quizzes, and inspiring positive

articles this site has some great stuff and

is frequently updated.

Career Briefs: Manage Emotions

This classroom lesson includes a video and activity

to get your students thinking about how emotions

influence behavior.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Encourage your students to visit the café to view the video, quiz and

activity for People Skill number 3, Positive Attitude.

The Power of Questions

This video focuses on the advantages of

learning how to ask positive questions

and why they are so powerful.

How to Create Your Own Luck

For a better explanation about the

24x3 rule and the power of opti-

mism and luck, show this video.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

How well do you weather a storm? pages 26-27

When students are resilient, they are able

to harness their strengths and rebound

from a setback or challenge. This lesson

focuses on some of the factors that help

build resiliency and steps students can

take to weather their storms.

Have students write a short description

of someone they know who overcame a

setback and went on to succeed.

More Activities

Life isn’t about waiting out

the storm; it’s about learning

to dance in the rain. — Unknown

Resilient Heroes Activity is a classroom “research”

exercise that comes with step-by-step directions,

background information and a student worksheet.

Get on the ROAD is a great activity to get students

thinking about how to overcome obstacles that get

in their way of reaching a goal.

Resiliency in Action

This site offers a number of

good resiliency resources,

articles and books as well as a

resiliency quiz.

American Radio Works

For more information and

suggestions for preparing kids

for college take a look at the

grit test.

Hope Mongers

Hope is a leading indicator of

success and this site provides

the research and insights into

the power of hope.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

Suggest your students stop by the Cafe and try People Skill number 5

Be Resilient where they can view the video, take the quiz and complete the activity.

How Do You Build Resilience?

This video give students very specific things to do

to build their coping skills.

Can Perseverance Be Taught?

This 18 minute Ted Talk offers a great deal

of valuable info for high school teachers.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Would you like hands-on experience? pages 28-29

This lesson encourages students to gain

experiences outside the classroom and

get involved — to reach out and talk to

people and join school and community

organizations related to the things that

interest them.

More Activities

The most dependable and

up-to-date information

on jobs and careers is not

found in books or on the

internet. It’s found by going

out and talking to people.— Richard Bolles

100 Things to Do Before I Die really

gets students thinking and listing

specific experiences they want to have.

Do something.Org

This site gives students an opportunity

to design and connect with volunteer

experiences that suit them.

ROP

Regional Occupational Program Centers offer

classes to help prepare students,16 and older,

for work by providing them training and

experience.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

At the café students can learn more from this online lesson — Volunteer.

Do Something Org

This video will get students thinking about

what they can contribute to make the world

a better place.

Road Trip Nation

Students can learn a lot about interviewing

and asking questions in this video.

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Just Ask! Teacher’s Guide

Are you ready for what’s next? pages 30-31

Edutopia

Read this essay on the power of reflection.

CA Career Briefs

Online, quick and easy active learning student

success lessons with downloadable activity pages

as well as lots of free resources.

All of your students will need some post-

secondary education/training to find

and keep a good job. This last activity

will help them put together some of the

information they have gathered in the

Just Ask! booklet, to help them take their

next steps to success.

What are 3 things you learned about yourself and what you want to do with your life, from the activities in Just Ask?

More Activities

The most important

questions in life can never

be answered by anyone

except oneself.— John Fowles

Goal Setting provides a worksheet students can

use to brainstorm goals and break them into

manageable pieces.

Hit Your Target is a goal setting activity focused on

making SMART goals.

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Video Clips

Café Connections

Just Ask!Teacher’s Guide

What’s Holding You Back?

Plenty of positive student videos that address a

variety of challenges high school students have

faced and the path their journey has taken.

If you showed the video, Five, when you started this booklet, reshow it and see if

students have different ideas about where they will be five years from today.

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“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”

— Indira Gandhi