This Planning Guide for Pathful provides a sample sequence of career
exploration learning activities across grades 6-8.
CCE Middle School
Planning Guide
Overview
This Planning Guide offers just one way
that you can use Pathful for career
exploration. We know that district and
state requirements may vary, so feel free
to make changes to meet your needs by
using additional lesson content,
customizing lessons, or changing the
grade levels in which activities are
completed. Pathful offers hundreds of
Career Profile and Employability Skills
videos across 17 different Career Clusters
and a Lesson design tool with a wide
selection of Activities to choose from.
If your district already has content in
another format that is used for career
exploration, consider converting that
content into a Lesson and delivering
through Pathful for a powerful,
differentiated learning experience for
each student.
Simultaneously Refine and Expand
Learning: Students simultaneously
identify personal career interests, goals
and career focus while broadening their
knowledge of all possible careers
through teacher and self-directed
exploration in the “Career” section of the
platform.
Strategic Assessment: A career interest
assessment in each grade level helps
focus student attention on different
aspects of career readiness without
overwhelming students.
Differentiation: Lessons and intentional
use of available tools and resources
ensures you can differentiate to meet
the needs of students in your context
and at their pace. Userway integration
and intentional accessibility features
built throughout the platform allow our
content to be accessible to all students.
How to Use the Planning Guide:
Planning Guide Design Principles:
A list of focus questions along with a representative example of career
exploration activities is offered for each grade. It begins with identifying student
career interests to drive deeper learning fueled by both teacher-driven and
student-driven exploration within the “Career” section of the platform. You have
all the necessary tools and resources in Pathful to meet the career readiness
needs of your learners.
Understanding Myself
and Career Interests
Understanding Myself and
Postsecondary Options
Connecting My Initiative
to Career Choices
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
What are my
career interests?
What is a “Career Cluster”
and which careers are in
each Career Cluster?
What is a S.M.A.R.T goal
and is it important to have
both “Short-Term and
“Long-Term” goals?
What are “Grit” and
“Growth Mindset” and
how do they contribute
to my future career?
Am I developing my social-
emotional competencies to
thrive in the world of work?
Lessons:
Careers and YOUR Interests
1.
Choosing a Career Pathway
2.
Individual Lesson over each of the 17
Career Clusters
3.
Individual Lesson over each of the 8
nationally recognized CTSO (Career
Technical Student Organization)
4.
Exploring Military Careers
5.
Job Exploration and Career Awareness
6.
Nontraditional Careers
7.
Understanding Grit
8.
Understanding Growth Mindset
9.
Explore Goal Setting
10.
Employability Skills Videos:
Major Employability Videos,
including: How to Choose an Area of
Study and Look at What’s in Your
Heart When Trying to Choose a Major
1.
36 Career Cluster Employability
Videos, including: STEAM and The
Joys of Education and Training
2.
28 Social-Emotional Employability
Videos, including: Emotional
Intelligence and How to Build Self
Confidence
3.
14 Extracurricular Employability
Videos, including: Career and
Technical Student Organizations and
Extracurriculars Expand Your Horizons
4.
Est. Time to Complete: 8 hrs
Understanding Myself & Career Interests
Focus Questions:
Students gain insights into their career interests by completing Lesson “Careers and
YOUR Interests” which includes the Career Interests Assessment. Students research
their highest rated careers in the “Career” section of the platform featuring job
shadowing videos from a “day in the life of” perspective. Additional Lessons build a
foundation for self-discovery and meaningful career exploration.
Suggested Grade: 6th
Summary
Resources used:
Assessments:
Interests Assessment
Teacher View
After students complete the Lesson “Careers and YOUR Interests”, direct
students to access the “Career” section of the platform and explore Career
Profiles by watching job shadowing and Q&A videos within their top 3 Career
Clusters. Ask students to favorite their top 3 Career Profiles for a total of 9. Then,
have students complete all Career Journal sections (career description,
required education, earnings, future outlook, related careers, additional links,
and colleges for each profile) and rate their interest.
Assign the Lesson “Careers and YOUR Interests” where
students will complete the Career Interests Assessment
and reflect on their top three Career Clusters using the
Written Response feature.
Directions:
Assign Lessons for alternative career paths including:
“Job Exploration and Career Awareness”
“Exploring Military Careers”
“Nontraditional Careers”
Assign Lessons you feel are vital to address
social-emotional competencies and soft skill
development at this grade level:
“Understanding Grit”
“Understanding Growth Mindset”
“Goal Setting” – Lesson that also covers
short and long-term S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
Request Work-Based Learning sessions to further address specific areas of
career readiness or to give students more experience with specific careers.
*Requires WBL Module
4.
5.
To customize any Lesson,
simply clone it and make any
necessary modifications to the
activities such as changing the
Assessment, adding a Playlist
of Employability videos, adding
a Written Response, or adding
external links.
Tip
3.
2.
1.
Teacher View
Lessons:
Postsecondary Education
1.
Postsecondary Planning
2.
A Guide to the FAFSA and/or FAFSA 101
3.
My Plan Outline
4.
Soft and Hard Skills
5.
Understanding Flexibility
6.
The STEM Career Cluster
7.
Communication
8.
Collaboration
9.
Personal Presentation is the Key to
Making a Good First Impression
10.
Employability Skills Videos:
27 Other Ways to Learn Employability
Skills Videos including: All the Benefits of
Career Technical Education and How to Get
the Most Out of Your Internship
1.
48 Soft Skills Employability Skills Videos,
including: Communicating in the
Workplace and Collaboration at Work
2.
39 Diversity and Inclusion Employability
Skills Videos, including: Growth Happens
When we Talk Through Tough Topics and
What is Inclusion?
3.
28 Leadership Employability Skills Videos,
including: 21st Century Leadership Skills and
You Can’t Win On Your Own
4.
Est. Time to Complete: 8 hrs
Understanding Myself & Postsecondary
Education Options
Focus Questions:
Students complete the Career Personality Assessment to gain valuable insights into
their own preferences. Students begin exploring postsecondary options further through
researching the different types of education that may be connected with their specific
career survey interest results.
Suggested Grade: 7th
Summary
Resources used:
Assessments:
Career Personality Assessment
What does “postsecondary
education” mean?
What does “STEM”
mean and what kinds of
careers are in STEM?
How do I know if I want to go
to a trade school, 2-year, or
4-year college after high
school, or if I just want to
start working?
Which postsecondary
education options are a
good fit for my
interests?
How will soft skills
such as
“communication”
and “collaboration”
help me succeed
regardless of what
postsecondary
path I pursue?
Assign Lessons “FAFSA 101” and/or “A Guide to the FAFSA” where students will learn
about the importance of filling out the FAFSA correctly.
Assign Lessons “Postsecondary Education” and “Postsecondary Planning” where
students will use the College Search tool to filter and favorite schools for addition
to their Postsecondary Plan.
Directions:
Have students fill out their Postsecondary Plan, located within MyPath on their
dashboard.
Assign Lesson “Understanding Flexibility” where students will learn about the
importance of being flexible and versatile.
Have students take the Career Personality Assessment located within My
Tracker. With their results, have them research two careers that are a match
based on their results and fill out the respective career journals for those careers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Assign Lesson “The STEM Career Cluster”
where students will learn about this Career
Cluster in more detail.
6.
Assign Lessons you feel are vital at this grade
level to emphasize social emotional
development, such as:
“Communication”
“Collaboration”
“Personal Presentation is the Key to
Making a Good First Impression”
7.
Request Work-Based Learning sessions to further address specific areas of
career readiness or to give students more experience with specific careers.
*Requires WBL Module
8.
To customize any Lesson,
simply clone it and make any
necessary modifications to the
activities such as changing the
Assessment, adding a Playlist
of Employability videos, adding
a Written Response, or adding
external links.
Tip
Lessons:
Taking Initiative
1.
Creative Thinking
2.
Critical Thinking
3.
Citizenship
4.
The Power of Self-Determination
5.
Work-Based Learning
6.
Qualities Employers are Seeking
7.
Employability Skills Videos:
20 First Jobs Employability Skills
Videos, including: Entry-Level Jobs Give
You Valuable Experience and Learn
Lifelong Skills in Your First Job
1.
19 Networking Employability Skills
Videos, including: Asking for Help
Shows Courage, Not Weakness and
How to Find a Mentor and Be a Good
Mentee
2.
36 Job Preparation Employability
Skills Videos, including: A Job
Application is Not the Same as a
Resume, and Become a Self-Advocate
3.
Est. Time to Complete: 8 hrs
Connecting My Initiative to Career Choices
By completing the Work Values Assessment students are introduced to values they
hold that will shape their ongoing thought process about what careers and
postsecondary education options best match who they are and want to become.
Suggested Grade: 8th
Summary
Resources used:
Assessments:
Work Values Assessment
Teacher View
Focus Questions:
What are my work
preferences and how does
what I value matter in
selecting a career?
What role does initiative
play in succeeding in
postsecondary settings?
What is the difference
between “creative
thinking” and “critical
thinking”?
Do I know how to
communicate my
interests, desires, and
needs with others?
What does
“citizenship” mean in
a career context?
Have students take the Work Values Assessment located within My Tracker. With
their results, have them research two careers that are a match based on their
results and fill out the respective career journals for those careers.
Assign Lesson “Taking Initiative” where students learn
about the importance of taking action.
Directions:
1.
2.
3. Assign any Lessons you feel are vital at this grade level such as:
Request Work-Based Learning sessions to to further address specific areas
of career readiness or to give students more experience with specific
careers. *Requires WBL Module
4.
To customize any Lesson,
simply clone it and make any
necessary modifications to the
activities such as changing the
Assessment, adding a Playlist
of Employability videos, adding
a Written Response, or adding
external links.
Tip
“Creative Thinking”
“Critical Thinking”
“Citizenship”
“The Power of Self-Determination”
“Work-Based Learning”
“Qualities Employers are Seeking”