What Is a Career? What Is CTE? Setting Up How We'll Learn Together

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

1. Step 1 — 5 min

   🗣️ Say: "Turn to a partner and do this together."

   📋 Card-sort in pairs (5 min): sort ~10 job-title cards into 3 piles -- Job, Career, or Trade -- fast, first instincts, no explanation yet.

2. Step 2 — 7 min

   🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.

   📋 Mini-lesson + share-out (7 min): reveal the actual sort, define career/job/trade/apprentice, and unpack why it was tricky (a job can be a step inside a bigger career; trades are careers built on hands-on skill plus an apprenticeship). Quick 60-second history connection: medieval craft guilds and the Apprentice-to-Journeyman-to-Master progression are the direct ancestor of today's trade certifications. Log Career, Trade, and Apprentice in the Vocabulary Log.

3. Step 3 — 8 min

   🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.

   📋 Post-secondary pathways quick-map (8 min): mini-lesson naming the real range of options -- 4-year college, community college, trade/vocational school, apprenticeship, military, workforce, entrepreneurship (3 min) -- then every student checks their top 2 on the half-sheet and writes one sentence on where they picture themselves in 5 years (5 min). Log Post-Secondary in the Vocabulary Log.

4. Step 4 — 10 min

   🗣️ Say: "We're doing a gallery walk -- quietly walk around, look at everyone's work, and jot a note as you go."

   📋 CTE + 3 pathways gallery walk (10 min): 60-second mini-lesson on how CTE builds Employability Skills that transfer across every pathway just named. Timed 90-second silent walk past the 3 posted pathway images (Digital Design, Urban Farming, Historical Preservation), jotting one word per pathway in Daily Notes, then a fast 2-minute whole-class share of who's drawn to which pathway and why. Log CTE and Employability Skills in the Vocabulary Log.

5. Step 5 — 5 min

   🗣️ Say: "Before the bell, everyone needs to finish the exit ticket."

   📋 Exit ticket + heads-up for next class (5 min): complete the exit ticket, then copy down from the board what to bring for the Career Pathways (CPP) account signup -- a personal email, their school ID number, and a parent/guardian's phone number, address, and email.

6. Step 6

   🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.

   📋 Optional homework extension: interview a family member or neighbor for 5 minutes about their job, career, or trade and jot 3 things you learned in your notebook.

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

Career

A series of related jobs in the same field, usually built over many years, that grows your skills, responsibility, and income over time.

Job

A single position doing work in exchange for pay; a job may or may not be part of a bigger career.

Trade

A skilled occupation that requires hands-on technical training or an apprenticeship, such as electrician, plumber, or carpenter.

Apprentice

A person learning a trade by working under a licensed or experienced professional, often earning pay while training.

Post-Secondary

Any education or training that happens after high school -- college, trade school, the military, an apprenticeship, or straight into the workforce.

Employability Skills

The core work-readiness skills (communication, punctuality, teamwork, problem-solving) every employer expects, no matter the field.

CTE (Career and Technical Education)

Coursework that builds real workplace skills and industry credentials alongside a high school diploma.