10th Grade — Unit 11: Certification Prep: Extra Credit: ACP / GMetrix Exam Preparation

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Computer with internet access, GMetrix account/access, Notebook for a personal review plan.
If today includes physical/hands-on work: make sure the classroom cameras are charged, working, and have a cleared SD card ready for photo uploads.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

Day 1

Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

Open / download this slide PDF

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

Day 1: 📋 Open Substitute Guide
Day 2: 📋 Open Substitute Guide

🎯 Essential Question

How do we review for the Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) Photoshop exam using GMetrix?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (2 Days), students will be able to:

Identify the 5 ACP exam domains and give one example task from each.
Complete a GMetrix practice test and identify personal areas of strength and weakness.
Create a personal review plan for any weak domains before the real exam.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 1 — Career Development -- students will be able to explain the range of career choices, and identify personal interests, skills, and aptitudes that relate to those choices.
CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives

ACP 1.1 — Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing images.
ACP 1.4 — Demonstrate knowledge of key terminology related to digital images.
ACP 1.5 — Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the design industry.
ACP 2.2 — Navigate, organize, and customize the application workspace.
ACP 3.1 — Use layers to manage design elements.
ACP 4.1 — Use core tools and features to create visual elements.
ACP 5.2 — Export or save digital images to various file formats.

🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry · Domain 2: Project Setup and Interface · Domain 3: Organizing Documents · Domain 4: Creating and Modifying Visual Elements · Domain 5: Publishing Digital Media

📚 Key Vocabulary

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional): An industry-recognized certification proving proficiency in an Adobe application like Photoshop -- formerly called ACA (Adobe Certified Associate).
GMetrix: The practice-test platform used to prepare for the ACP exam.
Exam Domain: One of the major skill categories the ACP exam is organized around.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Computer with internet access
GMetrix account/access
Notebook for a personal review plan

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Which of this semester's projects do you feel MOST confident about, and which one felt hardest?

📤 How You Submit This — For Credit

How you submit today's work depends on what kind of work it was. Physical/paper work (most of this semester so far): photograph it with a classroom camera, upload the photo from its SD card onto a computer, and save it into your portfolio -- that upload is your submission, and the physical piece itself is yours to keep, the same as in Grade 9 (your notebook is the one thing with a home base in the room, and even that's your call to bring home when you want it). Digital work (once you're producing files in Photoshop, second semester on): no camera needed -- instead, EXPORT the file. Export your finished project as a JPG, as a PNG, AND save a copy as a PSD (all three), then upload all three into your portfolio. Either way: the portfolio upload, with a description, is what actually counts as turning the assignment in for credit.

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress piece to your portfolio (the Google Drive folder you started in Grade 9, becoming your Google Sites portfolio in Lesson 10) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what tool/skill it used, and one thing you learned. Keep it current -- don't save it all for the portfolio-website lesson.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Extra Credit: ACP / GMetrix Exam Preparation.” This project asked: “How do we review for the Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) Photoshop exam using GMetrix?” I used ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Review	Do Now (5 min): which project this year do you feel most confident about? Mini-lesson (30 min): walk through the 5 ACP domains (Working in the Design Industry; Project Setup and Interface; Organizing Documents; Creating and Modifying Visual Elements; Publishing Digital Media) and connect each to a project completed this year. Discussion (10 min): which domain feels least familiar?
Day 2	Practice	Do Now (5 min). Practice test (30 min): take a GMetrix practice test. Build review plan (10 min): build a short personal review plan targeting your weakest domain(s).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Practice test results reviewed individually with each student; review plan checked for specificity.

Exit Ticket: Name the one ACP domain you plan to review most before the real exam, and why.

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: provide translated or bilingual glossaries, visuals, and sentence frames; pair with a peer for meaningful participation. Students with IEPs: provide extended time, step-by-step checklists, and one-on-one or small-group support as specified in each student's plan. Attention-related needs: break the task into smaller steps, use visual timers, and minimize distractions. Students who finish early: extend the task by adding a second design variation, mentoring a classmate, or writing a short reflection connecting today's skill to a career pathway.