🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep
- Gather/set out: Printed "unprofessional vs. professional" email examples, Blank email/script template (paper), Pencils.
- 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.
- Print today's student handouts (see 🖨️ Student Handouts below) in the language versions your class needs.
- Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.
- Heads-up -- Learning to Explain Your Work: Making something is only half the job -- a designer also has to be able to explain it: what you made, why you made the choices you did, and what problem it solves. This is its own skill, separate from the design itself, and it's just as important: it's how you'll write portfolio descriptions all year, defend your work in Grade 11's PBAT presentation, and talk about your skills in a real job interview. Start practicing it now, in small ways, every time you finish something -- don't wait until it's being formally graded to try putting it into words.
🖨️ Student Handouts (print, one per class day)
Word + picture + definition + a short writing task for that day's vocabulary, in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Simplified Chinese.
🧑🏫 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.
Learning to Explain Your Work
Making something is only half the job -- a designer also has to be able to explain it: what you made, why you made the choices you did, and what problem it solves. This is its own skill, separate from the design itself, and it's just as important: it's how you'll write portfolio descriptions all year, defend your work in Grade 11's PBAT presentation, and talk about your skills in a real job interview. Start practicing it now, in small ways, every time you finish something -- don't wait until it's being formally graded to try putting it into words.
🎯 Essential Question
- How should designers communicate with clients and co-workers?
📈 Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson (1 Day), students will be able to:
- Identify at least 3 habits of professional communication with a client.
- Draft a short, professional email or pitch-meeting script.
- Explain how tasks should be divided when more than one designer works on a project.
📐 Standards Alignment
CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)
- 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 1.2 — Communicate with colleagues and clients about design plans.
🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry
📚 Key Vocabulary
- Professionalism
- Conducting yourself and your communication in a way that builds trust and a good reputation.
- Co-Worker Communication
- Clearly defining who is doing what on a shared project, ideally before work begins.
🧰 Materials & Tools
- Printed "unprofessional vs. professional" email examples
- Blank email/script template (paper)
- Pencils
🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)
What do you already know about communicating with a client professionally? Jot down 2 ideas.
📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence
- Do Now + review of Unit 1 so far (purpose/audience, copyright, project management) (5 min).
- Mini-lesson: compare an unprofessional vs. professional client email side by side -- what makes the difference? (10 min).
- Guided writing: as a class, draft the opening lines of a professional pitch-meeting introduction (10 min).
- Independent practice: students draft their own short professional email responding to a sample client request, using the template (15 min).
- Partner share: read your email to a partner and get one piece of feedback (5 min).
✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket
Emails collected and checked against a short 'professionalism checklist' (greeting, clear ask, polite close, no slang).
Exit Ticket: What is one thing you would NEVER say to a client, and what would you say instead?
📊 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.