RETA Curriculum: Where in the world do I want to live?
RETA Curriculum Guide
Where in the world do I want to live?
Career Ed. For High School
Designed by: Debs Kelly
edkelly@nedcomm.nm.org
Introduction
Have you ever said? “I can’t wait to get out of this town!” Or, have you wondered where you might
find your “Dream Job”?
This is a multidisciplinary unit that is designed to acquaint students with the careers available within
their own community and distant communities. Students will also explore the living conditions and
life styles available in different communities. After selecting a career pathway, they will, through
research and communication with students in other communities, discover the Social and Economic
opportunities that could be available to them. This unit will incorporate the use of technology as a tool
for research and communication.
Student Outcomes
Students will understand:
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The Career availability in different communities
The levels of income in various communities
The Living standards in various communities
The education and recreation opportunities available in various communities
Content Area and Grade Levels
This lesson is designed to create Career Awareness at the High School level, but is scalable for use at
any level.
Content Standards and Benchmarks
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New Mexico Content Standards and Benchmarks
[http://www.cesdp.nmhu.edu/standards/index.htm]
National Educational Technology Standards [cnets.iste.org]
Career Readiness
(1) Students will identify their career interests and aptitudes to develop an educational plan which
supports personal career goals.
(3) Students will demonstrate the technological knowledge and skills required for future careers.
RETA Curriculum: Where in the world do I want to live?
(4) Students will develop and demonstrate responsible and ethical workplace behaviors.
(5) Students will develop effective leadership, interpersonal, and team skills.
Language Arts
(1) Students will understand and use Language Arts for communication.
Technology
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Word-processing
Spreadsheet
Digital camera and/or scanner
Adobe Photoshop
Internet access
World Wide Web Browser
PowerPoint or Web page editor
Email
Resources
Online
US Bureau of Census [ www.uscensus.gov ]
Career Mosaic [http://www.careermosaic.com/]
Career Interest Inventories:
Career Key [http://www.ncsu.edu/careerkey/index.html]
College Board Online [http://cbweb9p.collegeboard.org/career/html/searchQues.html]
Career Web Pages created by cooperating classes (Other sites will have to be discovered)
Off-line
Newspapers
Chamber of Commerce
City Planning
Department of Labor
Encyclopedia
Process
Tips:
The students should be divided into groups of 3 or 4. Each group will investigate the availability of
jobs in the community, the community resources and create a presentation in the form of a web site or
PowerPoint presentation describing what they have learned. The presentations will be combined into a
single web site or presentation that will be used by the cooperating classes from the other communities.
RETA Curriculum: Where in the world do I want to live?
As the presentations are complete, the students will review each one to find careers of interest and list
the pros and cons for the chosen career and the community in which it is found.
Materials:
Materials needed for this unit:
 Newspapers
 Photographs
Preparation:
The teacher will need to make arrangements with cooperating class(es) in another community. The
class will either need space on a web server on which to store the student’s web pages or be able to
send presentations as email attachments to cooperating classes. The preferred way of distributing the
presentations would be through a web site with an index that links all of the web pages or sites from
the cooperating schools.
Tasks: (actions)
1. Students will be divided into groups of 3 – 5.
2. Research the jobs available in the student’s community.
3. In pairs visit the Department of Labor, Chamber of Commerce, City Planning to discover what jobs
are available and may become available.
4. Make a table listing the benefits and drawbacks of each job found.
5. Research the resources of the community. (recreation, shopping, housing, etc.)
6. Take pictures of job sites and community resources.
7. Create a presentation using PowerPoint or HyperStudio software or create a web site using Adobe
Page Mill or other software showing the jobs and community resources.
8. Review the presentations from each group in the class and combine the best parts into a class
presentation or Web Site.
9. Share the presentations with other cooperating classes through email or web site.
10. Each student will review the presentations and create a presentation showing the “Dream Job” and
community he/she has chosen and reasons for the choice.
11. Students will review the individual presentations.
Presentation
 The class will review the presentations created by each group and choose the parts to be included
in the class presentation or Web Site.
 Each class will review the presentations from the cooperating schools.
 Students will present their “Dream Job” presentation to the class.
Credits
Proper credit will be given for the sources of information and the pictures used in the group, class, and
individual presentations.
RETA Curriculum: Where in the world do I want to live?
Assessment
The student will be evaluated through the use of a Rubric. The student will be evaluated for the
contributions made to the group presentations as well as the final individual “Dream Job” presentation.
Extension
Conduct an interview with a person with your chosen job in your community, if possible and conduct
an interview via e-mail or telephone with someone working in your chosen job in the other
community.
Tasks
Did your group
complete their
presentation?
How many resources
did your group use?
Did you do your share
in the group?
Did your group
contribute to the Class
Presentation?
Self
Yes / No
Did your presentation
contain support for
your choice of your
“Dream Job”?
How many Pictures
did your presentation
contain?
Did you give proper
credit for your
sources of
information?
Yes / No
Date completed
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No
Citations
The initial idea for this unit came from Jerry Welch.
Official Score
Resources used