♪[theme music]
>>Rose: You never give up. You persevere 'cause if I can do it...
if I could get an education. You know, if I could...
erase the tape that was you know put into my head for many years that I couldn't do it
and then do it then anybody can do it. You guys -
whatever you desire to do, you can do.
Whatever you desire in this life... ultimately it's going to be up to you
not your parents.
>>teacher: Ok so we were working on the RCD unit called Life After High
School and it's the senior portfolio unit where students have to build job resumes
job applications. They get letters of recommendation. And so that was the
foundation from one of our our RCD units.
Alright well I'd like to welcome all the
freshmen um Miss Culverson's class to my class. We're so excited to have you
and ah we're excited to have you at Indian Springs.
You know I told my seniors about mentoring a freshman
and they were really excited because when they started at the school uh four
years ago there were no seniors on campus. And so the goal of today is to
just kind of talk to you a little bit and mentor you about high school and how
to be successful in high school and some of the things that you can do to get
ready.
Um freshmen would you please get out a piece of paper and take notes um...
they have a little question sheet that you need to respond to.
When I sat down and looked at this RCD unit
I knew I wanted to add some things to it. I didn't want the senior
portfolio to be something that would just sit on a shelf. I wanted it to be
something that students will learn how to use and engage with. I wanted to
students to have a an experience being mentored by others and also mentoring
other freshmen. So I brought in freshmen students we partnered with a freshman
class and we we set up a little mentorship. Um the freshmen half of the
freshmen came into my classroom and half of my seniors went into a freshmen class
that we kind of adopted and they mentored the freshman about
what goes in a senior portfolio, how's it useful four years down the line?
Um the senior portfolio has the potential to be much more effective if students
start working on it at a younger age when they're incoming freshmen.
>>student: I know at one point I was you and I didn't know what I was doing in High School.
I didn't...I was lost completely. Um right now if you're not in any clubs
just like Mr. Taccia said, get some into it. Um, try them out
if you don't like them, drop them. But try them out because I know you will
find something. There's something. Oh, there is always something.
I thought. Honestly I always thought there was nothing for me. I thought I was dumb
when I was a freshman. And I thought nothing was for me.
And then I found speech and debate and youth court, and it just saved me.
Honestly.
>>teacher: So in the mentoring portion of this assignment, I had a very
structured set of questions and things that the seniors had to go over with the
freshmen students. We started off with introductions and then they went into
showing the freshmen their portfolios. They went through it page by page they
showed them the different parts of the portfolio and they explained to them why
it's important to start working toward an end goal as a freshman in high school.
Yesterday students uh mentored freshmen students. So the freshmen came in our classroom
and seniors got a chance to talk to them and mentor them. Today the roles are
kind of reversed, you're the ones mentoring them. Um, you know you've all been
very successful in your your...you have good jobs and uh
robust educational backgrounds uh
that you can share with the students and so here are some talking points that
I've listed for you guys to talk about...
The second part of this project is when
I had adults come in and mentor senior students about their educational path and
their career journey. The reason that I brought in adults to mentor the students
is because I wanted students to hear real stories from real adults who were
successful-who had strong educational backgrounds and strong careers. They
don't-our students don't have a whole lot of role models in their life that
are successful. And so when they can hear successful stories from multiple people
it helps them to envision their own success.
>>Jen: As a child lived - I did not live in America I lived in another country.
Uh, I lived in Columbia, so when I came to America I
didn't speak any English. So I was a student that was an English learner.
So I think that's a big thing 'cause it's a huge obstacle to overcome.
Um as a child um we came because of turmoil in our country as you guys are seeing in
countries today like in Mexico and the Middle East there's a lot of
uh warfare going on. Um...
with like drug trafficking and just the government with the guerrillas
I mean it's just all. Right?
So my parents brought us because of the safety. They're like we're
gonna bring our children we have nothing. They came over with nothing. They wanted
to get us away from that lifestyle. Ok. Um So when they came here, I was young was in
elementary school and I didn't speak any English and I was like heavily bullied.
Um because all the kids in my school spoke English and I was only one that spoke Spanish.
>>teacher: Um I also wanted to get them comfortable speaking with adults
so that when they actually go on job interviews
uh they have a little more experience and they feel comfortable. Um...
the adults who mentored the students in my classroom were able to give them tips
on interview skills - were able to mentor them a little bit about what
hiring managers look for. And so I think the experience of them talking with an
adult and sitting down and getting some one-on-one or group mentoringship was
was a good experience for them.
>>Sharonda: Interviews you do get nervous. Um I know for me
if feels like my heart is going to pound out of my chest even though I feel like I
got it and I can answer all of the questions they're gonna ask me I'm still nervous.
But don't let them see that. So when you're going on an interview,
make sure you're going at least 10 to 15 minutes early.
You know on time make sure you're dressed professionally. Make sure that you
research the company or the business that you're going to be interviewing for.
Um...and make sure that you have a line to give them.
Let them know how you're going to be able to uh..be an
asset to their company-how you're going to benefit and grow their company.
Ok. So let them know- kind of sell yourself. Let them kow why they
should choose you.
>>teacher: So the way I set up the room when the adult mentors came
in was I organized the tables into groups of about 8 to 10 students. And I
put the adults at the head of the table. And so I would have the adults rotate.
They would speak with each group for 15 minutes and then I would prompt them to
speak a little bit about job interviews at the end and give some interview tips
and then I would have the adults rotate. So every 15 minutes
students got to hear from another adult another story about their education and
career journey.
Ok. I will ask you questions from this list. I won't ask you
every single one. But the ones I will definitely ask you: I'll ask every
single student the first question: Tell me about yourself and the last question:
Do you have any questions for me. I'm gonna start and end every interview the
same-with those two questions. So be prepared for that I'll probably ask you
five or six of those. It won't be too long it'll be like a three-minute
interview. I'll ask you tell me about yourself, I'll randomly choose some questions
off this list, and I'll change it up. I won't ask everyone all the same questions.
Ok. But from this list be prepared for all of them. Make sure you have an
answer ready for each of those questions. so that if I ask you you have something
that you're ready to say. Alright?
Ok, here's what I want to do next: we have 25 minutes. I wanna come around and I'm
gonna check your notes from last week's guest speakers and I'm gonna check your
rough drafts for parts one and two. So I'll be coming around to check those in
enter them into the gradebook. While I'm doing that, I would like for you to sit
with a partner and take turns asking each other these questions
practicing these questions. Alright, so I'm gonna give you one minute to find a
partner and put your desk so that they're facing each other.
Find a partner face your desk together everyone needs a partner.
You have one minute. Go.
>>student 3: What's your biggest accomplishment?
>>student 4: My biggest accomplishment is really being in the Health Academy.
For me it's a big step because it's a lot of responsibility.
and it's given me a head start and it's teaching me a lot knowledge
and I'm getting the experience work that most
high school students don't get experience.
>>student 1: Besides your classes, what activity has been most important in
terms of your personal growth?
>>student 4: Well, I have two activities which would be cross country and choir.
Cross country helped me not be shy around people. It helped me reach a goal. My
coaches would always tell me, You start a race, so you finish it.
So whatever I start, I have to finish. And for choir, it helped me not to be
embarrased to be who I am in front of people...
>>teacher: I decided to do mock interviews with
all of my students because students in our
community in San Bernardino really need experience in speaking and listening
and verbal communication.
>>teacher: And uh Brianna, tell me about yourself.
>>Brianna: I am still currently in my senior year of high school
at Indian Springs and I am... I've been at school since preschool so I am
currently. And I've been involved in GATE and
honors classes since middle and high school.
After high school I want to go to either a university or do a
a..wait a community and then transferring to a university. >>teacher: uh huh
>>Brianna: to get my bachelor's or my master's. And some colleges I have in mind so far
are Cal Baptist...
>>teacher: Uh. So the way that I set up the classroom
for the mock interview is I have two desks at the
front of the classroom and they're facing each other and I call each
student up one by one and they sit down. We shake hands and then they introduce
themselves and we conduct an interview. The rest of the class is sitting
watching...um I have the laptops out so that
they could be working on their final essay.
and so they were kind of dividing their time between working on their writing
assignment while also observing other students be interviewed and gain some
knowledge from that interview experience which they're writing about in their
final essay. These units allow teachers to be creative.
They allow teachers to
add their own twist on things and I think to embrace these RCD units
is kinda to embrace teaching and the reasons why we went in the profession to
inspire students, to really get them engaged, critically thinking, and not have
every class be so lecture-based.
♪[theme music]