TIME for KIDS Career Resources for Parents and Teachers User Guide

TIME for KIDS Career Resources for Parents and Teachers

Product Information

The Teacher’s Guide is a comprehensive resource designed to help educators engage students in exploring different career options and shaping their future. It provides lesson plans, worksheets, articles, and other tools to facilitate discussions about career pathways.

Specifications:

• Publication Date: September 2022
• Supported Skills: Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Communication, Critical Thinking, Growth Mindset
• Common Core Standards: R.1, R.2, R.7, R.10, RI.2, RI.6, RI.7, RI.10, W.9, W.10

Product Usage Instructions

Quick Tips:

1. Take a test drive:
   • Visit timeforkids.com/your-hot-job to explore the features of Your Job for 15 minutes.
2. Plan it out:
   • Review the two-day lesson plan provided in the guide.
   • Map out the lessons in your schedule and make any necessary modifications.
3. Connect at home:
   • Make copies of the family letter on page 4 of the guide to send home with students.
   • Encourage conversations about career pathways between students and their families.

Day 1: Getting Students Thinking About Career Options

Learning objective: Students will explore how their unique skill combinations can shape their future.

Essential question: How can my unique mix of skills and interests shape my career goals?

Introduction:

Ask students to think about what they want to be when they grow up. Provide them with the worksheet “Possible Pathways” on page 3 of the guide. Ask students to record their reaction to the question in the worksheet’s Career Confidence section. Encourage volunteers to share their responses and reasons with the class.

Explain to the class that in these lessons, they will be analyzing their skill sets and learning about careers that might be of interest to them. Ask students to flip their worksheet over and make a list of their interests. Encourage them to vary the list as much as possible. Once they have done that, have them connect their interests to their strengths. For example, if an interest is hanging out with friends, their strength might be working with others.

Whole Group/Small Group Activity:

Divide students into small groups and have them discuss their charts. Give each member time to share at least one interest/strength. Encourage peers to provide ideas and feedback about their classmates’ strengths. Prompt them to think about anything a student may not have considered about themselves.

Bring the class back together and read aloud the article “Go Your Own Way” on page 2 of the magazine. Point out where Terina Allen mentions feeling scared, worried, overwhelmed, and courageous. Explain that all these feelings are okay and reassure students that they will be provided with tools to boost their confidence in their chosen career paths.

Closing:

Wrap up the lesson by summarizing the key points discussed and encouraging students to continue exploring their interests and strengths.

Day 2: Getting Started on Your Job

Learning objective: Students will explore different career paths and identify which ones interest them most.

Essential question: What careers are available to someone like me? Which careers excite me?

(Provide detailed usage instructions for Day 2 here)

FAQ

Q: How can I access the two-day lesson plan?

A: The two-day lesson plan is provided in the Teacher’s Guide. You can find it in the guide itself.

Q: Where can I find additional resources related to career pathways?

A: You can visit timeforkids.com/your-hot-job for additional resources and information related to career pathways.

Q: How can I contact the editors for further assistance?

A: You can email the editors at tfkteachers@time.com for any inquiries or assistance.

Explore sneaker design, video-game production, and more, as you dream up the job that’s just right for you..

COMMON CORE STANDARDS
R.1, R.2, R.7, R.10 RI.2, RI.6, RI.7, RI.10 W.9, W.10

CASEL FRAMEWORK
Self-Awareness Social Awareness Relationship Skills

21ST-CENTURY SKILLS FOCUS
Communication Critical Thinking Growth Mindset

DEAR EDUCATOR

As you read this letter in your classroom (or on your couch, while planning the days and weeks ahead), take a moment to reflect on how you got to this point in your career. My career as an educator was no walk in the park. I got off to a rocky start when I had to decide what I was going to school for, and I met with plenty of setbacks after that. As I look back at my upbringing and education, I realize that there was no discussion of any career opportunities that were organic to who I was. Do you feel you were destined to be a teacher? Is teaching a second career after a first career failed to spark joy? Or did you just fall into it?

Whatever your path, you’ll understand why this product is so important. It presents an opportunity to introduce the topic of career exploration before students enter high school and need to make pivotal decisions about what to do next. It’s a chance for them to find answers to the recurring question “Why does this matter?” and to start making connections to the real world. Most valuably, it’s a way for students to identify their strengths and interests, and to answer the haunting question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

As you engage with Your Job, tag us in your social posts! We look forward to hearing about conversations that happen in your classroom and beyond.

Stacy Bien,
Head of Curriculum and Digital, TIME for Kids

Email the editors: tfkteachers@time.com

QUICK TIPS

1. Take a test drive. One of the best ways to get to know a new product is to try it out. Take 15 minutes to explore Your Job at timeforkids.com/your-hot-job.
2. Plan it out. Inside this guide is a two-day lesson plan. Read through the lessons and map out where they fit into your schedule and what modifications you might need to make.
3. Connect at home. Conversations about career pathways are just as important at home as they are in the classroom. Make copies
   of the family letter on page 4 of this guide to send home with students.

DAY 1: GETTING STUDENTS THINKING ABOUT CAREER OPTIONS

Learning objective: Students will explore how their unique skill combinations can shape their future. Essential question: How can my unique mix of skills and interests shape my career goals?

INTRODUCTION
Ask students to think about what they want to be when they grow up. Then give them the worksheet “Possible Pathways,” on page 3 of this guide. They can record their reaction to that question in the worksheet’s “Career Confidence” section. Have volunteers share their responses and reasons with the class. Tell the class that in these lessons, students will be analyzing their skill sets and learning about careers that might be of interest to them. Start by having them flip their worksheet over to make a list of their interests. Encourage them to vary the list as much as possible. Once they’ve done that, have them connect their interests to their strengths. For example, if an interest is “hanging out with friends,” maybe their strength is working with others.

WHOLE GROUP/SMALL GROUP
Have students in small groups discuss their charts. Give each member time to share at least one interest/strength. Ask peers to provide ideas and feedback about their classmates’ strengths. Is there something a student didn’t think of about himself or herself?
Bring the class together and read the article “Go Your Own Way,” on page 2 of the magazine, aloud. Point out where Terina Allen says she was sometimes scared, worried, overwhelmed, and courageous. Explain that all these feelings are okay, and that students will be getting some tools to give them confidence in their career paths.

CLOSING
Tell students that on pages 2–3 of the magazine, they’ll be reading about sneaker design and video-game production. When they’re done, have them choose Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson, Andy Agostini, or Clint Oldenburg and answer the following questions: What was your chosen person’s interest? What were some of his or her strengths? How did this lead to a dream career? What connections can you draw between yourself and the person in the article?

DAY 2: GETTING STARTED ON YOUR JOB

Learning objective: Students will explore different career paths and identify which ones interest them most. Essential question: What careers are available to someone like me? Which careers excite me?

INTRODUCTION
Tell students that today, they’ll have a chance to use the Your Job platform to learn more about career options that are available to them. Ask whether they think a platform like this is important. Remind them that Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson didn’t know designing sneakers was a career until she was in high school, and that when Andy Agostini was a kid, “video games were sort of starting up.” So the platform will expose students to careers they might never have thought of, including careers of the future that don’t yet exist.

INDEPENDENT WORK
Have students go to ti.me/skills to complete the Skills Explorer. Then direct their attention to the career “trading cards” on their results page. Have them flip through these to learn about some careers. Then, on their “Possible Pathways” worksheet, under “My Trading Card Collection,” have them list three careers that excite them. Give them time to explore their results and the site.

CLOSING
Bring the class back together. Ask volunteers what they learned while exploring the site. Then have them independently reflect on the following: How did your Skills Explorer results align with the strengths and interests you identified on day 1? Do you feel differently now in response to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

POSSIBLE PATHWAYS

Use the space below to indicate how you feel when you’re asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Then fill in the trading cards using information from Your Job.

Career Confidence
When people ask what I want to be when I grow up, I feel . . .

My Trading Card Collection
Jobs I am most excited about . . .

Try It! Click on the “Take me to my feed” button from your Skills Explorer results and choose at least one article to read.

Your Job Career exploration conversations should extend beyond the classroom. That’s why we’re including this family resource page. Teachers, please take a moment to copy this page and send it home with your students.

DEAR FAMILIES,
When I was still a child, I started thinking about the kind of life and career I wanted. I knew I didn’t want to be ordinary, I knew I didn’t want to be bored, and I knew I didn’t want to be boring. Sometimes, I was courageous. Sometimes, I was just plain scared. Your children might have days where they feel scared too. They might feel scared that they’ll fail. They might even worry about what will happen if they succeed.
Children won’t be able to control many things that happen in life. But they can control themselves and manage their own career paths. They can make choices today that will help them live a life that makes them happy and proud.
Terina Allen
Career Development Expert

SPARKING CONVERSATIONS

• Imagine what is next. These are exciting times for kids who are beginning to discover the world of work. Traditional jobs are evolving quickly to meet the needs of our world, and new occupations are created every day. Many tweens and teens will hold jobs we can’t even imagine. Preparing them to pursue emerging career paths can be daunting, but it can also be an adventure. Give students the tools and confidence they need to follow their dreams today, and they’ll be ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. Have your child dream up a job that he or she would love to do but that doesn’t yet exist. What would the job entail? Why would the child be good at it? What skills would he or she need to develop? Is there a way to start working on those skills now?
• Define success. Success means different things to different people. For some, helping others is an important gauge of a successful career. For others, creative freedom or entrepreneurship might be a top priority. And some people feel successful in a job at which they’re always learning. Coming up with your own definition of success is key to getting what you want. Invite your teen or tween to picture a happy, fulfilling life 20 years from now. What’s it like? What will make him or her excited to go to work every day?
• Set a goal. A goal is a dream with a deadline. And while achieving a dream can feel overwhelming, it’s much easier if you take it one piece at a time. All of the people featured in Your Job have a story to tell about finding their perfect job. And as sports statistician Gil Bransford says, sometimes the path to a dream isn’t a straight line. But every journey starts with taking just one step forward. Come up with one big goal for this year. Then think of two smaller goals that could help you on your way to that larger goal. What do you need to achieve them? Who can help?

GO YOUR OWN WAY

How can you find the career path that’s just right for you? Career development expert Terina Allen shares her story and offers advice..

• You get to choose your own career path—oh yes, you do! No matter where you start in life, you can develop a career you love.
• I started thinking about the kind of life and career I wanted when I was about your age. First,
• I got overwhelmed . Then I got worried. All I knew was that I wanted a really cool job one day. I knew I didn’t want to be ordinary, I knew I didn’t want to be bored, and I knew I didn’t want to be boring.
• Sometimes, I was courageous. Sometimes, I was just plain scared. I was scared that I wouldn’t get a real chance to shine because I didn’t have money or connections to help me stand out.
• You might have days where you feel scared, too.
• You might feel scared that you’ll fail. You might even worry about what will happen if you succeed. You won’t be able to control many things that happen in life. But you can control yourself and manage your own path. You can make choices today that will help you live a life that makes you happy and proud.
• Have you completed the Skills Explorer on the Your Job website yet? Go to ti.me/skills and start there. Consider your results. Then dive into learning about different career options.
• And remember this: You get to decide the best career path for your life. You get to choose. There is no right or wrong choice. There are many different options, and you get to decide your own best path.

COOL KICKS

• Meet sneaker designer Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson, and visit ti.me/sneakers for more.

• Imagine you’re shopping for new shoes: What catches your eye? Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson wants to know. She’s a sneaker designer who has designed footwear for athletes and many others. Now she mentors students to follow in her footsteps.

• Thornhill-Goldson started drawing sneakers in fifth grade. Her interest in drawing led her to a high school for art and design, where she met a former student who had gone on to work for Nike. He showed her that designing sneakers could be a career. She got a job at Nike after graduating from college.

• Today, Thornhill-Goldson works for Adidas S.E.E.D., a program for aspiring sneaker designers. It opens the door to students who might not otherwise find opportunities in design. “I know the power that one person can have to change someone’s life,” she says. “I want to be that for other people.” —By Cristina Fernandez

• Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson sketches with students at the Adidas S.E.E.D. studio, in Brooklyn, New York.

• This and the photo at top right are in-game shots from NHL 22. Andy Agostini (inset) works on the NHL development team at EA Sports.

• Clint Oldenburg (left) chats with former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. As part of his role at EA Sports, Oldenburg attends NFL games to analyze player perfor-mance. This helps him determine ratings for Madden.

GET IN GAME

Sports video-game producers manage teams and keep projects on track.

• Someone who likes sports might dream of becoming a professional athlete. Someone who likes playing video games might covet a career as a professional gamer. For people who like both, there’s a perfect third option: Consider a job as a sports video-game producer.
• Andy Agostini and Clint Oldenburg are video-game producers at EA Sports. Video-game producers are the people who oversee the entire process of creating a video game. They manage a team of programmers, designers, and artists to make sure a new product is developed successfully. Agostini is a producer on the National Hockey League (NHL) game-development team. Oldenburg, a former National Football League (NFL) player, works on the Madden video-game team.
• While growing up, both Agostini and Oldenburg loved playing video games, but neither thought about turning that love into a career. “When I was a kid, video games were sort of starting up,” Agostini says. “I never thought I would become a video-game producer.”
• Both say their favorite part of the job is working with their teammates. “We have people with so many skill sets,” Oldenburg says. “I feel like I’m working with the smartest and most creative people in the world.”
• Agostini agrees. “The people I work with are so bright and creative,” he says.
• The hardest part of the job? Both producers find the key challenge to be the time crunch of produc-ing a new game by its determined deadline. “We have so many great ideas we want to do in our games, but we only have a limited amount of time to do it,” says Oldenburg.
• Agostini has advice for kids who aspire to become video-game producers: There’s no one path to take.
• “There are a lot of industries attached to video games,” he says. “You don’t have to be a programmer to be a producer.”
• Oldenburg has advice for kids, too. “Start getting ideas of what you like and don’t like about games,” he says. “And there are also many resources online to teach yourself how to create. . . . Creating is a skill.”
  —By TFK Kid Reporter Ethan Zhang

GET MORE ONLINE

Whether you’re into sports, space, or something else, check out the Your Job site, at timeforkids.com/your-hot-job. Discover possible

career paths with articles, videos, interviews, reading and watching lists, and more. What does your future hold?
—By Allison Singer

COURTESY NIKOLAI ZYCHOWICZ

STEFANIE KEENAN—GETTY IMAGES FOR GOLD HOUSE
CMG LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Please recycle this magazine.

References

• Your ? Job | Help Your Teen Find Their Future Career
• Your ? Job | Help Your Teen Find Their Future Career

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