Seasons’ Greetings!
Our December CD LEAD Teacher meeting is a chance to engage in career-focused professional growth and development as well as network with our team members. Thanks for a productive meeting, everyone!
CD LEAD TEACHERS 2016-2017
Back Row: Renee Harrison, Heidi Marchant, Chris Germaine, Ryan Johnson, Cara Owens
Front Row: Natalie Chupik, Vanessa Lewis, Char Dansereau, Kevin Gawletz
Missing: Sam Motier, Elizabeth Pfeiffer/Shannon Stephenson
Agenda:
Welcome
Role of CD LEAD Teacher
CD BIG Picture
CD Updates
Team Picture and Gift Exchange Fun!
Future Meeting
Exit Slip Reflections and Safe Travel Home
Slideshare:
Highlights:
* Welcome: We began our meeting by welcoming new members and sharing a couple of short stories from The Book of Holiday Awesome by Neil Pasricha. This led us to a short sharing session or our own versions of Holiday Awesome!
* Role of CD LEAD Teacher: All of you play a vital role in the success of our various Sun West School Division Career Development Initiatives through your role as Career Development LEAD Teachers. We took some time to discuss the various ways you support students/families with the life/career development process as well the various resources/supports available to you in this role. If you require a refresher of some of the highlights, take a look at the details in the Slideshare or in our shared ONE DRIVE folder.
Quicklinks to our CD Team created resources are:
Career Connectors Wiki (Thanks all!)
Career Connectors Blog (Thanks all!)
Career Development FB Page (Thanks Renee!)
Career Development Website (currently must have Sun West account to access but looking to change that)
CD Newsletter (Thanks Chris and Kevin! See wiki)
CWEX Moodle Modules (Thanks CD PLT Team! Please inquire with Vanessa if needed)
ONE DRIVE folders with details from all of our CD PLT And CD LEAD Teacher meetings
* CD BIG Picture:
Professional Reading: We took some time to engage in professional reading from Career Development Practice in Canada. (epdf-of-career-development-practice-in-canada-chapter-1-the-emergence-of-career-development-in-canada ) Due to Vanessa’s challenge with photocopying, we ended up summarizing and moving on. As a result, the link to the article and a self-reflection are included as a a choice of exit slips. A great read! Hope we captured the big ideas – feel free to review at your leisure.
Research: We explored generalized findings in a Career Development article titled “Fostering college and career readiness: How career development activities in schools impact on graduation rates and students life success” from the University of Derby ICeGS Occasional Paper, 2011, as a spark to career-related discussions. A reflective prompt is included as a choice in the exit slip below.
Graduation Rates Priority BIG Picture: As a team, we explored some statistics in relation to the Graduation Rates Priority within our province and division. We engaged in meaningful discussion over the data shared and reflected on connections to our own Sun West students and their stories. We all own this! Our Grade 9 and Beyond Transition Plan is an action related to our A3: Graduation Rates Priority and we will continue our support of students this year and beyond in effort to help improve our overall graduation rates. Of note is last year was the first division wide implementation of our A3 Graduation Rates Outcome – Grade 9 and beyond Transition Plan. This required a lot of extra coordination and planning in support of our students and teachers, thank you!
Junior Achievement Partnership: We also discussed current Junior Achievement initiative with Grade 6 Career Education (Our Business World) and Grade 8 Career Education (Dollars with Sense). In relation to JA, you should all have access to our ONE DRIVE folder and all of the supporting information from last school year. The plan is to continue with Our Business World and Dollars with Sense. Some of you will be offering it each year, some every other year depending on class splits and such. As a CD LEAD Teacher, your support of our Grade 6 and/or 8 Career Education Teachers within your buildings is much appreciated. Please let Vanessa know if any questions or if supports are needed.
CD Updates:
CWEX and DLC courses/placements: We discussed details and progress in relation to CWEX courses and DLC off-site work-based placements. Please reach out to Vanessa if you have any questions or concerns about anything. As well, please remember to keep our CWEX and DLC partnership documents updated. ‘Tis the season for preparing to send out Certificates and Thank you Cards to cooperating employers for any placements ending in January. If you require certificates, please ask Vanessa.
CLEVR: Please keep up with entering details of Career Counselling Conversations with students using your CLEVR accounts. This is very important for tracking purposes. Thank you!
My Blueprint: We connected with a representative from My Blueprint to explore the functionality of the resource. You can all create your own accounts as per instructions. The resource is free till 2019 thanks to Ministry of Education. We will continue discussions as to how this may support our Grade 9 and beyond Transition Plan. Currently we utilize the Sask Careers websystem.
Duke of Edingburgh: Vanessa shared information on the Duke of Edinburgh program. Information is contained in our December meeting shared folder on ONE DRIVE. Please ask if any questions.
CAPS/COPS/COPES: Most of you will be gearing up for CAPS/COPS/COPES testing in the new year with your Grade 11 students. Some of you picked up additional copies of inventories at our meeting. If you require more, just let me know in advance and I will send them to you. Also, if you need a CAPS/COPS/COPES refresher, please connect with Vanessa.
DLC: It was great to review DLC related updates as a team. Lots of incredible options for kids now and moving forward.
Chatter High continues to be on our radar. If any of you wish to run a student team through the contest next fall, Vanessa is willing to help you investigate details and get up-and-running with it. Or, there are some good general resources on the site, feel free to take a look.
Networking:
Discussion time was built-in throughout the meeting in order for team members to communicate with one another in relation to successes and challenges. We all share common Career Development Goals (the ‘why’), but the ‘how’ looks a little different in different locations across our division. It is great to be able to share ideas, best practices, etc. with one another in a safe and supportive environment. Thanks all! We are learning together!
Gift Exchange Fun:
Thanks for getting us organized with the Gift Exchange activity, Chris. Fun…although, we weren’t very aggressive with the ‘stealing’. May have to up our game next year! Chocolate seemed to be a popular item – and fitting with our CD Team. 😉 Thanks all!!
Future Meetings:
March 6, 2017
June 5, 2017
Exit Slip Reflections:
Please reflect on one or some combination of the following:
* Option 1: Review Chapter 1 of Career Development Practice in Canada: Perspectives, Principles, and Professionalism. Article: Emergence of Career Development in Canada –
epdf-of-career-development-practice-in-canada-chapter-1-the-emergence-of-career-development-in-canada
Note: You can download chapters to the entire Book for FREE at: http://ceric.ca/resource/career-development-practice-in-canada-perspectives-principles-and-professionalism/ (This is AWESOME!)
Over the years, Canada’s economy has evolved and changed. What kinds of supports are necessary to support students as they prepare for the 21st century? What do you hope to accomplish in your role as a Career Development LEAD Teacher for our Sun West School Division?
Option 2: We reviewed the generalized findings of the “Fostering college and career readiness: How career development activities in schools impact on graduation rates and students life success” from the University of Derby ICeGS Occasional Paper, 2011. (click link and then download article). We learned that Career Development in schools can help improve Retention, Academic Achievement, Transitions, and Career/Life success. Please reflect on the CD work you are engaged in with students and highlight a few ways in which you feel your practice supports any of the above areas.
Option 3: We have a number of Career Development Initiatives underway in addition to our everyday work with students. Please reflect on what is going well and/or what supports you require in relation to supporting our students with one or all of our initiatives. (Grade 9 and Beyond Transition Plan, Junior Achievement Partnership, DLC off-site work-based placements, etc.).
Enjoy the sparkle and magic of the holiday season!
Yours in career development,
Vanessa Lewis
Career Development Consultant
Sun West School Division
#sunwestpebl
#sunwest
Career Connectors 
In relation to the Sun West initiatives, I feel that our students are very fortunate in Sun West to have the resources that they do to explore their futures and develop useful 21st Century skills. As a CD LEAD teacher in my school, I do feel a bit out of the loop not being the one to deliver a lot of the foundation of the grade nine transition plan to our students. I need to make it a priority to be more involved with this, as it will make my job easier in the long run.
You are such a leader in your school, Heidi. As the CD LEAD Teacher, you are not expected to deliver all of the programs but to support those involved with our Sun West Career Development Initiatives and ideas. Your teachers and students are in good hands. Feel free to reach out at any time as I am here to support you and your colleagues/students as well. Thanks for your reflection.