Building upon existing lesson plans

In this step, you are going to alter one of your lesson plans, using the resources you’ve found in previous steps, and then share your plan on Padlet.

Example

First, let’s look at an example (a PDF of this example is available). This particular mathematics lesson already has some context we can build on. Income tax, mortgages, savings and investments are all key elements of a variety of future careers.The modified lesson plan (see PDF text version) contextualises the content in an out of school setting and adds careers links for careers that would use this mathematics knowledge.   Note: In the lesson plans above, MWB stands for mini white boards, a quick way to gather evidence of student understanding. You can find out more about this in Introducing Assessment for Learning.

Adapting lesson plans

When adapting your lesson plans, there are four things to consider:

1. Where possible, use your existing lesson planning processes and documentation. Career learning should be embedded in your normal planning, rather than a separate focus.
2. Be deliberate: make career learning an intended outcome of the lesson rather than an additional extra.
3. Use small changes frequently to maximise the range of careers experiences you provide students. For example, referencing your STEM careers displays, planning activities that will develop a range of essential skills over time, using videos from a variety of STEM sectors that have an inclusive approach gender and racial representation.
4. Be realistic: it’s not always going to be possible, timely, helpful or appropriate to reference careers. Consider your scheme of work as a whole rather than putting pressure to include careers content in every lesson.

Task

Adapt one of your own lesson plans to incorporate career learning. Refer back to the resources you found in the previous step and the suggestions we have made throughout Week 2.

Share your tweaked lesson on the Lesson Plan Padlet. Take a look at other contributions, like ones that have inspired you and comment on aspects you think you could use in your own teaching.

Padlet is like an online pin-board where you can upload your documents. You do not need to register an account to post to Padlet. Please note that Padlet is a public space, so do not include personal data, confidential information or images of students or others. Guidance on how to use Padlet.