Lesson MINI

LESSON MINI

Career Readiness Toolkit

Grade:

9-12

Topic:

Jobs and Careers

Unit:

Preparing for the Future

Overview

In this lesson mini, students will develop career readiness skills by planning a professional portfolio, creating a professional résumé, writing a personal statement, and designing a time management system to maximize productivity and organization.

Ideas for Implementation

Career and technical education

Advisory and homeroom

School counseling curriculum

Life skills and personal development courses

College and career readiness courses

After-school programs

Key Vocabulary & Definitions

assess (verb): to evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of something

authenticity (noun): the quality of being genuine, real, or true

distraction (noun): something that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else

impact (noun): a strong effect or influence on something or someone

prioritize (verb): to arrange or deal with in order of importance

productive (adjective): having the ability to complete tasks efficiently and effectively

qualification (noun): a skill, experience, or education that makes someone suitable for a job or opportunity

reflection (noun): serious thought or consideration about something

revision (noun): the process of reviewing and improving a piece of work

Authentic Learning Extensions

Students apply time management strategies to real-world situations to build habits that support success in school and beyond. These extensions make time management more personal and practical:

Career Counselor Q&A: Invite a career counselor or working professional to speak about how they manage their time on the job. Students prepare questions in advance and reflect on takeaways after the session.

Daily Time Audit: Using a simple tracking handout, students log how they spend their time during one school day. Then they identify time drains and set one goal to improve productivity.

Planner Challenge: Students use a digital or paper planner to map out their week, including schoolwork, extracurriculars, and downtime. At the end of the week, they reflect on what worked and what they might change.

Weekly To-Do List: Students create a realistic to-do list for the week, prioritizing tasks and estimating how long each will take. They check in midweek to adjust based on progress and shifting priorities.

Choose Activity

LESSON MINI

Career Readiness Toolkit

Activity

1:

Professional Portfolio Development

By the end of the activity, students will be able to identify, organize, and evaluate the key components of a professional career portfolio and create an action plan for strengthening their own.

>40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will learn what a professional career portfolio is and why it’s important. Explain that a professional career portfolio showcases skills, achievements, and experiences. Consider sharing examples such as résumés, personal statements, and awards as examples of what may be included in a professional career portfolio, and have students brainstorm what they might include in their own portfolios. Use guiding questions to prompt discussion, such as the following:

What kinds of work or accomplishments are you most proud of?

How can you show what you’re good at without just saying it?

What would you want a future employer or school to know about you at a glance?

Distribute a Professional Portfolio Organizer handout to each student. Tell them they will use this handout to begin planning their own professional career portfolios. Display a copy of the handout as you explain to students how to complete the sections. Emphasize that students will first list in their handouts the elements they already have, such as awards, school projects, volunteer work, or recommendation letters. Then they will identify what they still need to create, such as a résumé or personal statement. Explain that this handout will help them organize and structure their portfolios and ensure they have all necessary materials.

After students complete the handout, guide them to review their lists and identify any items that might need to be moved to a different section. Encourage them to look for any gaps and consider how to organize their portfolios for clarity and impact. You might say, “Look at each section—does anything seem missing or out of place?”

Ask students to form groups of three to four to share their Professional Portfolio Organizer handouts with one another and explain their responses. Encourage group members to give feedback on clarity, completeness, and impact. Offer sentence stems such as “One thing that’s really clear is…” or “You might consider adding…” to support constructive feedback. After discussions, bring the class together to reflect on what makes a strong career portfolio and how it can showcase their strengths and open doors.

Explain that, while remaining in small groups, students will do a scavenger hunt using their handouts. Read a task aloud (e.g., “Find a skill someone listed that would impress an employer”). Instead of using their own handout, students should look for an example in a peer’s handout and explain why it fits the task. This helps students to use real evidence to recognize strengths and understand what makes a portfolio effective. Tasks could include the following:

Find something in a peer’s portfolio that shows leadership skills.

Choose an achievement from a group member that you think is especially impressive.

Identify an experience from someone’s portfolio that clearly connects to a career goal.

After two or three rounds, have a few students share the evidence they found in a peer’s portfolio and explain why it stood out. Then lead a discussion on how each section supports a strong portfolio and why clear organization makes these strengths easier to see.

Bring the class back together for a whole-group discussion to build on their portfolio development. Ask students to reflect on their portfolio scavenger hunt by sharing key takeaways. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

What sections of their portfolio feel strongest?

What areas need more development?

What makes a portfolio stand out to an employer or school?

As a class, create a “Portfolio Best Practices” list on the board based on students’ insights. Encourage students to think about organization, clarity, and impact. Remind them that a professional career portfolio is a living document that evolves with their experiences and that they should revisit and update it regularly.

To wrap up, have students complete the Portfolio Action Plan section of their handout. Invite a few volunteers to share their action steps. Reinforce that building a portfolio is an ongoing process, and encourage students to continue refining their work.

Differentiation and Variations

Peer Collaboration: Have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss their portfolio sections before organizing them individually. They can give feedback and ask questions to refine their selections. This supports learning by helping students clarify their ideas, build confidence, and deepen their understanding through peer interaction.

Hands-On Portfolio Organization: Students can verbally explain their portfolio sections before writing to help organize their thoughts. This allows them to clarify ideas and make adjustments as needed. Talking through their work supports verbal processors and helps all students build a stronger understanding of how to present their experiences clearly.

Advanced Challenge: For students ready to extend their learning, introduce a discussion on digital portfolios. Have them consider how they might format their portfolios digitally and what adjustments they would make for an online version. Invite them to research different digital portfolio platforms and compare their features to see what works best. This encourages independent exploration, digital literacy, and deeper thinking about how to adapt professional materials for different formats and audiences.

Collaborative Teaching

One Teaching, One Observing: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Observing strategy. In this model, one teacher provides direct instruction to the entire class while the other observes student behavior and engagement to gather evidence of learning. This approach allows for detailed observation and assessment, helping identify students who need additional support or intervention. By focusing on student responses and participation, the observing teacher can ensure that the learning needs of all students are addressed and met in the activity. Research shows that targeted observation can lead to more effective intervention strategies, improving student performance.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces the portfolio activity, explaining its purpose and guiding students through the organizer. As students work, Teacher B observes engagement and participation, gathering insights to inform follow-up support and instruction.

Portfolio Development Discussion: Teacher A leads small-group discussions, asking students to explain their portfolio choices. Teacher B circulates, prompting deeper thinking with guiding questions and ensuring logical organization.

Portfolio Scavenger Hunt and Reflection: Teacher A leads the scavenger hunt, reading task prompts while students locate and share portfolio elements. Teacher B helps refine responses and guides the final class discussion, reinforcing key takeaways.

Portfolio Action Plan: Teacher A explains this section of the handout, prompting students to identify one strong section, one area for improvement, and a next step. Teacher B checks in with students, offering suggestions and helping them set realistic goals for strengthening their portfolios.

Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads a closing reflection, asking students to share what they’re most proud of in their portfolios and one goal they have moving forward. Teacher B highlights student progress and offers next steps for continued development.

Career Readiness Toolkit

Activity

2:

Résumé Writing Workshop

By the end of the activity, students will be able to write a professional résumé that highlights their experience, skills, and personal goals.

≥40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per student)

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will learn how to write a professional résumé that highlights their experiences, skills, and personal goals.

Explain that résumés help job applicants make a strong first impression, and they help employers quickly assess applicants’ qualifications. Introduce the main sections of a résumé:

Contact information

Personal statement

Education

Experience

Skills

Ask students what they think makes a résumé stand out. After a few minutes of individual reflection, invite students to share their ideas with the class.

Distribute a Writing a Résumé handout to each student. Tell students that they will use the handout to start developing their résumés. Review each section with students to ensure understanding, and encourage them to write down what they already know, leaving room for additional notes.

Have students watch the Résumé Writing Tips video together as a class, and encourage them to add more detailed information and ideas to their handouts. End with a brief discussion of student responses.

Organize students into pairs and ask them to exchange their handouts with their partners. Tell them they should review each other’s notes and provide feedback using the peer review section, focusing on clarity, organization, and completeness. After reviewing, they will discuss their feedback, highlighting one strength and one area for improvement.

Tell students to switch papers back and review the feedback they received. Ask them to use the comments to expand or refine their notes—adding missing details, clarifying vague points, and strengthening weaker sections.

Ask for student volunteers to share their strengths, and have the class guess which profession they might be interested in. Share and discuss responses.

Have students watch the Résumé video as a class to learn how they can create an online résumé for real-world job applications. The video introduces key components of a résumé and helps students understand what information they’ll need to get started. Explain to students that the video will show them how to transform their handout information into a polished digital format.

After watching the video, lead a class reflection and discussion to reinforce key takeaways. Prompt students with questions such as the following:

What stood out to you about the résumé-writing process?

What is one thing you didn’t know before watching the video?

What section of the résumé do you think is most important, and why?

Allow students to share with the whole class or turn and talk with a partner to process what they’ve learned.

Wrap up the activity by having students set one specific goal for completing their résumé draft as a tangible next step.

Differentiation and Variations

Visual and Language Support: Provide a visual résumé template with clear section headings and example entries to help structure responses. This helps students better understand the organization of a résumé and supports those who benefit from visual cues and modeling.

Scaffolding the Handout and Peer Review: Allow students time to complete their handouts with a partner before exchanging for peer review. Provide a checklist for feedback on clarity, organization, and completeness. For extra support, give students a completed sample handout as a reference. Working collaboratively and using models reinforces understanding and helps students build confidence and give and receive meaningful feedback.

Advanced Extensions: Challenge advanced learners to research job postings from different industries and compare the key skills and qualifications employers look for. This will help them understand how résumés are tailored to specific job roles. By analyzing real-world examples, students deepen their understanding of industry expectations and how to strategically position themselves for future opportunities.

Alternative Formats: Students can create a digital résumé by recording a video of their personal statement or designing a simple infographic to visually present their skills and experiences. Offering flexible formats allows students to showcase their strengths in creative ways and supports diverse learning and communication styles.

Collaborative Teaching

Parallel Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Parallel Teaching strategy. In this model, the class is divided into two groups, and each teacher delivers the same activity simultaneously to their group. This reduces the student-teacher ratio, allowing for more interaction and individualized attention. With smaller groups, students are more likely to participate actively and receive immediate feedback, which fosters a deeper understanding of the content and promotes a more engaging learning experience. Evidence suggests that small-group instruction leads to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes.

Career Readiness Toolkit

Activity

3:

Creating a Personal Statement

By the end of the activity, students will be able to draft a clear and compelling personal statement that highlights their strengths, achievements, and goals in alignment with potential career paths.

>40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Whiteboard and display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students that during today’s activity they will create a personal statement to showcase their strengths, achievements, and interests that may shape future career goals. Explain that highlighting what they’re good at and what matters to them is valuable, even before having a clear career path. Display A Guide to Writing an Effective Personal Statement, review the tips and examples with the class, and then guide a discussion about what makes each example effective.

Organize students into pairs for a rapid-sharing exercise. Explain the exercise to students by telling them that one partner will speak for 1 minute listing as many strengths, achievements, and skills as they can while the other listens without interrupting. Then they switch roles. After both partners have shared, bring the class together and invite volunteers to share key takeaways or surprising insights from the exercise.

Before students begin, model this exercise by sharing your own strengths, achievements, and skills for 30–45 seconds. Demonstrate the appropriate pace and depth of sharing to help students understand what’s expected. Consider the following as an example of what to share during the rapid-sharing exercise:

“Let me show you what this sharing exercise should look like. I’ll share my own strengths, achievements, and skills for about 30 seconds, and I want you to notice how I focus on specific examples.”

Teacher begins modeling.

“Some of my strengths are organization, clear communication, and creative problem-solving. I’m good at breaking down complex ideas into understandable parts. One of my biggest achievements was developing a new curriculum unit that increased student engagement by 40 percent. I’ve also led professional-development workshops for other teachers. My skills include public speaking, digital lesson design, and providing constructive feedback. I’m particularly proud of my ability to connect with students who are struggling and find ways to help them succeed.”

Teacher finishes.

“Notice how I mentioned specific examples and didn’t just list generic traits. I included both professional and personal strengths, and I tried to be specific rather than vague. Now, when you share with your partner, try to be as detailed and specific as possible within your one minute. Remember, this isn’t about bragging—it’s about honestly recognizing what you’re good at so you can highlight it in your personal statement.”

Distribute a My Personal Statement handout to each student, and have them use what they brainstormed to begin organizing their thoughts. They will select their top strengths, achievements, and career goals and then structure that information into key points for their statements. Encourage students to focus on clarity and impact as they outline their ideas before drafting.

Ask students to choose a career or job they might want in the future. As a class, discuss what skills and experiences are important for success in different fields. List common skills on the board. Then have students compare these skills to the ones on their handout, using a highlighter or checkmarks to note matches and adding any missing strengths to ensure their personal statement highlights relevant qualities.

After students have had time to draft their copy using the final section in the My Personal Statement handout, have them pair up again. Tell them that this time they will exchange their personal statements for feedback. Each partner should read carefully and suggest ways to improve clarity, impact, and flow by checking for a strong opening, relevant skills, and clear career goals. After reviewing, give students some time to revise their work.

Invite volunteers to share three key skills or achievements from their personal statements without naming their career goals. The class will guess possible jobs that match the strengths shared. Conclude with a brief discussion on how personal statements help communicate individual strengths, values, and potential—whether or not a specific career path is in mind.

Differentiation and Variations

Language Support: Provide sentence frames or a word bank of common skills and achievements to help students articulate their ideas clearly. Offer a model personal statement with key elements labeled for reference. This helps students, especially those developing language skills, to build confidence in expressing themselves professionally.

Peer Collaboration: Pair students strategically so that those who need extra guidance can work with a peer who can help them expand on their strengths and achievements. Working with a supportive peer encourages idea development and builds communication skills.

Hands-On Practice: Allow students to verbally explain their key skills and experiences before writing, to help them organize their thoughts. Talking through their ideas first helps students clarify what they want to say and makes writing easier.

Advanced Challenge: Encourage students ready for more depth to tailor their statements for a specific job posting, internship, or college application. This pushes students to apply their learning in a real-world context and practice purposeful, audience-aware writing.

Alternative Format: Instead of writing a traditional statement, students can record a video introduction or create a visual infographic highlighting their key strengths and career goals. Offering format choices supports different learning styles and encourages creative self-expression.

Collaborative Teaching

Team Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Team Teaching strategy. In this model, sometimes referred to as “tag team teaching,” both teachers deliver instruction together, often alternating or integrating their teaching styles seamlessly. This collaborative approach provides students with multiple perspectives and teaching styles, enriching their learning experience. By modeling effective teamwork and communication, this approach demonstrates how different viewpoints can enhance understanding and create a dynamic and interactive classroom environment. Evidence indicates that team teaching can enhance student engagement and provide a richer, more diverse educational experience.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces the goal of writing a personal statement and explains its purpose in résumés, applications, and interviews. Teacher B models key elements on the sample sheet, helping students visualize strong structure and content.

Brainstorming Key Ideas: Teacher A facilitates the rapid-fire partner brainstorming, keeping time and ensuring engagement, while Teacher B circulates, prompting students who need support. They bring the class together to discuss common themes.

Organizing and Structuring Ideas: Teacher A models how to select key strengths and achievements using the My Personal Statement handout, while Teacher B provides individual guidance.

Drafting the Personal Statement: Teacher A assists students in structuring their drafts, while Teacher B checks for clarity and impact, offering feedback as needed.

Peer Review and Refinement: Teacher A models how to give constructive feedback, while Teacher B monitors peer discussions to ensure meaningful revisions.

Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads a reflection on what makes a personal statement effective, while Teacher B invites students to share one revision they made that improved their writing.

Career Readiness Toolkit

Activity

4:

Time Management Challenge

By the end of the activity, students will be able to analyze their daily habits and apply time management strategies to improve focus, productivity, and goal alignment.

>40

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Whiteboard or display

Resources

Implementation

Tell students they will explore how time management affects success in school, work, and daily life. Have them reflect on times they felt overwhelmed or missed deadlines. As a class, identify common distractions such as social media and multitasking, and discuss strategies to stay focused—such as chunking work, prioritizing tasks, and planning ahead.

Begin by sharing your own brief example: “Let me share an example from my own experience. Last month, I needed to grade three classes of essays, prepare for parent conferences, and plan next week’s lessons all in the same weekend. I felt overwhelmed until I broke down the tasks, prioritized what needed immediate attention, and scheduled specific times for each task. This helped me meet all my deadlines without feeling stressed.”

Tell students that they will now examine how they currently use their time by tracking their typical daily activities. Emphasize that this will help them identify patterns and see where their time is spent. Distribute the Time Tracker handout, and have students use Part 1 to record how they would typically spend a 24-hour period. They should estimate time spent on school, homework, free time, sleep, and other activities. Encourage honesty in their responses to get an accurate picture of their habits. Consider modeling how to fill out the handout by writing a few sample entries on the board:

6:00–7:00 a.m.: Getting ready for school

7:00–7:30 a.m.: Commuting

(And so on.)

After students complete Part 1 of their handouts, tell them that they will now use Part 2 of the handout to analyze their current habits to see what’s working well and what could be improved. Share that they will do this by categorizing what they recorded in Part 1 of their handouts into three categories: productive, necessary, and unproductive. Have them think about areas where they can improve and whether their current habits align with their goals.

Tell students that now that they understand their current habits, you are going to introduce them to a powerful tool that will help them prioritize their tasks more effectively. Display the Eisenhower Matrix. Point out that students can use the matrix to create a more effective schedule that aligns with their priorities and goals. Explain how tasks fit into one of four categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. Demonstrate the matrix with clear examples from a student’s perspective: “Studying for tomorrow’s test would be urgent and important. Working on a long-term project due next month is important but not urgent. Responding to every social media notification is urgent but not important. Mindlessly scrolling through videos for hours is neither urgent nor important.”

Invite students to use the matrix as a guide as they think about their own schedules and how they can better prioritize, schedule, delegate, or eliminate certain tasks and activities. Explain that students can use this framework to assess their schedules and then record in Part 3 of their handouts any tasks they want to prioritize, schedule, delegate, or eliminate.

With their newly reimagined schedules, invite students to partner up again. This time tell them they will be giving and receiving feedback from a classmate to further refine their new approach. Have them compare their changes and provide constructive feedback on how to create a more balanced and productive routine. Use guiding questions such as the following:

What changes made the biggest impact?

How can this schedule help you stay on top of your goals?

What was the most surprising insight about how you spend your time?

Wrap up with a class discussion in which students share their biggest takeaways. Ask them to set two personal time management goals and write down one specific change they will commit to. Invite a few volunteers to share their commitments with the class. Discuss how they can stay accountable and reflect on how effective time management can help them succeed in school, careers, and daily life.

Note: Consider wrapping up with a concrete next step, stressing the importance of the activity by telling students they will take time at the beginning of their class in the coming week to check in on how their new time management strategies are working. Ask them to come prepared to share one success and one challenge they experienced.

Differentiation and Variations

Language Support: Provide sentence starters or a guided worksheet with key time management vocabulary (e.g., prioritize, schedule, distraction, efficiency) to help students articulate their reflections and schedule adjustments clearly. This builds students’ ability to discuss time management using precise, goal-oriented language.

Peer Collaboration: Pair students strategically so that those who need extra support can discuss their time management challenges and solutions with a peer before finalizing their revised schedule. Talking it through with a peer helps students reflect and refine their thinking.

Advanced Challenge: Have students compare their schedules to the routines of successful professionals or industry leaders, researching how effective time management contributes to career success. Encourage them to model aspects of these approaches in their own schedules. This pushes students to think critically and apply real-world strategies to improve their own habits.

Alternative Format: Instead of creating a written schedule, students can use a calendar app or planner tool to craft a digital version. For a more creative approach, they can design a color-coded visual representation of their ideal day. Offering flexible formats supports engagement and allows students to demonstrate planning skills in ways that work best for them.

Collaborative Teaching

Alternative Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to an Alternative Teaching strategy. In this model, one teacher instructs most of the class while the other works with a small group of students who need specialized attention or remediation. This provides targeted instruction for students who need extra help, ensuring they can keep up with their peers. It also allows for enrichment activities for advanced students, addressing diverse learning needs and ensuring that all students receive the appropriate level of challenge and support. Studies have shown that differentiated instruction significantly benefits students who have varied learning needs, leading to more equitable educational outcomes.

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces the concept of time management and its impact on academic and personal success while Teacher B works with a small group to preview vocabulary and offer examples for students who need additional support.

Time Management Introduction: Teacher A leads a discussion on time management challenges and strategies. Teacher B tracks student responses on the board, highlighting patterns and prompting students to consider effective solutions.

Time Tracking and Analysis: Teacher A distributes the Time Tracking handout and guides students through estimating how they spend a 24-hour period. Teacher B circulates, checking for understanding and asking guiding questions to help students reflect on their time use.

Eisenhower Matrix Application: Teacher A introduces the Eisenhower Matrix handout, explaining the four task categories and their importance. Teacher B models the process with an example, walking students through how to categorize tasks before they apply it to their own schedules.

Applying Prioritization Strategies: Teacher A facilitates a whole-class reflection, asking students to think about what adjustments they can make to their schedules. Teacher B leads a small discussion group for students who need additional help structuring their priorities.

Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads a class reflection on key takeaways and practical strategies while Teacher B checks in with the small group to review their adjusted schedules and reinforce personalized next steps.

Career Readiness Toolkit

Activity

5:

Minutes

Materials and Resources

Materials

Whiteboard or display

Resources

Implementation

Prepare for the Activity:

6:00–7:00 a.m.: Getting ready for school

7:00–7:30 a.m.: Commuting

(And so on.)

What changes made the biggest impact?

How can this schedule help you stay on top of your goals?

What was the most surprising insight about how you spend your time?

Differentiation and Variations

Collaborative Teaching

Activity Introduction: Teacher A introduces the concept of time management and its impact on academic and personal success, while Teacher B works with a small group to preview vocabulary and offer examples for students who need additional support.

Activity Wrap-Up: Teacher A leads a class reflection on key takeaways and practical strategies, while Teacher B checks in with the small group to review their adjusted schedules and reinforce personalized next steps.

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