Daily Learning Contract
- Topic: Career Research and Access
- Objective: Students will use a prioritized work plan to complete required CCE access/profile tasks and, when ready, compare career details using the FYF Perks and Quirks format.
- TEKS: d(1)(B), d(4)(A)
- Demonstration of Learning: One confirmed end-of-week result: missing H&L/Minor work completed, required Xello login + after-high-school goal completed, or at least one FYF p. 5 Hat table completed and marked perk/neutral/quirk with a source named.
Teacher presentation: PowerPoint file (IISD sign-in) · Make a Google Slides copy (IISD sign-in)
Why Friday is structured this way
Friday is not a menu of unrelated activities and not a place to make students do three packets. Every student starts with the most important unfinished requirement. Required Xello access and the after-high-school goal must not disappear. FYF pp. 4-5 introduce the yearlong career-research format only after core profile work and Xello access are ready.
The short focus block adapts Jenna Hainlen's Week 1.6 routine: name priorities, name likely distractions, then work quietly for a set interval. Do not attach behavior points or add another worksheet.
Before students arrive
Create a private readiness list with three groups:
- Core catch-up: missing Discover Your Core, Work Values, Building Blocks/profile saves, recommendations, or Minor 1.
- Xello required: core ready, but login or after-high-school goal incomplete.
- Ready for FYF: core and Xello ready.
Materials:
- 1 Chromebook and 1 FYF workbook per student
- teacher-preflighted H&L and Xello launch paths; verify the current student view before class
- Day 5 Student Guide and deck
- no career-research transfer worksheet; FYF p. 5 is the response surface
- a quiet/private work option, headphones only if campus policy allows, and teacher conference space
- no default copies
Complete model for the ready path
Hat: Veterinary Technician
Detail: Works with animals and their owners in clinics.
My mark: Perk
Why: I value relationships and have a Building Block caring for my dog.
Source: Hats & Ladders career page.
Still need to verify: required education and current pay.
Non-model: Good job. Perk. Google. Explain that it names neither a career detail nor a usable source.
Fifty-minute flow
1. Readiness check and focus plan -- 5 minutes
Students write three numbered priorities for today. They circle the one that must happen first. Then they name two No-Zone distractions to set aside during the focus block. This may stay private.
Teacher directs each student to one starting path. Students do not choose the easiest path.
2. Protected focus block -- 20 minutes
- Core catch-up: complete the earliest missing input. Students with a pending Minor finish the missing result, revise, and submit the same reflection.
- Xello required: enter through district SSO, confirm the dashboard loads, open About Me, and choose one after-high-school goal: Not sure yet, More school or training, or Alternate route. The choice may change later. Do not run Matchmaker today.
- Ready for FYF: open pp. 4-5, study the Pest Control Technician example, choose one Hat, and begin the first table.
Minute 25 look-for: every student has one visible result, not three partially opened tasks.
3. Second priority block -- 15 minutes
Students move only after the first priority is verified.
- Core catch-up students continue or move to Xello.
- Xello students who finish move to FYF p. 4-5.
- FYF students complete at least one six-detail Hat table, mark each detail perk/neutral/quirk for themselves, and name the source. A second Hat is an extension, not the minimum.
Do not require students to transfer FYF answers to a separate CCE worksheet or open-ended BLS search today. Later career lessons teach fixed-source salary evidence with sufficient time.
4. Verify and recover -- 5 minutes
Teacher verifies one result per student:
- H&L/Minor completion;
- Xello access + goal;
- or one complete FYF Hat table with source.
Record remaining access problems. Do not mark a platform outage as missing effort.
5. Close -- 5 minutes
Students finish:
This week I completed _. My next CCE action is _. I will find it in ____.
The response stays in the current notebook page or on the FYF page. No new upload.
Students return FYF to the class-set location and close H&L/Xello tabs before leaving.
Monitoring, pivot, trim
- Lap 1: student is on the assigned first priority.
- Lap 2: Xello students are doing only login + after-high-school goal; FYF students are recording actual career details.
- Lap 3: first priority is verified before a second task begins.
- Pivot: if Xello or H&L is broadly unavailable, switch affected students to FYF p. 4-5 and record the exact platform catch-up; do not spend the period troubleshooting.
- Protected trim: cut the second Hat and whole-group share. Protect the first required result and end-of-week next-action line.
Recovery and privacy
- No H&L/Xello: use the verified offline path, record the outage, and schedule a named access check. The student completes FYF work without later recopying.
- No workbook: use the Student Guide model and one paper/notebook table with Hat, detail, mark, why, source, and still-to-verify. Accept it without recopying.
- Absent: teacher assigns the earliest missing requirement, not the entire Friday menu.
- No public disclosure: after-high-school goals, career uncertainty, and access problems stay private.
Source notes
- Bowie Grade 8 Xello Completion Standards -- login and after-high-school goal before Matchmaker.
- Find Your Future pp. 4-5,
Perks and Quirks-- primary career-research response surface. - Jenna Hainlen Week 1.6 focus routine -- three priorities, two No-Zone distractions, and one timed work interval, adapted without behavior points.