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Week 0: Who Am I? — Classroom Routines & Career Self-Discovery

1st Six Weeks | Onboarding / Cross-Cluster | 5 class periods (50 min each)

Lesson Objective

Students complete the load-bearing CCE self-discovery activities in three core class periods and use two flex periods to establish lab routines, safety expectations, and campus-specific first-week activities. Core outputs: H&L Climber Profile setup, RIASEC Core Personality type, top 2 Work Values, three or more Building Blocks, and the My Career Journey reflection. Every later H&L recommendation depends on these core outputs.

Demonstration of Learning

"I can describe what a CTE career cluster is, complete my RIASEC personality and Work Values assessments, list at least 3 of my Building Blocks, and explain how my results connect to possible career pathways."

TEKS Alignment

  • d(1)(A): Analyze and discuss the initial results of the assessments.
  • d(1)(B): Explore and describe the CTE career clusters.

Materials Needed

Yearlong supply (distributed Day 1):

  • Engineering notebook (1 per student, bound composition notebook or equivalent). Yearlong artifact students carry to every CCE week. Used for stop-and-jot notes, sketches, warm-up entries, and deliverables marked "sketch in engineering notebook." Students write their name + "CCE Engineering Notebook" on the cover Day 1, pg. 1 is the Day 1 Predictions warm-up.

Core Days (2-4), required:

  • Chromebooks with internet access (1 per student)
  • Hats & Ladders student accounts (pre-rostered via Clever/ClassLink)
  • H&L Workbook Ch 1: My Career Journey (pp. 11-15)
  • Projector for teacher modeling
  • Printed "My Career Journey" reflection handout (1 per student; used on Core Day C)
  • Printed Building Blocks brainstorm sheet (used on Core Day B)
  • Engineering notebooks (carry forward from Day 1 distribution)

Flex Days (1 and 5), as needed based on the options you choose:

  • Printed Lab Safety Contract (1 per student; for Day 1 default option)
  • H&L Workbook Ch 1 pp. 2-10 (scavenger hunt, 14-cluster rating, Design Thinking; for flex options)
  • Sticky dots and 14 CTE cluster posters or printed cluster cards (if running the Gallery Walk option)
  • Xello student accounts, pre-rostered (only if your district requires Xello onboarding during Week 0)
  • Backup: CareerOneStop Interest Assessment (careeronestop.org) if H&L SSO is unavailable

Career Connection

Every career starts with self-awareness. Before students can explore specific clusters, they need to understand their own personality traits, interests, and values. The RIASEC model (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) and its H&L "Doer / Analyzer / Creator / Helper / Persuader / Organizer" naming is the same framework used by professional career counselors and platforms like O*NET. The data students enter this week powers every H&L recommendation for the rest of the year, and is pulled back by 4SW Wk1 mid-year reconciliation and 6SW Wk6 capstone.

What is Happening at Irving ISD? All Irving ISD CTE pathways are introduced at the overview level (Irving High School, MacArthur High School, Nimitz High School, Singley Academy, Cardwell Career Preparatory Center, and Ratteree Career Development Center). Students meet specific pathways during each week's Career Connection discussion starting in 1SW Wk1.

Vocabulary

  • Career Cluster: A grouping of occupations and industries based on shared knowledge, skills, and interests. Texas CTE recognizes 14-16 clusters; H&L organizes its content the same way.
  • Pathway: A specific sequence of courses and experiences within a career cluster (e.g., Culinary Arts is a pathway within Hospitality and Tourism).
  • Hat: Hats & Ladders' name for an individual job title (e.g., Veterinarian, Welder, Software Developer).
  • Climber Profile: A personalized snapshot of a student's career interests, experiences, and goals in H&L. It evolves as students complete activities and assessments.
  • Core Personality Type: H&L's six personality categories (Doer, Analyzer, Creator, Helper, Persuader, Organizer). These are the RIASEC model in student-friendly language.
  • Work Values: The qualities that are most important to a person in their career (Achievement, Independence, Recognition, Relationships, Support, Working Conditions).
  • Building Block: An experience, interest, or skill a student already has (sports, hobbies, chores, clubs, family responsibilities) that connects to future careers.
  • Powerskill: Hats & Ladders' name for soft skills (communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, leadership, time management, creativity, work ethic, empathy, confidence).

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

The H&L workbook (Ch 1: My Career Journey, pp. 1-15) is the foundation chapter for the entire workbook. It includes:

  • Exploring the World of Work (p. 2): A classroom scavenger hunt where students list items in the room and the careers that helped create them.
  • Meet the Career Clusters (p. 4): Students rate their interest in 12 career fields using emoji ratings, then learn how clusters branch into pathways and Hats.
  • Introduction to Powerskills (p. 7): A chart of 10 Powerskills (Communication, Teamwork, Problem-Solving, Adaptability, Leadership, Time Management, Creativity, Work Ethic, Empathy, Confidence) with a Making Connections pair activity.
  • Powerskill: Design Thinking (p. 9): The "worst idea" smartphone brainstorming activity that builds creative thinking.
  • My Building Blocks (p. 11): Students brainstorm experiences from their lives and connect them to future careers.
  • Learning My Core Personality Type (p. 12): Students learn the six core types and use the H&L app's "Discover My Core" feature.
  • Discovering My Work Values (p. 14): Students learn six common work values and use the app's "Explore My Work Values" feature.

The workbook explicitly directs students to the H&L app at multiple points (Building Blocks, Discover My Core, Explore My Work Values). Students use BOTH the workbook (to read, reflect, record results) AND the app (to take the assessments, build the Climber Profile).

IISD Instructional Strategies

  • Think-Pair-Share: After each assessment, students pair up to compare results. Normalizes the idea that everyone has different strengths and reduces the social pressure of "what did you get?"
  • Chunking: Core data-seeding chunks across three focused days (Core A = RIASEC, Core B = Work Values + Building Blocks, Core C = synthesis reflection) rather than cramming everything into one period. Flex Days 1 and 5 bracket the core content with teacher-chosen routines, catch-up time, and optional H&L activities. Prevents cognitive overload on students AND on the teacher running a brand-new lab.
  • Sentence Stems: "My top personality type is _, which means I like to . One career that might fit me is __."
  • Active Monitoring: Walk the room during all assessments. Watch for students rushing through without reading. Stop them and reset.

Week 0 Flexibility Framework

3 core days + 2 flex days

Week 0 runs three core CCE days and two flex days. The core days deliver the data every later week depends on. The flex days belong to the teacher, for routines, campus events, or first-week tech access issues. Every VILS lab is different. This structure exists so teachers can pad and elongate rather than feel rushed.

Core days (load-bearing; must land in Week 0 or early 1SW Wk1):

  1. Core A (Day 2 default): H&L Climber Profile setup + RIASEC Discover My Core
  2. Core B (Day 3 default): Work Values (top 2) + Building Blocks (3 or more)
  3. Core C (Day 4 default): My Career Journey reflection handout (synthesis + summative)

Flex days (teacher's choice; no mandatory activities):

Day 1 default is Monday lab routines. Day 5 default is Friday catch-up. Use them for the Lab Safety Contract, scavenger hunt, 14-cluster rating, Design Thinking Powerskill, Gallery Walk, Xello onboarding (if your district requires it), campus events, or anything else your first week demands. Verbs: keep, substitute, compress, skip entirely. Zero minutes of the flex menu is fine.

Week at a Glance

Day Role Focus Deliverable
1 Flex Lab Routines + Safety + Your Choice (Monday routines day) Signed Safety Contract (default) or teacher's choice
2 Core A H&L Setup + Discover My Core (RIASEC) RIASEC results in Climber Profile + workbook p. 13
3 Core B Work Values + Building Blocks Top 2 Work Values + 3 or more Building Blocks in app
4 Core C My Career Journey Reflection (synthesis) Completed My Career Journey handout (collected)
5 Flex Catch-Up + Your Choice (Friday flex day) Teacher's choice (menu of optional H&L Ch 1 activities)

Formative Assessment

  • Day 2 (Core A): RIASEC results recorded in Climber Profile + workbook p. 13; check for evidence students read their results carefully. d(1)(A)
  • Day 3 (Core B): Top 2 Work Values selected + 3 or more Building Blocks in the Climber Profile. d(1)(A)
  • Day 4 (Core C): My Career Journey reflection handout completion quality (synthesis of Days 2 and 3 data). d(1)(A), d(1)(B)
  • Flex Days (1 and 5): Teacher observation of whatever flex activity runs. Not formally scored.

Summative Assessment

My Career Journey Reflection Handout (collected end of Core Day C / Day 4): Students synthesize their RIASEC type, top 2 Work Values, 3 or more Building Blocks, and top H&L cluster recommendations into a single written reflection. Scored on completeness, self-awareness, and ability to connect their assessment data to specific cluster curiosity. This document is revisited at mid-year (4SW Wk1-2 Career Plan) and end-of-year (6SW Wk6 Final Career Plan). It is a living artifact, not a one-time worksheet.

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

  • Pre-filled sentence stems on the reflection handout: "My top personality type is _, which means I like to . One career that might fit me is __."
  • For students who struggle with reading, pair them with a partner who reads assessment items aloud.
  • Provide a simplified visual version of the 14 H&L clusters with icons and 1-sentence descriptions.
  • Pre-print a Building Blocks word bank (sports, music, video games, cooking, babysitting, fixing things, drawing, etc.) so students can circle theirs rather than generate from scratch.

Extensions

  • Students explore 2-3 Hat profiles within their top recommended cluster and rate the perks/quirks/job gear.
  • Challenge: Find a career that bridges two of your top RIASEC types (e.g., Artistic + Social = Art Teacher; Doer + Helper = EMT).
  • Compare H&L's RIASEC results to the CareerOneStop Interest Assessment results. Do they agree?

ELL Language Support

  • H&L is compatible with browser-based translation tools. Show ELL students how to enable Google Translate page translation.
  • Pre-teach key vocabulary in Spanish: Career Cluster = Grupo de carreras, Personality = Personalidad, Values = Valores, Building Blocks = Bloques de construcción, Pathway = Trayectoria.
  • Pair ELL students with bilingual peers during the Core Day A Discover My Core assessment for read-aloud support.
  • Provide a bilingual version of the My Career Journey reflection handout with Spanish sentence stems.