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Day 3: Xello Education Experience + School Subjects at Work

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Complete two Xello activities (Education Experience + School Subjects at Work); connect current school subjects to specific health careers; understand college credit options for high school students
TEKS d(1)(A), d(3)(B)
Deliverable Xello completion screens (both activities) + 3-sentence connection paragraph linking a school subject to a health career
Materials Chromebooks, Xello accounts, Irving ISD dual credit and AP information, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: Which school subject do you think is MOST important for healthcare careers? Math? Science? English? Take a guess.

Take 3-4 responses. Most students will say science. Bridge: today they may be surprised. English class matters for medical billing (documentation), math matters for dental hygienists (measurements), and even art class matters for surgeons (fine motor skills).

Activity 1: Xello Education Experience (15 min)

Open Xello and direct students to the Education Experience activity in the 7th-grade lesson list. This activity asks students to describe their educational experiences, favorite classes, hardest subjects, learning preferences, and connects them to potential careers.

Students complete the activity step by step, answering each prompt thoughtfully. The activity outputs a personal "education experience" profile that links to careers in Xello's career database.

After completing the activity, students write down one CAREER from the Xello recommendations that surprised them. They will use this in the connection paragraph.

Facilitation Tip

Some students rush through Xello activities by clicking randomly. Tell them upfront: "Your answers go into your permanent profile and inform every career recommendation. Garbage in, garbage out." Walk around and check that students are reading the prompts, not just clicking through.

Activity 2: Xello School Subjects at Work (15 min)

Direct students to the School Subjects at Work activity. This activity shows how each school subject (Math, English, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, PE, Health) is used in real careers.

Students complete the activity and explore at least 3 school subjects. For each subject, they note one healthcare career that uses it heavily.

Examples students might find:

  • Math → Pharmacist (drug dosage calculations), Dental Hygienist (measurement)
  • English → Medical Biller (documentation accuracy), Health Information Technician
  • Science (Biology) → RN, Dentist, Biomedical Engineer
  • Social Studies → Medical Social Worker, Public Health Educator
  • Art → Surgeon (fine motor skills), Dental Lab Technician (crown/bridge design)

Students fill in a quick 3-row table in their notebook:

School Subject Health Career That Uses It How

Activity 3: College Credit in High School — Intro + Turn-and-Talk (10 min)

After 30 min at the Chromebook, students need active processing, not a 10-min lecture. Use a 4-3-3 structure:

Intro (4 min): Project a slide with Irving ISD's four college credit options and give a brief description of each:

  • Dual Credit: Take a high school course that also counts as college credit at Dallas College. Free for Irving ISD students.
  • AP (Advanced Placement): Take a rigorous course and pass an exam to earn college credit at most U.S. universities.
  • Articulated CTE Credit: Some Singley Academy CTE courses give college credit at Dallas College after high school graduation.
  • Industry Certifications: Singley Academy CTE pathways earn nationally-recognized credentials that some employers accept in place of a degree.

Then show the sample nursing pathway:

  • 9th-10th grade: Health Science Theory at Singley (CTE)
  • 11th grade: Anatomy & Physiology dual credit (high school + Dallas College)
  • 12th grade: Patient Care Tech certification (CTE) + AP Biology

This student graduates with diploma + 6+ college credits + a healthcare certification.

Turn-and-Talk (3 min): Students pair up and answer: "Which of the four options would YOU most likely use based on what you know about yourself? Why?"

Whole-class share (3 min): Ask 2-3 volunteers to share their pair's answer.

DOK 2: How would you describe the advantages of earning college credit while still in high school?

Exit Ticket (5 min)

EXIT TICKET (Short Constructed Response) · Printable PDF:

  1. One school subject I take right now that connects to a HEALTH career: _____

  2. The specific health career that uses it HEAVILY: _____

  3. In one sentence, HOW is that subject used in the career day-to-day? (Example: "Math is used in nursing because nurses calculate drug doses.") _____________

  4. One Irving ISD college credit option I would consider using (dual credit, AP, articulated CTE credit, or industry certification): _____

  5. In one sentence, why would this option help ME specifically?

(d(1)(A), d(3)(B))

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a 3-row table with one row pre-filled as a model. Use Xello's Spanish-language toggle for ESL students.
  • Extension: Students map a 4-year high school plan that uses dual credit and CTE certifications to maximize their college credit by graduation.
  • ELL: Xello has built-in Spanish translation. Pre-teach: Subject = Materia, College Credit = Crédito Universitario, Dual Credit = Crédito Doble, Certification = Certificación.