Day 2: H&L District Course Planner — 4-Year Mapping
Lesson Overview
| Time | 50 minutes |
| Objectives | Use the H&L District Course Planner to build a personal 4-year HS course map for the chosen Irving ISD pathway; identify which 9th-grade course is the gateway to the pathway |
| TEKS | d(8)(B), d(3)(A) |
| Deliverable | Screenshot of completed 4-year course map in the H&L District Course Planner (or paper backup using the workbook template) |
| Materials | Chromebooks, H&L accounts + Workbook (Ch 16, pp. 267-268, "My Career and Course Plan"), printed 4-Year Course Map template (paper backup), Irving ISD CTE Pathways poster, projector |
Warm-Up (5 min)
WARM-UP: If you could take any class in high school, real or made up, what would it be? Write one sentence.
Take 3-4 fun answers (most are jokes about dragon training and pizza science). Bridge: today we are going to find out which REAL classes at your future high school move you toward your career goal.
Activity 1: Teacher Modeling — Course Planner Walkthrough (15 min)
Source: H&L District Course Planner (in-app tool)
Project the H&L app on the screen. Walk students through one complete pathway as a model, pick a pathway different from the most common student choice in the class so no one feels copied.
[H&L PLATFORM] Demonstrate logging into H&L → navigating to the Career Plan / District Course Planner → selecting an Irving ISD high school (use MacArthur as the demo unless the class is heavily Singley) → choosing a pathway (Architecture works well as a demo because the course sequence is intuitive) → walking through 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade courses one year at a time. Show how core academics and CTE pathway courses fit together in each year. The workbook (Ch 16, p. 268) directs students to "go to the Hats & Ladders app and begin your Career and Course Plan" and to include a pathway, action steps, and HS courses.
[VERIFY in H&L] Confirm with your H&L district admin that the District Course Planner is loaded with Irving ISD course catalogs for all six high schools/centers (MacArthur, Nimitz, Irving High, Singley, Cardwell, Ratteree). If course data is not loaded, students will use the printed paper template as a backup and reference the Irving ISD CTE Pathways poster + counselor course catalog.
While modeling, narrate the decision points: - "I picked MacArthur because that is where Architecture is offered." - "I am putting Algebra I in 9th grade because the Architecture pathway requires Geometry in 10th grade, and you cannot take Geometry without Algebra I first." - "Notice that the CTE course in 10th grade. Architectural Design I, is the gateway. If I do not take this course in 10th grade, I cannot take Revit in 11th grade."
This sequence-matters framing is the entire point of the day.
Activity 2: Student Course Mapping (25 min)
Students open H&L on their own Chromebook and replicate the process for their #1 pathway from Week 1. They:
- Navigate to the District Course Planner in their H&L Career Plan
- Select their target Irving ISD high school (where their pathway is offered)
- Select their pathway from the dropdown
- Map out their 4-year course sequence. CTE pathway courses + core academics + endorsement-aligned electives
- Take a screenshot of the completed course map and save it to their student drive
If a student's pathway requires transferring schools (e.g., they live near Nimitz but want Architecture at MacArthur), they note this on the paper backup and discuss with the teacher individually.
For students whose Course Planner has no Irving ISD data loaded, use the paper template:
| Year | English | Math | Science | Social Studies | CTE Pathway | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th | English I | Algebra I | Biology | Human Geography | Pathway 1 | Spanish I, PE |
| 10th | English II | Geometry | Chemistry | World History | Pathway 2 | Spanish II, Fine Art |
| 11th | English III | Algebra II | Physics | US History | Pathway 3 | Elective |
| 12th | English IV | Math Models | Adv Science | Gov/Econ | Pathway 4 (capstone) | Elective |
Students fill in the CTE Pathway column with the actual course names from the Irving ISD CTE poster.
Facilitation Tip
Walk the room with a checklist: (1) student selected the right campus, (2) student picked their #1 pathway from Week 1, (3) student has SOMETHING in every CTE Pathway cell. If a CTE column is blank for any year, that is the conversation point, what fills 11th grade if the pathway only has 2 courses?
[H&L PLATFORM] If H&L's Course Planner does not let students screenshot directly, have them use the Chromebook screenshot keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + Show Windows key) and save to their drive. The deliverable is the screenshot. Without it, the activity has no exit artifact.
DOK 3: What conclusions can you draw about how your 9th-grade course choices affect what is available to you in 11th and 12th grade? Why does sequence matter?
Exit Ticket (5 min)
EXIT TICKET (Comparison Matrix) · Printable PDF:
Use your H&L Course Planner screenshot (or paper template) to fill in the matrix for YOUR pathway.
| Year | Core academic (pick ONE) | My CTE pathway course |
|---|---|---|
| 9th grade | ||
| 10th grade | ||
| 11th grade | ||
| 12th grade (capstone) |
High school where the pathway is offered: _____
Bottom line: ONE scheduling concern I will need to solve when I enroll (bus route, elective conflict, pathway at a DIFFERENT campus than my home school, program size, prerequisite): (d(8)(B))
Differentiation
- Support: Pre-filled paper template with the core academic columns already completed (English I, Algebra I, Biology, etc.) so students only have to fill in the CTE pathway column. Pair with a peer who can read screen prompts aloud.
- Extension: Add a column for college credit potential, which of the 4 years' courses could be dual credit through Irving ISD partnerships? Use collegeforalltexans.com to verify.
- ELL: Bilingual paper template with Spanish column headers: Año = Year, Inglés, Matemáticas, Ciencias, Estudios Sociales, Trayectoria CTE, Otro. Pair ESL students with bilingual peers for the screenshot save step.