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Day 5: Mid-Year Growth Reflection + Sharing Circle

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Complete the comprehensive Mid-Year Growth Reflection capturing growth from Week 0 through the mid-year point; participate in the class sharing circle; preview the second half of the year (5SW Architecture & Construction)
TEKS d(4)(B), d(4)(F), d(3)(H)
Deliverable Submitted Mid-Year Growth Reflection (the 4SW summative artifact)
Materials Chromebooks, H&L accounts, My Career Journey reflection sheet from Week 0 + 4SW Wk1 Mid-Year Update, Day 2 Transferable Skills Matrix, Day 3 Jigsaw notes, printed Mid-Year Growth Reflection template (2 pages), projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: You are now halfway through this course. If you could go back to Week 0 and tell yourself one thing about career planning, what would it be?

Take 4-5 student responses. Listen for the recurring theme, most students wish they had taken something more seriously, or stopped worrying about something they thought was a big deal. Bridge: today is the day to write that advice down. Your reflection becomes a record of how you have actually grown.

Activity 1: Gather All the Pieces (5 min)

Students take 5 minutes to spread out every artifact from the year on their desk:

  • Week 0 (1SW): Original My Career Journey reflection sheet
  • 4SW Wk1 Day 5: Mid-Year Update from the planning unit
  • 4SW Wk1 Day 2: Iceberg Cartoon
  • 4SW Wk2 Day 5: Career Plan template (the d(8)(C) artifact)
  • 4SW Wk6 Day 2: Transferable Skills Matrix
  • 4SW Wk6 Day 3: Jigsaw research notes from professional associations
  • H&L Climber Profile: Open in browser to reference favorites and Building Blocks

Every section of the Mid-Year Reflection pulls from one of these artifacts. Students who are missing an artifact can pull data from H&L screenshots or reconstruct from memory.

Activity 2: Mid-Year Growth Reflection (28 min)

Source: The capstone reflection drawing on all of Week 0 through Week 6 of 4SW

Distribute the printed 2-page Mid-Year Growth Reflection template. The template has 6 required sections:

Section 1: How My Career Interests Have Evolved (3-4 sentences)

  • What did I think I wanted to be when this course started in Week 0?
  • What clusters did I explore during the first three six-weeks blocks?
  • What career am I most interested in now, and how is it different from Week 0?

Section 2: The Most Surprising Thing I Learned This Semester (3-4 sentences)

This is open-ended. Examples: "I never thought I would be interested in engineering, but the bridge challenge changed my mind." "I assumed all college pathways paid more, but I learned diesel techs make more than some teachers." "I thought I had no work ethic until I finished the STEM program project."

Section 3: My Current Top Pathway and Why (3-4 sentences)

  • Which Irving ISD pathway is my #1 right now?
  • Which campus offers it?
  • What is my rationale based on this semester's data?

Section 4: Five Transferable Skills I Have Demonstrated (a list)

Pull directly from the Day 2 Transferable Skills Matrix. For each of 5 skills, give a SPECIFIC example from a class activity: - "Communication. I led the Day 4 ATC simulation as the controller and gave clear runway commands to my team" - "Problem solving. I redesigned my LEGO bridge after the first version collapsed" - "Work ethic. I finished the STEM Program flyer even though I was tired and wanted to quit"

Section 5: One Professional Association I Plan to Join (1-2 sentences)

From Day 3 Jigsaw research. Name the association and one specific reason.

Section 6: My Goals for the Second Half of the Year (3 specific goals)

  • Goal 1: A specific action this semester (e.g., "Join TSA in January")
  • Goal 2: A learning goal (e.g., "Improve my drone navigation accuracy to 100%")
  • Goal 3: A career exploration goal (e.g., "Visit MacArthur during 8th grade preview night")

This is the summative artifact for the 4SW. It represents the student's full mid-year growth.

Facilitation Tip

For students who freeze at the writing task, sit down with them for 90 seconds. Have them say one section out loud. Write the first sentence for them. Almost every student who freezes can finish the rest of the reflection on their own once the first sentence is on paper.

DOK 4: Create your own criteria for evaluating your career growth over the first half of the year. Then use those criteria to assess your progress honestly. What areas still need development?

Activity 3: Sharing Circle + 5SW Preview (8 min)

After students submit their reflections, gather the class for a brief sharing circle. Ask for 3 volunteer share-outs:

  1. One student shares the most surprising thing they learned this semester
  2. One student shares the transferable skill they are most proud of
  3. One student shares one goal for the second half of the year

Celebrate the growth honestly. This is the moment students realize how much their thinking has actually changed.

Preview the 5th Six Weeks (2 min): The second half of the year shifts to Architecture & Construction. Wk1 explores Architecture and TinkerCAD. Wk2 dives into Civil Engineering with the bridge challenge. Wk3 covers Construction Trades. Wk4 looks at HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing at Cardwell. Wk5 puts every student through a personal budget exercise tied to their chosen career. Wk6 explores Real Estate. Show the 5SW Wk1 Architecture cover slide if available.

Exit Ticket (4 min)

EXIT TICKET (Concept Map / Connection Diagram) · Printable PDF:

The most important thing I learned about MYSELF during the first half of this course: _____

Connect this self-insight to THREE things:

1. ONE transferable skill I DEMONSTRATED this year (from Day 2 matrix)

My skill: _____. One sentence, what specific class activity proves I have it?

2. ONE professional association I plan to join (from Day 3 Jigsaw)

My association: _____. One sentence, how does joining it match my self-insight?

3. ONE goal for the second half of the year

My goal: _____. One sentence, what is the FIRST small action I'll take in 5SW Wk1 to start on it?

(d(4)(B), d(4)(F), d(3)(H))

Submit this on top of your Mid-Year Growth Reflection.

Differentiation

  • Support: Pre-printed sentence stems for every section: "When the year started I thought _. Now I know . The biggest growth I see in myself is . My top pathway is _ because . Five skills I have shown are , _, , , and _. I will join because . My three goals are _, , and __." Bullet points are acceptable instead of paragraphs.
  • Extension: Build a visual "Skills Resume" alongside the reflection, a one-page document listing every transferable skill the student demonstrated this year with evidence from specific class activities. Could be designed in Canva for a polished version.
  • ELL: Bilingual Mid-Year Reflection template with Spanish sentence stems. Allow students to write the entire reflection in Spanish if more comfortable. Pre-teach: Mid-year = Medio año, Growth = Crecimiento, Transferable skills = Habilidades transferibles, Goals = Metas. Pair ESL students with bilingual peers during the Sharing Circle so peers can translate share-outs.