STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:

It’s hard to get somewhere when you don’t have a plan. It’s also difficult to explain to someone else how to get there if you aren’t able to provide all of the information. Over the next few days, students will be working on developing their graduation plan. In doing this, they will need to take into consideration much of the work that they have already done with their school’s curriculum guide and even work that they’ve done relating to both college and career.

 

The ultimate goal of this process is to give students an opportunity to do some planning ahead of scheduling their high school classes. This will allow students more agency in planning for their high school years and will allow them to be more intentional in their choices.

 

To begin with, have the students think about somewhere nearby. Ask them to select a location that most everyone will know. It could be a store, a restaurant, or other well known location. Then, ask for one volunteer to come up to the front of the class and describe how to get to their location. They should not say the name of the  location that they are going to, but may use other locations as landmarks. They can choose to use street names, compass directions, or a series of landmarks to describe their route. After they have completed their description, allow the rest of the class to guess their destination. Do this a few times.

DIGGING IN:

Discuss with the students what made some descriptions better than others. Were they more visual? Did they include specific directions (north, south, east, west)? Did the descriptions with street names help more than those with just landmarks?

 

Just like the path to any destination that you hope to get to, the State of Indiana requires every student to create a map for their high school years that’s called a Graduation Plan. Your Graduation Plan outlines all of the classes that you will take through your high school years.

 

Of course, as you might expect, these might change from time to time. The state has also taken this into
consideration and in addition to creating a Graduation Plan, students are expected to review it once a year.

 

Students will begin creating their graduation plan with their counselor when they meet to schedule high school classes, but over the next few class period they will work on building a draft Graduation Plan that they can use to guide them in discussions with their counselors.

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INTO ACTION:

Pass out the Graduation Plan sheet to the students. Explain that this plan represents all four years of their high school career. There is room for seven classes in each of the two semesters and they should plan to fill all of them. Students should begin by selecting the diploma that they plan to graduate with. Requirements for each can be found on pages 9-11 of the curriculum guide. With this in place, they can then begin “shopping” in the curriculum guide for classes that will fulfill the requirements. Encourage students to complete their Graduation Plans using pencil as they will be making changes and updates to it over the coming days.
 

Students should pay specific attention to the “Recommended grade levels” listed in the curriculum guide and try to stay within these guidelines. Students should also think about the challenges they explored thinking about honors, dual credit and AP classes and include these choices in their Graduation Plan.

 

The form asks students to calculate their total credits earned after they have completed  entering classes into their Graduation Plan. Most classes will earn a student one credit per semester and students should keep this in mind when calculating total credits. Exceptions to this include classes at a career center where the total number of credits earned can vary (as listed in the course descriptions), but will always take up three class periods on a students’ schedule.

 

Plan to allow students the remainder of the first period to work on adding classes to their Graduation Plan. This process may also carry over into the second day, but students should also use this day to consider their Graduation Pathways. These are outlined with specific examples on pages 4-6 in the curriculum guide. Any changes that need to be made to accommodate for Graduation Pathway requirements should be made at this time.

 

At the end of the second day or the beginning of the third, pass out the Graduation Pathways Checklist sheet to students. Students should use their Graduation Pathway and curriculum guide to complete the checklist. In addition to the checklist, students are asked to write five specific questions to ask as they are scheduling their high school classes. these question should seek answers to things about classes, diplomas, credits and graduation that the student is unclear about. The intention is for students to be able to have both their draft Graduation Pathway and Checklist in hand while scheduling high school classes.

 

It may be helpful to plan for peer-review, one-on-one teacher conferences or both of these to review and refine students’ Graduation Plans. As this is a wholly new experience for students, it may take time for them to fully grasp the concept. Reviewing early and often can help keep them on track.