Teacher’s Corner

The following are writing prompts and discussion topics based on the blog It’s Never Too Early for Children to Think about Future Jobs.

1. Think about three things you might want to do when you grow up?  Describe those things. For each of them, explain what you will need to do now in order to prepare to do those things later.

2. Imagine that all the things you described in #1 became your job or career some day. Put them in order as to which one you would like to do first, second, third. Explain why you put them in that order.

3. Assume you had the occupations as an adult that you described in #1 and that you had those occupations in the order you selected in #2.  Explain what you could learn from the first occupation that would help you be successful in your second occupation.  Explain what you could learn from the second occupation that would help you be successful in your third occupation.

4. Do you think young people your age change their minds about the things they would like to do when they grow up? If yes, what types of things make kids change their minds about future careers?  If no, give two reasons why kids might not change their minds.

Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.

1. For middle or high school parenting or child development courses:

• Use the blog for discussion topics
• Require students to research the topics and agree or disagree with what the blog is suggesting.

2.  For all courses, especially English Language Arts:

• Use the blog for writing prompts for paragraphs, theme papers, journal entries, class starters, etc. Have students read the blog and respond to:
  • Do you agree with what is being said about kids? Do kids really act, think or feel that way?
  • Do you agree with what is being said about parents, grandparents, teachers and child caregivers? Do or should they act, think or feel that way?
  • What would be your advice on this topic?
  • What was left out of this article?
  • If you were a parent, would you use any of this information? How?

Why can this blog be a useful teaching tool?

• Students that see connections between their coursework and their lives do better in school.
• Most students will either be parents one day or have children in their lives that they care about, so the topical information can help them build their knowledge about children and parenting and develop a positive image of the type of parenting they want to do.
• The new core literacy standards adopted by most states call for frequent writing in all courses.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can think critically. These prompts help students practice critical thinking.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can analyze what they read. These prompts help students practice analysis.