LeslieAaronson
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Building the Skills to Get the Job in the First Place

2/5/2015

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Originally published on KCET's Open Classroom
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In addition to the computer science skills my students learn in the Foshay Technology Academy - skills like web and graphic design, programming, and video production -- the students also acquire and build the communication skills necessary for the 21st century workplace. This includes learning how to write resumes and get ready for job interviews. This communication piece is key. I am teaching my students how to go after the jobs and get hired. Interviewing for a job can be a scary experience so my students begin to get over their fright as soon as possible in the 10th grade.

During the first semester of their sophomore year -- the first of six semesters that my students and I spend together -- every student completes a mock interview. This day has become one of the most anticipated and monumental days for the students. They do a lot of preparation to get through the interview, and it becomes an experience that they will never forget. I know, because they discuss their experience again when they apply for jobs at our annual spring Internship Fair when they are juniors, and whenever I hear my students explain the academy to business partners and underclassmen -- this is one of the first items they share.

I teach at Foshay Learning Center, a low-income, under-represented school in South Los Angeles. We are a K-12 span school and more than 90% of my students will be first generation to attend college. I am focused on my students' independent and continued success outside of high school, which is also something reinforced by the California Partnership Academy grant that my program has received from the State for the past twelve years. High school internships are becoming increasingly important for high school students who want to get into better colleges and find future employment, according to a study released February 3, 2014, by Internships.com and the research and consulting firm Millennial Branding. The California Partnership Academy grant mandates that I work with business partners and an advisory board to add the career focus my students need in life outside of high school. Even with all this support, it is still up to the hustle of my students to impress in order to obtain internships, jobs, and opportunities.

Every fall the sophomores dress professionally to conduct a one-on-one mock interview with a professional for an entry level internship. They each have a printed resume that was edited and reviewed by their peers, by me, and by professional mentors. The interviews last about 20 minutes and all of them begin the same way -- introductions, eye contact, smile, and handshake followed by a friendly "tell me about yourself." This models any interview they will encounter going forward.

The mock interview day was the first thing I put in place when I started running the Tech Academy twelve years ago, and the only real change from its original format is that now every student gets an individual one-on-one interview instead of having to be interviewed in pairs, since I finally have enough volunteers. The mock interview event used to be a two year experience, but now the juniors go on informational interviews and participate in real interviews in March at our annual internship fair.

It is incredible to see the sophomores prepare for this day. When they enter my class in August they still see themselves as freshmen and most think it is too soon to take themselves seriously. Knowing that they will have to present themselves to someone professionally completely takes them out of their comfort zone and makes them look at themselves and their experience in a new light. No one can hide in a one-on-one interview and there is no one to blame for a poor performance but themselves.

It is fun watching the students practice with each other leading up the interviews. I bring in the seniors who already went through the experience to help the sophomores prepare with the same sample questions I give to the professional interviewers, although many of them come prepared with their own questions. My students know that the interview is not scripted; it is not possible when every interview is unique in its own way. These sample questions are meant to get them thinking and prepared.

The students can only participate in the interview if they show up on time and are dressed professionally. We define professional dress as button down shirt and slacks. Ties and jackets are optional. This has been a point of contention over the years with some of my business partners who work in government, law, or for IBM. However, at game companies, tech companies, and advertising companies, the workplace dress code is very casual -- so showing up in a three piece suit is to be overdressed and out of place. I keep conferring with my business partners about this point and they agree with me.

"My interview felt close to an ordinary, day-to-day conversation. It was relaxed more than anything, and did have a few awkward moments. I felt a bit at ease most of the time. Maybe I could've spent more time beforehand to prepare more 'logical' and sensible questions.The most useful for me was the feedback I received from Mr. Londre on my opinionated answers. He gave me tips on how to make my answers sound more "alive" and "interesting". For the next time, I plan to prepare for the twist that can happen in a conversation. I needed to prepare better answers along with better questions. Perhaps even open up a bit more as I do have the tendency to be shy."

​April: "My interview experience was awesome. I felt confident in what I was saying and the questions I answered. I was also prepared for any question that came my way and had my resume and business card ready. What was useful for me was the advice he gave me to make my words on my resume sound fancier and to manage my time better. Next time I will improve myself to not talk as fast and to just slow down and to not be nervous so my voice won't sound shaky. I described to my interviewer that I am an effective communicator, a problem solver, and that I am technologically literate."
 
Katya: "I felt the need to write to you because I have realized that even though I graduated in 2010, the experiences you strive to implement and instill in all of the Tech Academy alumni is still helping me shape my future. I walked in for an interview yesterday and although I don't have a job offer just yet, I wanted to let you know how important the programs in the Tech Academy are and how they literally opened so many doors and changed my life. Thank you for all that you do! It truly deeply matters. The students might not realize it right away, but they will one day."The students write thank you emails after the interview as an opportunity to practice professional writing and continue the relationship. Nothing makes them take their spelling and grammar seriously until they know someone outside of school will read it. As a result of this experience, many students have received opportunities such as on-the-spot internship offers, a personal mentor, and an expansion of their professional networking community.

It is so special for the students to have this time with a business partner. As hard as I try to have at least one exchange with each of my students in every class period, it is incredibly difficult to give them individual attention in a meaningful way. My classes average thirty-six students, and sometimes the interviewer will discover something significant about the student that they will never share with me in the three years I have with them. It is a personalized experience that makes every student feel special and realize what it is to be taken seriously.


The mock interviews have long lasting effects that I see often when my alumni contact me. One of my favorite stories is from my student from the class of 2012. During his first year at college he applied for a part time job at Costco. He wrote on my Facebook page about how horrified he was that the other candidates were not prepared. In his interview when they asked for work experience he pulled up his digital portfolio. They were impressed into silence. He told me he just channeled everything he had learned from the mock interviews in high school. In the end not only did he get the cashier job he had applied for, they offered him assistant manager based on his portfolio and interview presentation.

I have also received multiple emails from students after they begin college about the jobs they are offered based on their high school experience. When a professor asks a class to create a resume my students are already done. The professors are quickly impressed and have offered internships on the spot.

Yes, I run an academy based on building technological skills necessary in the workplace. However, if we don't take the time to teach our students the communication skills that they will need to get a job in the first place, are we really giving them the survival and life skills they need in order to succeed? Many of my students live below the poverty line. I feel a personal mission to give them the experience and tools to change the circumstance they were born into. Learning how to get the job is just as important as keeping and excelling at the job. Communication skills to express what you have learned and accomplished are necessary to prove what you will be capable of producing in the future.


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How to Get Students Excited About Learning to Code

2/5/2015

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Originally published on KCET's Open Classroom

At Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angeles, every student in the 10th grade enters an academy for the next three years of high shool: Finance, Technology or Health careers. I run the Technology Academyand have the luxury of teaching my students three years in a row. This way we can work together on a comprehensive curriculum that prepares my students for college and careers.

This year I am looking for a programming language that will allow my 11th graders to create digital games that they can then show off on their digital portfolios. This is the second course in a series of three, and is focused on Game Design and Production. Last year the junior class in the Foshay Tech Academy completed the Exploring Computer Science curriculum as 10th graders, where they followed the pillars of equity, inquiry, and computer science to build up their programming and problem solving skills. The final senior course requires that they build and market an original app idea.

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My classroom models the problem solving process that is integral in computer science and programming, which is why I constantly review and revise my curriculum and approach. Here's how the process works:


1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM: Computer Science and game design are growing fields and students need access to these courses. Code.org has made a national splash raising awareness about why it is important to teach students to code and to learn computer science. The expectation is that there will be a million more jobs than computer science students by the year 2020. Not enough of our student population is pursuing these careers, and the common sense behind that is this: if you are not exposed to people with the career in your home community and you are not exposed through school, then where would a person get the experience and establish the interest?

I also agree that programming is a fundamental skill, not only to breach the digital divide in careers, but also to emphasize problem solving, showcase multiple solutions to one problem, and build communication and troubleshooting skills.

2. MAKE A PLAN AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM: Over the course of running the Technology Academy and teaching the career classes I have moved through many programming languages with my students, to various degrees of success. Ultimately I want them to finish our unit in programming and understand the fundamental concepts and logic of writing, reading, and modifying code. It has been confirmed by my alumni who have told me that they had an easier time than most of their classmates in college with programming, based on the foundation they received in my class.

3. CARRY OUT THE PLAN: Two years ago I decided that my students should learn to make apps, and attempted to teach them App Inventor. Every professional who looked at the students' portfolio were so impressed with the live interactive apps the students were able to build and package to their phone and digital portfolios. However, the students did not feel the same level of success. They thought their apps were amateur and in the end they were not able to achieve the level of sophistication and complexity they desired.

Programming is a full time job and best done in pairs or teams; it is beyond expectation that high school students will achieve their goals if they only practice and work on it during the 4 hours a week that I see them. I realized that while most of the students could build the apps from the tutorials, they were missing the fundamental concepts of loops, conditionals, and variables that they need to build a solid programming foundation.

4. REVIEW and REVISE (repeat): Last year, my students experimented with new programming languages through the Hour of Code. The Code.org website offers some amazing tutorials and gives access to what programs are out there for people to learn on their own. The entire school participated and my students took on a leadership role. They assisted parents and middle school students with Lightbot and Angry Bird coding games designed for beginners. My students tried the more advanced options, and we discovered Python and Processing. Even though my juniors already had games they created through App Inventor, I needed something to teach them the key concepts and vocabulary of programming. I ended up registering all of my juniors to Grok Learning's international Python competition.

I thought the broken up challenges in the five week competition would engage and inspire the students. I was correct, for the first two weeks, during which the students were active and engaged learners. They challenged and assisted each other. The room was buzzing. But by the third week the challenges got much harder, and almost at once more than half the class was ready to give up. They thought the challenges should be conquered quickly and easily; they did not like that it required so many steps. They did not like that they had to think and work so hard.


I had to change the game in the classroom. They needed to learn that for developers programming is a full time job that requires attention to detail and patience, perseverance, and creativity. I had to find new tactics to get my students talking again. I made small groups that were led by a student who was further along, with the goal of letting them talk about the challenges that got them stuck, and working in teams to solve it. I had pairs of students go work through a problem in front of the class with the other students, offering up guidance and suggestions while they worked along from their computers. I made the students get into pairs and explain the code to each other line by line.

The realization was that online programs are amazing and helpful, but it is not enough to get an entire class focused and motivated. A teacher is still needed to facilitate and encourage. It is hard to learn anything without the communication piece, and an independent online course deceives the students into thinking that maybe they should be working alone.

In the workplace programmers are often given a partner to program with. They need to seek out solutions and advice. However, it is not a natural instinct. Time and again I see students stare at the ceiling when they are lost. They turn silent instead of investigative. They think it will just come to them (or not) and they would rather give up than risk exposing their questions.

I recently spoke with a creative software developer who told me that when he hires developers he always asks if they prefer to work alone or collaboratively. If they answer alone, then they are not hired - he said he would rather have multiple mediocre developers than a whiz who is not a team player.


I have held tight to this as I teach my juniors how to code in JavaScript. My students are learning JavaScript through community. We are using Code Avengers, a partner with the Hour of Code. My students and I are excited by what they are producing. Code Avengers offers everything I was looking for - my students are learning a language that will be impressive on their resumes; the course engages the ones who struggle and gives accelerated options to the ones who want a continuous challenge to expand their skills. There are bonus games, opportunities for review, small and large projects for my students to practice their skills, as well as make modifications so they can produce their projects and embed the games they make on their web sites. I can even track their progress and intervene with mini lessons or paired work to help the ones who are getting lost or frustrated.

Unfortunately, an online course is not the full proof solution. I can't just sit back and let them quietly work through the course. I have to facilitate to make sure they are engaged and moving forward. I have to keep track where they are and where they are struggling. It is hard not to step in and lecture. Instead I have other tactics: Every day we spend at least thirty minutes in paired programming and I will give them their partner for the day. The partnership is not lowest student with the highest student; in fact they are often close to the same spot. I tell them that the class activity is worth points based on how they communicate and work together for the day. Sometimes I tell the pair to go back to a certain lesson and take turns explaining the lines of code to each other. I know from experience that often they are just following directions rather than thinking through the program. It is amazing how engaged and articulate the students become when they are paired up and the greatest learning is when you explain your knowledge to someone else.

Teaching programming is important. However, it is challenging and takes a lot of revision and communication. Even if a life of programming is not in their future these troubleshooting and collaboration skills will follow them. Code.org is making programming more accessible to anyone who is interested. Some of the online courses offer certification upon completion. The Hour of Code is December 8 to 14, but it is always a good time to code.


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    Leslie Aaronson

    Former Technology Teacher; LAUSD Teacher of the Year: Strategic Director for K12 Initiatives at NCWIT; Manage Girls Build; Mother of two girls

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