Eighth Grade: the Beginning: A Coaching Manual for High School Success

By Trudy L. Himes

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 7, 2003
• ISBN: 9781465332288

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EIGHTH GRADE: THE BEGINNING … .

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A Coaching Manual for High School Success

TRUDY L. HIMES

Copyright © 2002 by Trudy L. Himes.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

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CONTENTS

A Letter to Parents

Section One

Eighth Grade

Section Two

Ninth & Tenth Grades

Section Three

Section Four

Twelfth Grade

A Letter to Parents

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Before you start this book, I want to take this opportunity to tell you that you are the greatest influence in the lives of your children. They spend a large portion of their time in school but the bonds that they have made with you from birth are the strongest and most influential that they will ever make and most likely will never be broken.

What you want for your child can only be as great as your own dreams and goals. For example, i came from a working class family in the 1950s and 1960s. My family expected nothing more from me than to graduate from high school, work as a secretary or in a factory, get married and have children and possibly not need to work again because my husband would support me. If a college education was available, the State Teacher’s College was the only obvious choice-be it a very traditional option. i was handicapped by my background. i did not feel that other professions-medical (except for nursing), legal, engineering, athletic, or artistic were realistic choices for me because my parents never thought they were!

My parents did not have the experience to see that the future would offer more for my siblings and me than it had for them. The future of my brothers was the main focus of my father. His money would go to educate them after high school-after all, they would be the providers. But they too selected very traditional, conservative career paths because they did not feel that they could do more.

I tell you this not to criticize my parents. They did the best that they could. i tell you this because if you cannot see into the future, your children will have difficulty getting there. Your goals will influence them.

My sister is a single parent and sole provider. All her life she wanted to be a beautician but she never found the time nor the money to attend Beauty College. However, her daughter is now a licensed cosmetologist.

My brother wanted very badly to be a professional musician and even though he was encouraged to pursue this profession in college he had doubts about his ability to support a family. He too went into the field of education but his children are now in college studying to be professionals in the music industry.

You influence your children greatly with what you say about jobs, occupations or groups of people. They listen and they absorb. It is important to reflect on the messages that they are hearing and to make sure that they are being equipped with an open, creative, reflective mind and an ever-increasing desire to learn.

As you assist your child in preparing for high school, reflect on what you feel your limits have been and how you can help your student reach beyond.

I hope this book helps you have a successful experience with high school.

Sincerely,

Trudy L. Himes

Section One

Eighth Grade: The Beginning of High School!

This Section emphasizes the importance of the eighth grade year as a strategic planning year. It provides career-planning activities to help parents and students set educational goals, it directs the readers in researching their high school’s curriculum and it provides the tools to outline a four-year plan for high school prior to the student’s freshman year.

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Eighth Grade

The Beginning of High School ! Introduction

Your eighth grade year is a set-up year for high school. The grades you earn during eighth grade will determine your high school placement in ninth grade. For example, if you earn an A in eighth grade math, you will probably be placed in a college level mathematics class in the 9th grade. However, if you earn a C or less in eighth grade math, you could be placed in a non-academic math class. This system will hold true for other core courses such as English and science. You may feel that you have more ability than you are showing through your schoolwork but performance is a predictor of success. If you do not complete assignments or study for tests in eighth grade, you will probably continue with the same pattern of behavior in ninth grade unless you experience a significant change in your life that allows you to focus on your future.

Goal for Eighth Grade: To determine your educational direction and to outline a four-year plan for high school.

To assure that you have an educational direction, it is crucial to set goals in eighth grade. You need to know where you are going after high school. Are you interested in a two-year school or an apprenticeship program? Are you interested in a four-year college, direct entry into the job market or the U.S. Armed Forces?

To set these goals it is important to begin some career and educational exploration. Determining your life’s work at such a young age is probably impossible but it is possible to determine the direction of your educational life by taking a few direct steps.

Here’s how we’re going to do it !

Step #1:____Getting to Know the Categories of the World of Work.

Step #2:____Finding Your Career Personality Category.

Step #3:____Determining an Appropriate Educational Level.

Step #4:____Researching Educational Options.

Step #5:____Researching Your High School’s Curriculum.

Step #6:____Designing Your Four-Year Plan for High School and Guesstimating Your G.P.A.

Step #7:____Realizing Your Goal. (For Parents Only!)

Let’s Go !

Step #1: Getting to Know the World of Work

The working world can be divided into six basic categories. People tend to fall into one of the following six categories. Each person is a mix of the six categories but one category usually surfaces as the dominant one.

A.____Hands-On-working with things

B.____Researcher-working with data and ideas

C.____Creator-working with ideas and things

D.____Inter-Active-working with people

E.____Leader-working with people and ideas and data

F.____Worker-working with data and things

Parents and Students should work together.

Some things to discuss?

How would _you define things in the working world? What is data? Give some examples. Name some occupations that would primarily work with people. What do the researcher and creator have in common? Why would they both be working with ideas?

A parent and student activity is next. Review the Career Personality Categories together!

The following pages describe each category and give sample occupations for each division. The occupations are divided into levels based upon the education needed to enter that career.

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R, R and A?

Read the description for each category and decide if you fit that description.

Review the occupations in each educational level and decide if you would like a career like those listed.

Answer the questions at the bottom of each page.

You are on the way to