High School 101 Units

Unit 1: Communication Skills

Successful relationships at home, in the classroom, and in the workplace depend heavily on the ability to communicate. Communication is just like any skill - it must be learned and it must be practiced in order to improve.
The engaging projects in this unit will create an environment that enables students to develop and improve their public speaking, listening, questioning, networking, reading, and writing skills all under the umbrella of career exploration. Young people who have a vision for their life after school are more apt to see the value of the educational process and therefore commit to completing that process.

Unit 2: Personal Learning Styles

Just as no two teachers have the same teaching style, no two students have precisely the same learning style. Activities in this unit are designed to give students a good idea of what makes them 'tick', and a better understanding of how to succeed in their learning environment, be that school or work.
Students will identify their learning style through a series of hands-on activities. An on-line assessment will provide an additional opportunity for students to explore their individual personality temperaments. This knowledge, coupled with an understanding of how to apply that knowledge, will give students a distinct advantage in their classroom and workplace endeavors.

Unit 3: Technology Literacy

Not surprisingly, 70% of all jobs today require workers to touch a computer on a daily basis. The vast majority of today's students will have to use technology in their careers, and the degree to which they are literate in technology will play a major role in their quest to succeed.
In this challenging unit, students will learn and practice a multitude of critical technology skills mandated by No Child Left Behind and needed by all young people entering the 21st Century workplace.

Unit 4: People Skills

Studies show that 70% of employees who lose their jobs lose those jobs for one reason - they can't get along with the people they work with and/or the people they work for. This is a staggering statistic and one that seeks the immediate and focused attention of educators. The ability to get along with others will serve students in all aspects of life - in the classroom, at home, and in the workplace. This unit will address conflict resolution, compromise, and the power of 'win/win' engagement. Students who possess good people skills will have better experiences with fellow students, teachers, and administrators, as well as future customers, co-workers, and supervisors.

Unit 5: Choices / Consequences

While there are no 'magic wands' to help young people always make the right decisions, there are certain processes and practices that can help them weigh facts, figures, risk, and consequences. "If I only knew then what I know now" is a comment often made by people from all walks of life. Everyone knows that hindsight is 20/20 but what does it take to sharpen a student's foresight? This unit will help students understand the dangerous correlation between making minor bad choices now and making major bad choices later. More important, this unit will convince students that just one destructive decision can destroy the best laid plans, the highest hopes, and the life-long dreams of young people everywhere.

Unit 6: Test Taking / Study Skills

WAccountability is here to stay and taking tests plays a major role in that movement. This unit will address the connection between personal learning styles and successful study methods, as well as the role environment has on productive study efforts. In general, students will learn skills that can help them process the information they have been taught as it relates to preparing for, and performing on, tests in high school and beyond.

Unit 7: Time Management

Organizational and time utilization skills are two of the most vital common denominators of highly successful people. The ability to multi-task is paramount to a successful educational, as well as workplace, experience. Simply put, students who cannot effectively manage their time and organize their daily activities are certain to struggle. In many cases, these are the students who give up on their educational journey. Faced with the challenge of balancing the demands of school, recreational, work, social, and family activities, the task of time management can seem overwhelming. This unit will help students develop their own personal system for managing time, multitasking, and organizing their 'full plates'.

Unit 8: Business Literacy

Those who succeed in business have the ability to meet challenges, overcome obstacles, and solve problems. Students who possess these abilities will enter the world of work with distinct advantages that will prove to be the difference between success and failure. Whether in a part-time work environment, as a full-time employee of a small company, or even as a business owner/entrepreneur, a general understanding of 'business savvy' will be invaluable.
This unit will challenge students to solve multiple problems, deal with a variety of challenges, and attempt to overcome a number of obstacles in a simulated business environment.

Unit 9: Tolerance / Diversity Literacy

One of the most daunting tasks faced by educators is that of dealing with subject matter that clearly should have been addressed by parents at home. Tolerance and diversity literacy fall into that category. Indeed, it is a global economy into which graduates will eventually be thrust. Students who expect to survive and succeed in that global economy will need traits that enable them to live with, work with, and socialize with others from all walks of life.
This unit will address the social, personal, and professional implications that an absence of these qualities will create. Thought-provoking activities will expose students to the ramifications of intolerance and discrimination.

Unit 10: Financial Literacy

Students' ability to make, manage, multiply, and protect their hard-earned money will impact their plans for the future as well as their quality of life. The primary objective of this unit will be to change the way students think about money so that they will be able to avoid the financial hardships so many young people encounter.
Through unique and engaging activities, students will address needs vs. wants, secrets to saving, credit-card debt, multiplying money, insurance essentials, and identity theft.

For more information please send email to chadwfoster@att.net or call (706) 342-9189.