My Dream Future - A College and Career Research Unit

Want a fun and exciting way to help students understand what it will take to get them to their ideal future? This is the unit for you!

Great for AVID classes, advisory, study or life skills, or as a unit for any college and career class.

Students work through a variety of assignments to understand what their ideal future costs and how they can make it that future! Students begin by analyzing what they want for their future (location, home, car) and figuring out how much it will cost and how much money they will need to make. Then, using that information, students will find careers that will pay that salary and what they'll need to do to get that career (traditional college, community college, or tech school.) From there, students will research a specific college that will help them earn the degree they need. To bring it all together, students will create a PowerPoint that includes all of the information they learn and present what their dream future will be and what it will take to get there to the class.

Unit includes:
1. Teacher Guide (3 pages)

This is a complete guide for you! It comes with instructions and a laid out 4 week calendar for how to have students complete this unit.

2. Student Dream Future (5 pages)
Students brainstorm what they want their future to look like.

• What kind of family do they want?
• Where do they want to live?
• What kind of home do they want? (research on Zillow!)
• What is the cost of living in their ideal location? (research on numbeo)
• What kind of car do you want?
• How much does your car cost to buy/maintain?
• How much do groceries cost?
• Tally up how much it will cost you to have this dream future.

3. Career Research (5 pages)

Students research various careers on either Xello (if your school has access) or onetonline (free and open to everyone).

• Choose a job they are interested in.
• Identify what tasks they'll actually do every day in that job.
• Identify 3 technology skills they'll need.
• Identify 3 knowledge area they'll need to be successful.
• Identify 3 specific skill areas they'll need to develop.
• Identify education/training required.
• Research Median wage hourly.
• Research Median wage annually.
• Find a quote from someone in the career field.
• Identify a college major that they will need.
• Reflect on the job/career path.

3. College Research (5 pages)

Based on their research around the job/career they want, they'll now select a college that will help them get to where they want to go.

• Students research 3 colleges on collegeboard based on the major they selected during career research.
• Analyze which college would fit them best after taking college size, location, programs/degrees offered, and costs into account.
• Students then do a deep dive into the college of their choice where they research campus life, activities, amenities, real costs, application process, financial aid, etc.

3. Students take Ownership of their Learning and Present! (21 slide template and 1 page rubric)

• Students use the template provided to create a presentation of their dream future and the steps they have to take to achieve it.
• A rubric is provided for the students to either assess themselves or for their teacher to assess them on.