Exemplar # 3: Guidance Curriculum

STANDARDS: 20, 24, & 28.

Introduction
During my second year in the school counseling program in collaboration with our
fieldwork sites and CSP624 Learning Achievement and Instruction course I was able to create
a core curriculum that would serve the needs of the students at our school. For the purposes of
this assignment, the team at Westview High School implemented a lesson on Naviance focusing
on personality assessments that matched to future college and/or career aspirations. Using the
lesson planning and teaching skills learned in our class, I was able to effectively execute a lesson
relevant and applicable to our student population.
Standards Met
Standard 20: Career Development
The focus of our lesson at Westview was a program called Family Connection, also
known as Naviance. The Naviance program allows students the opportunity to find and explore
colleges, career interests, their learning styles, and serves as a wealth of a resource to students.
As part of the curriculum for 9th grade, the school counselors have partnered with the Exercise
Nutrition Science class, to provide all 9th graders a lesson that will aid them throughout their high
school career. During the lesson, students participated in a personality assessment, where they
were then matched by personality to future majors and/or fields of study and potential careers.
Students were given time to explore the careers matched to their personality and then research
majors and colleges that would match to the careers that most interested them.
Standard 24: Learning, Achievement, & Instruction

In order to effectively deliver a lesson, it is important to utilize teaching skills and

techniques. The lesson used a variety of teaching techniques including but not limited to: calling
out, pair share, group discussion, read-alongs, and exit tickets. For example, when going over
different personalities students would raise their hand if they identified with the personality type
we were reviewing, and then I would select two to three students to share characteristics of that
personality type. Additionally, after correlating majors/careers to their personality I asked
students share in pairs what they learned about themselves, and colleges they are interested in
learning more about. The skills from our Learning, Achievement, and Instruction course really
prepared us to provide a lesson to the students in a relevant format that kept the students engaged
throughout the 90-minute session.
Standard 28: Organizational & System Development
The final standard addressed from our Core Curriculum project would be the
Organizational and System Development. In order to create a lesson that would be applicable for
the needs at Westview I needed to look at the school, structure, and needs of the students in order
to implement and evaluate our lessons objectives. From the pre and post-tests of our guidance
lessons, it was clear students were unaware of the resources Family Connection had for them as
well as the importance of starting the college and career planning now as freshmen. Looking at
creating programs from an organizational standpoint really helped me think holistically of the
needs of the students and create a lesson that would be beneficial to their development learning.
After completing all lessons, my team and I were able to share the results with the counseling
team who was encouraged to have strong results reported that aligned with their goals for the
students. Additionally, the principal seeing the power of the guidance curriculum to Freshmen

and Seniors is now beginning to think how we can impact all grade levels with appropriate
guidance lessons.
Professional Application
I believe in the impact and importance Guidance curriculum can have in ensuring all
students have access to the information they need to be successful. I believe that the process and
skills I acquired through this assignment and course have enhanced me as a school counselor and
equipped me with the knowledge and abilities I need to implement future guidance lessons for
my students.
Final Thoughts
I think it was really valuable to help students understand how their personalities really do
connect and make an impact on their future majors and college/careers they choose. It personally
took me ten years after high school to make the personality and career connection. Helping
students to have the early opportunity to make that connection is really impactful. I would love
to see how they each apply this knowledge into the personal choices they make for their future. I
think a systems organizational change recommendation, following this lesson, would be for all
students to be able to participate in an assessment where they can look at who they are as
individuals and how that can help shape the careers they would excel at, be happier doing, or
find fulfilling. It was five years ago while giving personality/career assessments in the Middle
East that led me to school counseling, and it is now being able to help students understand that
same connection that ignites my passion for the profession.