Lesson Plan Template

School Counselor: Tasha Young

Activity: Choosing the Right College for You
Grade(s): 10th grade students
School Counseling Program Goal(s) addressed:
Increase sophomore college/career knowledge from 57% to 60% by the end of the school year.
ASCA Student Standards or ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards addressed:
Mindsets
8.) Apply knowledge and learning styles to positively influence school performance
Behavior: Learning Strategies
9.) Gather evidence and consider multiple perspectives to make informed decisions
Behavior: Social Skills
1.) Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills
Learning Objective(s): (If using the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors, objectives should align
with competencies that can be found here.)
1. Understand that each individual has their own unique set of skills and can contribute to a
group creatively and effectively.
Materials: Pens/Pencils, Guided Worksheet, Laptop/Tablet/Computer, Pre Test, Post Test,
Internet Connection
Procedure:

1) (5 minutes) Introduction and transition to beginning of session: Students will complete a pretest of what they know about their future college or what major they would like to pursue. After
the pre-test, counselor will walk students through the worksheet. Students will fill in 3
majors/career pathways that they are interested in. They will then find a school they are
interested in or one that supports their career pathway. The student will fill out the yearly tuition,
a scholarship they qualify for and what kind of school they would like to attend. The students
will create a College Greenlight account and look up their schools and compare information. The
counselor will demonstrate the College Greenlight website and transition to the College Search.
2) (5 minutes) College Search
a) Introduce to the students the lesson and why it is important to have a postsecondary plan.
b) Ask students how many know what career pathway they would like to take.
c) While passing materials, explain how to create a College Greenlight account. The
purpose of this activity is to show the students how they can obtain the information to
choose the right college to fit their needs.
d) Students have roughly 20 minutes to work and the facilitator will signal when there are 5
minutes left.
e) (5-10 minutes) The students will come back and discuss their findings on the college that
fits their needs.
f) (5 minutes) The students will fill out a post-test regarding the information they learned
about finding a college that is right for them.
g) (5 minutes) Review answers as a class.
h). (5 minutes) Have class discussion with students: What are some ways to find the right
college for you? What is the tuition for the college you wish to attend? What is another
job you could have from the major you wish to pursue? What is your preferred method
of finding a college?
5) (10 minutes) As students transition back to the full group, ask them to think about and discuss
as a class: What was the purpose of the activity? Do you feel more united as a class? As a
school? What are the crucial ingredients to working together as a team? What did you learn about
your classmates that you did not know before? What problem solving skills did you learn and
how can you apply that in school? What did you learn about yourself?

6) (5 minutes) Reflection. Have students write down on a separate sheet of paper: What have
you learned from this experience and how can you apply this knowledge into your personalsocial-professional life?
Plan for Evaluation: How will each of the following be collected?
Process Data: All 10th grade students will participate in a 50-minute lesson on finding the right
college for them. Process the learned information from students about the college that the
students prefer to attend.
Perception Data: Students will indicate the level of knowledge they have regarding
postsecondary information and where they would like to attend. They will take a pre-test
displaying what they know and then transition into the activity of finding the right college with
computer use. The students will look up colleges they are interested in and write down general
information about the college. After the activity and discussion the students will reflect on the
past 50 minutes and write what they have learned from the session and how they can apply this
knowledge in their college/career lives. Both pre and post tests will be collected to determine the
perception data.
Outcome Data: Students will be able to use problem solving and communication skills to
increase their confidence in choosing a college that is best fit for them. Students will also
become familiar with other ways to look up schools and consult with other students in their class
to learn about their college preferences. Outcome data will be collected by determining the
percentage of information the students have retained via pre and post test.
Follow Up: I would like to follow up with the students in a month to see if they have done more
research involving colleges. Additionally, the English teachers could have the students write a
paper on their dream college or one that is best suited for their needs.