The Colorado Career Advising (CCA) Tool offers middle school students an opportunity to explore a plethora of occupations and careers while developing a deeper understanding of themselves. Tailored to a fourth-grade reading level, the CCA Tool Student Survey is easily accessible for Colorado middle schoolers, serving as a portal to self-discovery and future planning.
While most middle schoolers can navigate the Survey and explore the Results independently, it's beneficial for an adult—whether a teacher, advisor, coach, or family member—to review the Results with them. This adult guidance helps clarify complex ideas and facilitates discussions about their strengths, behaviors, and motivators. The CCA Video Library is an invaluable resource for adults looking to explain more intricate concepts like DISC Behaviors and Motivators. These videos can be watched together or incorporated into classroom sessions.
Let's delve into how the CCA Tool benefits middle school students:
Building Self-Awareness
The CCA Tool facilitates self-awareness by articulating strengths and character traits, empowering students to confidently express their individuality and lay the foundation for informed career exploration.
Discovering Motivators and Activities
Students can use the CCA Tool to identify their motivators and explore extracurricular activities aligned with their interests. This understanding is crucial as it helps students plan not only what they might want to participate in during middle school but also helps them lay a foundation for high school.
Exposure to the World of Careers
While the CCA Tool offers career recommendations based on individual Results, middle schoolers are encouraged to use the Career Suggestions to explore various jobs and industries rather than choosing a specific career path. The "All" tab provides access to hundreds of career options. Choose one or two careers from each industry group to review together, focusing on the career video and Top Tips. The Industry Insider pages are also a great place to start!
Flexibility for Growth
Understanding that interests and preferences evolve especially at this age, the CCA Tool is designed to be flexible. Students are encouraged to explore multiple paths and retake the survey throughout their academic journey and adult careers, ensuring the relevance of the results as their interests and skills develop.
Activity: Explore Strengths and Foster a Growth Mindset
Use the CCA Tool Results Summary to identify at least one strength for each student and create a plan to grow that strength.
Read and Reflect: Have each student read through their CCA Tool Results summary page.
Identify a Strength: Ask students to pick one strength or positive phrase from their Results Summary page.
Growth Plan: Encourage students to think of ways they can further develop this strength. What activities could they engage in? What small steps can they take now to nurture this trait?
Set a Goal: Help each student set a realistic and actionable goal to enhance this strength through classroom or school activities, community involvement, or personal projects. This goal can be recorded on the Reflections and Goal page. Plan to revisit this page at a later date to check on progress!
With guidance, the CCA Tool empowers middle school students to increase their self-awareness, discover activities aligned with their interests, and venture into career exploration. This strong foundation sets the stage for informed and inspired career decisions along with the necessary training and education pathways ahead.
