Sample assignments for Xello 6-12

Building resilience and perseverance

6-7

2 Skills

In order to develop resilience and perseverance, it’s important to be realistic about setting and striving towards goals, learning from your mistakes, and trying again. Think about how you approach a challenge. How are you able to overcome challenges or show resilience when things don’t go your way? What helps you to keep going or to persevere?

1. Think about a particular school assignment or task in or outside of school you had to complete that you found challenging.
2. Provide one example of what it would look like to approach this challenge with resilience and one example for perseverance.
3. Add and rate resilience and perseverance in your Skills section on your Xello About me profile.
4. Share your challenge, examples, and ratings in the text box below.

Click Turn in when complete.

Transferable skills

6-8

• Matchmaker
• 3 saved careers

How are your current experiences helping you build career related skills? The roles in your life require you to complete tasks that rely on certain skills. Whether you’re working as part of a team on a group project for school or caring for a pet at home, every responsibility requires you to use skills. Many skills you’re using and developing today will transfer to your future experiences, including your career.

1. Complete the Matchmaker assessment in Xello. If you’ve already completed this assessment, you can skip to the next step.
2. For 3 saved careers:
   • take a look at the central and secondary aspects  by reviewing them within the Find out why area of the career profile. What skills do you think you will need to fulfil these related interests?
   • review the Core tasks on the career profile. Are the same skills needed to perform these tasks?
3. In the text box below, make a note of a skill you’re actively practicing today and one you would like to work on more for each career.
4. Add your reflections about these skills including:
   • How you’re currently practicing a skill, and how you think it could transfer to your saved careers.
   • Opportunities you could pursue to help develop one of your desired skills further.

Click Turn in when complete.

9-10

Resume builder (contact details and education sections)

Before you start using Xello’s Resume builder to draft a resume, watch the Building your resume with Xello video (also available in Spanish) and check out these 2 articles on resume.io for some great resume writing tips:

• How to write a high school student resume, written by Susan Shor, Content writer & editor
• Resume formats, written by Rolf Bax, Content specialist 

Once you’ve updated your resume in Xello, you can choose to download it as a formatted PDF or the Rich text option if you’d like to change section headings or design the layout yourself.

Finally, attach your resume here and click Turn in.

9-11

• 3 saved careers
• Skills lab

The Skills lab assessment asks you to assess 35 skills and critically evaluate how often you wish to use each skill in your future career.

1. Complete the Skills lab assessment in Xello. If you’ve completed this assessment in a previous grade, you can skip to the next step.
2. Once you’ve completed your Skills lab assessment, take some time to review your answers.
   • If you completed your assessment in a previous year and your responses don’t still feel true to you today, go ahead and modify your past responses to reflect how you feel now. 
3. Next, go Back to results and select More careers. You’ll be brought to the Explore Careers section where you can sort your career matches by Skills lab (skills match).
   • Remember: You can always hide a career from your match results if it doesn’t align with your personal values, future aspirations, or lifestyle goals.
4. Explore some career profiles and save at least 3 you consider as possibilities for yourself based on the skills match.
5. Learn why the career has been assigned the match level (excellent, good, fair, or poor) by clicking on Find out why at the top of the profile.
6. Share one of the careers you saved and why you think it is a possibility for you in the text box below.

Click Turn in when complete.

9-12

1 Volunteer hour(s)

Add your recent Volunteer experience to your Experiences timeline found in the About me section of Xello. Make sure you have filled out all fields before reflecting on these questions:

Before the experience:

• How did you prepare for this experience?

During the experience:

• What did you do? What was your role and what were your responsibilities?

After the experience:

• How might this experience influence your high school course selections, your choice of experience next year, or after high school plan?

Click Turn in when complete.

9-12

1 Work Experience(s)

Add your recent Work experience to your Experiences timeline found in the About me section of Xello. Make sure you have filled out all fields before reflecting on these questions:

Before the experience:

• How did you prepare for this experience?

During the experience:

• What did you do? What was your role and what were your responsibilities?

After the experience:

• How might this experience influence your high school course selections, your choice of experience next year, or after high school plan?

Click Turn in when complete.

11-12

Resume builder

Review the Building a resume in Xello video as a quick refresher on how to use this tool.

• Using Xello’s Resume builder, update your resume to include new experiences and skills!
• Once you’ve updated your resume in Xello, you can choose to download it as a formatted PDF. If you’d like to change section headings or design the layout yourself, you can download your resume as a Rich text file
• Please upload a current version of your resume to this assignment and click Turn in.

Document your industry credential

11-12

1 Experience

An industry credential is a certification or qualification that demonstrates your skills, knowledge, and competency in a specific field or industry. It’s awarded by a professional organization, industry association, or certifying body as proof you meet certain standards. Add your industry credential as an Education experience on your Experiences timeline found in the About Me section of Xello.

1. In the text box below, please provide the following information about your industry credential:
   • Credential name
   • Issuing organization
   • Date of completion
   • Skills gained
2. Reflect on and add your responses to the following questions: 
   • What did you like about the experience? What did you find challenging? What did you learn?
   • Share 2-3 sentences about how this credential connects to your career or academic goals.
   • Why is this credential important?
3. Upload evidence of your industry credential to this assignment.

Click Turn in when complete.

Program research

9-10

• 2 Saved career(s)
• 4 Saved program(s)

Once you have some possible careers in mind, you can start looking into the education and training you'll need after high school. Looking at different potential pathways is an important factor in thinking about careers: are you interested in completing the required education or training for this career? In this activity you’ll explore different programs associated with 2 saved careers in Xello.

1. For 2 saved careers read the Education & training section and review the list of Related programs on the career profile.
2. Save at least 2 Programs for each career (4 total) that you think are a good fit.
3. Reflect on why you chose each Programs. In the text box below share:
   • What 2 saved careers did you explore the education and training for?
   • What 4 Programs did you save? Why are each of these programs a good fit for you?

When you’ve shared your reflections for each program, click Turn in.

Career area of interest

9-12

• Matchmaker
• 1 favourite cluster

As part of this lesson, complete Matchmaker and favourite a career cluster.

After completing the first phase of Matchmaker, you'll not only be assigned a strength of match for every career in the database, but also suggested career clusters. To help you identify a career area of interest, take some time to learn more about your suggested career clusters.

1. Access Explore careers and click on More filters. Beside Career clusters you’ll see those that are suggested for you. You can also expand the list to Show more clusters. Select and apply one suggested cluster at a time to explore your career matches in this area.
2. Head over to your About Me section and locate the Favourite clusters card to select the career clusters that interest you. Scroll down to read more about each cluster before you select at least one career area of interest.
3. Return to this assignment to reflect on your career area of interest.

In the text box below, identify your career areas of interest and reflect on what aspects of this career cluster appeal to you and why. Why do you believe it's a good fit?

Click Turn in when complete.

Building career connections

10

3 saved careers

An information interview is like a behind-the-scenes tour of someone’s career. It’s a conversation with someone to learn more about what they do and how they got there. In this assignment you will come up with 3 people to ask for information interviews. Complete the following reflections and actions for 3 saved careers:

1. Identify someone you could ask for an information interview for any 3 of your saved careers. Starting with friends and family, do you already know people who work in any of your saved careers?
2. If nobody comes to mind or you can’t think of 3 people, identify a few people you could share 3 of your saved careers with and ask if they know anyone working in any of these careers. While you’re at it, ask them a few questions about their career, too! You never know what might spark a new interest!
3. To help prepare you for your information interview, check out the article What is an informational interview? from Indeed.com.
4. Share the names and professional titles of the people you have identified, a question you would like to ask them, and your next steps in the text box below. 

Click Turn in when complete.

6-12

1 saved goal(s)

Identify a goal you would like to achieve by the end of this school year. This can be a personal goal, a goal related to your high school education, part-time work, or volunteering.

• Once you have a goal in mind, it’s time to set a goal in Xello.
• You’ll need to enter a title for your goal, choose a category, add a timeframe, and select one task for your to-do list. See the example below:
  • Title: Read one book over the next 2 months just for fun.
  • Category: Personal
  • Timeframe: Short-term
  • Task: Choose a book that interests me.
• Once you have set your goal in Xello, answer the following question:
  • When will you complete your first task?

Give yourself a deadline and share it in the text box below. Once completed, click Turn in.

Starting a new helpful habit

7

• 1 saved goal(s)
• 1 saved skill(s)

Habits are things you do without thinking too much, like brushing your teeth. You can build new habits, too! Follow the steps below to start creating a new helpful habit.

• Step 1: Pick a habit: Choose a habit you want to develop by the end of the school year. It can be something related to school or outside of school. Example: Doing homework right after school.
• Step 2: Set a goal: Make a clear and doable goal. For example, I will start my homework right after school every day.
  • Once you have chosen your goal, it’s time to set a goal in Xello.
  • You’ll need to enter a title for your goal, choose a category, add a timeframe and a task for your to-do list. See the example below:
    • Title: Start my homework right after school every day.
    • Category: Academic
    • Timeframe: Short-term
    • Task: Tidy up my desk to make it more welcoming
• Step 3: Answer the following question:
  • What skill(s) might you also be developing by creating this habit? For example: time management and organization skills.
• Step 4: Add any skills you identify to your About me section under Skills in Xello. Rate each skill (1 star = beginner, 2 stars = rising star, or 3 stars = master).
• Step 5: Track your progress: An easy way to track your progress as you start a new habit is to create a habit calendar. You can use a physical calendar or a digital one. Every day you successfully complete your new habit, give yourself a star. Remember, habits take time and effort to develop. If you miss a day, try again the next day.

Finally, in the text box below, complete the following:

• My new helpful habit:
• My goal:
• Skills added to Xello (include ratings):
• How I will track my habit:
• Start date: 

Click Turn in when complete.

• Course planner

Check out the Planning your courses in Xello video before you create or edit your 4-year course plan! Ensure the courses you’ve selected fulfill the graduation requirements and align to your career and post-secondary education goals. Each year, you will come back to your Xello course plan to re-evaluate your course selections and modify based on your updated plans.

• In the text box below identify one high school course that you are most excited about and how that course will help you to prepare for your after high school plan.

Click Turn in when complete.

Budgeting basics

8-12

2 Skills

Knowing how to be financially responsible is an important skill. It involves understanding how to manage and make good decisions about your money. A key part of this is budgeting.

1. Watch the How do I prepare a budget video from the from the Government of Canada website.
2. Explore this online Budget calculator to get familiar with how budgets work. Use your best guess to enter amounts. The goal for now is less about having a perfectly accurate budget, and more about exploring the online tool itself.
3. Check out one other online budgeting and financial planning tool. Most major banks and credit unions have them on their websites.
4. When you’re finished, add a short reflection in the text box below:
   • What are two things you learned from the budgeting video?
   • What are two ways a budget calculator can be an effective tool to help you monitor your spending habits and reach your financial goals?
5. In Xello, add the following two Skills: Budgeting (found under Information & analysis) and Financial planning to your About Me profile. Rate these skills based on how comfortable and confident you feel using them at this point in time.

Click Turn in when complete.

Create a plan

9-12

1 Saved plan

You will create an actionable plan to help you learn more about the different pathways to a career that interests you.

1. In Xello, navigate to Plans.
2. Next to Make future plans, click on Add plan.
   
   Step 1: Add a title.
   
   Step 2: Pick the option your plan is based on. For this example, you'll be creating a plan based on A career choice, so select that option (or modify as necessary based on the option you are choosing). To learn about the different options, click on Not sure? Learn about these options underneath.
   
   Step 3: Add a career or choose a career that you'd like to learn more about from your list of saved careers.
   
   Step 4: Add/review tasks on your to-do list. After clicking Done, review the plan. Update the commitment level. You can also add new tasks.
   
   Step 5: Under Pathways, add a pathway. Spend some time exploring the different pathways that could lead to this career by clicking on the different links. When finished, use the back arrow to return to the list of pathways, add a pathway to your plan then select Next step.
   
   
3. Return to your plan any time to add additional tasks to your to-do list or to explore, update, or add more pathways or careers.
4. Once you have saved your plan in Xello, answer the following question in the text box:
   • What steps can I take now to prepare for the future?

Click Turn in when complete.

6-12

1 Portfolio(s)

You will create a portfolio to present your information, artifacts, and resources you’ve gathered and created for this project.

• On your student dashboard, click View Portfolios, then click Add Portfolio. You can also view sample portfolios for ideas on how to set up your portfolio.
• You’ll need to enter a title and a description for your Portfolio. Your first section will be an introduction to your Portfolio, so add a section, give your Step 1 a title, and select Text Entry for Step 2. See the example below:
  • Title: The Ottoman Empire
  • Description: My project on one of the most powerful empires in world history.
  • Section Step 1: Introduction
  • Section Step 2: Project overview
• Once you have completed the introduction section of your portfolio, add a second and third section. You will choose the topics of these sections. See the ideas below to help you get started:
  • Related videos
  • Articles used for research
  • Related Xello activities if applicable
• Once you have created your Portfolio in Xello, answer the following question in the text box below:
  • How could a portfolio displaying my project research and findings help me in the future?

Once completed, click Turn in.

6-12

• Complete Matchmaker
• Save 1 Career
• 1 Portfolio(s)

Choose one of your saved Careers to be the topic of your Portfolio.

• Once you have chosen your career, it’s time to create your portfolio. On your student dashboard, click View Portfolios, then click Add Portfolio.
• You’ll need to enter a title and a description for your Portfolio. Your first section will be an introduction to your Portfolio, so add a section, give your Step 1 a title, and select Text Entry for Step 2. See the example below:
  • Title: Becoming a Teacher
  • Description: Exploring a career path to teaching.
  • Section Step 1: Introduction
  • Section Step 2: Explanation of why I’m interested in becoming a teacher.
• Once you have completed the introduction section of your portfolio, add a second and third section. You will choose the topics of these sections. See the ideas below to help you get started:
  • Saved Schools - what kind of education will you need to pursue this career?
  • Saved Programs - which programs might prepare you for this career?
  • Additional Research - include related articles or videos about the career.
  • List of pros and cons for these programs
• Once you have created your Portfolio in Xello, answer the following question in the text box below:
  • How could a portfolio displaying my career research and plans help me in the future?

Once completed, click Turn in.

Student aid

10-11

None

Student aid is money from the federal or provincial government to help you pay for your education after high school. Check out Student aid and education planning from the Government of Canada’s website to explore some of their student aid resources. Be sure to also look up information related to the Provincial or territorial student aid offices where you live.

Answer the following questions in the text box below:

• List 3 types of student aid.
• What is the name of the provincial or territorial student aid office where you live?

Click Turn in when complete.

Cost of postsecondary school

10-11

3 saved programs

Having a plan to pay for your education after high school is important. Part of this plan is knowing how much it will cost. Tuition is a big part of this. Let’s look at some tuition costs in Xello!

1. Head to your Saved Options in Xello. Select Programs on the far right to view the programs you have saved. Select one you’re most interested in to start with. You will repeat this process for 3 saved programs.
2. On the program profile, scroll down to find admission information and tuition costs. If no tuition information is provided, check out other programs under Similar programs to get an approximate idea of tuition costs. College and university websites also provide tuition information.
3. Answer the following questions in the text box below:
   • Which schools and programs did you select and what are the Total estimated costs of tuition listed for each?
   • What are 2 other examples of postsecondary costs to consider?

Click Turn in when complete.