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Status

Open

Estimated Completion Time

Estimated time to complete the full Projects or Experiences offering is 18 weeks.

Overview

This offering may only be completed through Projects or Experiences. Select either the “Projects” or “Experiences” button above for a more detailed description of these options.

Major Topics and Concepts

Please review the competency statements on the right to learn the major topics and concepts covered in this offering.

Career

Each competency will be addressed through a project that is based on a real-life career task. Here are the careers you will explore: Television Producer, Director, Writer, Editor, and Instructional Coordinator.

Status

Open

Estimated Completion Time

18 weeks

Competency

Please review the competency statements on the right to learn the major topics and concepts covered in this offering. 

Project

OVERVIEW

Projects allow students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and skills by completing a job-related task. The assignment might be to create a mural, a package design, a speech, a film review, or a movie set – you name it! These creative projects are about applying your learning acquired through in-depth research to real-world career tasks.

Status

Open

Experiences allow you to explore a career field you’re curious about while mastering competencies for school credit. Through experiential learning, you will learn skills and apply these skills to tasks you would complete as part of a career, rather than completing traditional assessments like essays or tests. During your experience, you’ll work with a professional in the field to support your learning. You’ll earn a badge for your accomplishments, which you can share on social media and higher education platforms, or with colleges, potential employers, peers, and/or colleagues to display your qualifications.

Here’s how experiences work:

  1. Each competency you work on is addressed through a separate deliverable predetermined by you and your instructor.
  2. Guided learning for each module consists of research and/or work with a professional in the field. Your instructor will coach you through this process.
  3. Each module culminates in a final demonstration of understanding, which includes a deliverable and a discussion-based assessment with your instructor.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you’re curious about a career in healthcare. You decide you’d like to learn about this career area, make a professional connection, earn a badge and earn competencies for your 9th-grade English requirement. While enrolled in English 1 Experiences, you conduct research to better understand language and structure in writing. Then, you work with an Occupational Therapist who helps you apply this understanding to the creation of an informational video. The video aims to advise the family members of patients regarding adaptive equipment and accommodations to help them support their family members as they go about their daily tasks. You’ve earned the Language and Structure in Writing competency! (This is just one example of the many ways experiences can bridge competencies to careers.)

*A parent/guardian permission form and background check of the outside expert are required for students to work with outside experts without parental supervision.

*Please have an idea for an outside expert in mind prior to enrollment or consult with our counseling department by emailing [email protected] prior to enrollment for support identifying one.

Credits .5

Competencies

  • Creative Nonfiction
    Students will demonstrate an understanding of creative nonfiction by writing a piece of creative nonfiction that uses narrative elements and structures to address a specific audience.
  • Fiction
    Students will demonstrate an understanding of fiction by writing a short story that uses plot, setting, descriptions, and dialogue to convey theme.
  • Poetry
    Students will demonstrate an understanding of poetry by writing poems that use figurative language, structure/form, and word choice to convey theme, mood, and tone.
  • Read Like A Writer
    Students will demonstrate an understanding of critical reading by analyzing texts from a variety of creative writing genres for mood and tone, structure, theme, and point of view.
  • Writing Process
    Students will demonstrate an understanding of the writing process by creating a piece of writing through prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Pre-Requisites

None

Attend a virtual open house

We offer regular online open house webinars where VLACS staff members provide parents and students with an overview of our programs and answer questions about online learning.