Getting started with Suggestions

Learning objectives

• Students will reflect on their own preferences by making deliberate choices between similar options.
• Students will discover videos and careers they wouldn't have thought to search for on their own.
• Students will recognise that careers are journeys to explore, not answers a quiz can tell them.

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Before the lesson

• You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
• You will need to be signed in to your personal Coffee With account.
• Students will need their own devices and Coffee With accounts.
• Take the suggestions quiz yourself before the lesson.
  • Go to My Stuff / Suggestions and answer the quiz questions.
  • Notice which questions made you pause and think about why.
  • When you're done, select Take the quiz again to reset the quiz.

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During the lesson

1. Opening (5 mins)

• Ask the class: "If I asked you, right now, to name a job or career you'd like to find out more about, could you? Where would you even start?"
• Take a few responses. Some will name something specific, others won't - both are completely normal.
• Tell students they're about to try a quiz tool that will suggest videos and careers for them explore. Stress that it's a starting point, not an answer.

2. Take the quiz (10 mins)

• Bring up My Stuff / Suggestions on the classroom screen and start the quiz.
• For the first 5 questions, slow down and think aloud. Explain your reasoning to the students if two answers feel equally true and you have to commit to one.
• For the next 5 questions, move more quickly. Pause only on the ones that genuinely make you stop and think.

3. Review the suggestions (10 mins)

• When the quiz finishes, click on a few suggestions that look interesting and explore them briefly.
• Show students how to save a page as a Favourite using the + button. Explain the benefits of creating a personal list of favourite pages that they'll come back to or share with others.
• Show students how to add a Reflection for a page using the + button. Explain the benefits of adding personal reflections, both for things they like and for things they don't like.
• Show students how to use the Search function to look for other careers.

4. Students take the quiz (15 mins)

• Ask students to take the quiz on their own. Encourage them to take 30-60 seconds per question.
• As students finish, they should start exploring their suggestions immediately - they don't need to wait for the rest of the class.
• Circulate while students work. If anyone is stuck on a question, encourage them to pick the response that feels more like them right then.

5. Wrap-up discussion (5 mins)

• Bring the class back together and ask about their suggestions:
  • Was anything in your suggestions surprising?
  • Was there anything you expected to appear that didn't?
  • If you took the quiz again tomorrow, do you think you'd answer the same way?
• Close by reminding students that the suggestions are a doorway, not an answer. Careers are journeys to explore, and no quiz can tell you who you are or what you'll love.
• Encourage students to come back to their suggestions and to add reflections as they continue to explore.

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After the lesson

• Use the School Tools / Activities feature to record the lesson activity:
  • Activity name: Year X - Getting started with Suggestions
  • Activity type: Addressing the needs of each pupil