In an ongoing effort to include more voices in my classroom and to provide more opportunities for career exploration for high school students, I have turned to guest speakers.
A guest speaker is invaluable as another voice in the classroom and as one of experience too that students can connect to/with depending on their interests. The problem I’ve encountered is that I teach at a small school with odd scheduling so trying to coordinate guest speakers is nearly impossible. That’s where podcasts have been a fitting alternative.
Here are three podcasts to explore as non-fiction texts while also conducting some career exploration for high school.
How I Built This with Guy Raz
This NPR-produced podcast is described as being all about “ innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists and their stories about the movements they built.”
There are many, many episodes to choose from throughout the history of the show. Recent episodes are good but they run an hour or just over; this might be too daunting for students. Instead, here are five much shorter episodes that are popular with my students (click the link for the episode):
- Instagram (Episode 2) – 33 mins
- Clif Bar (Episode 4) – 33 mins
- 5 Guys Burger and Fries (Episode 40) – 39 mins
- Beyond Meat (Episode 24) – 26 mins
- Wikipedia (Episode 199) – 44 minutes
Aside from career exploration for high school students, these texts can be used as non-fiction texts for small group discussion. For this you can follow a lit circle format to have 3-4 students listen to a particular episode and then use guiding questions (supplied by the teacher or, even better, created by the students) to examine the person and their journey to success.
Another option is to have students respond to provided questions. This option would allow for the activity to be a graded task. Using a mix of on the line (comprehension), between the lines (inference), and beyond the line (evaluative or reflective) questions can have students get the most of any episode they listen to for class.
Freakonomics’ The Secret Life of CEOs series
If you’re not familiar with Freakonomics already then you’re in for a real treat! Based on the books of the same name, the podcast, hosted by one of its books’ co-authors – Stephen J. Dubner – is an interesting mix of economics, sociology, and current issues in society. Outside of their CEO series there are infinite possibilities for episode pairings with poetry, fiction, or other non-fiction. Check out the archive of all 627 (!) episodes.
For career exploration for high school students, this particular series of five episodes can be used in succession, perhaps as a jigsaw for students to listen and report back to a home-group. (Note there are in fact more than five episodes listed but those are not part of the initial series; they are still valuable and could be of interest to you/your students.)
If listening to the series is not an option then you might choose one of the following and its suggested activities. While listening to any episode students can track the content using doodle notes or sketch notes or even complete a one-pager.
Episode 1 Suggestion
What Does a CEO Actually Do? (38 minutes) focuses on two key ideas: what it takes to be a great leader and what that leader does and how.
For this episode students can create a profile of a good leader. The guiding question for listening would be: what does a leader need to have to be successful? Post-episode students can meet in small groups to compare lists and create the ultimate leader profile. After the discussion students might write a reflection about their findings to consider what leadership qualities they possess or might want to develop. Tying this to the creation of a SMART goal – using this pre-made lesson – would further enhance the career exploration activity.
Episode 2 Suggestion
How to Become a CEO (44 minutes) chronicles briefly the journey of 9 different CEOs and how they rose to be the leaders of companies such as Facebook, Reddit, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and more.
For this episode students can use a graphic organizer to track the journeys of the nine CEOs profiled. This could be done again in small groups with three different groups tracking three of the CEOs and then presenting their information to a home-group or to the whole class to ensure everyone has full notes. From there students might do a deeper dive on each CEO or company as a mini-research assignment. This list could be expanded so each student researches a different CEO or company as part of their career exploration activity.
Episode 3 Suggestion
It’s Your Problem Now (44 minutes) features stories of problems, failures, and triumph.
This episode could be used as part of a lesson on problem-solving. First, walk students through an Eisenhower Box Decision Matrix. (There are many options for decision-making matrices but the Eisenhower is often easiest as a first step.) Then, students pick one of the problems from the episode and break it down using the matrix. A next step is using this matrix in ‘everyday’ life for the student or even as part of a character study in fiction. The use of the decision matrix does not need to be a one-and-done activity.
You can find all of the episodes and transcripts in the Freakonomics’ archive.
We Regret to Inform You: The Rejection Podcast
This podcast from the Apostrophe Podcast Network is a wiki of sorts about different people who have faced struggles and, more often than not, overcome those struggles.
For example, one of the first episodes of the series is about Stephen King trying to get his first book published. The episode, all of 22-minutes long, traces the early years up to publishing Carrie. From there King’s career trajectory is astounding but those early years really tested his resolve; the podcast explores that journey. To make your life easier check out this ready-made collection of activities to use before, during, and after the episode.
The benefit of this podcast, like the others, is that it provides choice and options for some differentiation.
Episodes are in the 25-45 minute range and provide an overview of each person’s struggles, their resolve in addressing their failures, and their eventual success. There are 46 episodes to choose from and they range from music artists such as Jay-Z, Ed Sheeran, and Lady Gaga to businesses such as Dyson, Spanx, and Netflix, to other high profiles entertainment people such as Tyler Perry, Fred VanVleet, Amanda Gorman, and more.
The downside to this podcast is that it does not have transcripts. However a quick hack to help is to preview an episode and while it’s playing have a Google doc open with voice typing enabled. You can find this option in the menu bar under Tools. That way your computer hears the audio and transcribes the episode for you. The end transcript usually requires a bit of a clean-up but it’s better than typing it all out yourself to have a transcript option.
You can find all of the episodes on the podcast’s website.
No matter which podcast you choose, or if you’re able to invite a guest speaker, incorporating career exploration for high school students is a great way to extend students’ learning.
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