This week, I’ve decided to reblog some of my more popular posts with some updates. This post originally appeared on my blog almost 3 years ago, and remains one of the top viewed posts.

One way to engage students in school is to make their learning relevant to them.  And, one way to do this is to let them start thinking about possible careers and how their learning can be useful in those careers.  Paws in Jobland is a great site for younger students to learn about many of the possibilities that await them once they finish school.  A simple animated dog guides them through the different choices (accompanied by text and the choice of sound, great UDL site!)- from a Job Finder to an Alphabetical Search.  The Job Finder asks brief questions about the student’s interests, and then suggests some possible fields for which he or she might be suited.  Within each field is a list of careers, and the student can click on each one to find out more.

I know that a lot of classrooms work on goal-setting, and this would be a fun activity that would expose the kids to many areas that might not have been considered by their young minds yet.  Paws in Jobland may not encompass every single career, but it is a great introduction to the “real world”.

UPDATE 6/25/15:  When I first wrote about this site, I had no idea that there were downloadable resources for K-5 teachers utilizing it.  Also, for a simple introduction to the site, you might want to use these printable instructions.

For older students you might want to check out Math Apprentice, My Role Model,  or Engineering: Go For It!