Soft skills
3 CTE Clubs to Help You Stand Out to Future Employers
By Hailey Fitch on February 1st, 2023
It’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, which means it’s the perfect time to start thinking about your passions and aspirations. For example, are you interested in agriculture, health science, or teaching? If so, we have three clubs that can help you explore these career opportunities and give you real-world experiences to shape your future success.
Continue readingHow Career and Technical Education Courses Can Prepare You for Your Future
By Matthew Munro on August 4th, 2022
You may have seen recent blog posts about Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at Florida Virtual School and wondered, “is this something for me? Should I enroll in a course to find out?”
My answer to you would be – yes! If you are interested you should absolutely enroll in one of our more than 16 CTE courses that include subjects such as Technology for Hospitality and Tourism, Accounting Applications 1, Health Science Foundations, Introduction to the Teaching Profession, and Agriscience Foundations 1.
Continue readingMore than a Credit: The Value of an Online Course
By Florida Virtual School on April 23rd, 2020
The Florida legislature recognizes the need to prepare students for a rapidly-changing future. In 2011, a requirement was introduced that every Florida student successfully complete one online course in high school. However, the benefits of online learning extend far beyond a transcript!
Our students agree—our online courses are more than just a credit!
Continue readingDeveloping Independence as an Online Learner
By Anne Flenner on April 20th, 2020
When students first start learning from home as an online learner, you may hear them utter statements like: “I don’t understand how to do this. I’m so frustrated.” Or perhaps: “Ugh. I’ll do it later. I can get it done really quick.” Maybe even: “Man, this is tough! My old school was so much easier!”
Starting anything new can be a challenge! Becoming an online learner is no different. Learning online takes a different skill set than the traditional face-to-face classroom.
Continue readingSkills You Won’t See on a Test
By Guest Blogger on September 13th, 2018
Talk to any employer, and you will hear the same concerns: graduating students have mastered their hard skills – skills that can be taught through technical topics and academic subject areas. However, the same students are greatly lacking skills they need to interact successfully with co-workers and customers.
It seems hard to believe that we have so many “qualified” young people who are deficient in the fundamental soft skills needed to acquire a job.
Questions to Ask Before Starting a Team Project
By Florida Virtual School on May 18th, 2018
My daughter is in high school, and every time her class has a group project, I am sure to hear about it. Why? Because sometimes her archrival happens to be in her group, and other times her best friend is (happy days ahead). No matter what, I’ll hear about the group slacker, and definitely about that controlling person ordering everyone around.
Do these roles sound familiar to you? Many of us can relate, which is unfortunate because teamwork is such an essential soft skill. Some jobs require more teamwork than others, but there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself as part of a team at some point during your life. Continue reading
Coming Together with CTE
By Florida Virtual School on December 7th, 2017
It is hard to imagine anything good coming from the devastating winds and rain of Hurricane Irma or similar storms that ravaged homes and communities this past hurricane season. If you look hard enough, though, you can find unexpected positives even in the worst experiences.
As a member of the Florida Army National Guard, I was activated during Hurricane Irma, and there I had the fortunate, first-hand experience of seeing people come together to help others. Most of these people were actively using skills found in CTE (Career and Technical Education) courses: both soft and hard skills. Continue reading
Supporting Access to Online Education for All
By Guest Blogger on February 23rd, 2017
Today is Digital Learning Day!
It’s a day when the whole nation celebrates all the wonderful benefits of online learning and digital literacy.
You know, everything from the cool and advanced technology of courses and anytime learning, to the digital literacy skills that online learning provides to strengthen a student’s learning experience.
This not only includes finding and learning from digital content, but also creating authentic digital content, and communicating or sharing it in multiple formats.
It also includes valuable soft-skills that today’s employers are asking for – like time management and being efficient in using online resources.
While we are thrilled to be celebrating today with other online learning providers, families, and students, we at FLVS have to admit that we celebrate this stuff everyday!
We can’t help it – our passion for online education comes from our awesome students and families who we serve. It doesn’t take long to see the difference we make in students’ lives, and get excited about what we can do next in order to keep our students thriving. Continue reading
How Career & Technical Education Changed My Life
By Guest Blogger on February 21st, 2017
In honor of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month, I would like to reflect on the influence CTE has had on my life – even though I didn’t realize it until a decade later.
As a teenager, I wasn’t a big fan of school. Classes, homework, and way too much science! I couldn’t stand it.
However, every time I left my rural campus to assist nurses at the local hospital, I felt the thrill of escape and the fun of doing something new. So, for all the wrong reasons, I enrolled in my high school’s nursing program and was quickly on my way to plenty of time not in school. The perfect plan!
It didn’t take long for me to learn my first CTE lesson: there is much more to a nursing program than wearing scrubs and getting out of class. I’d signed up for a daily, three-hour block of anatomy and physiology, as well as an introduction to nursing skills. Yep, my brilliant plan to escape school somehow locked me into three hours of science a day. Continue reading
Being Competitive in Tomorrow’s Workforce
By Tina Leslie on November 30th, 2016
The year was 1989.
We saw the birth of the World Wide Web, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the television debut of The Simpsons, and my epic walk onto the stage to receive my high school diploma.
As I proceeded to college, I used the skills that I had learned in high school: doing research using a card catalog, typing reports using an electric typewriter, and doing accounting class projects that required a calculator, a pencil, and a lot of erasers.
If I were to list these skills on my resume today, I would be considered an unqualified candidate.
You may wonder how a college student with outdated skills became an online technology teacher.
It’s simple, really. By updating my skill sets and being able to evolve with new advancements in technology, I honed the skills to which I am referring. Those skills are soft, hard, and transferable. Continue reading