Whether distance learning is continuing for you or you are returning to school soon, many of our students that have off-campus work experience are not going to be able to participate in that type of experience for a while. While there’s nothing quite like off-campus work experience, there are alternatives to practice job skills that students can work on in the meantime.
Think of it as an opportunity to really master the ins and outs of what a job really entails, diving deeper into different skills outside of the oh-so-popular curriculum of job etiquette and job interview.
There is so much more to a job than that and I’m going to share some ideas and links to some great activities to practice these skills!
FOLLOWING A SCHEDULE
Your students are probably already doing this! You can make it more work experience related, or even create checklists with tasks to complete. This is a great way to practice reading time, making sure the student is attending to an activity early or on time, as well as completing tasks before moving onto the next. Here are some activities to work on schedules:
- Editable Visual Schedule for Distance Learning FREEBIE
- Being Punctual Digital Interactive Activity
- Student Daily Schedule with Digital & Analog Clocks FREEBIE
- Leaving for Work on Time Digital Interactive Activity
CHORES & CLASSROOM JOBS
Many of the chores we have at home are great job skills, and this is one alternative to work experience that can easily be practiced in the home or classroom setting. Not only are students practicing motor skills, but also following # step directions. If you are assigning these tasks for students to do at home, make sure to provide parents with the needed visuals and materials to successfully support their child in doing so at home!
Pair this activity with the life skills homework choice board FREEBIE – Students can pick a different skill to focus on each day! Some of these levels of difficulty may differ from student to student, depending on where their areas of strength are. This is also a great way for students to find which skills they are good at or enjoy doing (or maybe do not enjoy doing).
FILLING OUT TIMESHEETS
Whether your student is completing chores, classroom jobs, or maybe event completing a vocation lesson, they can practice filling out a timesheet to track the time they’ve spent doing so, which also makes for an age-appropriate reward system!
Filling out timesheets will practice several different skills in the areas of reading, math, vocation, and life skills. Students should understand exactly what clocking in and clocking out really means. If you want to read more about the benefits of having students fill out timesheets, head on over to this BLOG: Why I Have My Students Fill Out Timesheets
FILLING OUT JOB APPLICATIONS
There are tons of job applications you can find with a quick Google Search to print, or fill out online (and not submit). You can also create a Google Form customized to each students’ level, whether it’s just their personal information, all the way to writing work history, and references. Here are printable and digital differentiated/simplified sets of job applications for your students to practice with:
VIRTUAL JOB ACTIVITY
Community-Based Instruction (CBI) & job experience during distance learning, and a great career skills activity for when you return to the classroom! This activity mimics a vocational experience of working at the grocery store to help students work on several basic consumer money math, stocking, time management and other job skills before applying them in the community. Try the FREEBIE Virtual Grocery Store Job Activity here.
Browse drag and drop job skills activities here
VIRTUAL JOB SHADOWING
There are tons of “A day in the life of…” or Job Shadow videos on many different careers that you can find on YouTube.com. If you are lucky enough to ask someone to film their day on their job, that could be awesome as well!
MOCK INTERVIEW & SCRIPTED SCENARIOS OVER VIDEO CONFERENCING
This can easily be done over video conferencing if your school is still closed or in the classroom! Have the student get dressed up for an interview, work on their posture and body awareness, practice scripted responses for opening and closing an interview. You can also work on the type of responses a student can give if a customer asks for help, or what an easier would say when accepting payment from a customer. The possibilities are endless and can be customized to a particular student depending on their job interest!
EXPLORE PREFERENCES
Set your students up for a successful career by finding out what your students’ preferences are. Here are interest questions with visuals/real images that get students thinking about the skills they have or the skills they need to get their dream job. These types of activities are also great for informal assessment for transition plans.
- Vocational Question Of The Day
- Career Interest Symbol Supported Student Survey
- Visual Transition Plan (ITP) Student Survey
- Entry Level Jobs Posters & Worksheets FREEBIE
HOST A CAREER DAY
Find volunteers (and ask parents as well) to come share information about what their career is, what skills they need for their job, what they love about their job, and so on. This can easily be set up over video conferencing and the classroom!
WORK TASK BOXES
Implement these into your independent work stations or build it into your morning routine! This one is a little harder to implement in the home setting, depending on the task box, unless you are willing to prep a task box and send it home with a student. Task boxes give students a visual boundary of the amount of work they will complete, which is focused on particular vocational skills. Here are some of my favorites:
- Document Filing Task Box Activity
- Mail Sorting Task Box Activity
- Fast Food Order Task Box Activity
- Burger Order Vocational Task Box Activity
- Donut Orders Activity
- Shoe Store Activity
- Pizza Order Activity
- FREE Flower Work Task Box Activity
- Restocking Sugar Packets Task Box Activity
BOOM CARDS, INTERACTIVE PDFS & GOOGLE FORMS
If your classroom is still fully virtual and work task boxes are going to be too hard to implement, go digital! Here are some options that can be used on smart boards, computers, tablets, and even phones!
What is an interactive PDF?
- A digital activity that has visual questions set up similarly to a task card.
- Immediate positive reinforcement for correct answers, redirection for incorrect answers.
- Answer fields of 2-4
- Does not require internet (other than to download the file)
- PDF can be added to platforms like Google Classroom™, Microsoft Teams™ and more for interactive assignments.
Browse Job Skills Interactive PDFs Here.
What are Boom Cards?
- Internet-based digital activities that have all of the same qualities as an interactive PDF plus more like sound, the option to shuffle questions, limit questions, and track responses!
- Fastplay option: A shortcut for students to play right away. Student accounts/login NOT required (but does not generate a report)
- Hyperplay option: Prompts students to sign in (generates report)
- Google Forms
- Fastplay and Hyperplay options can be posted as an assignment on online platforms like Google Classroom™ or Microsoft Teams™, Seesaw…etc.
Browse Job Skills BOOM CARDS here.
Coffee Orders Digital Activity
CAREER READINESS AREAS TO FOCUS ON IN YOUR LESSONS
Looking Professional
Students should understand the importance of looking professional for an interview or work at a formal business. Basic concepts of hygiene & grooming routines, and casual & formal clothing etiquette. If students are at home, you can have them go on a scavenger hunt to look for different pieces of clothing or products they would use to get ready for an interview.
Get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 1 Bundle that includes a vocabulary pack with worksheets, digital activities, file folders, an interactive lecture presentation, reading comprehension, social narratives, quizzes and more. You might also like:
Types of Employment
Students should understand the different types of employment options they have, and what each type means. This includes part-time, full-time, volunteer, apprentice, internship, seasonal, and more.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 2 Bundle. You might also like:
Resume
Students should understand basic formatting, personal info, resume adjectives, summary, work history, education, letter of recommendation, hard & soft skills, references, and more when it comes to creating a resume.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 3 Bundle. You might also like:
Job Search
Students should understand how to search for a job and basic concepts of job applications, using a job search engine or employment agency, networking, and job scams.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 4 Bundle.
Interview
Basic concepts of interview preparation, posture and questions to answer during an interview, and following up after an interview.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 5 Bundle. You might also like:
Workplace Accommodations
This one of the most overlooked areas of career readiness, and one of the most important for our SPED students! Students should understand the basic concepts about disability in the workplace, disclosure, discrimination and reasonable accommodations.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 6 Bundle.
Job Etiquette
Students should understand basic job etiquette skills. This can be calling in sick, being punctual, dress code, being ethical, sexual harassment, teamwork, soft skills, and so on.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 7 Bundle. You might also like:
- Job Etiquette Digital Interactive Activity
- Acceptable or Not Acceptable In The Workplace Digital Activity
- Being Punctual Digital Interactive Activity
- Acceptable/Not Acceptable in the Workplace Digital Interactive Activity
- Workplace Sexual Harassment Digital Interactive Activity
Getting To Work
Students should understand different ways to get to work/travel in the community. Basic concepts of different modes of transportation, reading a map, reading a travel/time schedule, public transportation etiquette, planning ahead and being on time for work
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 8 Bundle. You might also like:
Getting Paid
Students should understand income and benefits an employee might receive from their employer. Basic concepts of taxes, deductions, commission, overtime, how to make a deposit, spending vs saving, as well as how to properly read and make calculations on a pay stub.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 9 Bundle. You might also like:
Workplace Signs
Common signs seen in the workplace differ a bit from “community signs”. Students should be able to identify information versus safety signs, and identifying the meaning of many different signs. Some of the signs to cover include open, closed, business hours, will return, push/pull open, directory, sale, danger, elevator, restrooms, exit, and do not.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 10 Bundle. You might also like:
- Digital Interactive Activity matching Workplace Signs
- Which Workplace Signs Digital Interactive Activity
- Workplace Signs Bingo
- Task Boxes – Workplace Signs
Workplace Safety
Another overlooked area of career readiness that is SO IMPORTANT! Basic concepts of workplace safety should cover identifying hazards and ways to prevent injury. Reiterate safety signs, the seriousness & consequences of injuries on the job, and the types of trainings or compensation workplaces should give if injury does occur.
If you want to get a full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 11 Bundle. You might also like:
Leaving The Workplace
Another area that is often overlooked. We tend to focus on getting the job, but it is important to make sure students understand the process and do’s and don’ts of leaving the workplace. Basic concepts of resignation (quitting), how to write a resignation letter, getting laid off, severance packages and unemployment, and termination (getting fired).
For the full month’s worth of curriculum in this area, check out the Vocation Unit 12 Bundle .
If you are interested in vocation curriculum for the FULL YEAR, check out the money-saving bundle that is differentiated and
Thanks for reading!
