School to Work Skills

5th graders are hard at work on a school to work skills unit.  I started by letting them know that they have a job right now not unlike the adults in their lives.  As a student they have specific tasks they are expected to carry out like every job in the work force. They are paid with grades and knowledge and even receive promotions like their occupational counterparts.  I have shared with them that there are essential skills that every worker should have no matter what kind of job they have, be it service worker, professional, athlete, or politician.  When they utilize these skills effectively they are productive and successful workers.

· We started off with organization and did an activity that demonstrated there isn’t any right way to organize and that it can be very personal.  The important idea is that everything has a home and when you can find it easily you are more efficient. 

· The second skill we did was focusing.  I also call it “tuning in.”  I compare their brains to a radio.  A radio can actually tune in to more than one station, but it’s hard to get all the information and really understand everything you are hearing.  We discussed strategies for helping your brain really tune in to the right station (teacher, math, piano practice, mom, etc.).  Then we played a game that has been one of their favorite activities so far.  It requires them to tune in to things happening around them and watch for a cue and then follow a set of directions.

· Next we'll draw homework portraits that allow them to think about their homework habits.  We discussed how good workers make sure they have time for both work and play, but that they can also separate them to be able to do their best at work time.  We discussed best times for working, environment, and creating a work space.

· Then we'll work on Time Management.  We’ll make schedules and do an activity that requires them to be plan a span of time and to also account for the unexpected.  We’ll talk about how “frontloading” a schedule can help them be ready for things that just come up.

· We’ll finish with understanding yourself as a learner and a worker. We’ll do a color quiz where they will have to think about their preferences in work environments and their strengths.  They’ll discover tendencies about how they learn and also the environments they thrive in (working alone or in a group/ indoors or outdoors / with math, human services / science etc.)