#48 Soft Skills for Work and School

Soft skills are critical for our students to be successful at both work and school, and today's episode shares 2 FREE resources that together contain nearly 50 lessons for high school students with/ without disabilities who are transitioning from high school to college.  Each resource includes complete lesson plans on topics such as communication, handling criticism and praise, using social media, getting along with others, teamworking, problem solving...etc, and will be useful for parents, teachers, and homeschoolers.

Resources  include:
FREE Soft Skills to Pay the Bills
FREE Workforce Solutions: When I Grow Up
FREE Insights From a Disability Specialist
HOLIDAY SALE! College & Disabilities: 9 Changes Every Parent Should Know

Transcript

Mickie  0:00  
Are you a parent or a teacher or a homeschooling parent who has a teen with a disability that needs help with soft skills, communication skills, teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking. If that's the case, then this podcast episode is perfect for you. I have two free resources that I think you are really going to appreciate. Today we're going to talk about soft skills, soft skills that our children need to be successful, whether it's on a job or at college. So welcome to College, Disabilities and Success Episode 48 Soft Skills for Work and School by Mickie Hayes. My opinions in this podcast are my own, but please reach out to your college physicians or legal services for any additional information.

Mickie  1:00  
Whether your student is heading to college, going to vocational school or finding a job, in any of these situations, soft skills are critical. When I was a high school learning disabilities teacher, one of the things that I had to do was come up with a system that prepared my students for work, we also worked on heading to college as well. And these two events really relate to training soft skills, helping the students be ready to be successful out in the real world, regardless of what it is. So I have two resources to share with you today. That in total actually provide about 50 lessons that you can apply to your kiddos regardless of where they're at. In school or in college. 

Mickie  1:53  
The first resource that I have for you is called skills to pay the bills and it's from the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy ODEP. And it is a soft skills curriculum specifically created for individuals with disabilities. So let's talk about skills to pay the bills, skills to pay the bills, talks about six different soft skills, communication, enthusiasm and attitude, teamwork, networking, problem solving, and critical thinking and professionalism. And each one of these six categories has five different lesson plan activities with it, each activity is broken down into time, materials, directions, conclusion journaling, and an extension activity that you can do for additional practice. According to skills to pay the bills, communication skills are ranked first among job candidates must haves in skills and qualities according to a 2010 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. So that really emphasizes the critical need that our students have for good solid communication skills. And if you look at the communication section of this skills to pay the bills, they have five different lessons. The first one is called What's your point, second one is flipping the switch. Number three is Oh, pullleeeze. Number four, listen here. And five quick talking, I know what to do. So in each of those categories, you have a lesson plan developed that has multiple practice on reaching the goals and teaching the points that you need to have the student learn. And then it goes down a little further, let's pull another one out problem solving and critical thinking that has five lessons praise, criticism or feedback, workplace ethics problem solving on a team perception versus reality. And then tell me about a time when there's a whole section here on networking. And it has some extra information about social networking in the materials as well. So there's a lot of good resources in the skills to pay the bills. And those are specifically designed for students with disabilities. And I find some of the lessons can even be adapted to individuals as well. So if you're doing one on one tutoring, or it's a parent with a child, and you want to try some activities, even though most of these are group lessons, you can tweak them and make them individualized as well. So this is a really, really good resource. All the links will be on my show notes today, by the way, but this is a free resource. It's 142 pages. So it's quite an extensive download, but it has everything you could ever possibly want to know about those six areas of soft skills that the ODEP considers critical areas for our Kids, whether they're going to work or college. 

Mickie  5:03  
The second download link that I have for you is called when I grow up career lessons and activities for grades nine through 12. It is from Workforce Solutions, which is part of the Texas educational resources. And this is also free. It is a 44 page download, and it contains 19 different lessons. Now when I grow up is a resource that has a combination of employability skills and soft skills intertwined. In the lessons and activities. The 19 lessons are broken down into skills, identification and career exploration, job search skills, and employability skills. So let's take a closer look at that there are five lessons under skills identification and career exploration. They are called human not discover your interests evaluating your brand reality check and eggs, Dream sports, there are eight job search skills, networking bingo, customized resumes,The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly for applications. Professional References 32nd, answering interview questions, speed interviewing, negotiations of interviewing, and thank you letters. And then under the third section employability skills. It has skills that pay the bills, both verbal and nonverbal cues. Actions speak louder than words, first impressions, workplace personalities, workplace ethics, social media pitstop and let's take a selfie, which is also about social media presence. So as you can tell from the titles, the soft skills are mainly in that last batch of lesson plans under employability skills. Now when you look under the employability skills section, it talks about teamwork and working in diverse environments. So diversity is in there. Interpersonal Communication, problem solving, critical thinking, enthusiasm and attitude, flexibility and adaptability, professionalism, work ethic, integrity, responsibility, accountability, time management, and the ability to accept and integrate criticism and feedback. So there's a wide variety of soft skills in this second resource that I am sharing with you. And each one of their lessons. Lesson plans are broken down into instructional directions, learning outcomes, resources needed, and modifications and extensions. Now every single one of these 19 lessons identifies which employability skills are applicable in that lesson plan that you're looking at. So it zeroes in specifically, on the employability skills that your students should be learning for each specific lesson plan. Under the brand evaluation worksheet, there is a resource where the individual can rate themselves. Or you can rate them based on cross border thinking like awareness, perspective, problem solving, that sort of thing. And the commitment to excel. Things like punctuality, business acumen, goal orientation, and building and managing partnerships, working with others, and then taking direction and responsibility. So you can get a little self check right there for your particular student. The next lesson is called Reality Check. And there's a reality check worksheet included. So there's a lot of good resources in this workforce solution download. There's also something called a reality check results grid, which gives you careers in the general pay areas for those careers. There's a couple of resume examples here. And there's a couple of application examples also, which are really kind of interesting, really, really good examples to help you show your students what they should not be doing on their applications. There's an interviewing worksheet that you can use as well. There's just a lot of material packed in these 44 pages. And there is different scenarios on for different candidates that you and your students can compare and contrast to figure out who is presenting themself in the best manner, workplace ethic scenarios, and that's really a good idea to help your students His understand ethics and why ethics are so very important at a job or in college in a classroom. And there are lessons on social media, and the do's and don'ts of social media. So the second resource called when I grow up is a very well rounded resource that covers not only soft skills, but other employability skills as well. 

Mickie  10:26  
So lots of good resources here today, there are so many skills that as a parent, or as a teacher, we are responsible for teaching our children. And regardless of the tools that you use, there is a thread, a common thread that runs through all of these materials. And there are certain skills that students need to learn. And sometimes that can be a little more challenging than other times. But if you think about it, the skills that they're learning to go to work are the same skills that they need to go to college, because college and college classes in establishing your career plans are really also considered work. And your pay for that is a grade and a degree. So the skills that you need, whether your child is going straight out of school into the workforce, or planning some sort of follow up post secondary education, vocational school, technical schools, community colleges, state colleges, universities, it really doesn't make any difference the skills that they need are the same skills regardless, and these two materials are real good resources to help you help your children. 

Mickie  11:46  
If you need additional information, please feel free to email me at Mickieteachers, M IC K i E teaches@gmail.com Or stop by my website, Mickieteaches.com. And I have a lot of resources there as well. Today's links for the materials that I'm giving you are in the show notes, so you should be able to access them without any problem. I will also include a resource from me that is a free ebook that has about 30 questions with regards to sending your child to college that you should know the answers for ahead of time. And if you're not sure about what to expect at college, this would be a really good resource to at least help you formulate some questions along the way. I hope you found value in merit in today's podcast, and I look forward to talking to you again next time. In the meantime, have a great rest of the day. And we'll talk again soon bye. 

Mickie  12:51  
The information contained throughout this podcast has been gleaned from my own personal experiences, but to ensure accuracy. Please contact the Disability Services at the college of your choice to have firsthand information and the most up to date policies and procedures followed for your particular institution of higher education. The content in any of these podcasts is not intended as a substitute for information from legal educational or medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your attorney or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have with regards to legal educational or medical concerns.