"Serving" up Life Skills (Pre-Vocational Skills)
First, what are pre-vocational skills?
To my understanding, pre-vocational skills are the skills that kids/people develop before going into vocational training or experiences. Almost like the building blocks to different jobs that people might have in the future.
Why is it important to work on those skills now?
Specifically for the students I work with, it takes a long time (months to years sometimes) to learn a new skill and develop independence with the skill. My hope is that if we start to work on some of these skills now they may have some level of independence with the skill later in life and possibly be able to be employed somewhere with the skill they have (this goes back to the difference between being able to have some level of independence in their life or needing to rely on someone else).
Can I have some examples?
Right now in my classroom, we are working on skills/jobs that servers might do. So, some of the skills we are working on are sorting silverware, rolling silverware, setting place settings, and taking orders.
Eventually, I want to look at other jobs too like a bagger or stocker at a grocery store, dish washer, and taxi driver (one of my students REALLY wants to be this when he is older so I am trying to think about how we can practice some of those skills).
What about materials?
Specifically for the server skills, I used materials that either were donated, had in my room already, or borrowed from the family and consumer education teachers. I think most things can also be found at the dollar store.
- Plastic silverware (because of COVID each student has their own set/color– the dollar store has a really great selection!)
- Plastic cups
- Cloth napkins (these were a donated item- but I think you could try to use paper napkins too)
- Place mats- (another donated item, but laminated legal sized paper would work just the same! Find the PDF download to the printed version in my video here)
What do I have right now that you can use?
I have created videos that I use in my classroom to introduce and teach the skills I have mentioned! This is the order that I have use them in, but I think they can be done in whatever order that makes sense for your students!
They range from 3-20 minutes depending on if it is an introduction or review video. I go slower on the introduction videos and have times built in to pause to get everyone on the same page! I also re-use them based on mastery of the skill. Some of my kids have been working on the same skill/video for weeks. Check them out below!
Jobs- Server Complete Playlist
This is the progression I used- but I skipped the sorting silverware step for some of my kids who could do it independently already!
- Sorting Silverware Video
- Server & Rolling Silverware Introduction Video
- Rolling Silverware Review Video
- Folding a Cloth Napkins Video
- Place Setting Introduction Video
- Place Setting Review Video
- Taking Orders Introduction and Practice Video (This one is pretty long– In class I had the kids listen through order 4 and then had them practice with each other ) You will also need this PDF. If your school doesn't have notability you can laminate the document and have the kids use dry erase markers!
I also have some rubrics created to assess some of the skills. Feel free to make a copy and modify as needed!
Take aways
- The skills kids develop today may be the skills they need to obtain a job one day
- Skills take time to develop--it is not going to come quick for some of your students that is why you start early and practice, practice, practice!
- Start small and build up your skills/programs/ideas (Ask for donations from your building, family, & local businesses!)
- HAVE FUN! The more you enjoy what you are doing/teaching the kids will enjoy too!
-Maria
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Cover Photo by Caroline Attwood on Unsplash