How Low Can You Go: Design and Implement Contextualized Workplace Instruction in Low-Level ELL Classes Summer Institut

1. How Low Can You Go: Design and Implement Contextualized WorkplaceInstruction in Low-Level ELL ClassesSummer Institute, 2013

2. Presenter Info • Laura Rutmanis has been an ABE teacher for about 15 years. She currently teaches two levels of Retail classes at the Hubbs Center. • Renada Rutmanis has been an ABE teacher for the last 4 years. She currently teaches Introduction to Healthcare Careers and Business Office at the Hubbs Center.

3. Participant Info • What is your name? • Where do you teach? • What levels do you teach? • What are you interested in learning today?

4. Overview • Objectives: • To define contextualized workplace instruction • To identify opportunities to provide context in the classroom • To present three curriculum samples for contextualized instruction in low-level ELL classrooms • To provide a roadmap for incorporating contextualized lessons into the classroom

5. What is contextualized workplace instruction? • Contextualized instruction: • Contextualized instruction = basic skills plus • Integrates basic reading, math, and language skills along with occupation-specific knowledge and general work skills • Is based on the idea that learning occurs best when students process new information in such a way that makes sense to them in their own frame of reference (memory, experience, response) • U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education)

6. Why is context important? • Increases student motivation • Provides opportunities to apply skills • Makes abstract ideas easier to understand (show example) • Makes the transition to work easier • Allows lower-level students to show off • Helps students to learn multiple uses of vocabulary words (i.e. market) Can you think of a time when you learned something in context?

7. What contexts are important to students? • Personal • Cultural • Geographical • Career • 41 percent of adult enrolled in adult education programs nationwide are unemployed (Office of Vocational and Adult Education National Reporting System)

8. Taking it from the personal to the workplace • A patient going to the doctor – a nurse doing patient intake • A customer going shopping – a cashier completing a transaction • Riding the bus – driving the bus • Talking to your child’s daycare teacher – working as a daycare teacher

9. How do you make context for low-level learners? • At the higher levels, programs often partner with employers or post-secondary schools to give students hands-on training – at the lower levels, those hands-on opportunities have to come in the classroom through: • authentic workplace scenarios and role-playing • Lots of opportunities for teamwork, problem solving, and application of skills • Explicit connections between classroom activities and the world of work

10. Overview of Literacy-Level Occupational Classes • Career Contexts: Retail, Healthcare, Construction • Length: 8-12 weeks, 40-80 hours total • Students: Levels 2-4, High Beginning to High Intermediate, 190-220 on CASAS • Similarities: Portfolios, hands-on culminating activities, workplace behavior expectations

11. Retail Literacy • Three units: • Supermarket • Restaurant • Department Store These units are covered for 2-3 weeks each with a culminating activity, unit test, and interview practice sheet (Why Should I Hire You?) following each of the units. The emphasis is on work skills, soft skills, interview practice, and use of relevant vocabulary and math.

12. Healthcare Literacy • Students learn about five medical careers: EMT, nursing, certified nursing assistant, health interpreter, and home health aide. • Examples of technical skills: ABCs (airways, breathing, circulation); SOAP reports (subjective, objective, assessment, plan); stroke test; pain scale; measuring urine output; feeding a patient, helping a patient sit up in bed; ADLs (activities of daily living) • Focus on cultural expectations in American healthcare settings

13. Construction Literacy • Unit 1: Six Specific Construction Jobs • Identify jobs and work skills needed for each position, identify tools required for each job, practice job-specific math dialogues • Unit 2: General Construction Topics • Identify construction worker attitudes, career pathways, OSHA and safety standards, accident forms and procedures • Unit 3: Culminating Activity and Evaluation • Identify tools in a toolbox, follow directions to build a birdhouse, evaluate work attitude and behavior, evaluate work product

14. Culminating Activities Culminating activities are an important part of providing context and providing authentic opportunities to apply skills • Retail: store, delivery, weighing bulk foods • Construction: making a birdhouse • Healthcare: responding to an emergency, doing patient intakes, interpreting a health conversation, medical supply inventory

15. Portfolios • All three classes also use portfolios to: • Organize class materials • Help students self-assess • Keep certificates of completion • Prepare students to take next steps • Increase student investment in class and increase attendance

16. Bringing it all together Foundational Basic Skills: Reading,Writing, Listening, Speaking, Math and Numeracy Computer: email, word documents, Internet Technical: Industry-specific, i.e. being able to use a cash register for retail Employability: General skills that are required to be successful in any kind of employment, i.e. problem solving, teamwork, professional communication

17. Sample Retail Activity You are a cashier in a store. A customer wants to buy a pencil and a notebook. You add the amounts together (25 cents and 95 cents. You tell the customer the total. You ask which method of payment they will use. • Cash: you count up change from total • Check: you ask for ID and verify information You describe the return policy. You write the receipt. You thank the customer. You check item off Excel inventory sheet.

18. Retail Scenario: Reading • Read and follow store scenario; Read information on check • Read information on ID • Read product price information

19. Retail scenario: Writing, listening, and speaking Writing: • Write receipt Listening/Speaking: • Tell customer total cost • Ask about method of payment • Count up change (if cash) • Request customer ID (if check) • Tell customer return policy • Thank customer

20. Retail Scenario: Math and Numeracy • Identify coins/values • Write money amounts • Make change • Verify check amounts • Do inventory on Excel

21. Retail Scenario: Computer, Technical, and Employability • Computer: • Excel store inventory sheet • Technical: • Cash register/calculator in store use • Employability: • Punctuality, dependability, honesty, accountability, time management, team building

22. Sample Healthcare Activity You work in a nursing home and fear that a patient is having a stroke. With a co-worker, you use the stroke scale by asking the patient these three questions. • Can you please smile? • Please close your eyes and hold your arms straight out in front of you. I will count to ten and you can put them down again. • Please repeat what I say: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” You discuss with your co-worker and determine that the patient is not having a stroke, but may be dehydrated. You make notes in the patient’s electronic file about your observations.

23. Healthcare activity: Foundational Skills • Reading: Prior to the activity, students read about the signs of stroke and the stroke scale • Writing: writing notes in the patient’s file • Speaking/Listening: asking the questions, listening to the responses • Math and Numeracy: counting to ten

24. Healthcare activity: computer, technical, and employability • Computer: using the computer to write notes in the patient’s file • Technical: stroke scale, patient’s files • Employability: careful observation, working under pressure, speaking with a co-worker, documenting work

25. Sample Construction Activity You are a carpenter. You are drawing a picture of a building before you build it. You look at the blueprint below. You identify the roof, walls and floor. • You draw a picture with the floor 6 inches, the walls 4 ¾ inches and the roof 7inches. You label each part of the picture (roof, walls, floor) • You describe and compare your picture with a partner’s picture.

26. Construction: Foundational Skills • Reading: • Read and follow birdhouse pre-building scenario • Read birdhouse blueprint • Writing: • Label the parts of the birdhouse • Listening/Speaking: • Describe birdhouse to partner • Listen to partner description • Math/ Numeracy: • Identify measuring tools • Use a ruler • Identify parts of inches on ruler (1/4, 1/2, ¾)

27. Construction: Computer, Technical, Employability • Computer: • Research birdhouse types on mycarpentry.com • Technical: • Identify tool types and purposes • Use measuring tools • Reading a blueprint • Employability: • planning, speaking with a co-worker, following directions

28. Your Turn! • Now we will: • Get into groups • Each group will get materials from one of the literacy-level classes (retailor healthcare) • Read through the materials, talk with your group mates, identify different skills addressed in the lessons, and complete the form • Be prepared to report your findings back to the big group

29. Reporting back • What was your context? • What skills were addressed and how?

30. Retail

31. Healthcare

32. Where can I get more information? • Hubbs curriculum website: http://hubbs.spps.org/occupational_prep.html • MNROC: http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/mnrocapp/ • Adult Career Pathways: www.acp-sc.org

33. Conclusion • What contexts do you already use in your classes? • Do you use any work contexts? • Do you see opportunities to use more work contexts? • What challenges do you see to providing context?

34. Thank you! • If you have any questions, you can contact presenters at: • Renada.rutmanis@spps.org • Laura.rutmanis@spps.org