How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student?
Your list of strengths vs. teachable jobs may prove helpful in priming the student. Create a visual support (graphic organizer, list, etc.) that shows what the student will do in the job or project. Hopefully, you have found a way to balance responsibilities so that some of his tasks will be motivating to him. You may want to provide a social narrative that ties these skills and the larger job to his motivation: money, job experience that helps him obtain a better job, external reinforcers that you set up as a result of completing the shift, etc.
Heavy lifting and clean-up are frequent aspects of construction and of automotive work. Creating the graphic that shows all of the tasks in a job, both preferred and non-preferred, may be necessary. It may be necessary to show the student through a graphic or social narrative that sweeping or paintbrush cleaning or spraying the garage floor are necessary parts of the job. This may improve his motivation to complete the non-preferred activity.
**Consider that the priming process is an ongoing process. Initially a student may be interested in work within the trade and industrial field. However, as a result of specific job experience, volunteer or other exposure, the student’s preferences and opinions may change. Provide opportunities for self-assessment during and after the job experience. In this way you can support the student’s improved understanding of his job preferences as a result of experience. Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
Trade and Industrial Interests
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
You may have noticed that interspersal is a central focus in successful job matching. We intentionally encourage you to find a job with about 80% of job tasks within the ability of the student so that you are teaching only a small percentage. This is natural interspersal.
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to perform this skill, how do you help the student prepare? How do you orient the student to the upcoming situation? How do you orient him to the materials he will use? How do you activate prior knowledge?
The student may need to see the schedule he will use while at work before he goes to the site. He may need to go to the site prior to working to get familiar with where his belongings will go, where he will take a break, when he will take a break, and where all the work materials are stored. Giving the student a chance to orient to the site and identify where everything goes can reduce anxiety and can prepare the student to more comfortably ‘jump into’ job responsibilities on his first day. Prior to working in a garage, orientation to the tools he will use, to off-limit areas, to waste disposal containers, to safety equipment and gear, etc. will support the student in understanding the sequence of tasks on his schedule for that first day.