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Practical Access Podcast
Dr. Lisa Dieker, a professor at the University of Kansas in the Department of Special Education, and Dr. Rebecca Hines, a professor at the University of Central Florida in the College of Community Innovation and Education, have worked with schools and parents across the country. Dr. Dieker directs a center in the Achievement and Assessment Institute called Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology in Education (FLITE) and Dr. Hines directs several doctoral grants and the teacher preparation program. In this podcast, they take a fun and informal look at "practical" solutions from teachers, parents, and people with disabilities. The approach in this podcast is to provide fast, flexible thinking about "real" life problems. This podcast is not about the "legal" approach but their best advice from personal and professional experience.
Practical Access Podcast
S4 E3: Preparing Students for after High School
Today, Drs. Rebecca Hines and Lisa Dieker answers a question from a listener. Tune in to hear their tips on ways to prepare high school students for graduation and post-graduation options aside from College.
We are still accepting questions from teachers to ask problems they would like some renewal ideas on. We look forward to receiving your questions on our Google Phone (407) 900- 9305, Facebook (Practical Access), Twitter (@AccessPractical), or Instagram (@Practical_Access).
Welcome to practical access. I'm Lisa Dieker.
Rebecca Hines:And I'm Rebecca Hines. And Lisa, I'm excited about our new format. Our goal is to be practical. And this season, we are focusing on questions from the field. So I think you have one queued up from a recent caller.
Lisa Dieker:Correct. And by the way, don't forget, if you want to leave us a phone message that we can use on the show, it's at 407-900-9305. That's where?
Unknown:407-900-9305.
Lisa Dieker:And here's our question for today.
Unknown:Presently I will work with grades nine to 12 and teach life skills. And my question is, how can public schools do a better job of preparing kids for life after high school by exposing them to different working areas as far as careers so that they don't think college is the only option? Because they all have different skills. Thank you. So Becky,
Lisa Dieker:I'm excited. So got some thoughts there for our friend, Timothy, thanks for leaving us a question
Rebecca Hines:I do. I have several thoughts for Timothy and some of these lists we might have talked about before when we were talking about transition. But Timothy, since you mentioned specifically the classroom, I'll reference first a conversation I just had with a good friend and colleague here in Florida on this exact same topic. And one of the first thoughts in my mind is we need to break them down into small pieces. And I and I, do you think that that by creating some spaces on our campus as a very first step in providing kids some real world experience outside the classroom, revile it, revitalizing the space inside the classroom to look like it so I can practice in a safe space, then take it one step further? right outside my classroom? At least I'll share some ideas for
Lisa Dieker:Yeah, so I'm gonna go back to being a mom for a moment and put on that practical hat. I think one of the best things that my son had the chance to do is they had job shadows. Now I know under our certain pandemic time, that'd be a little bit harder, but why not let them virtually shadow somebody through phone or what have you. And I'm going to be honest with you, Timothy. This may
Rebecca Hines:I think your idea of virtual job shadowing is another great one. And again, Timothy, let's think about, you know, how this could look in our classroom, and where we would even start. And it starts by finding volunteers, a lot of times, working with kids with more significant needs, I relied on family and friends. And in this case, an example my sister in law, cuts hair, she owns
Lisa Dieker:spell that it's
Rebecca Hines:ID, E NTIFOR identifor, identifor and identifor is a game based platform in which kids of all abilities, play different games, there's a lot of games on there. And the the computer analyzes the gameplay, the decision making, and starts to recommend jobs that it looks like you might be interested in just based on those subconscious things about yourself. So in identifying it will
Lisa Dieker:you know, Becky, I think that fit is so important. And I think it's a perfect time, you know, for all of us who work with students at Timothy's level in the in the high school to make sure students know their disabilities know their rights, and the Department of Labor. Under their job seeker side has a place that talks about Disability Resources and one of my personal favorite
Unknown:know that date, and we did. All right, so
Lisa Dieker:binge watch YouTube and Tiktok. It's a good laugh, though. But I really think that that those students meeting students with similar differences like themselves, both culturally, gender, race, class, and disability really can be super helpful. And so think about past students that have graduated that have been successful. Ask them again, to come into your classroom and do a little
Rebecca Hines:think that's a great point. And for those kids who might have more significant needs, I do think that we rethink how we train and prepare. So we get away from something that feels like this, you know, old fashioned, sheltered work shop approach. And let's see how we can make it more vibrant and more engaging with immediacy. And so Timothy, your first step, in my opinion, go to your
Lisa Dieker:We thank you for that question. And again, don't be shy and sending us questions on Facebook or @accesspractical on our Twitter feed. And again, if you'd like to leave us a voice me sage that we could use your question. It's 407-900-9305. Thank you for that question. And we look forward to seeing you watch soap operas with us.