10 Easy Things You Can Do To Integrate Workplace Basics (SCANS Competencies) Into Your Classroom

The following list suggests ways to incorporate SCANS skills into your daily instruction. The bold-faced type indicates the classroom strategy, and the list below indicates the SCANS skill to which it corresponds.

  1. Start each class with an agenda on the board.
    SCANS:
      Information: organizing
      Resources: allocating time
      Interpersonal: negotiating

  2. Put students in teams and assign teams classroom maintenance jobs.
    SCANS:
      Interpersonal: working in teams, taking individual responsibility
      Personal Qualities: demonstrating sociability
      Systems: developing system to improve performance

  3. Conclude every lesson by calling attention to the workplace relevance of the lesson and the classroom activities.
    SCANS:
      Systems: monitoring performance

  4. Teach students how to organize their classroom materials.
    SCANS:
      Interpersonal: teaching others
      Systems: monitoring performance

  5. Monitor students' progress with checklists and weekly tests.
    SCANS:
      Interpersonal: organizing and maintaining information
      Systems: monitoring/correcting performance

  6. Pay attention to classroom incidents and conflicts. Develop lessons that teach students how to deal with these issues appropriately.
    SCANS:
      Interpersonal: working in teams, negotiating
      Thinking skills: solving problems, making decisions
      Personal qualities: demonstrating sociability

  7. Model appropriate workplace behavior: arrive on time, come with an organized plan, dress appropriately, and maintain a positive attitude.
    SCANS:
      Personal qualities: taking responsibility, managing self
      Systems: understanding systems

  8. Encourage students to use, fix, or make minor adjustments in equipment, such as hole punch, pencil sharpener, overhead projector, etc.
    SCANS:
      Technology: maintaining & troubleshooting equipment and applying technology to task

  9. Designate student trainers, tutors or experts who can train new students and assist classmates as needed.
    SCANS:
      Interpersonal: teaching others
      Systems: improving or designing systems

  10. Encourage self and peer revision whenever possible. Teach the appropriate language to make revisions.
    SCANS:
      Systems: monitoring/correcting performance
      Interpersonal: taking individual responsibility
      Personal qualities: assessing/managing self

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