Category Employment

Speaking to my teacher colleagues about their first months of remote teaching brings me back to when I flipped a course and later taught it entirely online.

In the classroom

Imagine this; you teach science, anatomy and physiology to be exact. You have microscopes neatly lined up in the cabinets, slides labeled, organs properly stored, pencils and chalk in easily accessible places. You find yourself getting a little anxious. The students are due any minute now. What will your classroom look like at the end of the day?

Can you relate? It was hard to make a transition in the classroom from being the “sage on the stage” who shared my knowledge and my teaching supplies with students to a “guide on the side.” The parents and students seemed to think it was my responsibility to fill their brains with knowledge.

The flipped classroom

Using technology helped. I moved lectures to short 15-minute explanations and posted them online. This practice freed up all the classroom time for… Initially, that thought was a little scary. What am I going to do with 30 students for an hour each day?

I hoped to bring a sense of wonder back to my classroom. The initial phase of letting go was challenging. I had to trust the students to get what they needed out of the materials I supplied. To be completely honest, the classroom was messy some days. The noise could be deafening. Every student did not rise to the challenge.

However, most students stepped up remarkably. Students started coming after school to help set up labs and to design their own labs. One student volunteered to be a laboratory assistant. She came every day after school to organize and clean supplies.

Certainly, there were still students and parents who complained that because I did not lecture, I did not teach. However, as many students became more self-sufficient, I had more classroom time to help those who needed additional guidance. I watched and listened to the students in their groups every day. Identifying areas that required learner support and determining how best to build that support became my new role. Trying to be flexible, inclusive, and keep the learning focused on the students and their needs, I structured my evaluations on whether the objectives were met, not how they were met.

Online

The next step was to move to a completely online course. My panic grew as I realized how little of the educational process I would be able to control. How did I know if the students read the material, listened to the lectures, submitted their assignments, or took their tests without outside assistance?

I had a weekly synchronous session spent on discussing case studies and asking “what if” questions. These sessions were required unless you had an emergency. However, the students knew about the sessions when they signed up, in contrast to the students in the current emergency online courses.

The question of grades

It did not take long to get a sense of who knew and understood the material and who did not. I gradually moved all graded content to discussion boards, submitted case reports, and videos arguing points or outlining procedures. I found that this method correlated best with the grades I would have assigned based on the synchronous sessions. It also provided more ways for students to express their grasp and understanding of the subject content. It was an opportunity for me to see that if I got out of their way, the students would be creative, enthusiastic learners.

Not a complete break from tradition

To make sure that everyone came to the synchronous sessions prepared. I had a test bank of questions based on the reading. Students had to score 80% or higher before the online session. They could take it as many times as they wanted. I am sure some randomly guessed and then wrote down the answers. It does not matter as long as they knew these key points. Case studies and videos were also due before the session started.

What you did while remote teaching is amazing!

Many of you had to make your transition to remote teaching in days. You did not get the luxury of a gradual, well-thought-out transition. You had to divest from the need to control, amp up the use of technology, and design new ways to present and test in an unpredictable environment.

Please do not think that your experience is representative of online courses or online education. What we have experienced is unprecedented and hopefully will never reoccur. When you have time to breathe again, consider what aspects of teaching can best be done in the classroom and what parts can best be done online. If you do, your future students will benefit significantly from this experience born of necessity.

You were there for your students. You helped keep them safe. You used technology to establish a sense of community, a community of learners in a time of unexpected emergency remote teaching. You were creative problem solvers who improvised on the fly.

Did you read the story about the young man with a disability who opened a coffee shop because he could get no one to hire him? Can you even imagine the contributions a person with that level of grit and determination could contribute to your business? The numbers cited vary, but consistently the studies indicate that the percentage of Americans with disabilities who are unemployed is very high. At this time of the year, where giving to others is a focus and a New Year brings the promise of new beginnings, I thought I would bring this topic up for discussion and advice. I work with several young people with disabilities and here are some of my experiences.

Stumbling blocks to college for people with disabilities

One young man I know has always wanted to work in the field of computer science. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s at a young age. He and his parents decided to go against the advice to move him to a public school so he could get additional help with his studies, and against advice to put him in reading lab and low-level math courses. Why? Because if they did, he would be tracked into the lowest level courses through-out his education, and there would be very little chance of him getting a college education. Remember, his dream is to work in the field of computer science.

He graduated from high school, an achievement in itself, and scored the minimally acceptable ACT score to get into college. He worked tirelessly to pass his computer science courses. Some he took twice and a few three times, but he made it. He went to the tutoring center, attended his professor’s office hours, and had many of his textbooks read out loud to him, but he made it!

At one point, this young man was not sure he would finish college as there were a few higher-level computer science courses that he struggled to pass. He decided to get an Associate’s degree, finish his BA in Computer Science, and maintain his part-time job at a local grocery store. He completed both degrees in the past year.

This post is the story of one young man, but he represents thousands of young men and women with and without disabilities who have this level of determination to succeed.

Interviewing with communication challenges

Communication struggles

Like many recent graduates, this young man with a passion for computer science is working hard to get a job in his field. However, there is a problem. His disability makes it harder for him to communicate than the average person. He will have a hard time expressing his passion in an interview. His answers to your questions will probably be short. His nervousness will compound his communication struggles.

Delayed responses

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone whose response takes 15 or even 30 seconds longer than you are comfortable with? Imagine being a busy recruiter or a hiring manager, and your candidate seems slow to answer. You may think the candidate is bored or disinterested, but it may be that his or her brain takes an extra few seconds to process the question.

Inability to read nonverbal cues

In addition to being a little slower in their conversation skills, a second thing I have noticed when working with young people with disabilities is that some believe everything you say and interpret it very concretely. One young man had a recruiter call him about a possible job opening for which he would be qualified. They spoke on the phone, and the recruiter said she would call back after receiving this young man’s resume. The young man sat by the phone for four days believing that the recruiter would call. It is a week later, and the recruiter never called back. Many people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) cannot interpret facial expressions or make meaning out of conversation other than the actual words spoken. This recruiter’s tone may have implied that she was not interested, but the young man would not be able to receive that message. Telling him that he was not a viable candidate hurts for a minute or even a day. Not telling him leaves hope that hurts indefinitely.

“A child is only as disabled as their environment and the beliefs of the people around them.” —Bala Pillai DPT, PCS

Customer service training on disabilities

As an instructional designer, with a medical and educational background, one company that prides itself on customer service asked me what course I would recommend they develop next for their employees. I suggested a course on communicating with people with disabilities for their call center employees. I wonder if they ever developed the course?

Should you disclose a disability to an employer?

As the New Year brings new opportunities, please feel free to reach out to me if I can help you or anyone you know with a disability. I can help with educational questions and share my experiences with you, but unfortunately, I cannot help with questions about employment. As you have read in this article, I have no solutions, do you?

Should an applicant disclose their disability? Should an employer be able to offer a lower salary to an otherwise great applicant who cannot work as fast as his or her colleagues?