Welcome to Ms. Giedemann's website!
I have been with Philadelphia Academy Charter School since 2008! I am teaching the Pre-Vocational Training program for the life skills department. This course will include classroom instruction, class trips to local buisnesses, shopping, eating out, traveling within the community, and career resource center help (with career portfolios, skills/interests/abilities, and job preferences). Students will work primarily on employability, independent living and social skills within the course curriculum.
The Prevocational Training suite is a functional based work system, which promotes
life long educational and social goals of the students we serve. This highly
structured space is modeled after the evidence based practices of Applied Behavior
Analysis . There are numerous functional applications of reading, math, language,
communication and social skills. The room is divided into 10 domains. They are as
follows: Literacy, Math, Laundry, Banking and Budgeting, Processing and
Production, Retail, Personal Hygiene, Office/ Clerical, Custodial Skills and Food
Services. The students are provided with individual work schedules upon entrance
into the room. They are then expected to follow multiple step instructions to
complete a work task independently. The students are assessed based upon their
performance, accuracy, speed and endurance. The data collected is utilized to
determine strengths and weaknesses as the students prepare for employment. The
students also participate in community-based instruction as they travel to local
stores for shopping. They also participate in cooking lessons.
The students will also participate in the following activities;
• Travel training
• Community based workplace tours
• Local shopping trips
• In school work experiences
Each student will create a career portfolio binder, which will be sent home for you
to view weekly. This binder will provide you with a glimpse into their performance
through work samples and pictures. We hope this will be a valuable tool as the
students prepare for the workforce.
As always we are always seeking contacts of places to tour or possibly volunteer. If
you or someone you know can help, please provide us with the contact information.