DEVELOP EXPERTISE - Educator Edition Activities

Below you will find activities that align with the Toolkit. These activities are designed to enhance classroom learning and the interactivity of the materials. Feel free to adjust and adapt to meet the needs of your students. Have fun!

KNOW YOUR POWER SKILLS  + DEVELOP YOUR GROWTH EDGES

Power skills are the skills that help you excel and get ahead. Sometimes they are referred to as “soft skills” or “non-technical skills.” You can use the AZRetailCareers skills assessment students took in Module 1 to help identify which skills would be most appropriate for each student to work on.

In the Course Collection of the EDGE website, you will find three types of courses. Use the table below to help students choose which courses align with their growth edges (areas for improvement) from the AZRetailCareers Core Score.

Customer Service Leadership Personal Development
Foundations of Customer Service
(CORE Customer Service)

Working on a Team
(CORE Adaptability/Communication)

Making Good Decisions
(Drive for Results)

Not All Customers are the Same
(CORE Customer Service)

Troubleshooting and Having a Solutions Mindset
(Communication)

Active Listening
(CORE Communication)

Recommendations and Upselling
(CORE Customer Service)
 Time Management
(CORE Drive for Results, Critical Thinking)

Goal Setting
(CORE Drive for Results, Critical Thinking)

Becoming a Leader
(CORE Adaptability)

Defining Success
(CORE Drive for Results, Critical Thinking)

Empowering Others
(CORE Adaptability)

Giving and Receiving Feedback
(CORE Communication)
 Communication Etiquette
(CORE Communication)

To make this action step more interactive, you can assign different modules to students to complete individually. Once they have completed the module, put students in small groups and have them prepare a FLASH LESSON then present to the class.

LEARN A NEW POSITION 

In addition to helping students find opportunities on their job, one way to enhance this action step is to have students conduct an informational interview. 

Here is an article on Informational Interviews. The article lists the benefits of informational interviews, how to request an interview (including a template email), and how to get the most out of the interview.

LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY

Advancing in any industry requires proficiency with technology. To make this action step come alive for students, as they complete STEP 1 and learn about the different software applications used at their company, create a chart or poster listing all of the different technologies so students can see similarities and differences across companies. 

An additional activity to help students understand the need for technology skills in all retail jobs, have students compare and contrast different job tasks for retail careers at all levels on PipelineAZ.

MANAGE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

Even the most amazing job sometimes presents difficult situations and challenges to work through. From coworker tension to dealing with difficult customers to having a hard conversation with your manager or supervisor. To make this action step more interactive. 

  • Present a “difficult situation” scenario. You can create the scenario or ask students to share a situation from their own experience.

  • Pull up the EDGE module (or submodule) that best addresses the situation. Review as a class or have students complete it on their own.

    • Dealing with Difficult Situations

    • Troubleshooting and Having a Solutions Mindset

    • Working on A Team

    • Conflict Resolution

  • Put students into small groups and give them 5-10 minutes to come up with the best strategy to address the situation.

  • Have teams share their approach and/or role play the situation and debrief on what was effective and what wasn’t.

 
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