Pathful in Practice: How Real Educators Are Creating Career Readiness Every Day

July 27th, 2025

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Sam Spiegel

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Want to use Pathful more consistently but not sure where to start? You’re not alone. Many educators want to integrate career readiness into their classrooms but feel uncertain about time, fit, or where to begin. The good news? You don’t have to be a Pathful expert or revamp your entire curriculum. Across the country, educators are using Pathful to connect academics to real-world careers, foster soft skills, support IEP goals, and inspire meaningful exploration.

This article showcases seven ways educators are using Pathful in everyday practice. Each one includes real teacher insights, context for how it works in action, and concrete steps to help you get started.

Connect classroom content to real careers for deeper engagement.

Chris Hamman, Work-Based Learning Instructional Coach (EC–5), uses Pathful to bring academic units to life with career connections.

Career readiness becomes more meaningful when it’s connected to what students are already learning. Rather than treating career exploration as a standalone activity, use Pathful as a natural extension of academic instruction.

When students see professionals using the same concepts they’re studying in class, they begin to understand why the content matters. This builds both motivation and career literacy in a way that feels seamless and purposeful.

How to try it:

• Work with your grade-level team to identify key units (e.g., ecosystems in science, persuasive writing in ELA).
• Search Pathful’s library for a video, career profile, or live session connected to that topic or request your own session.
• Schedule the Pathful activity as a “capstone” to the unit.
• Have students prepare questions beforehand about how the topic shows up in the workplace.

By directly linking Pathful to your curriculum, you’ll help students see the real-world value of their learning.

Use hands-on activities and Pathful to build workplace behaviors.

Melissa Grable, an educator in Georgia, blends physical activities with Pathful’s digital lessons to teach workplace behaviors.

Soft skills are essential for success—but hard to teach in abstract. This strategy combines hands-on experiences, discussion, and digital lessons to help students truly understand and internalize key skills.

Active learning boosts engagement and encourages collaboration. Follow-up discussion builds insight. The Pathful lesson then reinforces it with structured digital content.

How to try it:

• Choose a soft skill like teamwork or communication.
• Start with an activity that models the skill (e.g., “Human Knot” for teamwork).
• Debrief as a class—what worked, what didn’t, and how it relates to life and work.

Examples:

• Teamwork
  Activity: “Human Knot” or “Build a Tower” challenge using limited materials (e.g., marshmallows and spaghetti).
  Debrief: What roles emerged? How did communication affect success?
• Communication
  Activity: Partner back-to-back drawing activity where one student describes a shape or image while the other draws it.
  Debrief: What made communication clear or confusing? How does this apply in real work settings?
• Problem-Solving
  Activity: “Escape the Classroom” mini puzzles or time-bound logic challenges in small groups.
  Debrief: How did the group approach the problem? What strategies worked?
• Adaptability
  Activity: Change the rules halfway through a game or switch team roles unexpectedly during a group task.
  Debrief: How did students react? What does this reveal about flexibility?
• Time Management
  Activity: Have students juggle multiple mini-tasks with a time constraint (e.g., fold paper airplanes, sort items, solve a riddle).
  Debrief: How did they prioritize? What would they do differently?
• Conflict Resolution
  Activity: Role-play a workplace disagreement and have students act out constructive and unproductive responses.
  Debrief: Which responses felt fair or effective? What’s the takeaway for real-life situations?
• Leadership
  Activity: Assign a student to lead a small group project or task without teacher intervention.
  Debrief: What leadership styles emerged? How did they impact the team?
• Professionalism
  Activity: “Resume Relay” where teams build mock resumes for fictional characters using example materials.
  Debrief: What behaviors reflected professionalism during the activity?

• After the debrief, follow with the matching Pathful FlexLesson or Employability Video to solidify understanding and encourage transfer to real-world contexts.

Let students guide their own discovery through surveys, videos, and presentations.

Jewel Moses, a careers teacher, builds a structured path from interest identification to peer presentations.

This approach creates a clear progression: self-discovery → research → communication. Students build ownership, presentation skills, and career literacy all at once.

Christina Gorsuch, a career counselor, focuses on one-on-one guidance using Pathful tools to help students connect their interests to postsecondary planning.

Christina’s use case highlights how Pathful can also guide realistic goal setting, college research, and financial planning—even at the individual level.

How to try it:

• Have students complete the Interest Survey to identify top clusters.
• Guide them in researching specific careers using assessments, videos, and career profiles.
• Let them choose how to share: a fair, presentation, reflection paper, or action plan.
• Encourage them to revise their goals as they learn more about career paths and requirements.

Whether in a group setting or one-on-one, this process keeps students at the center of their learning journey.

Build bridges between school, families, and the real world.

Corinne Dyer, a career counselor supporting multiple states, helps students connect classroom learning to their broader community.

Pathful isn’t just a classroom tool—it’s a gateway to real-world relationships. In this example, a student used Pathful to prepare for an interview with her former teacher, strengthening both her career knowledge and community connection.

These experiences foster relevance, confidence, and a sense of support that goes beyond school walls.

How to try it:

• Invite families to join student presentations or fairs.
• Use Pathful videos to help students draft questions for informational interviews.
• Reach out to local professionals (including alumni or parents) and coordinate career conversations based on student interests.

With Pathful, students see that career learning isn’t just academic—it’s personal.

Match student interests to real professionals through interviews or live sessions.

Corinne Dyer also uses Pathful’s Work-Based Learning feature to connect students with professionals—even in niche careers.

When students are curious about a career you don’t know much about, Pathful helps bridge the gap. Students can explore real stories and get direct answers to their questions through videos or live sessions.

These conversations make the learning feel authentic, and help students make more informed decisions.

How to try it:

• Have students complete the Interest Survey and choose careers they want to explore.
• Explore Pathful videos and profiles together.
• Request a live session or guest speaker through Pathful based on student interest.
• Prep students with questions about required skills, daily tasks, or training paths.

Even if students shift directions, they’ll walk away with clarity and insight.

Support diverse learners with flexible, video-based career exploration.

Kaily Kraft, a STEMM-Up curriculum specialist in Michigan, uses Pathful’s visual content to help jobseekers explore careers and build confidence.

For students with disabilities, Pathful’s video-based, self-paced format makes career exploration more approachable. Students can revisit content in small, digestible segments, reducing stress while building understanding.

This prepares them for interviews and career conversations with greater confidence.

How to try it:

• Introduce industries using Career Profiles or job shadow videos.
• Assign short videos as pre-work before mock or informational interviews.
• Practice crafting 3–5 questions students can use in a real conversation.

The result: more prepared, more engaged, and more empowered jobseekers.

Incorporate Pathful into IEP planning and life skills instruction.

Shelby Lowman, an educator in Delaware, uses Pathful to guide students with IEPs through career discovery and independent living skills.

Transition planning is central to IEPs, and Pathful gives educators flexible, student-centered tools for this work. From surveys to resume-building to budgeting, the platform supports both career readiness and real-life preparation.

How to try it:

• Start with the Interest Survey (or Lite version) to spark conversation.
• Use results during IEP meetings to set specific transition goals.
• Throughout the year, assign tools like Career Checks, the Resume Builder, or budgeting modules.
• Add roleplay or community-based learning to bring it all to life.

Pathful helps students build toward a future that feels achievable and personalized.

You don’t need to overhaul your curriculum to bring career readiness into your classroom. Start with small steps, just like these educators have—and watch your students engage with their futures in a whole new way.

Whether you want to strengthen your soft skills instruction, introduce career literacy, or enhance IEP planning, there’s a strategy that fits your goals and classroom reality.

Try one of these this week:

✅ Assign the Interest Survey to kickstart career thinking

✅ Play one Virtual Job Shadowing video and lead a class discussion

✅ Link a Pathful activity to your current unit as a capstone

✅ Use a Career Profile to help a student prepare interview questions

✅ Bring Pathful into your next IEP or transition planning session

Watch how students respond. You might be surprised by the questions they ask, the connections they make—and the futures they begin to imagine.

And if you’re looking for more bite-sized, real-world strategies from educators who are doing this every day, keep an eye out for our new series: Pathful in Practice: Real Educators. Real Impact.

These are the features educators mentioned most often in real classrooms:

• Interest Survey – Helps students discover their top career clusters based on interests.
• Virtual Job Shadowing Videos – Bring careers to life through short, engaging videos.
• Career Profiles – Provide detailed job overviews with day-to-day insights.
• Career Checks – Let students reflect on their fit with specific careers.
• Work-Based Learning (Live Sessions) – Enables real-time conversations with professionals.
• Resume Builder – Supports students in crafting their first resumes.
• Lifestyle Calculator – Helps students match future career options with their desired lifestyle and income goals.