Whose Future Is It Anyway?

51 Pages·2004·0.39 MB·English

Whose Future Is It
Anyway?
nd
2 Edition

A STUDENT-DIRECTED TRANSITION PLANNING PROCESS

COACH’S GUIDE

Michael Wehmeyer
Margaret Lawrence
Nancy Garner
Jane Soukup
Susan Palmer

Beach Center on Disability, KUCDD
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

2004

Copyright © Michael Wehmeyer, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
1
Coach’s Guide Table of Contents

Introduction and Overview..………………..…..…………… 4
What is Student-Directed?………………..…..…………… 4
What is the Teacher’s Role?………………..…..…………… 4
How are the Materials Used?………………..…..………… 5
What Should You Expect as an Outcome? ……..…..…………… 5
Suggestions for Involving Students……..…..……………………… 6
Tips and More Tips… for Ensuring Student Success ………………… 6

Intro: Getting Started ……...…...…………..………… 7

Section 1: Getting to know you 8
Session 1: The planning meeting 8
Session 2: Choosing people to attend 10
Session 3: Your preferences & interests 12
Session 4: Disabilities 13
Session 5: Your unique learning needs 15
Session 6: Supports 17

Section 2: Making Decisions ……………………………………………… 18
Session 7: Introduction to DO IT! 18
Role play script A & Applying DO IT! 21
Role play script B & Applying DO IT! 23
Session 8: Steps 1 & 2 of DO IT! 25
Session 9: Steps 3 & 4 of DO IT! 26
Session 10: Using DO IT! 27
Session 11: Real life stories to use DO IT! 28
Session 12: Giving informed consent 29

Section 3: How to Get What You Need, Sec. 101………………… 30
Session 13: Community resources in your plan 30
Session 14: Community resources for work 32
Session 15: Community resources for more school 34
Session 16: Community resources for living 35
Session 17: Community resources for fun 36
Session 18: Community resources you want 37

Section 4: Goals, Objectives, and the Future……………………………… 38
Session 19: Identifying goals in your plan 38
Session 20: Identifying goals for work 39
Session 21: Identifying goals for more school 39
Session 22: Identifying goals for living 40
Session 23: Identifying goals for fun 40
Session 24: Keeping track of your goals 41
2
Table of Contents (cont.)

Section 5: Communicating (or: I thought you said she said he said?) ……. 42
Session 25: Communicating in small groups 42
Session 26: Body language and assertiveness 43
Session 27: Advocating and appealing 44
Session 28: Timing and persuasion 45
Session 29: Keeping your ideas out there 45
Session 30: Listening and the team 46

Section 6: Thank You, Honorable Chairperson..…….………..…..… 47
Session 31: Different kinds of meetings 47
Session 32: Step to planning a meeting 48
Session 33: Being a good team member 49
Session 34: Managing the meeting 49
Session 35: Sessions 1-18 review 50
Session 36: Sessions 19-34 review 50

Appendix: Icons.………………..………….....…………...……………………

3
A STUDENT-DIRECTED TRANSITION PLANNING PROCESS

COACH’S GUIDE

Introduction and Overview

Whose Future Is It Anyway? is a transition planning process emphasizing student
preferences, needs and interests. The curriculum provides opportunities for students with
disabilities to explore issues of self-awareness and acquire problem-solving, decision-making,
goal-setting, and small-group communication skills. The outcome of this process is that
students learn how to be meaningfully involved in their transition planning process. The
Whose Future Is It Anyway? curriculum is based on the conviction that: 1) students who are
involved in planning for their future will more likely be full participants in the planned
educational activities resulting from that plan; 2) students of all abilities can learn the skills to
be involved; and 3) students who believe that their voice will be heard will be more likely
participate in the planning process and ongoing educational decisions.

To begin, this Coach’s guide explains what student-directed means. Next, the guide
describes the teacher’s role in Whose Future Is It Anyway? and explains how to use the Whose
Future Is It Anyway? materials. The guide also describes what students should learn by
working through the curriculum and provides some general ideas to increase student
involvement for all learners. Whose Future Is It Anyway? has activities in some chapters that
may benefit students, in general, not only those students with disabilities. The remainder of
the Coach’s guide includes teacher preparatory activities, key words/concepts, icons, and
more tips… for engaging students in the Whose Future Is it Anyway? curriculum.

What is Student-Directed?

Whose Future Is It Anyway? is a student-directed, transition planning process. The
end-users of the materials are youth with significant disabilities, mild/moderate mental
retardation, specific learning disabilities or other developmental disabilities, who are involved
in transition services. Student-direction will vary according to individual student strengths
and limitations. The included materials are intended to ensure that students learn about and
retain some control over the process while at the same time getting support needed to succeed.
Teachers can provide varying levels of support, depending on the individual needs of their
students. The process of being involved in transition planning can still be student-directed
even if students do not perform every aspect independently. Teachers and other adults can
provide support for student direction and involvement in the transition planning process.

What is the Teacher’s Role?

Your job in Whose Future Is It Anyway? will combine a number of coaching roles:
facilitator, instructor, and advocate. Whose Future Is It Anyway? asks that you serve as a
facilitator; someone who will provide support without acting like an authoritarian figure who
has all the answers. Through dialog and discussion, you can guide students to think through
their interests and concerns.
4
The second role is that of instructor. An instructor is someone who has expertise in an
area and uses that expertise to enhance students’ knowledge and/or skills. Whose Future Is It
Anyway? emphasizes to students that teachers are valuable resources for information about
education and the educational planning process. The student can tap into that expertise and
information if she/he realizes that instructors expect students to identify needed resources and
supports. The key is that it is the student who takes a more active role in requesting or
seeking out the information.

The third role is to be an advocate for the student. Your advocacy role is to
communicate to students that you believe she or he can succeed, that you will be there
through the process, and that you share common goals: student involvement in educational
planning and a successful transition to adulthood. It may be that your role of advocate will
lead you to push for system or structural changes in the education planning process.
However, the important aspect of this role is that you work collaboratively with students to
achieve a shared goal. For example, as a student’s advocate, you may need to work with
administrators, diagnosticians, transition specialists, parents, or employees to make sure they
understand that the student is working to achieve meaningful participation in his or her
IEP/transition planning meeting. Then, the student can fell more empowered to make his/ her
wishes known to others in order to be more involved in the process.

How Are the Materials Used?

A key; to student involvement is facilitating support, learning, and self-advocacy for
students in ways that allow your help to fade as students gain capacities for involvement and
self-determination. Initially, Whose Future Is It Anyway? is written so that a student can:
1) prepare for his or her transition IEP meetings and 2) gain skills related to self-
determination. Completing all the Whose Future Is It Anyway? sessions to accomplish both
of these objectives may require several weekly sessions. However, teachers can decide to
select sessions introducing targeted skills such as communication, decision-making, or self-
advocacy, to name a few of the general sessions available in Whose Future Is It Anyway?

Whose Future Is It Anyway? is intended to be used with students ages 14 through
21years. Most students will benefit from early and repeated use of the materials. The
materials can serve as a structure by which you involve students in their educational planning
each year. Depending on the strengths and limitations of individual students, some may be
able to pick up the Whose Future Is It Anyway? materials and work through the pages
without much teacher support. However, other students may work one-to-one with teachers
or paraeducators or in groups as they progress through modified lessons. Regardless of the
way the sessions are approached, it is important to focus student attention on the key concepts
and ideas in each session. Some review may be necessary each time to recall the concepts
and ideas from previous sessions, as some sessions are continuations of previous sessions.

What Should You Expect as an Outcome?

Student outcomes will vary a great deal. Some students will complete the process and
go on to take a very active role in their IEP meetings. Other students will participate in the
5
process but may not lead their planning meeting. The intended outcome is that students
increase their participation in the educational planning and decision-making process.
Research indicates that students who use Whose Future Is It Anyway? have a better
understanding of transition planning.

Suggestions for Involving Students

From the start, involve students in taking responsibility for learning. The following are
just a few simple ideas to help increase active student engagement for all learners while using
this curriculum.

• Post over-sized images of key icons and words or use poster-sized Post-its(cid:228) or chart
paper to display key icons and words. Included at the back of this guide are enlarged
versions of key icons. As these key words/concepts appear during sessions, post
enlarged icons. Encourage students to describe the icons and discuss the meanings of
these words and concepts in the sessions.

• Students can lead reviews of key words, concepts and symbols.
At the start of each session, encourage students to review key words and concepts.
Involve students who do not always share their ideas during class. Non-readers may
find leading their peers in a review to be an especially empowering experience.
Students who are uncomfortable leading a review can help with posting the icons
around the room, gesturing to posted icons, or calling upon other students who wish to
respond.

•
Students can give feedback to each other. This can be a useful way to help students
gain confidence speaking in small groups—such as their planning meetings. Students
can be encouraged to listen to one another, and express their opinions. They can learn
and gain practice in assertive communication skills.

• Students can choose pictures from photos or magazines to represent curriculum
concepts and responses.
This activity can be helpful for students who have difficulty reading. Consider having
a file of pictures from magazines, photos, or the Internet to provide concrete examples
of subjects discussed in the curriculum. Students can contribute to the picture file.
Categories might include pictures of potential student interests related to employment,
at-home activities, or recreation/leisure.

Tips and More Tips… for Ensuring Student Success

The remainder of the Coach’s Guide is divided into the curriculum sessions. As
described earlier, each session description provides preparatory teacher activities, key
words/concepts and symbols for that session. Additionally, certain sessions include a section
titled More Tips… with suggestions for engaging students, including those who experience
more significant disabilities, with the Whose Future Is It Anyway? curriculum.

6
Getting Started (Introduction)

Getting Started includes a general introduction to the curriculum, its purpose and plan.
This is a good time to begin using the icons. Remember to involve students in creating signs
during each session and placing signs on walls at the beginning of each session.

Key words/concepts and symbols:

Your future

The mouth

The ear Listen, hear

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

7
Getting To Know You (Sessions 1-6)

SESSION 1: The Planning Meeting

Session 1 provides information about educational planning meetings, including details
such as when and why meetings are held. Students are asked to identify the school-district
specific name of their meeting and who may be involved in that meeting. Because this
session includes introductory material, it is the longest session and usually takes more than
one class period.

PREPARATION BY COACH:

Read the Getting Started materials and Session 1. Students will need copies of the
transition planning or IEP form used by your school district. Locate and make a copy for each
student to save time during the class session. A composite transition planning form has been
included at the end of this session in case there is no form available. However, it is preferable
to use the district’s form so students will become familiar with the actual document as they
prepare for their planning meeting. Although the chapter asks that students have their last IEP
document, it is the instructor’s choice whether this complete form or a blank form will be
used.

Key words/concepts and symbols:

The Thinker stop, think

Clapper action, time to do something

IEP Individual – one person/me
Education – school/classes
Plan – what you do/ things I will do

Transition moving from one place to another place

The transition process

8
Umiak
A boat, usually made with animal hide, kind of like a canoe

Planning meeting

Overhead projector review questions

Notepad homework

Summary sheet review listing

Sample transition planning form local form, if available

9