One Parent to Another
A Parent's Notes from the Transition Institute at RIC
What is the Transition Institute?
The Transition Institute is a two day professional development/conference for educators that is focused on the transition from school to post secondary (employment, independent living, college, etc). Districts send teams of middle and high school educators, district leads, and a parent representative to this conference. What makes it an "institute" is that each district has to evaluate its current implementation (data), select an area of focus to improve, write goals, and attend sessions that will help them to improve. This is all professionally facilitated to keep teams focused and productive.
The national organization dedicated to this work: http://transitionta.org/effectivepractices
Session/Tool Spotlight: "I'm Determined!"
Many teams were excited about the great resources provided at http://www.imdetermined.org/
One topic was the great video resources this organization provides to support educators, students, and families in building self-determination skills. For example, under "parent" "videos" there is one on "The Importance of Knowing Your Disability" that many educators were discussing that this could help them with parents who prefer to not discuss or address this issue with students. The video does a great job explaining why future self-advocacy and self-determination begin with awareness.
http://www.imdetermined.org/parents/videos/
Another resource getting positive buzz was the "Good Day Plan" which was a way to proactively plan for successful days and become more aware of how you can control that (as a student and adult supporting that student)
http://www.imdetermined.org/quick_links/good_day_plan/
Other great resources on goal setting
http://www.imdetermined.org/quick_links/goal_setting_attainment/
One topic was the great video resources this organization provides to support educators, students, and families in building self-determination skills. For example, under "parent" "videos" there is one on "The Importance of Knowing Your Disability" that many educators were discussing that this could help them with parents who prefer to not discuss or address this issue with students. The video does a great job explaining why future self-advocacy and self-determination begin with awareness.
http://www.imdetermined.org/parents/videos/
Another resource getting positive buzz was the "Good Day Plan" which was a way to proactively plan for successful days and become more aware of how you can control that (as a student and adult supporting that student)
http://www.imdetermined.org/quick_links/good_day_plan/
Other great resources on goal setting
http://www.imdetermined.org/quick_links/goal_setting_attainment/
Transition Assessment Matrix
Sometimes it can be difficult to identify transition assessments that are appropriate for certain ages/development stages or that meets the needs of specific disabilities, this web site allow you to enter the transition goal, age/grade, and disability to see some great assessment suggestions.
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/cclc/transition_matrix/transition_matrix.html
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/styles/iidc/defiles/cclc/transition_matrix/transition_matrix.html
Presentations from the Conference
Some sessions materials can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzT2RvJArom5Z0w0VFJkXy10LW8&usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzT2RvJArom5Z0w0VFJkXy10LW8&usp=sharing