Transition Class

This summer I participated in an online transiton course throught he University of Kansas.  I was glad to find a class specifically on transition as I knew it would really help promote my professional development plan, as well as provide me a great deal of knowledge and insight on this important aspect of my teaching.

First of all, I would just like to say that I learned SO much from my class this summer.  I have taken classes online in the past and they have been very good, but this one by far knocks the rest out of the park.  The course was extremely applicable to my area of teaching and I walked away with a fresh perspective and a great deal of knowledge that I can't wait to apply to my teaching.

One idea I am taking form this class that I am looking forward to implementing is how I look at the IEP.  With high school students (or even middle school students for that matter), it's important to remember that the transition piece really is the driving force of the student's IEP.  That shoudl be the first part of the IEP discussed, and from there, everything else will fall into place.  I realize now, that too often, I write my IEP goals and then go back and develop a transition plan.  If I develop the transition plan first, not only will the IEP goals better comply with the transition plan, but IEP goals should be even easier to write because there is an important driving force behind them.

The other thing I plan on making sure I am doing a much better job with is making sure all the components of Indicator 13 of IDEA are being met.  While I do feel I accomplish a lot on Indicator 13 (which I finally understand by the way; never had a very clear idea of what that was before), there are some pieces I need to make sure I improve upon, the most important being the Summary of Performance.  I need to make sure my graduating students are all leaving high school with their Summary of Performance in hand, so they have they necessary information they need to be successful with their post-secondary goals.  I plan on creating some kind of document for this and working with my student collaboratively on it, so they understand it and to promote their independence.

Walking away from this course, I have a lot of fresh new ideas on how to better work with my families, as well as teach self-determination and self-advocacy skills to my students.  I am excited for the new school year to start, so I can try all of these new fantastic ideas.