school-to-work » Special Education and Learning Differences

This post is from our #1 voted winner: Susie in Minerva, OH. Preparing her high school students for the work force is as important as ever in today’s economy. She truly believes in her students and their ability to be active and productive members in their community after high school. Susie helps her students to prepare for this new world with every tool she can provide them.

The Project: Being Prepared for the World of Work.

I teach a transition life skills class to students with multiple disabilities. I use the School-to-Work DVD series with worksheets I have made up and some home made video’s using a Flip Camera to show students role playing and real life situations about being prepared for work and how to interact at work. The students are engaged when watching the video’s of real job skills and sites where they can learn job skills and possibly become employed.

Learning Objectives:

Students will see past graduates in their current jobs putting into place some of the job skills/ life skills that we emphasize in our classroom daily. Students can see good and bad ways of dealing with different situations that may occur on a job site through role playing videos. Students will then get to go into those same job sites and experience some of the same situations and know how to respond or interact appropriately.

Materials:

Flip Camera, other “getting a job” curriculum, transition planning materials, job sites and real employees/employers. The Functional Skills System: Social Skills or Workplace Social Skills. The Life Skills Readers and other Read-to-Learn library sets are also great tools. I would like to use iPods/iPads to also run the videos on and take video for immediate reinforcement learning. PCI’s Getting Along with People Series would be a nice addition to what we are teaching as well.

Susie also says:

I very much love my job, and the materials and resources available have come along way since I began teaching 12 years ago. Thank you for continuing to look for interactive and engaging materials that can reach the students I work with. In the world today where it is getting more and more difficult for the average person to find employment has made it that much more important for my students who already have struggles to work through to be even more prepared for the world they will soon enter.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Teacher Grant: http://http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant/teaching-idea?app= 18246&grantId=75

Continuing our Strategies Series based on this question:

“Have you ever taught a lesson that really resonated with a special needs student? Tell us about a lesson you teach that was specifically influenced by that experience.”

We bring you the next post from Colette in Granada Hills, CA. She is a high school Special Education Autism Specialist. Colette engages her students with visualization exercises of their future then creating the tools they to use to pursue their goals.

The Project: Autism Learning Lab.

The kids are asked to join in a visualization of the future. They try to see themselves in five years. What are they wearing, where do they live, and where do they work are a few questions asked. Afterward, we discuss career goals, job ideas, and future plans. Together we create a portfolio of the future including resumes, cover letters, photo albums and work samples. With the tools learned from this program the students will head out into the world with a sense of preparedness.

Learning Objectives

The students will learn about what it means to self-advocate and live independently. They will gain skills in resume writing and interview presentation for the future. Through our program our students will gain the ability go to college and self advocate their needs to professors and administrators. Our students will learn the proper way to go to an interview, how to dress, what to bring, which will give them the confidence to try for the job of their dreams.

Materials

For our project we require basic materials and resources. We use a variety of paper to print out resumes, cover letters, and photos for visual reinforcement of what they want to accomplish. We need the ink for our printer to do the printing. We use folders to create a nice portfolio for the students to take away with them.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Teacher Grant Ask: http://www.weareteachers.com/ideas/partnerask/teachingidea?app=16621&grantId=75

Incorporating Transition Instruction for Students in Special Education

Research and daily interactions with secondary students support the need for focused instruction in the area of transition, especially students with learning differences, emotional/behavioral needs, mild cognitive disabilities, or students with other special needs. They will be asked to answer what type of career they have an interest in or an aptitude for.

Career research via writing projects can provide valuable information and experiences utilizing critical thinking skills. After researching career options, students with special needs often need assistance charting a transition path and should be encouraged to develop at least two alternate or back up transition plans. An initial outline of their main idea should be put together answering who, what, when, why, where, and how.

Then, the focus needs to be a progression of learning self-advocacy and self-determination skills. It is important for them to know:

Their legal rights and responsibilities as an adult with a disability.
They understand what type of support they can expect to receive after high school.
Students in special ed or with special needs should exit high school with current documentation of their disability to allow a continuation of support services if needed.

These basics along with skills for getting a job and keeping it should be addressed prior to completing an in-depth transition path.

The skills to secure and retain a job need to be taught and practiced along with workplace behavior and social skills. Often the skills of completing applications, interviewing, demonstrating good worker traits and teamwork are expected or at best quickly reviewed. Teaching students’ with special needs how to access and succeed in any of the post secondary options – employment, technical/trade college, college/university, or the military – is crucial.

Tips for where to begin:

A separate elective course using a transition curriculum
Supplementing a regular education “careers” curriculum
Integrating it into a self-contained classroom
Providing additional assistance during a resource period
Coordinate with other teachers for writing and/or research assignments that would work for both classes

There are many resources in a variety of mediums specifically designed and written for students in special education and students with special needs. Several examples of curriculums offered are:

Career Folio Curriculum is a reproducible activity binder that contains everything needed to organize relevant career facts into one meaningful whole for students, including blackline masters to help students organize their own Career Folios as well as a career action plan and post-program goals.
Career Planning includes student text and an audio cd library, plus teaching strategies, application activities, ideas for classroom projects, and tips on learning styles. Covers a variety of skills job seekers need-reference gathering, résumé writing, communication, interviewing, working with others, and managing time.
Everyday Life Skills is a textbook and video series that is a comprehensive career development program for high school students making the transition to postsecondary life. This curriculum focuses on the important “how to live and work” issues not always covered by regular curricular materials. Interactive cd’s and audio cassettes are also part of the curriculum.

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Incorporating Transition Instruction for Students in Special Education