About this activity
Eight rehearsal tasks for a student-led transition meeting: what do you want to be doing two years after graduation, in one sentence; name one job you would like and one skill it needs that you already have; who is on your team — teacher, counsellor, family, case manager; practise introducing yourself at your own IEP meeting; ask for something specific in your transition plan.
How to use it in a session
Rehearse the introduction out loud, more than once. Speaking first at your own meeting changes the room, and a student who has said the sentence in a quiet office can say it in front of eight adults. The ask-for-something-specific card is the point of the whole board — a transition plan the student has asked something of is theirs in a way a plan written for them is not. Twenty minutes covers half the board properly.
What to listen for
Listen for a goal that is concrete enough to plan from. Get a job is not a goal a team can build steps toward; work in a garden centre is. Notice whether the student can name a skill they already have, which is a harder question than it sounds and is where students most often stall.
Carrying it home
Families can ask the same questions without it being a meeting. What do you want to be doing in two years, asked over dinner, gets a more honest answer than the same question in a conference room.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Ninth through twelfth grade. Transition planning is required under IDEA from age sixteen, and student participation is the intent.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all eight tasks are free to use here.
- Why rehearse rather than let the team lead?
- Because a student who has never spoken at their own meeting will not start under pressure. One rehearsed sentence is usually enough to change how the meeting goes.