Iowa’s Work-based Learning Conference
If you are looking for some great ideas to develop your school to work program, consider attending this conference on Aprill 22-23rd in Ankeny. For more information and registration, go to https://www.acteonline.org/wbl-conference/#toggle-id-5
Employment First Guidebook
service coordinators and integrated health home care coordinators with critical information. It is full of good information about employment for people with disabilities. There are parts of it that are adult system focused, but there is a lot that is very applicable to our work in schools. Kirsten Lane, Secondary Transition Program Facilitator at the DE, pointed out a few key things found in it, but depending on your students, you may want to wander through the entire guidebook. Here are some of the key things you may want to look at:- P 6 – what is Employment 1st – talks about the history of this movement within Iowa and nationally
- P 9 – nice review of all the different services and supports around work in our state
- P 26 – encouraging people to work
- P 28 – WIOA connections
- P 31 – myth busting scenarios about work
- P 42 – FAQs
- P 81 – a nice article in the appendix about high expectations
- P 93 – a nice article about the influence of families and starting early
Iowa Work Based Learning Conference – April 2-3rd
IWBL Coordinators PD Workshop
Learning Today • Leading Tomorrow
The Iowa Work-Based Learning Coordinators’ executive committee is excited to invite MOC coordinators, CTE teachers, work-based learning coordinators, business partners, and interested colleagues to join us for our professional development workshop on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3, 2019. This workshop is a collaborative and personalized learning and networking event.
Topics will include updates on work-based learning teaching certifications, OSHA, child labor, insurance information, best practices for making business connections, developing the best training plans and agreements, marketing to families and so much more. This year we have built in even more discussion and networking time including an afternoon social event on Tuesday.
There is a great lineup of breakout sessions and speakers this year to help you develop the best program possible. This event also includes our annual business meeting and voting for the new executive board.
Early bird registration through March 1st – saves you $20.
Register HERE by March 25th to guarantee meals and conference materials.
Location
- Holiday Inn Des Moines Airport and Conference Center
- 6111 Fleur Drive
- Des Moines, IA 50321
There is a limited event capacity, so don’t delay!
The 2018-2019 year is a very exciting time for Work-Based Learning Coordinators. With the Future Ready Iowa Initiative, the Iowa Clearinghouse for WBL coming to fruition and the multitude of new programs across the state, IWBL wants to be your go to place for all things Work-Based Learning. They have a great team, including current and past executive officers, that have a wide range of experiences and knowledge to offer. Please continue to use their PD source of Schoology and check out their website: http://www.iowawbl.org
Learning Today • Leading Tomorrow
Iowa Work-Based Learning Workshop – April 2-3, 2019
The Iowa Work-Based Learning Coordinators’ executive committee is 
excited to invite MOC coordinators, CTE teachers, work-based learning coordinators, business partners, and interested colleagues to join us for our professional development workshop on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3, 2019. This workshop is a collaborative and personalized learning and networking event.
Holiday Inn Des Moines Airport and Conference Center
6111 Fleur Drive
Des Moines, IA 50321
Topics will include updates on work-based learning teaching certifications, OSHA, child labor, insurance information, best practices for making business connections, developing the best training plans and agreements, marketing to families and so much more. This year we have built in even more discussion and networking time including an afternoon social event on Tuesday.
We have a great lineup of breakout sessions and speakers this year to help you develop the best program possible. This event also includes our annual business meeting and voting for new executive board.
Early bird registration through March 1st – saves you $20. CLICK HERE to register
Register by March 25th to guarantee meals and conference materials.
We do have a limited event capacity, so don’t delay!
Learning Today • Leading Tomorrow
The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The following excerpt, The Role of the Paraeducator – Job Coach is taken from the School-Based Job Coach Training Manual, which was created by the Nebraska Department of Education – Job Coach Technical Assistance Guide.
It is a basic overview of several components, including: the role of the paraeducator, the code of ethics, the role of the Job Coach, Job Coach Responsibilities, What is Task Analysis, and What is Job Training.
As schools work to increase the vocational skills of their students, especially in the junior/senior years of high school, it is more important to make sure our paraeducators have a strong understanding of the differences between being a classroom paraprofessional and that of a job coach, if they are serving dual roles.
It is critical that the job coach/paraprofessional understand how to do a task analysis of the job(s) that the student is assigned to do, and then to monitor the student’s progress at increasing their time on those tasks. The job coach paraprofessional also needs to do a weekly evaluation of the student’s improvement of skills. Most importantly, the job coach must fade the support that they have been providing as the student masters the job skills to ensure that they become as independent as possible at the job site.
There are a wide variety of evaluation forms that can be used, and may need to be developed in relationship to the specific job. Some examples include:
This information can also be found under the RESOURCES tab: Job Coach Resources
As more information is released, we will keep you updated!
WIOA what?!?
No… that is NOT Iowa spelled incorrectly! If you have heard the acronym “WIOA” it stands for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.
There are still lots of details to work out as this new process moves forward, so to help you have some basic information, here are several documents that may help you understand some of these changes:
- Memorandum of Agreement notice between IVRS & the DE
- WIOA Webinar Powerpoint – Dec. 2015
- WIOA Webinar – approximately 30 minutes
- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
All of the information above may be found on the Department of Education website under Special Education/Secondary Transition.
As more information comes out, we will keep you posted!
Job Interests Picture Inventory & Strengths, Interests, & Preference Visual
The Job Interests Picture Inventory is another great tool you can use with your students that may need a visual cue on possible employment options.
This form was created by a fellow teacher, so a special thanks for both his creativity AND his willingness to share! Helping and learning from others…. now that’s what we want to model for our kids, right? 🙂
So, since he showed us a great example, if there are other careers that you want your students to have to choose from, you now have a guide for creating one on your own.
You could do something similar by using pictures from a computer program like Board Maker, etc. to make a visual representation to help your students determine their strengths, interests & preferences. Click Strengths, Interests, Preferences Picture Options for yet another great sample that was shared!
Keep all your great ideas coming! Together, we can help make our kids/student’s transition as seamless as possible!
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