UW LEND All Reads Online Book Club for Families as Mentors
We have had a strong Families as Mentors program that consistently reached 25-40% of our trainees. Seeking to impact more trainees, we piloted this on-line book club as a required activity for our 2019-2020 cohort. We chose Parents and Professionals Partnering for Children with Disabilities, A Dance that Matters by Janice Fialka, Arlene Feldman, and Karen Mikus. It is a case study based, practical and concise. This book gives real-life examples of situations in which trainees may find themselves participating (i.e., providing evaluation feedback or an IEP meeting) from both a family's and a professional's perspectives, providing valuable insight. Providing insight from both perspectives is rare to find in the literature. After conferring with author Janice Fialka (http://www.danceofpartnership.com) and other LEND network leaders, we decided to use the GoodReads online book club platform for our discussion (https://www.goodreads.com) We implemented the pilot for the fall quarter 2019. This involved:
- Creating an invitation-only GoodReads account for UW LEND All Reads;
- Purchasing the books from Janice Fialka (http://www.danceofpartnership.com/books.htm);
- Introducing the "All Reads" concept and expectations* at orientation;
- Outlining discussion points of the book through GoodReads discussion boards;
- Monitoring and responding to online discussion, encouraging engagement throughout the quarter;
- Planning a Dance Party culminating event, inviting Janice Fialka** to join through Zoom.
| Resource Topic(s): | Family Engagement, Trainee Engagement |
| Resource Target Audience(s): |
LEND/DBP Faculty or Staff, LEND/DBP Leadership, LEND/DBP Trainees |
| Resource Format(s): | Curriculum/Educational Material |
| Resource Published: | 08/01/2019 |
