Navigating Educational Transitions with Jane Singleton

Show Notes:
Today on the FAST 15, we welcome Jane Singleton, an expert in educational development and coaching with over 12 years of experience. Jane brings a wealth of knowledge in the fields of psychology, communication studies, and special education, having earned her B.S. from James Madison University and an M.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Jane has sought advanced learning opportunities, including The Harvard Institute: The Art of Leadership and executive coaching certification. She applies her experience and knowledge to guide individuals and organizations through successful academic and personal growth.

In this episode, Jane shares her insights into education, coaching, and the journey towards successful transitions for students and individuals in special education. We discuss strategies for building self-determination and self-advocacy, creating inclusive environments, and focusing on strengths.

We also touch on the importance of effective communication between home and school, including best practices for enhancing partnerships between educators and parents.

For more information about Jane Singleton's work and her company, Launchpad for Life, be sure to check the links in the show notes. You can also find her contact information for free consultations on her website.

Connect with Jane Singleton:

• Website: Launchpad for Life
• Email:  launchpadlearning4life@gmail.com

Special Thanks:
A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors, Specially Designed Education Services, publishers of The Functional Academics Program. Learn more about their comprehensive program that helps students with moderate to severe disabilities improve their ability to live independently at www.sdesworks.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Today on the Fast 15, we welcome Jane Singleton, an expert in educational development and coaching with over 12 years of experience. With a strong background in psychology and communication studies from James Madison University and a master's degree in special education from the College of William Mary, Jane brings a wealth of knowledge to our conversation. She has also pursued advanced learning opportunities in leadership and executive coaching, enhancing her ability to guide others. Join us as we explore Jane's insights into education, coaching and the journey toward successful academic and personal growth for both students and other champions in the field of special education both students and other champions in the field of special education.

Speaker 1: 0:45

I'm so excited to welcome Jane Singleton to the Fast 15 today. Thank you for spending some time with us, Jane and I was reading through your information, your bio, and it's so interesting to me that you've got some really cool things happening with Launchpad for Life and the influence that you're having with families and helping young adults with advocacy and the transitions that they go through in life, and I just wanted a chance to have the listeners hear a little bit about you, just basically your role to start off with. Can you share a little bit about who you are and what you?

Speaker 2: 1:24

do, of course, and thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm currently in Salt Lake City, utah. As you mentioned, my company is Launchpad for Life and I focus on coaching individuals that are neurodiverse as well as leaders, and I use my background in special education to really assist with effective communication, cognitive efficiency as well as self-awareness, which I think is what you have to start with every time. I also do a lot of educational trainings and workshops with organizations as it relates to areas in working with neurodiverse individuals, and I have a background of building special ed programs from scratch in independent schools.

Speaker 1: 2:06

That's amazing and from scratch. That's got to be quite a journey, and you know to set something up for students when there wasn't anything there and just the creativity that you can have. Right To not be bound to one certain way of doing things. Obviously, I have extensive experience in coaching families and individuals through those life transitions, and so what are those key strategies, those insights that you found along the way, the things that are most effective in helping individuals successfully navigate major educational transitions?

Speaker 2: 2:46

successfully navigate major educational transitions. I think for me, the number one strategy is that you have to involve your child in these conversations and in the brainstorming session. Okay, I have worked pre-K through 12th and I never cease to be surprised by the reflection and innovative ideas that students themselves come up with. And I also think, as we work together collaboratively with families, ultimately it's the student that has to engage in habit change or use a strategy. And I think kids, as they get older, they are yearning for more and more independence.

Speaker 2: 3:17

And I think when we as adults swoop in and create like I think unintentionally, if I'm being honest these kind of top-down systems we do and we're telling them what to do and how to do it, then when they feel like they don't have a voice, they actually lean more into either learned helplessness and disengagement or, in the opposite case, they're somewhat oppositional to the plan that's been put in place.

Speaker 2: 3:41

I think the more we give them a voice and brainstorm and I often tell parents and teachers I was like, even if this student comes up with an idea that you think, oh, this is, I know where this is going to head, because we have more experience it's so essential to let them try it. I say things like great, and we'll come back together and reflect right, get them to engage in like executive functioning and if it doesn't work, then we're going to probably have to try something else. And from there, you've empowered them to have a voice and they're learning to trust their gut, but they're also feeling respected, which will empower them to be better self-advocate Right, and that's so, so important.

Speaker 1: 4:21

You know, like you were saying, that prompt dependency, that learned helplessness can really happen unintentionally when there's a lot of fear about you know, oh, my child or my young adult might fail. We don't want them to fail, right, and so we try to help out. But our helping doesn't always help.

Speaker 2: 4:41

A couple other like insights I think are worth sharing is, I think, obviously, depending on the age of the child, engaging in what I call is backwards planning is super important, because I think it's hard for kids to see the big picture.

Speaker 2: 4:54

But if you do backwards planning and attach it to let them maybe where they want to be in two years or three years, long-term goals can look different depending on the age of the kid, and then you can help them see that these strategies, or even the transition itself, how it's a stepping stone to get them to where they want to be. And I think it's hard for them to see that unless you actually do the backwards planning, because they're not thinking that far ahead. But of course parents are, and that's how we build a better communication system within the family unit. And then the other thing that I think is important to note as a parent or guardian, sometimes what you want as the parent or guardian is going to be different from what your child wants, and I think how you handle that will impact the transition itself in so many different ways. So a huge piece of my job in coaching is how do I help to facilitate healthy communication within a family unit, because it's hard to let go as a parent and build that.

Speaker 1: 5:52

So I think that's how, through coaching, I'm really able to facilitate that and they can become observers in a different way within those conversations You're talking about building self-determination, self-advocacy, and then you're also empowering families, and then how do you help students and the families really navigate those inclusive environments as those strategies are implemented? What do those strategies look like when you're pursuing curriculum that needs to be followed, but in general education settings and all of that inclusion? What does your work look like and your protocols in that aspect?

Speaker 2: 6:33

I mean I think if there's a misalignment of goals, it's like finding where there is common ground and I think sometimes mean I think if there's a misalignment of goals, it's like finding where there is common ground and I think sometimes right, I would say when I see the two, it's also building the self-awareness within the student is important and I think in the general curriculum sometimes, when can you let go of some things that don't have to be perfect, like if maybe math is never going to be the best, like it's always going to be the Achilles heel, and how can we move forward and how can we also be feeding strength and leaning into that without like preventing the kid from being able to be proud of themselves holistically?

Speaker 2: 7:06

I think we have to be careful not to nitpick and really honor small wins as we go along and understand that I think behavioral and habit change. If you look at all the research, not just for kids, for adults, it takes a long time and so how do we celebrate and keep motivation up and self-esteem and you have to acknowledge those small wins and I think it's okay to talk futuristically, right School, we don't have to take all these subjects for like the rest of our lives, and once you are able to specialize and work more in your lane of strengths, life changes.

Speaker 1: 7:43

That is so good, and focusing on strengths is critical to the success of all team members as we plan for the future, and especially our students. And speaking of the future, I want to take a moment to make sure that all of our listeners are getting ready and excited for the launch of some incredibly innovative and intuitive tools that Functional Academics is bringing to students and IEP teams in just a few months. If you're not already aware of what Functional Academics has to offer, make sure you check out their website and be sure to subscribe to the Fast 15 so that you don't miss out on their incredible offering. Let's hear a bit from them now.

Speaker 3: 8:25

Functional Academics by SDES's collaborative work with educators and families, just like you, provides an in-depth understanding of your needs in the community we serve. You've asked, we listen, it's coming. Stay tuned with more to come at SDESworkscom.

Speaker 1: 8:42

One of the things that I love most about SDES is that they are dedicated to us as special educators to provide tools that are actually meaningful and relevant to what we're experiencing in the classroom. They create content that is by teachers for teachers, and they truly value perspective and listen. Let's continue to listen to Jane Singleton as she shares her perspective as a champion in the field. I'm really interested in your perspective with executive functioning and building those skills. I work with a lot of students out in general ed settings and a lot of times the success really centers around executive functioning. Are you able to identify a goal and move toward it, like you're saying, breaking it down in the small steps, the small wins to get to where we want students to go and having them be in charge of that movement, without the imposing general ed teacher, special ed teacher and parents? How do we really focus in on developing those executive functioning skills with our young adults?

Speaker 2: 9:52

Well, when I'm coaching around executive functioning, I start with self-awareness. I don't think you can make a good goal or achievable goal unless you have self-awareness of how you're impacted where you're at right now and see where those barriers impact you from getting to where you want to be. So, again, the theory and like art of coaching to me is is active inquiry, and active inquiry isn't telling, but rather asking the right questions so that my clients can see the patterns in their behavior instead of thinking of them as isolated incidents. So a client might come up with like right, I'm so stressed out all the time. And then I was like, okay, what are you stressed out about? And then they start to name these things that they think are isolated.

Speaker 2: 10:39

But the theme is maybe time management or the theme is right, they're constantly frantic because they're always behind and they don't actually have a strategy in place. And so, through that right, we have to empower them where they do have ownership. They have ownership in the strategies and structures they put in place. They don't have control over whether their boss gives them too many assignments, right? So you have to figure out where you can control those things.

Speaker 2: 11:06

And then the second important step still goes back to creating space for them to develop the strategies, the coaching philosophy. For sure is that I believe every individual that's facing the problem is the person that's best equipped to solve those problems and come up with a reasonable strategy for them.

Speaker 1: 11:25

Because what we each do, we have different systems that work for our own personalities and our own lifestyle, and everybody is juggling different balls in that way, right and it has to be sustainable over a long period of time, right, and, like you're saying, it has to come from the self-awareness and building the self-esteem, so that they are confident and see where the thread through of all of those patterns, like you were saying, it's not just in school, it's not just an isolated incident. You're you were talking about patterns that affect home life, school life, work life, all of those things. And then teaching those functional and executive functioning skills to be established on their own in small little incremental steps. That's awesome. I love that kind of coaching. Can you give one specific example, without giving away names or anything like that? But is there anything that comes to mind as a success, a win with a family or a student in particular, that you can kind of like put on display for us?

Speaker 2: 12:37

Okay. So what's coming to mind for me now is a family I worked with and was hired. One of the goals of the coaching was to be able to come to a decision around if college or working would be the best way forward. And in the end I think, misalignment right. The parents really for good reason, the parents really wanted their child to be in college for X, Y and Z reasons. But where the young adult was in taking advantage of the supports in place, they weren't necessarily emotionally ready for those aspects. So it wasn't about hey, I can put all of these things in front of you, but if you're not ready to use them, then it's not going to make a difference.

Speaker 2: 13:20

And so I think, through facilitating that conversation, I was able to one redirect and when I asked the question, I wanted my client, the young adult, to answer instead of the parent answering for them, and so I was like so again, you can't. If it were just the two of them, that would have never been able to happen. But I was able to say, okay, I want, please let him answer this question. And then, through like listening and facilitation, the dad was like oh, my gosh, you're right. So it doesn't matter, because this is where he's at, and I think that goes back to really understanding.

Speaker 2: 13:57

When we talk about meeting a kid or meeting a young adult where they're at, it always goes back to SMART goals. Is it achievable? Are we constantly putting our kid in positions where it's one more thing that they fail at and think about those layers over time? And so the pacing needs to be at the pace of the abilities of that kid in that moment, Because if they don't feel success, that deeply impacts motivation, that deeply impacts self-esteem and, of course, all those're really in that last question just really highlighted the importance of effective communication with home and school, that parent connection that teachers can have.

Speaker 1: 14:42

It's just vital to student successes. So can you share just a few more insights on best practices from your perspective? Best practices from your perspective Appreciative inquiry is something that you called out. I want to know more about that. Can you help us understand, from your perspective, appreciative inquiry and how that can enhance communication channels between educators and parents? What role does positive communication play in fostering that collective partnership Right?

Speaker 2: 15:15

So I think a little bit with the self-awareness piece with appreciative inquiry is that I just want to acknowledge for parents, for teachers definitely as a special educator, I think there can. There's a lot of internal pressure, a lot of pressure we put on ourselves to feel like you need to have all the answers and rush to solutions. Right, because usually it's emotional. For sure, emotions are high when a student is struggling, and I think it's so important. The reason I like appreciative inquiry is because it requires that we validate and are more curious in approaching difficult conversations that have high emotion. So to me, appreciative inquiry validates feelings and frames questions in a way that guide negative energy into productive or solution-based thinking.

Speaker 2: 16:00

So I'll give you an example right, you have a tense meeting. Right, and again, as a teacher, when people are coming at you, right, whether the parent feels attacked by the teacher for not doing enough or vice versa, we need to acknowledge. Right, you'd say you're upset, that means you care. Tell me more about this commitment and, like what you do, care about. Right, we're asking questions, we're validating, we're observing and then from there the hope is we'll get more to the root of what the parent or the teacher really cares about in that moment. Another example would be like you sound really overwhelmed, but also unhappy with the current status. What's one small step you think would be good to move forward? So it's simple, but it includes, like the validation of feelings, and I think that these question techniques allow people to feel that you want to build partnership and that one person's opinion isn't better than the others. And again it shows this like olive branch of like I don't have all the answers, and like working together collaboratively, we're likely to come up like with the best solution.

Speaker 1: 17:06

And like your seat at the table is just as important as mine, right, and Jane, I can't think of an IEP case manager that doesn't feel so deeply, you know, for their students. They want success for their students but they're often so intimidated or scared of that partnership, knowing that maybe the parent isn't happy with what's happening in the classroom or with the programming that you're putting in place. And I love that strategy that you described because you know it focuses on the question. It validates where the other is coming from right and the pathway to move forward through it. There's something tangible that you're describing to actually be able to do, to navigate those difficult conversations, to actually be able to do to navigate those difficult conversations. And, yep, I really appreciate that. How can our listeners find out more about your work and what you're doing if they want to somehow work with you or navigate to? We just want people to know about Launchpad for Life.

Speaker 2: 18:10

My website has a plethora of information on there. I offer free 20-minute consultations because I think fit's important. I'm not here to like take on clients that I don't think I can help, so I do. They're welcome to contact me through my website or through my email directly. Those are the best ways for contact. My phone number is also on my website if that's easier. But they reach out and know that I do do free consultations just to see okay, is this a good fit? And so it's clear how I can help. So we have a guide for really what the contract for coaching is. What are the North Stars? What are we really working on? So I clarify that in those calls.

Speaker 1: 18:48

Sounds good and we'll make sure that all of those links are in the show notes. So if you're listening and want more information about Launchpad for Life, make sure you get to the show notes and get those links and make those connections. And well, Jane, this is such a privilege to get a chance to talk to you. Thank you for your time today and for just your positive approach to working with families and navigating those transitions into life through and after high school. Really appreciate it Wonderful.

Speaker 2: 19:19

Thank you so much for the opportunity. I really enjoyed the conversation. You're welcome. Take care, we'll talk soon.

Speaker 1: 19:24

All right Bye. A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors, Specially Designed Education Services. Publishers of the Functional Academics Program, Please take a moment to learn more about the only true comprehensive functional academics program that enables students with moderate to severe disabilities to improve their ability to live independently and show meaningful growth both academically and personally, while creating accountability with data-driven, evidence-based results. Visit SDESWorkscom to learn more.