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What are executive functioning skills?

And how do we deliberately teach them?

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Executive functioning skills

Set of skills we use to function in school, work, and to manage everyday life.

The management system of the brain

Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things.

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10 Executive Functioning Skills

Planning
Time management
Metacognition
Organization
Working memory

Decision Making Skills

Behavioral Regulation Skills

6. Self-Control

7. Flexibility

8. Attention

9. Task initiation

10. Perseverance

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Planning

Developing a well-thought out strategy before even starting a task

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Impetuousness

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Task initiation

Being able to start tasks without having to be told, independent worker

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Procrastination

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Organization

Developing and maintaining a system to keep materials and plans orderly

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Messiness

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Time management

Using your time well and efficiently when working on a task.

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Focus

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Working memory

Being able to hold information in order to apply it to what you are working on

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Memorization

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Metacognition

Being aware of your own strengths, weaknesses

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Hubris

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Self-control

Regulating oneself including thoughts, actions, and emotions.

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Impulsivity

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Attention

Being able to focus for a sustained period of time.

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Shiny things

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Flexibility

Being able to adapt when things do not go according to plan.

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Stubbornness

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Perseverance

Sticking with something even when it gets challenging.

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Fear of failure

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“Executive function strategies help students to go beyond the content that is being taught, so that learning is process-based rather than only outcome-based.

- Dr. Lynn Meltzer

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Steps to successfully teaching EFS

Build rapport

They won’t even try if they don’t trust you. How can you build trust?

No reward or punishments.

Explicit instruction

Cannot assume they know these, no matter what the age.

Have to be clear and model for them.

Supports

Do you have accommodations in place for students to achieve success?

Have you brought kids into the process of determining these accommodations?

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Metacognition cycle

G – gradual

A – adjustable

P – personalized

S – simple

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Rank your own abilities for each of these EFS, 10 being your strongest, 1 being your weakest

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Planning

Perseverance

Attention

10

5

1

Go to https://forms.gle/T4YMJNcEXBuyJKGYA in order to help you rank them

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Executive Function Skills cheat sheet

Time management

Using your time well and efficiently.

Flexibility

Being able to adapt when things do not go according to plan.

Metacognition

Being aware of your own strengths, weaknesses

Attention

Being able to focus for a sustained period of time.

Self control

Regulating oneself including thoughts, actions, and emotions.

Perseverance

Sticking with something even when it gets challenging.

Organization

Developing and maintaining a system to keep materials and plans orderly

Planning

Developing a well-thought out strategy before even starting a task

Task initiation

Being able to start tasks without having to be told, independent worker

Working memory

Being able to hold information in order to apply it to what you are working on

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Coping strategies you have developed for your weaker skills.

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	Strategy A	Strategy B	Strategy C
Attention	Try to minimize distractions (i.e. television, music with lyrics, phone)	Focus on one thing at a time and get that done before moving on to something else.	Put myself in places where there are limited distractions.
Self-Control	Giving myself a time to work to (i.e. work for 30 minutes, work until 12:45)	Creating a schedule to keep me on a good pace and checking in with it.	Trap myself in situations where I have to work.
Task initiation	Have a checklist at the beginning What am I doing? - What will I need? - How do I get starter	Keeping the end in mind so I know how to parcel out my time.	Convincing myself to get started and work just for 5 minutes.

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What are your top 3 skills?

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Organization

Planning

Flexibility

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Time to work

You are going to choose one executive functioning skill to focus on.
Could be one you are weak at. Could be one your are strong.
Watch the video that provides strategies for teaching this strategy in the classroom.
Develop your own lesson for how you are going to be intentional about teaching the skill.

Over 5 hours of content created to teach about EFS

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Project-Based Learning

Flexibility

Perseverance/

Attention

Planning/Organization

Task Initiation/Self-Control

Time Management

Metacognition/

Working Memory

When starting a project, students will need to plan what that will look like and figure out how to organize it

They will also need to manage their time to make sure they complete the project by the deadline

Because the teacher is not assigning the work, students will need to take it on themselves and initiate it.

Part of most projects involve gathering information and then determining how to use it for their project.

Things don’t always go according to plan in a project so students will need to figure out plans B, C, and D

Students will need to stick with the work until the end and maintain their focus.

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Reflection

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Exit Ticket

Reflection on-action

What are some things you learned today that you hadn’t taken into consideration or focused on previously?

Reflection in-action

How will you move forward in your awareness of 2e students?

What practices will you change or adjust to meet their needs?

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Some resources to consider

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Todd Talks

Watch free tutorials on strategies to reach all children.

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THANKS!

Any questions?

You can find me at

@the_gifted_guy
thegiftedguy@yahoo.com

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