Executive Functioning
Strategies
Anna Carlisle, Ed.S.
Mountain Brook Elementary School, AL
@mbecounselor
[email protected]
https://tinyurl.com/m6x7ksc
https://tinyurl.com/mphbn6n
Learning Objectives
1) Explain how executive functioning skills
support student success
2) Identify symptoms of weakness in
executive functioning skills
3) Strategize ways to support executive
functioning development
a diverse group of
cognitive processes
that act in a
coordinated way to
direct perception,
emotion, thought and
action
a set of cognitive
abilities that control
and regulate other
abilities and
behaviors and are
necessary for goaldirected behavior
o Emotional Control
o Impulse Control
o Self-Monitoring
o Working Memory
o Flexibility
o Planning/
o Organization
o Problem Solving
o Metacognition
Prioritizing
o Task Initiation
Cognitive
Processes and
Executive
Functioning
o If we have some knowledge
of how the brain works, we
can better identify
accommodations.
Top-Down Approaches
o What is top-down processing?
o External strategies to calm emotions
o Intentional, explicit instruction of
top-down strategies can improve:
o Emotional Control
o Impulse Control
o Self-Monitoring
How are Top-Down
Strategies Implemented?
o Identify a strategy
o Teach, Model, Practice, Repeat
o Reduces arousal
o Improves affect and motivation
Top-Down Examples
o Progressive Muscle Relaxation
o Breathing Exercises
o Bubbles
o Water
Bottom-Up
Processes
o Our brain’s natural ability
to:
o Reduce sensory input
o Attend to a task
o Ignore distractions
Signs of BottomUp Deficits
o
o
o
o
o
Emotional/Impulse control
Inattention
Self-Monitoring
Working Memory
Planning
Get out your Math
journal and homework
folder.
I can’t find
my journal!
Oh, look!
Here’s my
library book…
What are we
supposed to
be getting?
Environmental
Accommodations
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Remove distracting materials
Reduce visual stimuli
Larger font
Fewer items on a page
Reduce the number of problems
Provide a checklist
Use reminders
Environmental Accommodations
to Improve Organization
o Organize Materials
o 3-ring binder
o
o
o
o
o
Use dividers with labels
Reinforced Paper
3-hole punch all worksheets
Writing materials
Minimize!
o Organize Actions
o Provide a list for:
o Class Routines
o Homework
Impulse Control
Emotional Control
Planning
Prioritizing
Task Initiation
o Cue student randomly to identify if they are on task
o Provide limited number of opportunities in a class for
questions
o Provide only enough support for success
o Utilize rubrics to break down large assignments
o SBI
Objectives of SBI
o Specific behavioral strategy
o What was the feeling/goal?
o Motivational level on a scale
from 1 - 10?
Assumptions of SBI
o Everybody is doing the best they can.
o Behavior is not incomprehensible or
random.
“Behavior follows patterns, which reveal
themselves to the curious observer
free of prejudice or blame or theory.”
SBI Strategies
o "How exactly did you do that?"
o "How did you know it was time
to ____?"
o "How long had you been
thinking about ___?"
NOTE: We are asking "HOW?" not "WHY?"
SBI Strategies
o
o
o
o
o
Body double
Give one direction at a time
Utilize technology
Time timer
Random cues
Each designed to increase self-awareness
Right to Left
New to old information
o Reduce
o Novelty
o Need for Flexibility
o Ability to revise plans in the face of:
o Obstacles
o Set backs
o New information
o Mistakes
o Changing conditions
Accommodations
o Advance familiarization/Pre-teaching
o Provide experiences in smaller structured
setting
o Role play
o Advance warnings (fire drills, tests, being called on
in class)
o Systematic, gradual exposure to new situations
o Help the child reframe the situation
o Modify the nature of the task:
o Mental effort (3/10)
o Decrease speed, volume or complexity of
information
o Break down tasks
o Make tasks close ended
o Provide templates and rubrics
o Help the child understand inflexibility
o Teach them to recognize when they are inflexible
o Teach coping strategies (top down processes)
o Use relaxation strategies, scaling, thought stopping, or attention
diversion
o Plans or rules for specific situations that arise frequently
(Social Stories)
o Develop default strategies that they can fall back on
o Use scripts in problem situations
o Teach them that people make mistakes
Working Memory
o Ability to hold information in the mind while
performing complex tasks
o Teacher provides multi-step instructions together, then
student is able to break them part
o Copying information from the board
o Thinking of homework list and deciding which
materials are needed to complete each
o Incorporates the ability to draw on past learning
or experiences
Working Memory
o Cuing Devices (Time Timer):
o Arrange for verbal/auditory reminders
o Visual cues prominently displayed
o Naturally occurring cues
o Storage Devices:
o Agenda books or calendars
o Notebooks or binders
o Electronic device
Metacognition
o Take a bird’s eye view of oneself in a situation
o Allows you to observe how you problem solve
o Self-monitor or self-evaluate through self-talk,
either aloud or silently, to help focus on the task
at hand
o Very broad skill
o Several of the strategies we have discussed will
help to develop metacognition, specifically SBI.
Strategies for
Homework
o Review upcoming and long-term assignments at the
beginning of each week
o Schedule a time for homework each day
o Consider using mornings for homework
o Physical space should reflect school work environment
o Estimate time required
o Not enough time? What is priority?
o Extra time? What will you do now?
o Pomodoros (specified work time followed by short break)
Online Tools and Support
o educationtothecore.com
o Graphic Organizers
o
o
o
o
inspiration.com
powertyping.com
readwritethink.org
typingclub.com
o literacymathideas.blogspot
Online Tools and Support, cont.
o Understood.org
o Go to link School & Learning  Learning at Home for
links to tools for use at home and school
o https://www.understood.org/~/media/040bf
b1894284d019bf78ac01a5f1513.pdf
o worksheetworks.com
Sources
o Barkley, R.A. (2012). Executive Functions.
o
www.RussellBarkley.org for videos on ADHD and EF
o Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2009). Smart but scattered: The
revolutionary "executive skills" approach to helping kids reach
their potential.
o DrNowell.com - Executive Functioning: Practical Strategies for
Students with ADHD, Presentation by Dr. David Nowell
o Go to link School & Learning  Learning at Home for links to tools for use
at home and school
o Moyes, R.A. (2014). Executive Dysfunction: Strategies for
Educators and Parents