Executive function strategies are essential for successful learning. But executive function processes are not just for school; we use executive function strategies in every aspect of our daily lives. With the holidays approaching, let’s explore how you can use executive function strategies to pull off a perfectly roasted Thanksgiving turkey.

Goal Setting

Goal setting is at the heart of executive function. You must understand the endpoint, and the steps it will take to get there if you are going to be successful. This holiday, since I can’t travel home to be with my family, my goal is to cook a delicious meal, complete with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and dessert. I know it’s important to eat healthy food (junk food is bad for my executive function) so I look for recipes that are healthy, tasty, and will feed a small group.

Cognitive Flexibility

Thinking flexibly as you adopt and apply strategies is essential to success. As students get older and take on more challenging academic work, they must shift and adopt new strategies that keep pace with the demands they face. You never know what real-life situations will test your flexible thinking. As I shift from someone who eats the turkey to the person who cooks it, I will need to adopt a new perspective. What new challenges will I face? What new strategies will I have to adopt, and what strategies will I have to leave behind?

Organizing and Prioritizing

Many students and adults may struggle with organization; however, the ability to break down tasks, create categories, and prioritize the steps is a must! As I peruse recipes for roasting a turkey, I review the ingredients and the steps to prepare and cook. My plan and time management rely on accurate time estimation and an organized approach.

Accessing Working Memory

Working memory allows us to access the information we need, whether from short- or long-term memory, as we complete our tasks. In school, we often talk about the working memory demands of following directions or completing a math problem. As I cook my turkey, I will use my working memory to keep up with the recipe.

Self-Monitoring and Self-Checking

Whether you’re cooking, completing your homework, or checking your taxes, self-monitoring and self-checking help us ensure that we are truly doing our best work. Working memory helps us make sense of what is happening around us. As I cook the turkey, I can use a variety of self-checking strategies from making sure I’m following the recipe steps to checking to make sure the turkey is fully cooked.

Metacognitive Awareness

Self-understanding is an often overlooked aspect of executive function strategy use. Developing metacognition is an active process. Knowing what our strengths and challenges are, reflecting on our performance, and deciding how we will apply this knowledge moving forward allows us to become truly independent and strategic, whether as students, teachers, parents, or chefs. As I reflect on my previous cooking adventures, I remember that one time I roasted a chicken and it was too dry. What did I do wrong? How can I apply that knowledge to my Thanksgiving turkey? Better yet, maybe this year we’ll just order a pizza.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the SMARTS Executive Function program! We hope you all have a safe and restful holiday.

• Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

At our recent ResearchILD 35th Annual Learning Differences Conference, we brought together researchers and educators who shared ways to build classroom environments that support students’ executive function development. Here are a few takeaways that you can incorporate into any classroom.

Executive Function and Academics

Dr. Stephanie Carlson, who presented on executive functions and school readiness, described how her research findings have shown that strong executive functioning skills in early childhood are correlated with academic achievement. Cognitive flexibility is particularly important as children accommodate new knowledge and information into their mental schemata. Dr. Carlson shared a game called Bear and Dragon that early childhood educators can play with their students to increase cognitive flexibility and working memory skills.

Visualizing Strategies

Dr. Peg Dawson, author of the Smart but Scattered book series, shared ways of making executive function strategies visible in the classroom. Visualizing executive functions can be a way for students to create mental representations for completing their work. Dr. Dawson suggested displaying posters with questions to help spark students’ metacognition and posting the materials that children will need so they can prepare ahead of time. To help students think strategically, she recommended providing small cards that pair executive functions with descriptive images.

Slow Processing Speed in a Fast-Paced World

How quickly can your students “get things done”? Dr. Ellen Braaten shared her research on how students with slow processing speed may have difficulty processing, assessing, and responding to information. Many children with ADHD or slow processing speed may need support to build their perception of time. To help students form a more accurate sense of passing time, Dr. Braaten emphasized teaching students to use analog clocks and stopwatches. Teachers can also model what it looks like to estimate how long an activity may take.

What is your best classroom tip for promoting executive function development in your students? Check out these links if you’re looking for more ways to have fun with executive function, integrate executive function into your virtual teaching, and set up an EF-friendly classroom

• Caitlin Vanderberg, SMARTS Intern

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

ResearchILD’s 35th Annual Learning Differences Conference brought together educators from across the globe to hear from speakers at the forefront of executive function research and implementation in schools. One idea that rang true across many presentations was the impact that an encouraging mentor or supporter can have on a student’s sense of self-efficacy and success.

Nurturing Resilience

Dr. Robert Brooks, who kicked off the conference, shared ideas about how to nurture resilience in students during challenging times. In order to help students cope effectively in the face of adversity, Dr. Brooks emphasizes that children need a “charismatic adult” from whom they can garner strength. Teachers, who often provide this role, must ensure that their students feel welcomed and supported at school before launching into the instruction of academics and executive function strategies.

This sense of security and community is a key ingredient in creating a classroom context that empowers students. Morning meetings and homeroom times can include opportunities for building student mentorships so students feel heard. Dr. Brooks reminds us that it is crucial to build relationships with students and help them feel a sense of purpose, especially in the era of virtual learning.

The Power of One

Dr. Anthony Bashir, a professor at Emerson College and co-founder of Architects For Learning, led one of the conference’s panels alongside two SMARTS alumni, Chace Nolen and William Warren. Dr. Bashir introduced the idea that a single mentor can help guide students through “liminal space,” a place of uncertainty and unknowing.

Supporting this concept, William described a teacher who never gave up on him, trying multiple strategies until he received the help he needed. Chace, recounting the ways he saw aspects of his younger self in his fifth-grade mentee, noted how the SMARTS program gave him a framework for understanding how his brain worked and how it could grow and change.

The importance of relationships for executive function learning and academic success is clear. Whether it is a “charismatic adult,” a peer in middle or high school, or a friend in elementary school, having someone who believes in us can truly change the story we tell ourselves about our self-worth and strengths.

• Caitlin Vanderberg, SMARTS Intern

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

This year has been full of challenging moments that have disrupted our lives, making it easy to sink into negative thinking patterns and an apathetic mindset. By surrendering to apathy, however, we are yielding our sense of control. Believing that your effort matters is key to maintaining a growth mindset.

Time to Reframe

Many of the things that have made 2020 so challenging are beyond our control. However, rather than viewing our efforts to cope with these challenges as fruitless, we can reframe our approach. Even setbacks that we have no control over are an opportunity to learn how to persist.

Many of us, for example, have experienced disruptions in our daily and weekly schedules. We can reframe these disruptions as a newly allocated time to realign our lives with what matters to us. Whether we find new ways to re-energize or explore personal interests, finding small ways we can reclaim control allows us to move beyond bemoaning what we perceive to be missing out on. Small choices can allow us to regain our growth mindset, helping us be more resilient during tough times.

Ask Questions for Self-Understanding

We can also act on the internal monologue that drives our character by asking questions. For example:

1. What challenges am I experiencing?
2. What can I do to persist in the face of setbacks?
3. What criticisms of me have I been indignant towards?
4. How can I address them in a productive way to grow as a person?
5. Who can I channel as a model for the traits I aspire to embody?

By asking these types of questions, we understand ourselves better (key to addressing challenges strategically) and avoid surrendering to a fixed mindset. Even as we encounter injustice and the unknown, we can choose to apply what we know about ourselves to charting a course through, promoting hope instead of despair.

We are not what we feel, but we feel many things throughout the day as a result of our mindset and approach to the world. By shifting our approach from something fixed to something more generative, we engage with the potential that has yet to be reached.

• Iris Jeffries, SMARTS Intern