Monthly Archives: August 2021

Student Perspective: How to Make Summer Work Less Stressful

ADHD, Stress

How can teachers make summer work less stressful for their students? This student-authored post is part of a series that highlights student perspectives around learning and executive function in the classroom. 

As the end of summer approaches, I have started to stress about my summer work. Therefore, I have three suggestions for teachers to make summer work more manageable for students.

Reconsider Assigning Work

My first suggestion is not to assign any work. I know many teachers will roll their eyes at this suggestion, but it’s valid. Once students get into high school, they have more on their plates, even in the summertime. Many students have jobs, work on preparing for college, take extra classes, or complete any number of other activities. Adding more academic work to their plate makes students feel as though they have no break at all. As a student with dyslexia and ADHD, it’s tough for me; it takes me double the time of my classmates to complete most assignments.

Avoid Testing on Summer Material

Another way to make work less stressful is to avoid testing on summer material. Summer academic work is assigned to prevent backslide, to teach students new things, or help them spark an interest in something. It should by no means feel like a punishment. 

Teachers also need to consider that students’ priorities change in the summer. They don’t have as much time, so many students have to pick and choose what to do first. So when they get to school, not all the material will be fresh in their minds. All of this is especially true when applied to students with learning differences. For example, I have a different experience reading a book than many of my classmates. It can be challenging when tested on a book, especially when I started reading it three months ago.

Be Clear About the Purpose of Summer Work

My final suggestion to mitigate summer stress is to tell your students ahead of time what the work will be used to accomplish. As I suggested, summer work should be just for the experience and not graded. But if you think it’s crucial to assign summer work, tell your students ahead of time what their end goal should be. For example, if you want your students to write a paper on a summer reading book, tell them ahead of time, so they can prioritize all of their work.

Will you be teaching SMARTS next year? Join us for the SMARTS Executive Function Summer Workshop (August 10th, August 12th, August 17th, and August 19th). If you are interested in hearing from equity-minded educators from across the country, join us for the 36th Annual Executive Function Conference. Learn more and register today.

  • C. Solomon, Student Contributor

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Lessons from ResearchILD’s 2020-2021 EF and Equity Fellows: Part III

Equity, metacognition, Self Advocacy

All educators play a crucial role in counteracting systemic racism and developing equitable approaches that support the success of every student. Our Executive Function (EF) and Equity Fellowship brings together educators from across the US to explore how schools are addressing students’ executive function needs through an equity lens. This post, the last in a three-part series, highlights the lessons that emerged from conversations with our 2020-2021 EF and Equity Fellows and guest speakers. 

Draw on Your Community’s Shared Knowledge

During ResearchILD’s monthly EF and Equity gatherings, our Fellows and guest speakers shared their experiences honoring all students’ identities and teaching executive function strategies.

These gatherings and ensuing conversations underscored an important finding—our community contained a rich fund of knowledge and experiences from which we could all learn.

Here are three takeaways from our conversations:

  • Teach students to navigate the context of their school system. This can include teaching students how to access existing resources, determine what questions to ask, and understand their school’s culture.
  • Helping students develop greater self-understanding can enable them to develop their self-advocacy skills. Executive function strategy instruction begins with teaching students to understand themselves as learners and become aware of their strengths and challenges. 
  • Executive function strategies are for all students. Explicitly and systematically teaching executive function strategies can open up new pathways as students learn to successfully navigate novel situations in their classrooms, schools, and personal lives.

Conversations with our EF and Equity fellows reaffirmed that we don’t have to look far to find inspiration and ideas. Our colleagues and community members may offer ways to recognize and build upon students’ existing funds of knowledge to make the curriculum personally relevant for them. 

EF and Equity

Are you interested in becoming a 2021-2022 EF and Equity Fellow? Learn more about the fellowship and application process. If you would like to hear more from equity-minded educators, join us for the 36th Annual Executive Function Conference. Learn more and register today!

  • Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Program Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Student Perspective: A Helpful Way to Boost Your Students’ Reading Skills

Posts


Offering creative reading challenges can help students develop a love of reading. This student-authored post is part of a series that highlights student perspectives around learning and executive function in the classroom. 

People often assume that students with learning differences, especially those with dyslexia, cannot understand high-level material; this is not true. I have found that reading above my grade level has helped build my vocabulary and expose me to ideas that I would not have otherwise encountered.  

Offer Students Choices

When reading at a high level, students should have a say in what they’re reading. When students are interested in what they’re reading, it gives them a reason to keep reading, even when it gets tricky. For me, assistive technology such as audiobooks was a big help, so it is important to remember that using those tools can benefit many students. 

Using upper-level reading material will be hard for some students, so it is important to keep in mind what students are currently reading. You can’t expect them to make too big a leap, like from reading The Cat in the Hat straight to Shakespeare. Also, remember not to put too much pressure on students when asking them to read high-level books. It’s an important exercise to have them do this, but it should be fun. 

Create a Relaxed Reading Environment

As a teacher, it’s essential to make sure that you’ve created a space where students feel comfortable coming to you if they have trouble with a passage or word. Parents can also help expose students to high-level reading by encouraging their children to read or listen to more books that might be a little bit out of their comfort range. By doing this, it will help them build up to more complex texts. 

The goal should be to boost students’ love of reading and expose them to higher-level material. It doesn’t necessarily have to be graded or be made unnecessarily complicated—no notes, no essays, no journaling, no book reports. Just let them read!

To read more student perspectives, check out the Real-Life Experiences with Remote Learning series. If you are interested in building your executive function toolkit, join us for the Executive Function Summer Summit (July 27th, July 29th, August 3rd, and August 5th) and the SMARTS Executive Function Summer Workshop (August 10th, August 12th, August 17th, and August 19th).

  • C. Solomon, Student Contributor

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org