Monthly Archives: September 2021

36th Annual EF Conference Speaker Spotlight: Dr. Lynn Meltzer on Creating Strategic Classrooms

EF Conference

This is the seventh post in a series that highlights the speakers of this year’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, which will focus on promoting resilience and equity for ALL students.

This November, we are honored to feature the Director of the Institutes for Learning and Development (ResearchILD & ILD), Lynn Meltzer, Ph.D., who will speak about “Creating Strategic Classrooms: Re-Engaging Students to Promote Self-Understanding and Resilience.”

Dr. Meltzer is a fellow and past-president of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. She is the founder and program chair of the Annual Executive Function Conference, which she has chaired for over 35 years. For 30 years, she was an associate in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Child Development at Tufts University. Dr. Meltzer’s 40 years of clinical work, research, publications, and presentations have focused on understanding the complexity of learning and attention differences.  

Dr. Meltzer’s extensive publications include articles, chapters, and books, most recently, Executive Function in Education: From Theory to Practice (2018), Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom (2010), and The Power of Peers in the Classroom: Enhancing Learning and Social Skills (2015). Together with her ResearchILD staff, Dr. Meltzer developed SMARTS, an evidence-based Executive Function and Peer Mentoring/ Coaching Curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students.

2021 Executive Function Conference

Dr. Meltzer founded the “Learning Disabilities Conference” thirty-six years ago while at Harvard Medical School. This conference was the first of its kind, connecting theorists, researchers, and teachers to improve the lives of students with learning and attention difficulties. Over the years, the name of the conference has changed to emphasize students’ strengths and resilience. However, the focus has remained on executive function as the foundation of success for ALL students. At this year’s conference, you can hear from Dr. Meltzer and a number of distinguished speakers who will address issues related to executive function, resilience, and equity. Dr. Meltzer’s talk will focus on building strategic classrooms. 

Strategy Use in the Classroom

How can teachers ensure that their classrooms are places where students can develop and refine their strategy use? At ResearchILD’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, Dr. Meltzer will describe how teachers can create strategic classrooms and learning environments. Dr. Meltzer will also highlight ways to promote students’ self-awareness and self-understanding. Self-understanding is a critical aspect of metacognition, which is the key to academic and lifelong success. Dr. Meltzer’s talk will cover strategies for promoting metacognitive awareness so we can help students to learn HOW to learn. She will also discuss the new MetaCOG Online survey system, an interactive executive function survey tool that highlights students’ perceptions of their executive function strategy use, self-concept, perceived effort, and persistence.

Learn More

You can learn more about Dr. Lynn Meltzer and her work:

Raffle for New Registrants—starting 9/24! All new conference registrants will be entered into a special raffle through October 17. Choose one of many great options, including a full year’s access to the SMARTS Executive Function program, a seat at the upcoming Executive Function Essentials Workshops, or your own library of EF resources!

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS 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: Interdisciplinary Learning

Posts,

What are the benefits of interdisciplinary learning? This student-authored post is part of a series that highlights student perspectives around learning and executive function in the classroom. 

I will start by saying that I have had few encounters with interdisciplinary learning. What I have gathered from those few experiences has led me to a favorable view of the practice.

In my experience, interdisciplinary learning is when students are taught a topic or idea through multiple subjects. For instance, learning about the dangers of climate change from a scientific perspective in science class while reading a dystopian novel based on climate change in English. 

As someone with ADHD, it can be hard for me to focus on anything, let alone the thousands of facts I’m supposed to know in any given week. I feel this becomes more complex because my different classes seem to have no relevance to each other.

For example, this year my English class was reading a book on World War II, while at the same time my history class was teaching us about apartheid in South Africa. This was difficult for me because I would get the dates and facts about the two time periods mixed up in my head. If these two classes had synced up their curriculums, I could have spent less time focusing on remembering mere facts and more time on essential skills.

Another benefit of interdisciplinary learning is that it allows me to link different topics together. In school, teachers will tell me to draw from experiences that I’ve had or issues I’ve already learned about to influence my understanding of what I’m learning. But often, I find that my experience or previous education is not relevant to what I’m studying. Going in-depth on one topic and teaching it through multiple classes would allow me to draw more of those connections, even if I don’t have prior knowledge of the topic.

Join us this November for the 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, which will focus on promoting resilience and equity for ALL students.

  • 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

36th Annual EF Conference Speaker Spotlight: David Flink on Identity, Advocacy, and Accommodations

EF Conference, Peer Coaching, Self Advocacy

This is the fifth post in a series that highlights the speakers of this year’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, which will focus on promoting resilience and equity for ALL students.

This November, we are honored to feature David Flink, Ed.M., who will offer a session on “Identity, Advocacy, and Accommodations: Transitioning to a World After COVID.”

Building Stronger Classroom Experiences

How can educators work to rebuild stronger classroom experiences than the ones we left behind before COVID-19? At ResearchILD’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, David Flink will discuss the importance of embracing students’ identities, providing effective accommodations, and promoting self-advocacy to build stronger and better classroom experiences for all students. This session will focus on taking advantage of the opportunity we currently have to build a more equitable education system that meets the needs of all students.

David Flink is the Founder & Chief Empowerment Officer of Eye to Eye, an organization dedicated to improving the life of every young person with learning differences.

Through Eye to Eye’s mentoring program, high school and college students with learning differences are trained to mentor similarly-identified middle school students. Eye to Eye is the only national organization run for and by people with learning and attention issues, like dyslexia and ADHD. In March of 2021, David was named a CNN hero for helping to unlock greatness in the 1 in 5 students who learn differently.

Learn More

You can learn more about David Flink and his work:

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

36th Annual EF Conference Speaker Spotlight: Dr. Maurice Elias on Social-Emotional Learning and Character Development

EF Conference,

This is the fourth post in a series that highlights the speakers of this year’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, which will focus on promoting resilience and equity for ALL students.

This November, we are honored to feature Maurice Elias, Ph.D., who will offer a session on “Social-Emotional Learning and Character Development: The Foundations of Safe and Successful Schools.”

Social-Emotional Learning and Executive Function

The COVID-19 pandemic has reframed our collective understanding of how closely intertwined the cognitive and affective elements of learning truly are. It is so clear that schools are places where much more than just academic learning happens. While social-emotional learning curricula are often viewed as separate from academic curricula, all types of learning happen in real time in moments each day that shape students’ character and self-efficacy. As students return to in-person learning this fall, it is crucial that they feel safe and supported in their learning environments.

Dr. Maurice Elias is a professor in the Psychology Department at Rutgers University and Co-Director of the Academy for SEL in Schools. Dr. Elias is also the director of the Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab, which aims to develop schools of character, close achievement gaps, and increase student proficiency. Their research-based approach focuses on improving students’ capacity to recognize and manage emotions, solve problems effectively, view others’ perspectives, and establish positive, empathic relationships with others. 

At ResearchILD’s 36th Annual Executive Function Conference, Dr. Elias’ presentation will explain the link between SEL and executive function and how it connects to resilience and equity. Dr. Elias will offer examples of how to embed SEL into various aspects of the school day.

Learn More

You can learn more about Dr. Elias and his work:

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