Executive dysfunction and the elementary school student
What is Executive Functions?
Executive function is a set of mental processes that connect past experience with present action. People use this for planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space. (ncld.org) Executive function difficulties are often first discovered in the early elementary years, primarily because it is the first time that children are asked to plan and navigate through their schoolwork independently. It is expected in all environments that we learn to self-regulate behavior. This is a difficult task for students with executive functioning difficulties. These difficulties can impact the child’s ability to function and learn with ease in a school setting.
Why do we need executive functioning? (ncld.org)
- Keep track of work and finish it on time
- Keep track of more than one thing
- Ability to bring past knowledge in conversations
- Evaluate ideas and reflect of work
- Change minds and make mid-course corrections while thinking, reading, and writing.
- Ask for help when needed.
- Engage in group dynamics
- Wait to speak until it is appropriate
Warning Signs of executive functioning difficulties amongst students: (ncld.org)
- Comprehending how much time something will take to complete
- Trouble planning
- Telling stories in an organized/sequential manner
- Difficulty communicating written and verbal
- Memorizing and retrieving information from memory
- Initiating activities or tasks
- Generating ideas independently
- Retaining information while doing a task (remembering a phone number while dialing)
How can educators help students with executive dysfunction?
Students who struggle with executive functioning skills benefit from educators who are organized, clear, and concise. These students will benefit from visual schedules and directions, organized work space, check-lists, assignment book checked by teachers and parents, breaking assignments down, allowing extra time to plan and organize, schedule weekly times for students to clean work area and organize materials. Break bigger projects in smaller chunks.
What type of methods or strategies aide students with executive dysfunction in the classroom?
Students with executive dysfunction will benefit from blocks of time in school that are based on student centered activities that allow the children to make decisions, prioritize, edit and revise work, set goals, receive immediate feedback, estimate with feedback and judgment, relate past experiences to current learning and use systematic organized approaches.
During the last two years of my own teaching career I looped with a first and second grade class full of active and diverse learners. In this group there were two students who were affected by executive dysfunction, one moderately and one very significantly. It was very difficult for these students to regulate their own learning in situations such as daily reading groups and centers. They could not structure their time meaningfully and appropriately. During their first year with me I realized that I was going to have to organize something completely different to make this large portion of the day meaningful and engaging for them. After reading the “Daily 5” reading program by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, and collaborating with the school psychologist and special educators, I was able to use some of those practice and strategies to structure this time in my classroom more effectively. I later was able to structure my classroom in this way for both reading and math independent/group work. I began by establishing purposeful and meaningful activities surrounding reading and math and teaching each of those activities in a very ordered and sequential manner, with plenty of reiteration and clear concise explanation. The students worked to build ‘stamina’ on each of the expected activities they evaluated their own progress daily and I also evaluated them. They were able to take ownership of their own learning by planning out the route that they would take each week to accomplish their reading goals and activities. They could expect that the same amount of time would be given for each activity. Pictures and visuals were displayed and they were exposed to these images and picture clues daily. I also made’ scheduling boards’, where students planned their work/activities for the time block and moved the appropriate picture to those spaces. They kept the boards with them as a reminder. At the end of the week they would reflect on their work and discuss pros and cons of the week, and goals for the following week. At first this approach seemed out of reach for the students in my class that struggled with executive functioning skills. After time and repetition this approach proved to be single-handedly the best and most meaningful way that I have structured time for students who struggle with planning, processing, and organizing. The students knew that by the end of the week they were required to finish all of the expected jobs. The jobs changed only in content, not in expectations so it helped these students to recall each job and its importance. By the end of the year all of my students, (but specifically the students with executive functioning difficulties) were able to navigate through their day with ease. They had a large sense of independence and accomplishment and valued their school day. They had learned strategies and tools that they could carry with them as they move forward in their own learning journeys.
Links of interest and relevance:
Executive Dysfunction and organizing homework
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7h11COAhtE
Song about executive dysfunction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAG-XwriZS4
Works Cited:
NCLD Editorial Staff. (2010, December 17). What is executive function?. Retrieved from http://www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aamp-executive-functioning/basic-ef-facts/what-is-executive-function
Willis, J. (2011, October 10). Three brain-based teaching strategies to build executive function in students. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-based-teaching-strategies-judy-willis
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