10 Practical Executive Function Activities for Students: A Guide for Parents and Tutors
What are some of the main categories of executive functioning? Good kids may often say “I forgot” and genuinely not know how to stop forgetting to do homework assignments or turn in their work on time unless parents and tutors use executive function activities for students to help train their brains to focus and manage tasks. When it comes to supporting school-aged children, understanding the key categories of executive functioning is crucial. Executive functioning refers to the mental skills that help children plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks. These cognitive skills are essential for success in school, relationships, and life in general. Here are 10 main categories of executive functioning that parents and tutors should know about along with examples and executive function activities for students. Tutors can easily incorporate a tip or strategy into a tutoring session to help build executive function skills and parents can continue to reinforce the strategy at home. 1. Self-Control Definition: The ability to control impulses and resist distractions, staying focused Examples in school: Not interrupting others in class, waiting your turn, and resisting the urge to play during study time. Practical Tips and Strategies for Improvement: Use visual reminders, such…
Building Blocks for Success: How Executive Function Skills Support Learning and Life
What are some of the main components of executive function skills? Success in learning, living, and leading starts with strong executive function skills, and without this building block, many students struggle academically, personally, and socially. Executive function skills help us stay organized, manage our time, control our emotions, and make good decisions. These skills are important for getting work done, handling challenges, and doing well in school and with friends. Many students (and adults) struggle with developing these skills without intentional guidance. Edutopia sums it up nicely with this quote: “Executive function is the brain’s air traffic controller, intercepting a tangle of thoughts and impulses and steering them toward safe, productive outcomes.” What Are Executive Function Skills? Five key components of executive function include planning, organizing, time management, emotional regulation, and flexibility. Planning: Setting goals and figuring out steps to achieve them. Organization: Keeping materials and thoughts in order. Time Management: Using time wisely to complete tasks. Emotional Regulation: Staying calm and focused under pressure. Flexibility: Adapting to new situations or solving unexpected problems. These key components help us be successful in learning, living, and leading throughout our lives. Why Are Executive Function Skills Important? Executive function skills impact schoolwork,…
4 Classroom Organization Tips
Need to tackle some clutter in the classroom or office? Keeping up with classroom organization is part of classroom management. Often we ignore a cluttered space because we do not feel we have time or energy to tackle a whole project. Part of my master strategy in Clean the Chaos: At Home involves sweeping out a space, sorting, and storing the items in a tidier or more useful way. This same strategy is useful in the office or classroom organization; bringing order to some chaos. Here are 4 classroom organization tips to help you tackle clutter in the classroom today. First, choose a drawer, cabinet, or corner and begin to clean the chaos in the classroom. Start small with classroom organization Ten minutes gives just enough time to empty a drawer, wipe it out, sort/toss/recycle/relocate/store the items back into the drawer in a more useful and neater way. Once you do a drawer or two, your motivation will build and you will find more pockets of time to continue the project. And the more you clean the chaos, the more useful the space becomes. Keep reading for ways to maintain your space once you have cleaned the clutter. This will…
4 Classroom Management Tips
How consistent are you in your classroom management? Classroom management is hard to learn from a textbook, even if you have read Harry Wong’s First Days of School. Until you are actually in a classroom, it is hard to know exactly how you will respond and react to certain situations no matter how prepared you are. Here are 4 classroom management tips to point you in the right direction to calm the chaos: in the classroom. Develop Your Classroom Management Learning classroom management is an essential skill for teachers and substitutes and will help calm the chaos in the classroom before it gets out of control. In college, I learned great ideas and tips for classroom management, but nothing truly prepares you for those first few minutes and days like actually being in the classroom. You do need to have some basic ideas of how you want your classroom or tutoring sessions to run, but also be flexible as you hone this skill. You will continue to hone your classroom management system over the years and in different settings. So many of my good ideas are a bit outside the box and came out of situations that needed a bit…
10 tips for using Google Tasks and Google Calendar as a student agenda
How can you effectively use Google Calendar as a student agenda? Time management is a life skill that is important to teach students, and I love a good organizational system! Over the years, I have traded my paper calendars and agendas for digital ones. It is helpful to see what events I have have and where I have time in my schedule for tasks. Many of my tutoring clients tell me they do not need an agenda because they can just look at the list of assignments in Google Classroom, but this does not teach them time management skills nor does it help them chunk large projects into manageable pieces. (Nor are most of them capable of keeping all that info “in my head” as their main strategy for remembering all their homework assignments but I do hear that option quite a bit!) This school year when I teach study skills to my middle and high school tutoring clients, I will include how to use an agenda whether it’s a paper one or a digital one. For a simple digital system for students who have Gmail accounts, I recommend Google Calendar and Google Tasks. Use the calendar events to block time…
Thoughtful Teacher Gifts
What do you consider a thoughtful teacher gift? I really do not want another teacher mug, hand lotion, or note pad, but I would love to hear you say “thank you” in your own way. Some of the best teacher gifts I have received have not been costly ones, but thoughtful ones. One mom hand wrote me a poem and even though she told me she had authored it previously and reused it for her kids teachers, she took the time to hand write it on pretty paper. Another time a client brought me a bag of avocados for my birthday and they ripened more perfectly than any other avocados I have ever had. It upped my healthy eating month and made me grin just to think of how thoughtful this gift was. A very thoughtful and unexpected gift card to my local craft store came in a thank you note from a mom of a sick student that I took care of while waiting for the mom to get off work. My best friend’s husband once gave me a pencil sharpener. THE BEST ONE EVER. A student chose a book for me from the book fair because I had…
In Order
Do you ever wonder why students jump around project to project without finishing it in order? Teaching students or your children to prioritize and complete projects in order is a doable goal. One easy way is to write a list of things to complete and teach them to complete projects in order. In the elementary classroom during a block of work time, I write down a list of things on the board that need to be done. I teach my students that my lists are always meant to be completed starting at the top. When you complete the first item, you move on to the second item, etc. Sometimes I draw a line dividing the top part of the list from the bottom part. This is usually a visual reminder that the things above the line must be completed and the things below the line are things to do if you get time or if you actually complete all the above. Writing lists help students visualize, prioritize, and complete projects in order. I’m not fond of long lists of things to do, but occasionally this is necessary on a “catch up” day when students are in various stages of completion…
Be Honest
Do you know that honest feeling of relief you get when you just tell someone the truth? “Be honest” is one of the few rules I have for my tutoring clients. I’d rather a child tell me they didn’t turn in their homework than lie to me about the teacher losing it. Being honest allows us to get to the heart of the matter, such as lack of motivation or feeling overwhelmed by the amount of overdue work. Honesty is a character trait that we should strive for, but we also need to strive to create relationships that cultivate honest conversations. Being honest is hard work but being known as a person of integrity adds much to your character. We tend to want to hide the truth when things are not going as planned or when we think we will disappoint people. Being honest in a relationship builds trust. Our homes, offices, and classrooms can be spaces where it’s safe to tell the truth. Spaces where we reach out to one another. Where telling the truth is honored and help and hope are offered. Spaces where condemnation and criticism drip from the lips of those in attendance do not value…