Executive Function Skills

Executive function skills are high-level mental processes that allow us to regulate behavior over time in order to achieve longer-term goals.  Nurturing these skills from a young age can have a bigger impact on your child’s education and long-term well-being than other factors -including IQ, school choice, or delaying kindergarten.  
​Yes, it’s that important.  
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As an educator and father, my interest in this topic stems from the fact that it is increasingly difficult for young people to reach adulthood with this skill set intact.  In schools, instruction in executive skills plays a backseat to other curricular priorities. Pervasive mobile devices, coupled with busy lifestyles and hectic schedules, reduce opportunities for executive skills to develop as naturally as in the past.   Frequently, strong grades can mask real deficiencies in executive skills, which can and often does play out in college, where more and more students struggle to manage their time and academics.  

Using funny material from my talks and presentations, my approach helps students understand these mental skills and clarifies the ways they impact school success and life outcomes. Based on assessments and other sources of information, a set of individualized learning goals is identified.  I provide learners with tailored recommendations and hands-on training using assistive technologies and other, traditional learning tools and strategies.  Given the strong influence of home environment, I strongly encourage parental involvement. Outcomes include both improved academics and a positive shift in students’ identities as learners.
It sounds crazy that students can spend half their waking hours in school and not be taught how to learn,
but that is often the case. Teachers teach content, such as math and science, but rarely how to learn such content.”  
-Ken Kiewra, Teaching How to LEARN
My approach is informed by researchers in the fields of education and psychology, such as Drs. Thomas Brown, Adam Cox, Russell Barkley and others. It is also rooted in 17 years of experience working as a Learning Specialist in three San Francisco independent schools.  The following mental skills are the foundation of my framework:  
  • Self-regulation.  The ability to stop, or delay, a behavior and decide on a response is the cornerstone of executive function. Self-regulation precedes the development of other executive function skills.  Without the ability to inhibit behaviors it comes very difficult to plan, manage time and exhibit goal-directed persistence.  
  • Working memory: Like a mental “sticky note,” working memory holds new, important information. It helps us create a mental model of a problem and envision an orderly path forward -a goal and a plan.  It also helps us predict the consequences of our actions.
  • Navigating procedures:    Airplane pilots always use lists.  To navigate school, students need similar systems to manage difficult, stressful academic and organizational tasks.   
  • Time management:  As David Allen states in Getting Things Done, managing time and commitments requires an organized system.
  • Emotions: When students have systems for juggling the complex demands of school -organizing materials, completing tasks, and managing time- they experience less stress and greater feelings of control.  When faced with challenging tasks, emotions can motivate effort, not derail it.  
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My practice is rooted in the belief that when armed with accurate information and proven strategies, students can take charge of their developing executive skills and experience academic and personal success.
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