Executive Functioning with Tech

Tech Tip Tuesday (April 11, 2023)

“Children aren’t born with these [executive functioning] skills;

they are born with the potential to develop them.”

-Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child

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Attention & Focus

The ability to filter out distractions and sustain concentration in order to think, listen, or watch with interest

Students have a lot of input into their brains every day, and as teachers, we can help limit how much cognitive input they get each day.

When working with multiple complex texts, try Rewordify to get texts into different phrasing to help students understand what you're going over in a new light.

Also, check out Focusable. It can be used to help with or without an account (SOPPA needed for student use), but it can help with regaining attention & focus easily.

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Emotional Control

The ability to inhibit and regulate emotional and behavioral responses, and read and respond appropriately to social situations

Taking the time to teach emotional control has become an integral part of an educator's life in 2023. Check out Common Sense's SEL in Digital Life Resource Center on how you can teach emotional control in your K-12 classroom!

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Flexibility/Shifting

Shifting or being able to switch between your perspectives and another’s while changing your minor course of action based on new information

Students are put into different situations in different classes all day. Many students might be thinking about the last class still when they are halfway through your class.

Consider using similar fonts and colors with easily identifiable colors for your class. If you'd like to explore what might work for an entire team, check out Google Fonts to compare fonts or Slidesgo to get similar presentation styles.

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Inhibition

The ability to inhibit or control impulsive (or automatic) responses, and create responses by using attention and reasoning

Blurting out words in reading class might not just be to disrupt; it could be a response due to lack of knowing what it means or unable to contain their thoughts. In math, inhibition is necessary for making sure we complete each process in correct order and with precision rather than just putting in functions left to right.

Allowing students to collect their resources easily can help with this, and Wakelet is a great place for students to collect their thoughts and tools easily with clear visual cues.

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Metacognition

The ability to analyze, understand, and monitor one’s learning and thinking

One way to have students successfully use metacognition is through an exit ticket. Whether it's a Google Form, quick LMS assessment, or even a sticky note, check out these quick exit ticket ideas from Ditch That Textbook for some digital and paper-based exit tickets.

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Organization & Planning

Organization involves how we gather stimuli in our environment to complete tasks quickly and more effectively

Someone in our life influenced how and why we plan what we do, whether that was a parent, teacher, guardian, or maybe even the internet. Wherever we learned it, we know that organization can look differently in various settings.

Try to help students visualize their to-do's or upcoming tasks easily with a Padlet to have a running board of items that are coming up, especially long-term planning and goals.

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Self-Monitoring

Monitoring and evaluating performance during a task or activity. Having the ability to recognize a need for change in tactics or strategy

Teach kids explicitly how to check in on their grades & upcoming assignments online using your school's SIS [student information system such as Infinite Campus, Skyward, or PowerSchool] or LMS [learning management system such as Canvas, Google Classroom, or Schoology] to make sure they know where they stand and what's coming up.

Have students record grades and upcoming assignments using this Google Sheets template!

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Task Initiation

The ability to independently start tasks when needed is so important working in hybrid and remote learning environments especially

Often, students struggle with starting tasks on their own. It can be compounded when multiple tasks start to add up. Since multitasking is not effective, work with students on how they can complete one at a time with a reasonable expectation.

Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. This technique use a timer to break down works into sets intervals separated by breaks. Pomodoro technique increases productivity by taking short scheduled breaks regularly. Use a Tomato Timer or Pomofocus for a whole class or just individual students to manage time and tasks.

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Working Memory

The ability to mentally store, retrieve, and use information for a task

Breadth in K-12 education is part of the game, but we want to activate that knowledge at a later time to hit depth. However, many students struggle with maintaining information from day to day. While different from rote memory, working memory strategies are something that we can implement in our classrooms to ensure that depth can eventually be met.

One EduProtocol that can assist with working memory every day is Fast and Curious. Check out this Wakelet for more information and templates to use tomorrow!

Check out the recent blog I wrote for Newsela about AI in the classroom!