Executive Functioning

Executive functioning (EF) support looks a bit different from other intervention support in that it can vary greatly in how often and in what increment it is delivered. Support can range from 30-min, 2 to 3 times a week, to 90-min once a week. As students develop various skills, support will also change regularly to match their needs in the moment. Throughout our sessions, I weave in our understandings of the brain, human development, and learning to help students better understand what is happening for them and why. Below is an example of how EF sessions generally flow. As this is a collaborative process, the order varies based on student input and identified areas of priority.

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Example Schedule:

1. In-Take: Administer EF checklist to both parents and student: When approaching a child with EF needs, I start by first giving the student and parent an informal EF checklist that helps identify perceived areas of need: response inhibition, emotional control, task initiation, organization, flexibility, goal-directed persistence, working memory, sustained attention, planning/prioritizing, time management, and meta-cognition.

2. Session 1: Interview student, identify routines, and set goals: I then interview the student and learn more about their thoughts/feelings about school, their goals, their strengths and stretches, and their personal routines for organizing materials and time. From here we identify areas of growth, if a student has a lot of EF needs that are rooted in lack of motivation, response inhibition, and emotional control, I usually recommend that they begin working with a therapist in conjunction with myself. In my experience, even if a student has been given all the perfect routines and tools, if they are struggling with anxiety or depression, they may also struggle with using/implementing the tools. A good therapist supports the work we do together.

3. Session 2 - 5: Organizing materials & creating routines: Almost every student benefits from starting at learning how to create structure in how they organize their work, materials, and notes. Using a series of questions, I guide students towards their own answers for how to best organize their belongings (what kind of work do you get for each class? what tools do you need? how often do you need them? etc.) As it takes time, and often outside accountability when first forming habits, I encourage students to clean-up organizational systems at the end of each week. Each week we evaluate how the systems are working and if they need to be modified.

4. Session 5 - 10: Time Management, planning, & goal setting: Once students have a reliable organizational system in place, we begin working on organizing time (prioritizing), planning out assignments, and setting weekly goals. During these sessions we identify tools to support memory and planning (planners vs. digital apps). As every student is different in what they like to use, I generally provide a number of options that students can explore in order to find what works for them. Using student's current grades, we look for areas of growth and set goals. We identify what's getting in their way and create a plan for how to improve those areas.

5. Sessions 10 - 12: Note-Taking: These sessions focus on different methods of taking notes and identify the method the student is most inclined to use consistently.

6. Session 13 - 16: Study Skills: These sessions focus on identifying different methods of studying that leverage the student's strengths to support their learning of new materials. Part of the work we do is helping the student learn how to accurately identify what they already know and where they need to focus their energy. We talk about various theories in memory and how to create a study plan that optimizes learning.

7. Sessions 17+: Error analysis, finding what works, modifying what doesn't: Once the student has a majority of the tools needed to organize and plan, we focus on identifying mistakes and developing strategies for addressing blocks or areas where the student continues to drop the ball. The focus of these sessions are on problem solving.