Executive Functioning: Interventions for Time Management and Organization

1. Executive Functioning: Interventions for Time Management and Organization

2. Objectives • At the end of the session, participants will be able to: • Understand executive functioning and how it relates to our students • Implement several strategies and interventions to help students with organization and time management

3. What is Executive Functioning? • An umbrella term for the neurological skills that encompass mental control and self-regulation • The mental processes required to manage oneself • Multiple processes, not singular in nature

4. The Coaching Staff of a Mental Ability Football Team(McClosky)

5. Students with EF deficits may have difficulty… • Initiating work • Inhibiting behavior • Staying organized • Planning • Controlling emotions • Sustaining Memory • Self Monitoring • Cognitive Shifting

6. Some Conditions Involving EF Deficits: • Autism/Asperger‘s Syndrome • ADHD and ADD • Conduct Disorder • Oppositional Defiant Disorder • Depression and/or Anxiety • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

7. Common Misperceptions about EF Interventions • “I am a content area teacher. I should be teaching my content and not basic organizational skills” • Self-discipline is more important in increasing academic performance than IQ (Duckworth, A.L. & Seligman, M.E.P. 2005) • Students with high levels of self-discipline achieve better grades, earn a higher GPA, and score higher on achievement tests (Duckworth, A.L. & Seligman, M.E.P. 2005)

8. Common Misperceptions about EF Interventions • “These students are in high school, they should already know how to do this stuff” • 47% of college students feel their high school did not teach them the organizational skills to be successful in college. (Greenfield Online, 2006) • 87% of college students say better time management and organizational skills would help them get better grades. (Greenfield Online, 2006) • Times of transition, specifically transitioning to high school and again when transitioning to college serve to highlight executive functioning difficulties” (McCloskey, 2009)

9. Common Misperceptions about EF Interventions • “This student is disorganized and not finishing his work because he simply isn’t motivated” • There are always going to be students for whom motivation is a concern. However, there are also many students who are motivated and do want to change their behavior who don‘t know what to do to change it. For these students, reward programs will not work (McCloskey, 2009). • 88% of college students want to improve their ability to manage time (Greenfield Online, 2006)

10. EF Strategies and Interventions • The goal of EF interventions in education is to make the child conscious of their executive functions and how to monitor them. (McCloskey, 2009) • Students must understand how to create systems of organization and time management. But more importantly, they need to learn how to “check-in” with themselves to make sure they are using these systems.

11. EF Strategies and Interventions • Based on the Rush NeuroBehavioral Center Executive Functioning Curriculum for High School Students • A quantitative evaluation of the EF curriculum’s possible impact on standardized assessment revealed that students who demonstrated greater adherence to the EF Curriculum throughout the school year performed significantly better on the ISAT reading tests, even after controlling for demographic variables and prior years’ scores.

12. Managing Materials • One of the biggest impediments to organization is not taking time to maintain the organizational systems. • Allow a short amount of time each week for students to organize all materials: • End of prd. on Fridays • Downtime after finishing a test/activity early

13. Managing Materials: Self-Assessment How Well Do I Manage My Materials? Self-Assessment

14. Managing Materials:Self-Assessment • Allows students to evaluate their ability to organize their learning materials • 8 items • Can be administered to entire class at once • Classifies students’ organization skills into different categories based on number of pts.

15. Managing Materials:Self-Assessment • Strategy: administer once per quarter • Intervention: administer more frequently (once or twice a month) for those classified as “Emerging” or “Not Yet Established” • Allow time for peer modeling • End of prd. on Fridays • Teach systems for material management (see next slide) • Students can track growth based on number of points they score

16. 3 Systems for Managing Materials 1. Student Planner Notebook for each class Folder for each class 2. Student Planner Binder for each class containing: - Notebook and folder 3. Student Planner Plastic accordion folder - labeled subjects w/in folder Notebook for each class

17. Time Management

18. Time Management • Materials: • Pie Chart • Colored pencils or markers • Administer to class as a whole

19. Time Management 1. Create a “Daily Priorities List” with the class • What do they want to accomplish each day? 2. Students complete pie chart by estimating how much time they spend doing each activity on a typical day • Each segment represents one hour 3. In pairs, have students compare/contrast their graphs • Do schedules match their priorities? 4. How much time do you expect students to spend on your class each night?

20. Time Management • Strategy: • administer once per quarter • Intervention: • administer more frequently (once or twice a month) for those who struggle in your class • Work with students individually or in small groups to discuss how their schedules can better match their priorities • Allow time for peer modeling

21. Task Analysis Name: ___________________________ Date: _______________ Project: _______________________________

22. Task Analysis • Teaching students to break down long-term assignments into manageable “chunks” • Suggested time per “chunk” = 30-60 minutes • Materials: • Project/Assignment description and due date(s) • Task Analysis Template

23. Task Analysis Example • Work in pairs to complete the task analysis template based upon the Social Issues Research Project

24. Task Analysis • Strategy: • Administer for each long-term assignment • Have students transfer template toplanner • Intervention: • Provide 1:1 assistance to students who have difficulty organizing a timeline • Allow time at end of class for students to self-monitor their task analysis sheet every few days

25. Discussion: • Are there particular students you can think of who would benefit from the Materials/Time Management self-assessments? • Can you think of an assignment for which your students can use the Task Analysis Template? • Questions? Comments?

26. References • Bryan, T. & Burstein, K. (2004). Improving homework completion and academic performance: Lessons from special education. Theory into Practice. 43, 213-219. • Bryan, T. & Burstein, K. & Bryan, J. (2001). Students with learning disabilities: Homework problems and promising practices. Educational Psychologist. 36, 167-180. • Dickinson, D.J., & O’Connell, D.Q. (1990). Effect of quality and quantity of study on student grades. Journal of Educational Research, 83, 227-231. • Gardner, H. (2006). Multiples intelligences, new horizons. NY: Basic Books. • Gardner, H. (1993). Multiples intelligences: The theory in practice. NY: Basic Books.

27. References Cont’d • Houtveen, A.A.M. & van de Grift, W.J.C.M. (2007). Effects of metacognitive strategy instruction and instruction time on reading comprehension. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 18, 173-190. • Rose, D. & Meyer, A., with Strangman, N. & Rappolt, G. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. • Trammel, D.L., Schloss, P.J., & Alper, S. (1994). Using self-recording, evaluation and graphing to increase completion of homework assignments. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 37, 75-81. • Ylvisaker, M. & Feeney, T. (2002). Executive functions, self- regulation, and learned optimism in pediatric rehabilitation: A review and implications for intervention. Pediatric Rehabilitation. 5, 51-70.