1. Executive Functioning

2. The Cookie Problem(from Richard Guare, Ph.D.) • Problem to be solved: Who wore which color? • Rachel, Linda, and Eve were friends sitting in a circle on the grass. Rachel passed 3 chocolate chip cookies to the person in blue. Who wore which color? • Eve passed 3 macaroons to the person who passed her cookies to the person wearing green. • Each person passed 3 cookies to the friend on her left. • Rachel, Linda, and Eve were dressed in red, blue, and green, but not necessarily in that order. • The person who wore green did not get a macaroon. • The person wearing red passed along 3 oatmeal cookies.

3. The Cookie Problem (from Richard Guare, Ph.D.) • Questions to consider: • What do I need to know? • What do I know now? • How can I organize the information, so it makes sense? • What is my plan? • Checking for accuracy

4. Angular Gyrus (Connector) Occipital Lobe (visual) Broca’s Area (Speech and Language) Wernicke’s Area (Language Comprehension)

5. Frontal Lobe Deficits are connected to: • Poor executive functions • Excessive joviality, as well as oral and manual exploration • Impulsivity • Stereotypical behavior • Perseveration • Ritualistic Behavior • ADD/ADHD • OCD • Tourette’s Syndrome • Schizophrenia • Autism Spectrum Disorder • Alzheimer’s Dementia

6. Where/How do executive functions develop? Myelination is the process by which a fatty layer, called myelin, accumulates around nerve cells (neurons). This myelination occurs in adolescence and supports improvement of executive functions, impulse control, self-regulation…

7. Let’s Explore Executive Functioning

8. Imagine the Possibilities

9. Executive Functions give us the ability to: • Initiate Tasks • Have motivation to persevere • Organize • Plan • Make Decisions • Effectively use time • Use working memory • Attend to the task at hand • Filter out extraneous information

10. Executive Functions give us the ability to: • Socially: • Self-monitor • Theory of Mind • Self-control • Task Shift • Modify emotional response • Predict consequences

11. Smart, but Scattered: Explained • Executive functions allows for: • Forethought • Planning • Goal-directed Actions • Self-Disciplane/Self-Regulation • Persistence/Grit • T-P-S: How does this impact literacy instruction?

12. Which of these are most connected to language development? • Initiate Tasks • Have motivation to persevere • Organize • Plan • Make Decisions • Effectively use time • Use working memory • Self-monitor • Self-control • Task Shift • Modify emotional response • Predict consequences • Attend to the task at hand • Filter out extraneous information

13. Two Brain Changes During Adolescence • Pruning of the Neuropathways • Increased connectivity between brain regions • The Growth of the Brain

14. How are we going to meet the needs of most kids in the classroom? Effective Teaching Practices High Impact Strategies Universal Design for Learning

15. Strategies for Language and Executive Function: • Limit Stress!!! • Find appropriate sources of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) to communicate • Teach the process of organization through play, modeling and communication opportunities • Repetition and structure are necessary for solidify neuropathway

16. Strategies for Language and Executive Function: • Teach and practice dialogue • Use “managed choice” for decision-making • For memory: music, rhymes, words within words, peg words • V.A.K.T. (Visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile) • Sensory seekers and avoiders • Physiological needs

17. Have a PLAN • Picture • List • Assemble (hint) • Notice

18. Learner Variability

19. Quotation Mingle:Universal Design for Learning • Increased Engagement Time • Read and Wrap • Discuss Salient Points with your team • Find a person with a different number and share

20. Learner Variability 8.5

23. How to Use the Resources http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines 3-2-1 3 Things you Learned 2 Things you want to know more about 1 Thing you are going to try tomorrow