What are executive functions?
Executive functions
A set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one’s resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation.
1. Response Inhibition – The ability to evaluate a situation and how his or her behavior might affect.
2. Working Memory – The ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks.
3. Emotional Control – The ability to manage emotions in order to help regulate and guide our behavior,
4. Flexibility – The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information, or mistakes.
5. Sustained Attention – The capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue, or boredom.
6. Task Initiation – The ability to begin a task without undue procrastination, in a timely fashion.
7. Planning and Prioritizing – Being able to make decisions about what’s important to focus on and what’s not.
8. Organization – The ability to create and maintain a system for arranging or keeping track of important things.
9. Time Management – The ability to estimate how much time is available.
10. Goal-Directed Persistence – The capacity to establish a goal and follow through on achieving it.
11. Metacognition – The ability to self-monitor when performing a task.
Training & Development of these 7 Skills
1. Working Memory – The ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks.
2. Sustained Attention – The capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue or boredom.
3. Task Initiation – The ability to begin a task without undue procrastination, in a timely fashion.
4. Planning and Prioritizing – Being able to make decisions about what’s important to focus on and what’s not.
5. Organization – The ability to create and maintain a system for arranging or keeping track of important things.
6. Time Management – The ability to estimate how much time is available.
7. Goal-Directed Persistence – The capacity to establish a goal and follow through on achieving it.
Executive Function Planner Samples
Kid Designed, Mom Developed
Two Dimensions of Executive Skills: Thinking and Doing
Executive Skills: Thinking (cognition)
- Working memory*
- Planning/ Prioritization*
- Organization*
- Time management*
- Metacognition
Executive Skills: Doing (behavior)
- Response inhibition
- Emotional control
- Sustained attention*
- Task initiation*
- Goal-directed persistence*
- Flexibility
* Skills developed and trained by the consistent use of the Executive Function Planners
The Neuroscience of Executive Functions
Neuropsychological evidence suggests that executive processing is intimately connected with the intact function of the frontal cortices.
Three Brain-Based Teaching Strategies
- Provide opportunities to apply learning
- Introduce activities to develop executive functions
- Model Higher Thinking Skills
From the students themselves….
Ryan – “It’s hard to sleep, I have too much going on in my mind and can’t shut it off.”
Josh – “I don’t know how to study!”
Tony – “I want to make my mark in the world, it’s taking too long to do so…”
Ella – “Sometimes when I have two things to do in one class, it feels like 20.”
Colin – “I struggle with doing stuff that I don’t comprehend.”
Ellen – “I have two modes: work and relaxation. It’s hard for me to switch between them. That DOES NOT mean that I have a time management problem.”
Joe – “Teachers get angry at me for forgetting things but I’m already focusing on other things that they told me to do.”
Danie – “Many things that adults find important are not important to me and vice versa. I find organization minimally important yet it’s something that adults connect with success.”
Isabella – “When I try to get something done, it takes a little while and I don’t feel like I have much free time.”
Brain Based Strategies
“So, how can we differentiate for these students in order to best meet their individual needs?”
Response Inhibition
The ability allows a person the time to evaluate a situation and how his or her behavior might affect the outcome.
The signs:
- Blurting out answers before being called on
- Careless mistakes in schoolwork
- Difficulty following home rules
- Difficulty following school rules
- Beginning task without listening for full instructions
Working Memory - (planner training & development skill)
The ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks; the ability to draw on past learning or experience and apply it to the situation at hand and to predict future outcomes.
The signs:
- Forgetting where they’ve left stuff and misplace things a lot
- Promise to “do it later,” then forget
- Forget what they have for homework or forget to bring stuff home to work on it
- Keep making the same mistakes in spite of past consequence
Emotional Control
The ability to manage emotions in order to help ourselves regulate and guide our behavior, perform tasks, and reach our goals.
The signs:
- Get’s annoyed when homework is hard or confusing
- Has a short fuse; frustrates easily
- Easily hurt if criticized
- “Lose it” when they get angry
- Withdraws sullenly from conflict
Flexibility
The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information, or mistakes.
The signs:
- Would rather do homework with one right answer
- Has trouble thinking of more than one solution
- Thrown for a loop when the unexpected happens
Sustained Attention - (planner training & development skill)
The capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue, or boredom.
The signs:
- Lose focus and think about other things
- Run out of steam
- Start projects but never seem to finish
- Hard to get back on track
Task Initiation (planner training & development skill)
The ability to begin a task without undue procrastination, in a timely fashion.
The signs:
- Put off homework as long as possible
- Have hard time pulling away from “fun”
- Wait until last minute to start
- Can’t be relied on to follow through.
Planning and Prioritizing (planner training & development skill)
The ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or to complete a task. It also involves being able to make decisions about what’s important to focus on and what’s not important.
The signs:
- Don’t know where to start
- Have trouble prioritizing
- Work on long-term projects in spurts
Organization - (planner training & development skill)
The capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue, or boredom.
The signs:
- Can’t find things in backpack/locker because it’s a mess
- Work at desks piled high with clutter
- Lose or misplace important things often
Time Management (planner training & development skill)
The ability to begin a task without undue procrastination, in a timely fashion.
The signs:
- Chronically late
- Routinely runs out of time for things they need to do
- Seem to work at one speed no matter how much time they will need
Goal-Directed Persistence (planner training & development skill)
The capacity to establish a goal and follow through on achieving it without being put off or distracted by competing interests.
The signs:
- Prefer to take one day at a time
- Doesn’t think about life after school
- Assume they will know what to do when the time comes
- Give up working toward a goal if something blocks them
Metacognition
The ability to self-monitor when performing a task.
The signs:
- Gets lost in the details and misses the big picture
- Puts mistakes behind them and hope to not do it again
- Has only one way to study
- Doesn’t ask for feedback
Remember the student?
The Executive Function Planner can help them train and develop seven of these skills.
Remember that everyone has stronger and weaker functions on a given day due to exhaustion, stress, and energy levels: the question to consider is if a function impairs a child’s day-to-day coping abilities or academic success on a consistent basis.
Change takes Courage, Practice, and TIME