Executive functioning will develop more slowly in individuals suffering from Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. Educators may notice some delays in their mental process that helps them concentrate, organize, and plan their classwork. Helping starts with explaining executive functioning (EF) – setting up kids to advocate for themselves – as well as requiring creative plans to achieve success inside the classroom.
ES refers to the mental process that lets people concentrate, organize, plan, and complete certain tasks. It is not necessarily a common term, but every individual depends on these functions to lead an organized and productive life. There is no surprise that schools are where executive function skills are first put to the test and refined.
These things often preclude or unlock success inside the classrooms. Executive abnormalities are almost predominant among kids with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. It helps explain why a lot of students with attention-deficit disorder are reprimanded for disorganized projects, forgotten homework, or running out of time on examinations.
Check out this site for details about ADHD.
But children with ADHD are not the only ones who have problems with EF skills. Other students have these problems, especially areas of executive abnormalities. It is the educators’ responsibility to be aware of EF and to create a suitable environment that supports every student in the class. But the work should not stop there.
Teachers also need to teach EF language to every classroom learner, not just individuals who show deficiencies. When teachers help students identify their executive functioning strengths and weaknesses, they also teach them how to promote their own needs in the classroom and beyond.
A Primer for teachers
This thing comprises both skills that involve doing, thinking, as well as behavior. Here is a simple breakdown of these things and how people might look in the class:
Cognition – Working memory or cognition is the process of working with pieces of information and drawing past experiences or learning and applying it to current situations. Finishing math assignments and showing them to the class requires cognition skills.
Organization – It is the process of using your materials and time to effectively and efficiently complete a certain task. Organizational skills are usually stressed during the move from fifth grade to sixth grade when kids go from sheltered and small classrooms to multiple teachers and classes throughout the day. The transition from sixth grade to high school similarly tests kids’ organizational skills.
Time management – It is a process of estimating the time people need to complete the given task. Students with poor time management ability may insist homework assignments will only take fifteen minutes, but in reality, it ends up taking at least one hour of their time. Time management is considered one of the most significant areas of need for students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
Metacognition – It is the process of identifying your areas of strength, as well as areas of need. Weak metacognition may hinder a person’s ability to see their obstacles clearly and promote themselves at school. Want to know more about metacognition? Click https://childmind.org/article/how-metacognition-can-help-kids to find out more.
Prioritizing and planning – It is the process of designing roadmaps to reach the goal or complete certain tasks.
Behavioral
Emotional control – It is a process of controlling one’s emotions, as well as managing them to fit a social situation.
Response inhibition – This thing is a process of thinking before you act. It is usually hard for kids to stop, think, and act on it, especially when other people in the school are their audience.
Attention – This is a process to stay focused on tasks, even if the person is experiencing tons of distractions.
Initiative – This is the process of prioritizing, activating, and organizing tasks without the help of other people. The initiative is pretty hard for middle school kids and teens.
Persistence – It is an activity of enduring sustained amounts of time to complete tasks. Persistence becomes pretty hard as kids pass through grade levels, as stages become more complex.
Flexibility – This is a procedure of changing your behavior to react to certain situations.
Executive functions and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Teachers need to understand this thing and how they are inherently impaired by certain conditions such as ADHD or ADD. A lot of students with this disorder experience EF dysfunction in various areas like working memory, impulse control, and concentration, which can make learning hard and complicated.
Kids without ADHD or similar conditions can have difficulties in these types of skills. The difference is that children with ADHD or ADD need help to support their weaker EFs. At the same time, kids without these conditions can usually support themselves.
Children with ADD usually modify their atmospheres and environments to help them strengthen their weaker executive functioning skills. Still, teachers should look outside the label. Not every student with these conditions exhibits the same issues, and a diagnosis for any disabilities is not needed to recognize that students may have these challenges.
Teaching EF to students
Teachers should strive to design supportive environments, as well as equip kids with the tools to express their areas of executive functioning need independently. Professionals can use what experts call the Four Tier of Support to help set up systems inside classrooms and beyond. These include:
Setting up the class to support every kid
Teaching the fundamental EF language
Identifying strength and weakness
Teaching self-approving skills
Teaching common executive functioning language, as well as identifying strengths and weaknesses
Instructors should define and layout these terms for children:
EF – The skills individuals need to carry out the given task (also known as the behavior and thinking approach mentioned above when explaining skills to children).
Strength – Things people can do well with little to no assistance from other people.
Areas of need – Areas where people might need some needed help.
After introducing these languages, instructors should encourage kids to communicate and explore their needs and strengths. Professionals can design a positive and open environment for sharing by creating a presentation that includes discussions, interactive activities, surveys, or videos.
Take it from experts – children love to talk and discuss things about themselves. They have been told what they are not great at from the moment they understand what other people are saying. These students are also looking for different solutions to their problems.
