Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series

Kenneth W. Merrell, Founding Editor
Sandra M. Chafouleas, Series Editor
www.guilford.com/practical

This series presents the most reader-friendly resources available in key areas of evidence-based practice in school
settings. Practitioners will find trustworthy guides on effective behavioral, mental health, and academic interven-
tions, and assessment and measurement approaches. Covering all aspects of planning, implementing, and evalu-
ating high-quality services for students, books in the series are carefully crafted for everyday utility. Features
include ready-to-use reproducibles, appealing visual elements, and an oversized format. Recent titles have Web
pages where purchasers can download and print the reproducible materials.

Recent Volumes
The Data-Driven School:
Collaborating to Improve Student Outcomes
Daniel M. Hyson, Joseph F. Kovaleski, Benjamin Silberglitt,
and Jason A. Pedersen

Implementing Classwide PBIS:

A Guide to Supporting Teachers
Diane Myers, Brandi Simonsen, and Jennifer Freeman

Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom, Second Edition:

Promoting Mental Health and Academic Success
Barbara A. Gueldner, Laura L. Feuerborn,
and Kenneth W. Merrell

Responding to Problem Behavior in Schools, Third Edition:

The Check-In, Check-Out Intervention
Leanne S. Hawken, Deanne A. Crone, Kaitlin Bundock,
and Robert H. Horner

School-Based Behavioral Assessment, Second Edition:

Informing Prevention and Intervention
Sandra M. Chafouleas, Austin H. Johnson, T. Chris Riley-Tillman,
and Emily A. Iovino

Child and Adolescent Suicidal Behavior, Second Edition:

School-Based Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention
David N. Miller

Clinical Interviews for Children and Adolescents, Third Edition:

Assessment to Intervention
Stephanie H. McConaughy and Sara A. Whitcomb

Executive Function Skills in the Classroom:

Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies
Laurie Faith, Carol-Anne Bush, and Peg Dawson
Executive Function Skills
in the Classroom
Overcoming Barriers,
Building Strategies

LAURIE FAITH
CAROL-ANNE BUSH
PEG DAWSON

Foreword by Adele Diamond

THE GUILFORD PRESS

New York  London
Copyright © 2022 The Guilford Press
A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc.
370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001
www.guilford.com

All rights reserved

Except as indicated, no part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LIMITED DUPLICATION LICENSE

These materials are intended for use only by qualified professionals.
The publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission to
reproduce all materials for which photocopying permission is specifically granted in a
footnote. This license is limited to you, the individual purchaser, for personal use or use
with students. This license does not grant the right to reproduce these materials for resale,
redistribution, electronic display, or any other purposes (including but not limited to books,
pamphlets, articles, video or audio recordings, blogs, file-sharing sites, Internet or intranet
sites, and handouts or slides for lectures, workshops, or webinars, whether or not a fee is
charged). Permission to reproduce these materials for these and any other purposes must be
obtained in writing from the Permissions Department of Guilford Publications.

The authors have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide information
that is complete and generally in accord with the standards of practice that are accepted at the time
of publication. However, in view of the possibility of human error or changes in behavioral, mental
health, or medical sciences, neither the authors, nor the editor and publisher, nor any other party
who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information
contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they are not responsible for any errors
or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information. Readers are encouraged to
confirm the information contained in this book with other sources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Faith, Laurie, author. | Bush, Carol-Anne, author. | Dawson, Peg, author. | Diamond, Adele,
writer of foreword.
Title: Executive function skills in the classroom : overcoming barriers, building strategies /
Laurie Faith, Carol-Anne Bush, Peg Dawson ; foreword by Adele Diamond.
Description: New York : The Guilford Press, [2022] | Series: The Guilford Practical Intervention
in the Schools Series | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021047840 | ISBN 9781462548927 (Paperback : acid-free paper) |
ISBN 9781462548934 (Hardcover : acid-free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational psychology—Research. | Executive functions (Neuropsychology) |
Teachers—In-service training. | BISAC: PSYCHOLOGY / Psychotherapy / Child & Adolescent |
MEDICAL / Psychiatry / Child & Adolescent
Classification: LCC LB1051 .F23 2022 | DDC 370.15—dc23/eng/20211103
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021047840

Illustrations by Trisha Highton (thetinyscribbler.co.uk).

 About the Authors

Laurie Faith, PhD, works at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of
Toronto, Canada, where she teaches courses in special education and executive functions and
coordin­ates a research center. Dr. Faith is the creator of Activated Learning, a self-regulated
learning intervention that she continues to refine alongside a growing community of researchers,
trainers, and teachers. She provides professional learning and training for individual teachers and
school boards across Ontario, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Faith taught in spe-
cial and general education classrooms for 17 years. Her website is activatedlearning.org.

Carol-Anne Bush, MA, is an executive function coach in the San Francisco Bay area. Ms. Bush’s
experience in K–12 education spans three continents and over three decades. After a long teaching
career in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, she served in various leader-
ship roles, including multiple assistant headships. Ms. Bush’s expertise includes student, teacher,
and parent mentorship; stakeholder communication; curriculum design; and whole-school strategy
and steering. She is a certified Level III trainer in the Activated Learning approach, and is an
ADHD-Certified Educator through the Professional Education Systems Institute. Her website is
www.mulberrycoaching.com.

Peg Dawson, EdD, is a psychologist on the staff of the Center for Learning and Attention Dis-
orders at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She also does pro-
fessional development training on executive skills for schools and organizations nationally and
internationally. Dr. Dawson is a past president of the National Association of School Psychologists
(NASP) and the International School Psychology Association, and is a recipient of NASP’s Lifetime
Achievement Award. She is coauthor of bestselling books for general readers, including Smart but
Scattered, Smart but Scattered Teens, Smart but Scattered—and Stalled (with a focus on emerg-
ing adults), and The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success (with a focus on adults). Dr. Dawson is
also coauthor of The Work-Smart Academic Planner, Revised Edition, and books for professionals
including Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Third Edition.
v
 Foreword

In this book, Laurie Faith, Carol-Anne Bush, and Peg Dawson present an approach to teaching
in which understanding executive functions (EFs) is central. The book is written by educators
for educators from PreK through high school. There is much wisdom here. Several aspects of the
approach stand out.
Students with weak EFs are often subject to harsh misattributions by peers, teachers, and
themselves because their failures to follow instructions or the rules can easily be mistaken as
being intentional and indicative of poor character. The approach described in this book provides
a perspective and vocabulary for seeing learning and behavioral challenges in a whole new light,
one that tries to identify the problem that is causing the learning or behavioral challenges and what
the child can do to overcome that problem. For example, a student’s paper might still be blank long
after the class was given a writing assignment. Does the student not know the material, or could
it be a problem with task initiation, organization, or with feeling what he or she writes must be
perfect? Building basic EF literacy among children allows them to finally speak clearly about their
experiences, challenges, and learning. Once the problem is identified, the whole class can brain-
storm about what might be done about that. Usually other students have had problems with that
too and can share what has worked for them. During whole-class discussions, the silence is broken
and students see that their friends and even their teacher also experience difficulties. Not only do
students learn they are not alone, but also as research shows, children and teens learn better from
other young people than from adults. Often the challenges and strategies shared by peers seem
more interesting, relevant, and useful than what adults offer.
The approach described in this book recognizes how much work teachers are expected to get
through every day and that there is little time in the school day for adding anything else. Instead
of proposing a new EF module, this approach incorporates EF training seamlessly into whatever
the class is doing, whether that is math or recess. Not only do teachers not have time for freestand-
ing lessons on EFs, but research shows that freestanding lessons are not best for improving EFs.
Gains from such lessons too rarely generalize to life outside those lessons or to academic subjects.
vii
viii Foreword

Instead, Faith, Bush, and Dawson have students apply EF concepts during academic and social
learning experiences. Research shows it is by using concepts that we truly learn them; otherwise
we understand them only at an abstract, intellectual level.
This book is neither formulaic nor scripted. The authors recognize that one size never fits
everyone. Each teacher, each student, and each class is different. Various strategies and a plethora
of examples are provided to help teachers see how they can use this EF supportive approach in
a way that feels thoroughly comfortable. Scripted lessons are easier, but research shows they are
less effective—too easy for some, too difficult for others, too boring, and too out of touch with the
reality in particular classrooms—and teachers are too bright and capable to be treated like robots
who are to do exactly as they are told.
This book conveys a deep respect for both teachers and students, an acknowledgment that
people get more benefit from any activity and enjoy it more if they have some say in how the activ-
ity is implemented, and the recognition that none of us is as smart as all of us collectively. Students
and teachers discuss EF obstacles they face and co-create strategies. Central to this approach is
the “Barriers and Strategies Protocol,” which provides ways to strategize with students instead of
for students, allowing them to be actively involved in the process of identifying problems and in
developing suitable responses.
Because of this shared problem solving and brainstorming, no teacher needs to be an EF or
strategy expert. Solutions arise through the communal discussion. Feeling they have to be the
expert can be anxiety provoking or overwhelming for some teachers. There’s no need to feel that
way here; the authors provide many examples of possible solutions that educators can adopt or
modify as they wish.
As I read, I kept writing in the margin, “I love it.” This book contains so much wisdom and is
written in a clear, engaging manner without any sense that the authors are watering things down
too much. Real-life examples from the classroom greatly help to illustrate and elaborate points. I
would recommend this book to all educators.

Adele Diamond, PhD, FRSC

Canada Research Chair Tier I Professor
   of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
University of British Columbia, Canada
 Preface

WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK

We have given hundreds of workshops and talks. After each one, a school psychologist or educator
will approach us to say, “This is what I have been waiting for! This is what my school (or district)
needs! How can I take this back to everyone?” They tell us that the idea of teachers and students
talking explicitly about executive functions (EFs) during instruction, feedback, and assessment
feels like a missing link. We agree. In fact, while writing this book we often paused to wonder
how we ever got along without these ideas. We remember how mysterious student behavior often
seemed, and how ill equipped we felt to support their independence. We wish we could go back in
time and give this book to our younger selves.
So, we offer this resource to school psychologists, principals, special educators, and main-
stream teachers. We have filled it with a wide range of grounded, specific examples, tools, and
approaches, and layered on just enough plain language research to support our advice. Our hope is
that you will be able to use this book chapter by chapter with your colleagues to incorporate more
EF support in mainstream education.

HOW WE WROTE THIS BOOK

We wrote this book with humor and insight about what really happens in schools and classrooms.
Among us, we have spent almost 100 years in education—we’ve seen our share of baloney sand-
wiches, gummed-up scissors, and tearful parents. From this realistic and balanced perspective,
we have compiled and edited a wide variety of approaches that were created and tested by practi-
tioners for supporting the development of EFs at school. Nothing about this book is theoretical, or
“best-case scenario,” or something a researcher has conducted only under controlled conditions.
Nor does it represent practices that only work for a certain kind of teacher or a specific type of
ix
x Preface

student. The book offers guidance through stories from real classrooms. While many of the prac-
tical examples in the book are drawn from a community of early adopters in Ontario, Canada,
the approach was created in collaboration with school board leaders, psychologists, principals,
teachers, and students from all over Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As you
join our growing international movement, we hope you’ll consider sharing your innovative ideas,
adaptations, and improvements with our online community at http://activatedlearning.org.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Don’t just read about the approaches—roll up your sleeves and do the approaches. You can use
the examples we provide like a springboard. Even better, gather your colleagues, a school staff,
a bunch of special education consultants, or a crew of resource teachers and team up. Over the
course of a school year, you can explore this book by working through it one chapter per month:

• Imagine launching your professional learning journey or book club by reading Chapter 1.
The first chapter provides a vivid and grounded explanation of what EFs are and the role they play
in day-to-day life and performance. Everyone should read this to get up to speed on the basics and
to make personal connections to the impact of EFs on life. After taking a couple of weeks to read,
if you’re working with a colleague or small group, your team should come together to discuss what
resonated with them. In our experience, this stage of the learning journey leaves educators rather
shocked to discover that an issue they have been dealing with every day of their career has a name
and an entire research literature to describe it. “I have learned that EFs are a thing,” they tell us.
• Chapter 2 explains exactly how to teach children from grades K to 8 about EFs. It provides
detailed examples across five different teaching contexts, including those in which the teacher is
(1) in the early days with a class, (2) very time strapped, (3) seeking high structure, (4) hoping for
a more free-flowing approach, or (5) managing a stressed group (see below). This means that the
reading can be “jigsawed” among a team, with different people set off to read a different section
of the chapter. For example, perhaps the grade 2 teachers will read about and apply highly struc-
tured methods for teaching children about EFs; the grades 1 and 4 teachers will read about and
apply material related to a more free-flowing style of teaching children about EFs; the K, 5, and 8
teachers will apply methods for teaching EFs in the early days with a group of students; and the
grades 3 and 7 teachers focus on how to teach EFs among highly stressed students. There are five
different teaching contexts presented, so there will be plenty of options for everyone to choose
from. When you come back together to discuss, your team will have a wide range of experiences
and approaches to talk about. Perhaps you’ll ask each team to briefly present what they have been
applying in the classroom. What worked for the grades 1 and 4 teachers? What didn’t work for the
K, 5, and 8 team? How did the grades 3 and 7 students respond? How did the grade 2 teachers
adapt and improve the approaches from the book? What are everyone’s next steps? By the end of
this month, your professional book club will have a lot of learning under its belt about how to build
EF literacy. At this point, many educators reflect that they wish they had known about EFs sooner
in their own education. “I wish I could turn back time and be a student in my own class,” they tell
us.
 Preface xi

• In Chapter 3, you will learn a protocol for actually using the whole-class EF literacy that
you have developed. There is nothing too technically fancy here—you’ll learn to lead students in
5- to 10-minute problem-solving conversations about EF barriers and strategies. What you’ll gain
is an up close and personal sense for how, when, and why these conversations can be transfor-
mational. If you’re working in a team, each member should read the introduction to the chapter,
and then, once again, you can divide up the rest of the reading, perhaps each choosing a different
context than the one you followed in Chapter 2. Mix it up! If the grades 3 and 7 teachers explored
the “Highly Stressed” context in Chapter 2, they might like to split up and focus on something
different for Chapter 3. At the end of the month, your whole team will have used the Barriers and
Strategies Protocol to manage problem solving in a variety of different ways, and you should have a
lot to reflect on and teach one another. Even with students as young as kindergarten, teachers tell
us that creating space for barriers and strategies conversations is like opening the floodgates: “My
students have so much to say about their learning!”
• By Chapter 4, you will have accumulated some expertise and confidence. You should be
starting to notice a change in how you see and relate to your students. This is a perfect time to
zoom in on the way EF literacy can improve the depth and quality of teachers’ classroom observa-
tions. This chapter will explore a wide range of specific approaches for slowing down and tuning
in to students’ EF challenges and compensatory strategies. We stretch this guidance across the
same five teaching contexts that we used in Chapters 2 and 3. By now, if you’re working in a team,
you will be in a rhythm and each member may know exactly which of the teaching contexts they
want to read up on. Or, more likely, people will be way too curious to read only one. At this point,
teachers comment on the increasing self- and other awareness growing among their students. “One
of my kinders congratulated me for taking a deep breath to calm down when my coffee spilled. It
was really rather lovely.”
• Chapter 5 digs deeply into one of the most powerful teaching practices there is: feedback.
We’ll explore the issue of drive and explain how clear and precise feedback regarding the use
of EF strategy is so intrinsically motivating. Money saved on stars, stickers, and other extrinsic
incentives should be put toward the coffee fund because there will be a lot to learn, apply, and
discuss! After reviewing motivation and some other key research, we’ll dig into (once again) five
different grounded examples for focusing both spoken and written classroom feedback on the use
of EF strategy. In Chapter 4, you learned how to engage students in a process of problem solving
and strategy use; they may now know when and how to be independent. In Chapter 5, we provide
the extra motivational oomph needed to translate this knowledge into action. Teachers tell us that
something kind of magical happens when they comment on EF strategy use. “It is like a trail of
breadcrumbs that even my most disengaged students will follow.”
• Chapter 6 focuses on everyone’s favorite topic: formative assessment and report cards. This
chapter explains how a day-to-day focus on students’ process and EF strategy use can be balanced
with high-stakes assessment, grades, and parents’ expectations; we argue that both have an impor-
tant place in education. Once again, we provide examples of practice across five different contexts,
explaining how teachers gather summative data and then share that learning with administrators,
parents, and students themselves. This chapter will be an asset to educators struggling to comment
on students’ learning skills or strategies. Discovering how to gather data relating to EF strategy
use has left many of the educators we know feeling as if their reports “write themselves.”
xii Preface

• Chapter 7 forms the first part of the conclusion of this book. We take a step back to consider
how an EF-oriented classroom can support other educational priorities, such as closing the achieve-
ment gap, managing 21st-century learning, ensuring equity in multicultural classrooms, balancing
individualized education programs (IEPs), using universal design, and mitigating teacher burnout.
We present an overview of each of these challenges, a breakdown of the types of interventions and
remedies typically recommended, and an analysis of how our approach may help. We included
it because of the number of times we sat at a psychology or education conference on the edge of
our seat thinking, “Oh! Our approach can help that problem.” Essentially, we think many of these
challenges emerge from the same deficiency in the way classroom teaching works: a lack of connec-
tion, understanding, relationship, and teamwork. We hope this will encourage you or your team to
persevere with a whole-class, whole-child, EF-oriented approach, knowing the many other aspects
of classroom life it affects.
• Finally, in Chapter 8 we sum up the learning we have done as partners, designers, and
trainers. We include this because we’ve been asked many times how our EF-oriented teaching
movement was conceived, took root, and grew. This section sums up the issues we faced (and con-
tinue to face), and we think it will help psychologists, administrators, and educators as they chart
their own paths toward leadership in this field. It includes many practical tips that will likely be
useful to those leading the charge.

The Five Teaching Contexts for Implementation

The early When you’re setting up routines at the

days beginning of a year or unit.

Time When you barely have a moment to

strapped spare.

Highly When you need a highly structured

structured approach.

Organic and When you want to capitalize on

free flowing naturally occurring teachable moments.

A “stressed” When you are working with a group

class that is stressed.
 Preface xiii

WHY THIS BOOK (AND YOUR WORK) IS SO NECESSARY

As far as EFs go, there are certain things that experts agree on and certain things that haven’t yet
been decided. Most psychologists agree that a typical day, in school or life, is loaded with EF chal-
lenge. In the morning, we all need to get up, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive at our destination
on time. Then, all day long, we need to interact with our peers, attend to expectations, and figure
out how to respond to problems. Thanks to decades of painstaking research, we know that these
essential skills don’t develop fully without direct teaching and regular practice and that students
who leave school with underdeveloped EFs will have poorer life outcomes. Considering all of this,
it has become obvious that public education needs to support EF development. More recently,
however, researchers have recognized just how challenging it is for teachers to do this complex
work; because they are overburdened, overstretched, stressed out, managing extraordinary diver-
sity, and struggling with EF challenges of their own, teachers need a heck of a lot more than
encouragement and a basic knowledge of EFs to succeed. What experts don’t agree on is what to do
next. What can be done, knowing all that we know, to ensure that every child receives appropriate
EF support and development?
On one hand, because the need for EF development is so acute, it is tempting to divert all
resources toward targeted extracurricular programs, special counselors, private tutors, and small-
group interventions. These programs are often well planned and executed, and they allow us to
deliver the urgently required support to the most needy students. If classroom teachers simply
cannot and will not ever be able to fully support EF development, then perhaps the infrequent,
out-of-context support offered to a subset of students by an extracurricular program will have
to do. On the other hand, do we really have to accept this? Across the course of a school year,
we estimate that teachers have about a million highly meaningful opportunities to influence EF
development in the children they teach. The good, old-fashioned classroom is a daily, intensive,
personally meaningful, applied, and social pathway for delivering EF support—the exact type of
pathway known to be the most effective. This is why we’re so intent on driving a slow and steady,
embedded, all-aboard, heart and soul transformation of education toward EF-oriented classrooms.
Even though it seems hard, delivering EF support and development in the context of a mainstream
classroom is not only the most equitable and efficient but also the very most effective way to do it.
What’s more, a student coming from an EF-supportive mainstream classroom stands to gain a lot
more from any specialized (Tier 2 or 3) program to which they have access.
So, please read and do our book. It is a comprehensive playbook for embedding EF sup-
port into the daily operation of a mainstream classroom. It is built upon decades of insight from
Dawson and Guare’s books, including Smart but Scattered Teens and Executive Skills in Children
and Adolescents (now in its third edition). It is an approach advocated by Adele Diamond, one of
the world’s leading neuroscientists and EF experts, and it is an approach that makes our teacher
friends “love teaching again.” Could you build whole-class EF literacy and use it to enrich your
instruction, observation, feedback, and assessment? We truly believe you can. This book will pro-
vide the vivid examples, useful tools, and most relevant research you need to succeed.
 Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the inspired teachers, principals, and students from around the world
who always had time, despite busy schedules, to talk to us about their practices and perspectives.
Many of them come from the Trillium Lakelands District School Board in Ontario, which is burst-
ing at the seams with innovation, community spirit, and love for children. We also owe so much of
the joy and privilege of writing this book to the support and encouragement of our families. Thank
you, Andy, Adam, Eli, Michael, and Steven.

xv
 Contents

1. Executive Function and Learning 1

What Are Executive Functions? 1
What Is Your EF Profile? 3
How Do EFs Affect Learning at School? 3
Bad EF Day 3
Good EF Day 4
How Teachers Already Support EFs 7

2. Laying the Foundation: Building Whole‑Class EF Literacy 10

Building EF Literacy for Free 10

3. How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction: 29

A Simple and Versatile Approach
Moving Support into the Mainstream 29
A Neat Trick: Discussing Barriers and Strategies 31
The Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP): Strategizing with Students Instead of for Students 35
The Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP): A Powerful Way to Connect 38
The Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP): Planning Lessons That Challenge EFs
Instead of Making Things Easy and Comfortable 42

4. How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 59

How We Tend to Observe 59
Slowing Down and Tuning In to Student Performance with an EF Lens 61
The Need to Be Seen and Appreciated 63
Running Records 69
Anecdotal Records 71
Event Sampling 71

xvii
xviii Contents

5. How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 79

How We Typically Give Feedback 79
Descriptive Feedback, Growth Mindset, and the Problem with “Effort” 82
A Realistic Look at Extrinsic Motivation 84
The BSP and Intrinsic Motivation 85

6. How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 104

The Enduring Importance of Summative Evaluation in an EF‑Oriented Context 104
Gathering and Reporting Data That Tell a True Story 106
Balancing Academic and EF Goals in Summative Assessment 108

7. How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 133

EFs and the Achievement Gap 134
EF‑Literate Teaching and 21st‑Century Learning 136
EF‑Literate Teaching for an Equitable and Multicultural Classroom 138
EF‑Literate Teaching and Individualized Education Programs 142
Challenge 1: IEPs That Aren’t Specific Enough 143
Challenge 2: IEPs That Seem Contradictory or Are Confusing 144
Challenge 3: IEPs with Recommendations That Aren’t Feasible 145
EF‑Literate Teaching and Universal Design 146
EF‑Literate Teaching and Burnout 148
Burnout 149
Emotional Intelligence 149
Relationships 150
Efficacy 151

8. History and Reflections: Our Work with Teachers 153

Creating and Naming the Project 153
Meeting Technical and Adaptive Needs with Professional Development 155
Grounding PD in Genuine Problems of Practice 157
Fine‑Tuning the Format and Delivery of PD 159
Overall Takeaways from Our Work with Teachers 161

Appendix A. Strategy Teaching Interventions for Executive Functions 163

Appendix B. EF Basics: A Series of 11 Mini‑Lessons to Build 166
Whole‑Class EF Literacy (Grade 2 and Up)
Appendix C. Mentor Texts for Teaching About Executive Functions 180
Appendix D. Index of EF Barriers and Strategies 186

References 207

Index 217

Purchasers of this book can download and print the reproducible figures
and an appendix page at www.guilford.com/faith-forms for personal use
or use with students (see copyright page for details).
 CHAPTER 1

Executive Function and Learning

WHAT ARE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS?

Before we delve into a formal definition of EFs, we would like to place you firmly in your class-
room. Think about your students. Recall the creative ones, the funny ones, the talented ones, and
the ones who surprise you. They all, from time to time, have trouble setting and meeting goals. It
may be Theo who struggles to shift from one activity to another or Juan who cannot help but blurt
out while others are speaking. Consider Joanie who constantly underestimates how long a task is
going to take or Samia who forgets there was even a plan to follow in the first place. These are just
some of the many students we want you to hold in mind as you read this chapter. Every student you
have worked with probably taught you something different about the way EFs affect performance.
As an experienced teacher, you are the real expert on EFs in the classroom.
EFs are cognitive processes that work alongside our intellect and creativity to allow us to
respond to challenges. They develop naturally throughout childhood and adolescence, maturing
in our mid-20s. These skills are controlled by the prefrontal cortex in our brains and are the very
reason we are able to remain focused, organize our time and follow through with a plan, meet chal-
lenges with flexibility and persistence, hold and quickly access information stored in memory, and
retain self-­control when the going gets tough.
If you look up “executive functioning” on the Internet, you will find a range of differing opin-
ions. Experts hotly debate fundamental matters such as how many EFs there are, how to refer to
them individually, and how to properly group them. Dr. Adele Diamond believes there are three
core EFs (2013), George McCloskey’s developmental model mentions 32 different capacities that
support self-­regulation (2013), while Dawson and Guare (2018) speak of 11. In 2012, Dr. Russell
Barkley threw up his hands and pointed out that this lack of a common model among researchers
had delayed a generally accepted definition of EF. Consensus continues to elude the top experts.
1
2 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

This focus on the details is important. Researchers are trying to understand how closely
aligned EF weakness is with attention deficit disorder, for example, and how individual EFs, such
as working memory, can be fostered in infancy. They wonder if certain EFs are disproportionately
impaired by learning disabilities or if early intervention to support others could circumvent read-
ing problems. They wonder if there are subsets of EFs that function differently from the others.
Despite the confusion among researchers, experts focused on mobilizing EF knowledge for
classroom use have pushed forward with general definitions. If nothing else is perfectly clear, we
can agree that EF is a good “umbrella term” to describe the processes involved in “purposeful,
goal-­directed, and flexible behavior” (Meltzer, Dunstan-­Brewer, & Krishnan, 2018, p. 111). We
take our lead from the list of 11 proposed by Dawson and Guare (2018), found in Table 1.1. After
many consultations with teachers, we believe this is the most useful set of concepts for students to
learn if they are to discuss their learning fluently.

TABLE 1.1. 11 Key Executive Functions

Response inhibition Planning and prioritizing
The capacity to think before you act. The ability to The ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or
resist the urge to say or do something allows us the to compete a task. It also involves being able to
time to evaluate the situation and how our behavior make decisions about what’s important to focus on
might affect it. and what’s less important.

Working memory Organization

The ability to hold information in mind and The ability to design and maintain systems for
work with it when performing complex tasks. It keeping track of information or materials.
incorporates the ability to draw on past learning or
experience to apply to the situation at hand or to Time management
project into the future. The capacity to estimate how much time one has,
how to allocate it, and how to stay within time
Emotional control limits and deadlines. It also involves a sense that
The ability to manage emotions in order to achieve time is important.
goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior.
Goal-directed persistence
Cognitive flexibility The capacity to follow through to the completion
The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, of a goal, even when it seems to take a long time,
setbacks, new information and possibilities, or without being deterred by setbacks, mistakes,
mistakes. It involves adaptability to changing frustration, boredom, other demands, or
conditions. competing interests.

Sustained attention Metacognition

The capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of The ability to stand back, take a bird’s-eye view
distractions, fatigue, or boredom. of oneself in a situation, or observe one’s own
problem solving. It also includes self-monitoring
Task initiation and self-evaluative skills.
The ability to begin a task without undue
procrastination, in a timely fashion.

Note. Adapted from Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Third Edition, by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare. Copy-
right © 2018 The Guilford Press. Reprinted with permission.
 Executive Function and Learning 3

WHAT IS YOUR EF PROFILE?

We all have a variety of strength and weakness in our EFs; even the most capable students, and
most adults, have one or two weak EFs that will impair performance to some extent. For example,
think about the teachers at your school. We’re pretty certain you have a great organizer, a task ini-
tiator who gets everyone started on new projects, or a super flexible teacher who always goes with
the flow. You might also know someone who occasionally interrupts faculty meetings, or who, once
a plan is made, needs plenty of reminders to refer to it again. You can bet that these individuals
are, perhaps unknowingly, using strategies to manage the more critical impacts of these tenden-
cies in their lives. Through experience, and some cringe-­worthy mistakes, we smooth the roughest
edges of our EF challenges so they don’t wreak havoc in our lives. Our students are several years
of maturity and many life experiences away from this adult level of self-­management.
The children in our classrooms have much weaker EFs than we do for many reasons. We can
easily understand that they are less cognitively mature, but there are other less obvious factors
that put their EFs on unstable ground. Figure 1.1 shows the way modern life, a variety of differ-
ent learning disabilities, and adverse childhood experiences can stack up to weaken EFs. Can you
recall teaching a student who may have been affected by several or even all of these compounding
factors?
We don’t want to paint a picture of unrelenting doom and gloom. It is critical, however, for
educators to understand the reason behind the variation in school behavior and performance. It
is important to remember that, for some children, it is more mentally challenging to resist temp-
tation, hold multiple ideas in mind, control emotions, or stay focused. While they may be able to
demonstrate all of these skills for a few moments, or throughout first period, or when they are
especially interested in something, managing them over the course of a long, demanding school
day is a different matter entirely.

HOW DO EFs AFFECT LEARNING AT SCHOOL?

We all have a unique spectrum of EF strength and weakness, and we all have good days and bad
days. Experts estimate that the individual differences in EFs explain over half of all the variation
in school performance (Visu-Petra, Cheie, Benga, & Miclea, 2011). Take a moment to consider how
EFs might affect a typical day in a teacher’s life.

Bad EF Day
Imagine that you are at an interactive workshop on a topic you know little to nothing about. There
are all sorts of interesting people attending. You should be excited, but you had a terrible night’s
sleep; you were up all night with a sick child whom you had to leave at home with a babysitter.
This caused you to run late. Then, you missed the train, which meant you missed the breakfast,
coffee, and chatter before the conference began. You look around and feel embarrassed. Everyone
else seems to be happy, enjoying themselves, and on track. You start to think about the coffee and
breakfast that you missed, and then the urge to check in on your son springs to mind. You look at
the clock and realize the session is almost over. How will you report back to the staff at your school?
4 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Immaturity
EFs do not fully
mature until our
mid-20s.

Modern Life
Children today face an ever-
intensifying myriad of everyday EF
suppressors, such as overexposure
to screens, lack of exercise,
improper sleep or nutrition, and
sickness (Swing, Gentile,
Anderson, & Walsh, 2010).

Learning Disabilities
Learners with learning disabilities such as
acquired neurological impairments (Gioia &
Isquith, 2004), ADHD and autism (Ozonoff &
Jensen, 1999), FASD (Fryer et al., 2007),
and LD (Elliott, 2003; Stein & Krishnan,
2018) may face additional specific EF
challenges.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

(ACEs)
“ACEs” refer to seriously traumatic events, such as abuse, neglect,
or consistent household dysfunction, that occur before the age of
18. Experts have warned that the high or “toxic” levels of stress
related to ACEs have a negative impact on EFs (Southern
Education Foundation, 2015) and may even cause permanent
impairment that creates a pattern of mediocre performance,
misbehavior, or dramatic overreaction in response to the smallest
sign of negative feedback (see review in Tough, 2016).

FIGURE 1.1. Additional challenges to EF.

Good EF Day
Attending a workshop in a neighboring city, you have a late dinner with a colleague and discover
at midnight that your accommodations have no shampoo. You grudgingly set an alarm and plan
to run to the store in the morning. When the alarm goes off you throw on sneakers and head to
the store. Finding it closed, you end up jogging four blocks to the next one. The sun is rising, it’s a
lovely morning, and you take the long way home, jogging all the way. You get back, quickly shower,
 Executive Function and Learning 5

and feel surprisingly great, despite your poor sleep. Arriving at the conference, you’re a bit late, but
you feel energized, social, and optimistic. You feel deeply focused, and your mind quickly assimi-
lates and extends the information you hear. You connect with another participant from your city.
Though his school is slightly different than yours, you continue chatting during the coffee break
about ways to start a project together.
Consider the impact of these good and bad EF days on the overall learning and performance
of each teacher. The teacher having a bad EF day will not be able to give a good report to her
colleagues. Organization, time management, attention, and emotional control impaired her abil-
ity to be successful. This failure may have a negative impact on her career, because she may not
be chosen to attend the next conference. The teacher having a good EF day, however, through
her emotional control, flexibility, attention, working memory, and goal-­directed persistence, has
shown leadership and will return to school with impressive news. Do you suspect that the teacher
having a good EF day might just be more naturally curious, innovative, and generally successful?
In fact, both of these stories are based on Laurie’s (author) personal diary. They represent one and
the same person. Can you appreciate how much our EFs, despite our intellect and creativity, can
affect our learning and performance?
Students experiencing a “bad EF day” often do it in a very public forum, with no way to
retreat or regroup, in front of peers and teachers who have become exasperated by them. If these
bad days cause them to feel frustrated, depressed, and embarrassed, the situation becomes even
worse. Stress is a disastrous condition for EFs. It floods our prefrontal cortex with cortisol and
scrambles our ability to remember things, exercise discipline, and reason our way through prob-
lems. The feeling might be similar to experiencing stage fright, or being the new guy at a challeng-
ing job, or being lost in a big city during rush hour.
EF weakness has a greater impact on academic success than language or intellectual ability
(Blair & Razza, 2007; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Espy et al., 2004). Forgive the harsh lan-
guage, but EF challenges can make children look and feel lazy, naughty, or as if they simply aren’t
very smart. Below, we will characterize each of these types. At the end of Chapter 3 we provide
even more detailed information about the impact of EFs on performance.
Students who drift off task, stall, or become disorganized are the ones who may appear “lazy.”
These are students with challenges in attention, task initiation, goal-­directed persistence, and time
management. Often these students have big ideas but are just so utterly overwhelmed by details
that they don’t know how or where to start. They might even be your gifted students but will often
end a classroom period with nothing accomplished. Think of them as your “consultants”—you may
notice them dropping in on other students’ conversations with amazing ideas, enjoying a chance
to do some thinking without having to manage any of the EF challenges. We wonder, why doesn’t
this student just start his own assignment if he has so much to say? In time, these students may
become passive, discouraged, or even angry. Without an understanding of EFs and support to be
strategic, they internalize the criticism that they are terribly wasting their potential or they decide
they are destined to fail.
The “naughty” students are the hardest to ignore. These are the ones whose interruptions,
rule breaking, stubbornness, and short fuse most likely caused you to buy this book in the first
place. They can be very disruptive to other students and to your ability to conduct your teach-
ing, and as a result may suffer the most severe consequences. For example, we know a student
who spent March, April, May, and June working in a solitary wooden study carrel in the hallway
6 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

of his school. Trust that we see this situation with compassion—­no teacher begins their career
hoping to exclude students, just as no student begins school hoping to become the enemy of his
whole class. This unfortunate and unacceptable situation, instead, is a sure sign that a teacher
and student are undersupported, out of ideas, and burnt out. These “naughty” students might like
to know that, actually, they struggle a little more than usual with response inhibition, flexibility,
and metacognition. Furthermore, they might like to know that emotional triggers are unusually
powerful for them and cause all of their other EFs to fall apart. Research tells us that students with
weak EFs are often subject to harsh misattribution from peers, teachers, and themselves because
their challenges are mistaken for symptoms of poor character (Gaier, 2015) that seem intentional
(Elik, Wiener, & Corkum, 2010). Unfortunately, because childhood includes plenty of intentional
mischief and boundary testing, only the most well informed and sensitized can discriminate an EF
weakness from layers of other typical behaviors.
Many other students struggle with EF challenges that directly affect deep thinking and rea-
soning skills. These are the ones who may look and feel as if they simply aren’t very smart. Work-
ing memory and response inhibition, in particular, have tremendous impacts on math and reading
ability (see review in Diamond, 2014). A weak working memory makes it difficult to hold the main
idea of a story in mind while decoding difficult words. You’ve undoubtedly worked with students
who have struggled like this; they get to the end of a paragraph and have no idea what they’ve read.
Weak response inhibition, on the other hand, makes it very challenging to select only relevant
information when making meaning in text. These are students who, when asked to summarize a
chapter from their novel, will tell you every single detail from the first paragraph. Or this phenom-
enon may be due to weak metacognition, whereby these students have trouble connecting the dots
and noticing the overall patterns and meaning in the material they read. Sometimes this “simply
not very smart” type will have a cluster of strong EFs, so even though they seem organized, atten-
tive, and disciplined, they just can’t manage to nail their academic work. Though the EF chal-
lenges for these students are deep in their thought process, the situation is far from hopeless. We
know many students who, through EF literacy and a strategic approach, have learned to manage
working memory and response inhibition challenges.
How many “bad EF days” are taking place in your classroom? How will you know if the unex-
pected performance you’re seeing really is due to EF challenges? It is easy to suspect that poor
performance is intentional. For example, what if your class struggles to complete your mapping
activity and then heads outside to recess and works away happily for 30 minutes, drawing elaborate
maps all over the playground? Or can’t understand a scientific concept but has no problem master-
ing the latest video game? It is important to remember that individual capacity for EF is heavily
influenced by familiarity, experience, interest, comfort, and mood, not to mention sleep, nutrition,
and illness. This is why the art teacher and the math teacher often have vastly different impres-
sions of a specific student’s abilities. American psychologist Ross Greene (2008) reminds us kids do
well if they can, and he’s right: When our students’ EFs are working well, they tend to use them.
Sometimes, however, EFs are mysterious, unpredictable, and conspicuously absent.
As you read and think more about EFs, you will find your senses become keener to their clues
and you will learn to spot them. We sometimes refer to this as developing an “EF lens.” It’s like
wearing a pair of glasses that gives you a different perspective on your learners. With this lens in
place you may feel more compassion and understanding toward your students, and you might find
your teaching muscles flexing as they haven’t flexed in a long time. Finally, seeing the EFs in your
classroom presents an exciting new range of responses, supports, and teaching opportunities.
 Executive Function and Learning 7

HOW TEACHERS ALREADY SUPPORT EFs

Can you remember when the term “executive function” first hit your radar? Teachers are often
exposed to this regrettably scientific-­sounding label for the first time on the pages of a psychoedu-
cational report. Given a few examples, however, they realize that EFs are very simple. By “EF”
we mean, well, almost everything you notice about your students’ performance. When we refer to
“EF-­supportive teaching,” we are essentially talking about everything a teacher says and does all
day long. Consider how your work with students is already so oriented toward EF support: We
provide charts, planning webs, and tables to help students with organization. We give 10-, 5-, and
2-minute warnings to support time management. We create calming spaces to support emotional
regulation. If you took a moment to jot down the 10 routine teaching moves that take the most time
in your day, odds are you could connect each one to a lagging EF in your students.
For this reason, it often feels ridiculous to lecture classroom teachers on EFs. Much of what
experts know in a theoretical, categorical, or statistical way is understood in a deep, practical,
and dynamic way in the field. This contrast in approach makes teachers and researchers excellent
partners. Working together, we can use the scientific names of different EFs to sort the behaviors
we see and the approaches we use. Sorted into EF categories, both our students’ performance and
our teaching responses become easier to understand, compare, anticipate, and control. As with any
messy, complex situation, a little bit of order goes a long way.
There are a wide range of styles of classroom teaching, but the most effective for building EFs
strike a sensitive balance between support and demands. Experts agree that incremental, rigorous
challenge in a calm, structured, stimulating, social, and joyful environment will best support EF
development (Diamond & Ling, 2020). It’s a bit like Goldilocks and her porridge, so let’s explore
the different flavors, textures, and presentations that make up a “just right” recipe.
First, let’s discuss the rough quantities of support in classroom teaching. On one hand, we
shouldn’t aim to scaffold and support our learners every step of the way. Imagine second-­grade
students who have had the same “jobs” for 6 months, who require classical music playing softly in
the background and an adult “hush” in the air all day, and who barely interact with one another
because they are so comfortable in their routines. While this feels relaxing, and you may want to
incorporate short periods of respite during your teaching day, a classroom that is comfortable all
day is too mushy and bland. It will not be stimulating and challenging enough to promote the nor-
mal, healthy growth of EFs in your classroom. On the other hand, neither is it advisable to create
an EF war zone by removing all structure, rules, predictability, and order. This is too extreme, and
just isn’t conducive to learning.
Japanese classrooms might provide an example of a good balance. In studies comparing Japa-
nese teaching to that in the United States and Germany, Stigler and Hiebert (1999) noticed a big
difference. In Japan, teachers delivered a new mathematical concept and wrote a problem on the
board. No other instructions were given; the students struggled, strained, and stressed as they
attempted to figure it out. After a generous period of time, students were gathered up for a sup-
portive discussion about their process, ideas, and strategies. In the United States, a very different
situation was observed. The teachers went over a few problems on the overhead, made sure every-
one understood the new concept, and gave the students a number of similar problems to solve.
They provided guidance all the way, ensuring little to no confusion or frustration. While there is
a time and place for structured, fail-proof teaching, it should not be the only approach happening
in your classroom.
8 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Apart from core instruction, teachers do many other things at school that either build EFs
directly or provide the type of context in which children are most receptive to the direct builders.
All of the little extras we do at school are important. As it turns out, our commitment and generos-
ity are not for entertainment, or babysitting, and nor are they cute examples of the eccentricity of
experienced teachers—­they are powerful factors in the support and development of EF. Consider
the research-­based direct and indirect builders of EF presented in the left column of Table 1.2.
When we ask teachers how they already tap into these builders in their classrooms and schools,
they respond heartily. The right column lists just a few of their examples.
There is one additional important factor in the support and development of EFs in your stu-
dents: you. Remember how EFs are optimized with good sleep, nutrition, health, and regular
exercise? This is true for teachers too. The end of Chapter 3 describes how EFs can affect your
work, but seriously, have you ever attempted a day of teaching on 2 hours of sleep, or without eat-
ing all day, or with a migraine? We don’t recommend it, but it’s a great way to understand what
an EF blackout feels like. You may be short tempered, disorganized, constantly missing the point,
firing off ill-­advised emails, or terribly inflexible with your class. You can do a lot of damage to your
relationships, self-­esteem, and reputation on days like these, so if you find yourself in this position,
it’s best to lay low. Trust us, we’ve been there. Over the long term, exhausted teachers can experi-
ence burnout cascades whereby student behavior problems lead to teacher stress, which leads to
suboptimal teaching, which leads to further student behavior problems, and on it goes (Maslach &
Jackson, 1981). Research suggests, however, that teachers with better EFs experience less stress,
tending to report feeling less irritated by children and more in control (Friedman-­Krauss, Raver,
Neuspiel, & Kinsel, 2014). Optimizing your EFs may protect you from a downward spiral at work.
Conversely, you might remember days when you’ve managed really well. Perhaps you put your
phone away at 9:00 P.M. and got a brilliant night’s sleep, or you managed to make breakfast and
pack a good lunch. Sometimes it’s the simplest things, such as having walked part of the way to
school, or having stumbled into a funny conversation with a student that lifted your mood. On days
like these you might feel a little magical. You might feel highly attentive, emotionally tuned in,
able to handle multiple demands, and capable of exercising good judgment. You might project calm
and happiness. For your students, this professionalism and maturity will be an inspiring, and, for
some, life-­changing source of security. Students who go home to a chaotic environment will benefit
especially from the stability and nurturing you provide. Think of yourself as the fifth wall of your
classroom. Your health and happiness are so important to your own EF. Don’t forget to make time
to nourish your own body, mind, and soul.
Teachers, through their support of EF development, play a crucial role in the success of their
students. On a day-to-day basis we set a tone of good self-­control; perceive many different intel-
lectual, emotional, and social needs; and respond with a “just right” balance of challenge and sup-
port. This is heavy-duty work, and why teachers are often exhausted at 3:30. Have you ever had
the frustrating experience of having a non-­teaching partner or friend explain to you all the ways
you should make your work easier? “You’re so tired because you do all that extra stuff! Stop tak-
ing on so much. Keep it simple. Just get your work done and get out of there.” The next time this
happens, maybe you’ll feel a deeper sense of satisfaction knowing that the extra effort you put in
really makes a difference.
 Executive Function and Learning 9

TABLE 1.2. EF Builders and How Teachers and Schools Already Use Them
Ways to build EF
according to research Examples of things teachers regularly do
Direct builders
Evolving structures and rules in • Provide a classroom jobs board that changes weekly.
the classroom • Teach a science unit that requires students to partner up.
• Organize new table groups every month.
• Have special expectations and rules for a field trip.

Organized, social activities with • Coach basketball or house league dodgeball.

rules • Teach games in gym class, and then encourage students to play
them on the playground.
• Lead martial arts club and dance club.

Frequent/varied practice using • Help students organize their essays and math problems.
EF for tasks • Help students calm down and resolve disagreements.
• Teach students to pay attention to schedules and clocks.
• Emphasize steps to use in problem solving.

Indirect builders
Happiness, familiarity, comfort • Greet students enthusiastically at the classroom door.
• Decorate the classroom so it feels warm and inclusive.
• Maintain friendly contact with last year’s students.
• Participate in schoolwide spirit activities.

Experience, interest, connection • Include students’ interests in learning.

• Assess prior knowledge before starting to teach.
• Provide examples students can relate to.

Appropriate level of academic • Conduct preassessments to determine proper level of challenge.

challenge • Check in regularly with formative assessment.
• Change assignments slightly in response to student success.

Sleep, nutrition, exercise • Keep homework light and meaningful.

• Run active clubs and teams at the school.
• Thank parents for balanced lunches and early bedtimes.

Self-confidence • Make easy opportunities for success and belonging, such as jobs
or helpers, or highlighting special accomplishments.
• Make sure there are achievable goals for all students.

Note. Based on research by Diamond and Ling (2020) and Bethell, Newacheck, Hawes, and Halfon (2014). Teacher exam-
ples generalized based on teacher responses during EF training workshops.
 CHAPTER 2

Laying the Foundation

Building Whole‑Class EF Literacy

BUILDING EF LITERACY FOR FREE

Traditionally, “literacy” is defined as the ability to decode, understand, interpret, create, and com-
municate; it takes place across a continuum of growth. This definition often refers to the complex
skills required to read and write, but EF literacy can be thought of in much the same way. It
involves vocabulary (“goal-­directed persistence”) and rules (EFs don’t mature until our mid-20s).
We use it to decipher, demystify, and relate to the people around us and, with practice, we become
more fluent and adept. We will talk a lot about EF literacy in this book: the way it can influence
relationships and self-­understanding, as well as the way it can change instruction, feedback, and
assessment. We will use the term to describe teachers, students, principals, and whole school com-
munities who see and respond to one another through an EF lens.
We prioritize building EF literacy in children for several reasons. Most important, we do it
because it helps them keep challenges in perspective. Self-­complexity theory suggests that stu-
dents with a complex and multifaceted understanding of themselves are more emotionally safe.
When they make a mistake, their hard feelings about those negative events don’t “spill over” and
encompass their entire self. Rather, using knowledge of the many EFs that they have and use,
they can attribute the challenge to only one or two specific facets of a big, broad identity (Linville,
1985). It is a little like having a diverse financial portfolio: If one stock tanks, you don’t go broke.
Thus, boosting self-­complexity by teaching students about their EFs allows a student handing in a
late report to think, “I didn’t plan my time properly” or “I struggle with attention and missed the
deadline information” rather than “I’m a total loser and will never succeed at report writing.” This
makes a big difference.
Teachers often assume that the best path to EF literacy is a formal, whole-class, spiral-­bound
or computerized program. Many of these types of programs exist for teaching EF strategy (see
10
 Laying the Foundation 11

Appendix A), but do they get used? Look behind your teaching desk. Amid the binders and books,
overstuffed file folders, and piles of last years’ assessments, can you find at least one great program
that you simply didn’t have time to apply? Can you find five? Bet you can. If you search the Inter-
net or ask a colleague, you will find many formal programs that touch upon student self-­awareness
or EF. These can be very powerful, but they are often time-­consuming and restrictive. Meanwhile,
research tells us that teachers try new things most enthusiastically when they feel a sense of con-
trol (Le Fevre, 2014) and when the “new things” don’t feel too intrusive (Kazdin, 1980; Reimers,
Wacker, & Koeppl, 1987). Sound familiar? As frontline users, teachers know an awful lot about the
context and timing factors that will determine the success of what they are attempting. So, before
you rush off to buy a formal program, you might like to consider taking a do-it-­yourself approach.
It might work just as well, if not better!
Most great classrooms are a balance between curricula that the school purchases and supple-
mental materials that teachers add in. On any given day we may use something as structured as a
scripted remedial reading program and as open-ended as an inquiry-­based social studies program.
In our experience, teaching students about EFs is straightforward enough to be done simply, cre-
atively, and for free. Don’t get us wrong—­heavily researched curricula have their place—but we’ve
seen hundreds of teachers build whole-class EF literacy, and not one of them used a commercial
program. Let’s talk about why this makes sense.
First, while it is interesting and satisfying for children to learn new EF knowledge and vocab-
ulary, we believe the best learning happens during the authentic and meaningful learning situa-
tions that you can’t find in a formal program. For this reason, we believe teachers should introduce
basic EF knowledge and concepts as quickly as possible and then dive right in to actually speak
the language of EFs. With only a basic introduction to EFs, your students can begin to engage in
classroom discussions about the EFs in everyday work. We often describe the initial, brief, direct
teaching of EFs like the setting up of conceptual “buckets” in children’s minds. We then plunge
our students into real-life EF experience, so these buckets can be filled in a meaningful way. Their
applied conversations about EFs will provide rich context and meaning, and their understanding
will blossom naturally. This process of becoming EF literate is like mastering any language: You
practice just enough to get by, and then immerse yourself in the culture of the language so the real
learning can happen.
Also, teaching children about EFs is just too delightfully fun to leave your creativity and
autonomy at the door. If done with compassion and understanding, building EF literacy is a special
opportunity for teacher and students to learn about each other, connect deeply, and share a laugh
or two. You’ll want to be fully engaged, inquiring, curious, and active in this learning right along
with your students. Trust us, this is not too complex to undertake on your own.
Enough preamble—­let’s get down to specifics. If you want to teach your whole class to be
functionally EF literate, your learning objectives are a simple knowledge + skill + concept com-
bination. Table 2.1 lists the key learning outcomes for our EF-­literate students.
Almost every single teacher we have worked with starts by printing a set of posters to capture
these key ideas in an anchor chart. Figure 2.1 shows a snapshot of some of the many teacher-­created
materials that you can access and print on our community website (http://activatedlearning.org),
but there are many other kinds of EF posters available at little to no cost online. A general Google
search will yield useful results, and Pinterest has many interesting options (https://­pinterest.com).
Also, websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers offer many different low-cost paid options (https://
teacherspayteachers.com).
12 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

TABLE 2.1. Key Learning Outcomes for Students Who Are Becoming EF Literate
Knowing . . . EFs work alongside our intellect and creativity to help us respond effectively
to challenges.
Names and definitions of 11 EFs.

Being able to . . . Notice and name the impact of specific EFs in everyday performance.

Understanding . . . EFs are a natural, normal, growing, and controllable part of everyone’s
performance.
Our EFs allow us to express our creativity and intellect.
We all have a unique pattern of EF strength and challenge—even adults.
We should feel proud of our own unique profile of strength and challenge.

With these basic materials printed and posted, the teaching of EFs can be done in a variety of
different ways. How you choose to teach EFs will depend on your own personal style and prefer-
ence, the time of year, the group of students you’re working with, and how much time you have
available. Throughout the remainder of this chapter, as well as in Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6, we’ll
give specific information about how to implement what we’re discussing in five different contexts.
These contexts describe different dynamics you might experience with students, and you may find
yourself in several of them throughout your teaching day. For example, you may feel time strapped
when addressing your class on a field trip, huddled on a busy downtown street, but you may feel
more structured when teaching those same students later in math class. Or you might be a single-­
subject teacher who instructs group after group of students who couldn’t be more different. We
hope that, across these contexts, you’ll find something useful—­an example to modify, an idea to
explore, or an approach that you love enough to use “as is.”

The Five Teaching Contexts for Implementation

When you’re When you want
setting up to capitalize on
The early Organic and
routines at the naturally occurring
days free flowing
beginning of a teachable
year or unit. moments.

When you are

When you barely
Time A “stressed” working with
have a moment to
strapped class a group that is
spare.
stressed.

When you need a

Highly
highly structured
structured
approach.
 Laying the Foundation 13

4 Facts about
Executive Functioning:
Everyone EFs help you
has express your
different unique creativity
strengths and and smarts
weaknesses, like a
fingerprint
Teachers have EF1. EFs will slowly get
challenges too better with age

Activated Learning Teaching Approach ©Laurie Faith, 2017, @LCFaith, [email protected]

RESPONSE INHIBITION PLANNING & PRIORITIZING

Thinking before you act—resisting the Creating a roadmap to reach a goal.
urge to say or do things. What should I focus on first?

WORKING MEMORY ORGANIZATION

Holding information in memory while Creating and maintaining a system to keep
performing complex tasks. track of information or materials.

EMOTIONAL CONTROL 😡😡😁😁 TIME MANAGEMENT

Managing feelings so you can be Estimating how much time you have
productive and successful. ☹😟😟 and using it to meet deadlines.

FLEXIBILITY GOAL-DIRECTED PERSISTENCE

Seeing many sides of an idea or Completing your goal without being
situation. Changing and adapting. distracted by competing interests.

SUSTAINED ATTENTION METACOGNITION

Paying attention even if you’re tired, Noticing how you’re doing and thinking
bored, or not interested. about how you’re thinking.

TASK INITIATION
Beginning projects and tasks in
a timely fashion.

FIGURE 2.1. Classroom posters developed to display key knowledge and concepts about executive
functioning. The posters “What Are Executive Functions?” and “4 Facts About Executive Functioning”
were created by Laurie Faith in consultation with other teachers. The small EF posters were created by
Stephanie Walker at Scott Young Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. All posters can be down-
loaded from http://activatedlearning.org.
14 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

How to Teach EFs:

Early Days
The big idea here is that teaching students about EFs aligns nicely with the
classic “early days” work of getting to know your class and setting a positive
tone. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Create a simple EF bulletin board in your classroom.

• Do an informal EF survey right along with your class as a getting-­to-know-you activity.
• Encourage students to keep their EF strengths in mind.

The early days of a school year have a special rhythm. Most teachers spend a week or so going
over classroom expectations, reviewing routines, and conducting “getting to know you” activities.
Even the most overprogrammed and highly structured classrooms do this, because in addition to
being welcoming, setting the right tone, and teaching everyone how to use the restroom pass, it
unearths crucial information about our students as learners.
We (the authors) remember this tradition well: Every one of our teachers quizzed us about our
favorite colors and favorite foods in September. We tried the activity as adults and discovered that
Laurie’s favorite food is spaghetti, Carol’s is a good curry, and Peg’s is a lobster roll. We aren’t sure,
however, if knowing these preferences really brought us closer together, and we can’t imagine how
our teachers used this type of information to help us learn.
If you’re planning to start teaching your students about EFs in September, you’re in luck. You
can comfortably cover the basics of EF before the academic year starts and also tick off many of
your September goals: getting to know your students, allowing them to get to know you and each
other, and setting a positive and inclusive tone. The self-­discovery and discovery about others you
facilitate will go way beyond favorite foods and colors. It will begin a compassionate relationship
among your class that is based on a deep understanding that we are all unique and have different
profiles of strength and challenge. And the information you discover as individuals and as a team
will be useful all year long.
Many teachers we know use the simple materials we have gathered on the Activated Learning
(AL) website (http://activatedlearning.org) to launch their September getting-­to-know-you conver-
sations. They start by posting a set of EF posters and administering an informal EF survey. To use
the survey, children work through a two-page list of prompts, rating themselves on three indicators
for each of 11 different EFs (Figure 2.2). For example, in the response inhibition section, they must
decide if they always, often, sometimes, rarely, or never “rush into assignments before fully under-
standing instructions” or “blurt stuff out in class.” This activity can help students build knowledge
of the impact of EF on school performance, and they enjoy discussing their responses. We know
teachers who introduce the activity by presenting their own results on the teacher questionnaire
(available on http://activatedlearning.org). This is a great opportunity to model self-­understanding,
self-­acceptance, and self-­compassion. And you can help students feel connected to you right away
with an honest comment like “You’ve only just met me, but you’ll see that I have to work really hard
to stay organized. Maybe you can give me ideas for keeping my desk tidy? The good news is that
I’m really flexible, so I’ll be excited to try your ideas!”
After spending about 30 minutes helping students understand and complete their own sur-
veys, some teachers encourage their students to fill in a graph to visualize their profile of strengths
and challenges. By creating a graph, students can quickly notice which of their EFs are the stron-
 Laying the Foundation 15

1 2 3 4 5
Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never

EF Checker for Kids

Item RESPONSE INHIBITION Score
1 Even if I’m full, I just can’t stop eating and nibbling.
2 I blurt stuff out in class: “I know!” or “Pick me!”
3 I start work before I’ve heard all of the instructions. I just rush off.
Total Score for Response Inhibition
WORKING MEMORY
4 I forget what I am saying halfway through.
5 If I get too many instructions, I can’t remember them all.
6 It’s hard to hold a few things in my head at once (like rules of a game).
Total Score for Working Memory
(Continues for 11 sections to represent 11 EFs.)

FIGURE 2.2. A portion of the “EF Checker for Students of All Ages” available at http://­activatedlearning.
org.

gest, and in which areas they tend to struggle. It can also help them appreciate personal growth
when completed in September and June. In Figure 2.3, you can see two different student graphs.
Notice that Student 1 is a natural planner, while Student 2 discovered that planning and priori-
tizing was an area of weakness. Meanwhile, Student 1 struggles with response inhibition, while
for Student 2 this EF is not as challenging. These students certainly have a lot to learn from each
other, and they might be helpful partners!
We know a few teachers who display these graphs to stimulate conversations among students
about EF diversity. “Wow!” a student commented, “This is cool to see. Each of us has strengths,
and our needs are so different!” Imagine standing next to this student. What a lightbulb moment!
Would you say, “Interesting, Kaylie . . . organization is a strong EF for you. Do you use it to help
you with time management?” or “Look, you and Zev are both so flexible! Have you ever worked
in a group with him?” or “Emotional regulation is tricky for me too, but I use my strong plan-
ning skills to help. Do you?” Looking at evidence like this helps students realize that, while they
do have challenges, they also have a few powerful resources. We know classrooms in which the
students were so proud to discover their EF skills they decided to create strength badges to stick
onto their desks; a teacher, substitute teacher, or peer walking by would know right away that Zev
was highly flexible and Kaylie was a super organizer. Completing an EF survey (and graphing the
results) also helps students to appreciate the huge variety of strength and challenge among their
classmates. They may discover a peer with a similar skill or one whose skills are complementary
to their own. After the students have gone home, teachers confide that seeing a pile of 20–30
completely different looking graphs helps them understand their students, and really confirms the
complexity of the work they do to support them.
16 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Bar Graph of EF Strengths and Challenges: Student 1

15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
RI WM EC CF SA TI PP O TM GDP M

Bar Graph of EF Strengths and Challenges: Student 2

15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
RI WM EC CF SA TI PP O TM GDP M

FIGURE 2.3. Student graphs to show the relative EF strength and challenge discovered using the “EF
Checker for Students of All Ages.” These are similar to those created by Stephanie Walker’s grade 4/5
learning strategies students at Scott Young Public School in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. Blank copies
available at http://activatedlearning.org. Used with permission.

Homeroom teachers aren’t the only ones who can launch the year with EF literacy. In Ontario,
we know a group of music, drama, and visual arts teachers who are also focused on EFs.1 In one
of their music classrooms, for example, students began the year by exploring the impact of EFs on
music making. Figure 2.4 lists many examples generated by a group of grade 8 band students. This
activity occupied a whole period at the beginning of the year but was invaluable for understanding
the many ways different students experience musical challenges. This teacher encouraged students
1 This group’s work can be found on Twitter at @ArtsActivated.
 Laying the Foundation 17

to celebrate their strengths as individuals and to offer “shout out” feedback about the strengths
they saw in others.
Teachers who have time for a more extensive introduction to EFs can use our more in-depth
materials. The “EF Basics” lesson series found in Appendix B provides teachers with 30–40 min-
utes per function of definition, discussion, and immersive EF experiences. The activities suggested
use ordinary materials, such as playing cards, paper, markers, and clocks, or use resources read-
ily available on the Internet. Many teachers choose to cover one function per day to kick off the
school year. For example, your class can explore how goal-­directed persistence feels by trying to
build card houses for 10 minutes without giving up. Teachers tell us that this activity helps students

How Do EFs Impact Grade 8 Band Class?

(Student Ideas)
Response Don’t start playing before being asked
Inhibition Hold rests for long enough

Working Remembering notes

Memory Watching conductor, instrument, and sheet music

Emotional Staying calm when you mess up

Control Not getting upset when you don’t know how to play a song

Flexibility Adjusting to change of instruments, songs, or groups

Working well no matter who is in your group

Sustained Waiting to start playing

Attention Practice even when others are practicing their different
parts

Task Initiation Taking out your instrument at home to get going with
practice
Learning a new song when it feels overwhelming

Planning and Meeting deadlines

Prioritizing Writing down your next playing test

Organization Keeping track of your sheet music

Knowing how the sheet music works—which parts repeat

Time Getting your instrument set up in time to play

Management Scheduling enough practice time each week

Goal-Directed Playing your instrument even if there are distractions

Persistence Continuing to play even if you make a mistake

Metacognition Noticing how you’re playing

Remembering which are the hard parts to focus on in
practice

FIGURE 2.4. Created during a band lesson at Central Senior School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, by
Holly Smith. Used with permission.
18 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

notice that some EFs work together because, for example, staying calm or focused or organizing
the area in which they are building may help support their ability to persist.
If you’re at a school that hosts a well-­attended parents’ night in September, consider sharing
EF literacy with your greater community. Our friends, Ontario teachers Jer, Julie, and Sallie,
hosted the families of their grades 7 and 8 students at a special “EF Bootcamp for Parents” event.
During an action-­packed 45-minute session, they provided everyone with a basic definition of
EF, conducted a special “Parent Survey” (available at http://activatedlearning.org), and led the
group in a discussion of the types of EFs that might affect their child’s ability to keep a clean and
tidy bedroom. They discovered that, after only a brief introduction, parents could be much more
understanding and insightful about their children’s performance. Among the group, parents came
up with five EF challenges that might underlie their children’s messy bedrooms. Not bad! The
day after their parents’ night, Jer, Julie, and Sallie repeated the discussion about EFs and clean
bedrooms with their students, and they came up with a whopping 13 potential EF challenges. You
can see both the parents’ and the students’ ideas in Figure 2.5. Building basic EF literacy among
children and their parents allows them, finally, to speak clearly and learn from one another about
the EF barriers they engage with every day.

How to Teach EFs:

Time Strapped
The big idea here is that teaching students about EFs needn’t happen in dedi-
cated, formal lessons. Rather, it can take place in the context of everyday “teach-
able moments.” In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Keep your eyes peeled for great teachable moments and indulge in a noticing and naming
conversation with your students when they occur.
• Work an EF activity into things that are already happening, such as homework assignments,
assemblies, or curriculum nights.

You have literally no time for anything extra. We get it—­teachers have a million priorities.
Even without dedicated lessons or activities; however, you can still make a huge difference in how
your students understand their learning. This section will present a few options for time-­neutral
EF teaching in your classroom.
First of all, formal, dedicated lessons about EFs are not always necessary to develop EF
knowledge in students. You can build EF literacy using a more casual approach. To do this, find
an empty bulletin board, a door, or a chunk of wall and bang up some EF posters. We recommend
hanging the “Basic EF” definitions and the “EF Ideas” posters that you can find on http://activat-
edlearning.org. This will cover the basic knowledge and concepts your students need to become
educated and empowered. Then, let the words and ideas seep into your room as part of your every-
day conversations about learning. You will quickly realize there are many natural opportunities to
talk about EFs. Consider the commonsense approach shared by this experienced teacher:

“I’m confident in my EF teaching, but I don’t use a lot of fancy laminated material or checklists.
I believe a lot of EF information can be incorporated with little time and effort. This year, my
monarch caterpillar chrysalis hatched on day one. Not the best situation, but I told the kids
 Laying the Foundation 19

that we would let it go after the assembly. Our plan fell through, so we let it out at the end of
the day. I pointed out flexibility and congratulated all of them. Each day thereafter I briefly
connected an EF to a situation. Yesterday I had the students write a paragraph on the mon-
arch life cycle. The topic sentence was on the board. I kept checking in with Megan who was
not writing anything and was looking increasingly frustrated. In the end she finally did it. I
told her, ‘You’re obviously a good writer, but it looks like you have a hard time getting started.’
I pointed out task initiation, told her it’s a problem for me too, and told her we’d find strategies

FIGURE 2.5. Parents’ versus their teens’ ideas about EF demands in household work. These charts
were created at a grade 7 and 8 parents’ night activity facilitated by Jeremiah Beggs, Sallie Byer, and
Julie Kuiken from Central Senior School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Both parents and their children
were asked to describe the way EFs might affect a teen’s ability to keep a clean bedroom. Used with
permission.
20 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

to help her. I swear I saw her body language show relief.” (J. Rhude, personal communication,
September 8, 2018) 2

As teachers, our days are filled with opportunities such as these. EF challenges fill our class-
rooms and dominate our work with students. For example, we support students as they struggle
to start on writing assignments, organize their ideas, or pay close enough attention to catch every
error while editing. In social studies, we may find ourselves urging students to explore multi-
ple theories or work with partners flexibly. Or, have you ever marked arithmetic with a student,
noticed missing steps or dropped numbers, and suggested they write down every step clearly? The
truth is, you are already talking about EFs all day long. With posters up, your conversation about
writing down every step of a math problem can become one of many quick lessons about working
memory and organization.
EFs are complex concepts. They change slightly in response to different challenges and may
even look different from day to day based on sleep, nutrition, and mood. This is why it makes sense
to build EF literacy in context. Would you try to teach a young child about the concept of a tree in a
windowless room? If you’re lucky, you can go outside and see a variety of different sizes and types,
feel the texture of papery and rough bark, smell pine sap, and taste what happens when maple sap
is boiled down into syrup. Building a concept slowly with practical examples from real life allows
for a full, nuanced understanding and deep learning.
You may also consider putting some of your “transition time” to work. By printing an extra
copy of the EF posters and simply cutting the title away from the definition, you can make a
matching activity or memory game. Students can amuse themselves with this while the classroom
administration is happening in the morning or between subjects. This seems very simple, but it
will help your students build vocabulary, fluency, and familiarity with the concepts.
Another efficient option is to “flip” your teaching of EFs into a task that takes place either
after school or during a special schoolwide event. To flip it into an at-home activity, send a student
EF survey (available at http://activatedlearning.org) home for homework and have your class make
a quick report on what they discovered the next day. Depending on your parent population, you
may wish to send home the parent EF survey as well. Involving parents works best if your school
administration is supportive of your classroom work on EFs. We have seen many easy in-class
follow-­ups to EF homework. After assigning the EF survey, one teacher we know asked her stu-
dents to decorate classroom EF posters by placing two pink paper hearts on their strengths and
two blue paper hearts on the EFs that were most challenging for them. An activity like this can add
dimension and a bit of structure to your everyday efforts to notice and name.
Or, many schools organize special themed days on which normal classes are canceled and the
whole population engages in special, spirit-­building activities. This would be a great time to distrib-
ute the EF mini-­lessons (Appendix B) among different stations and have students rotate through
them during the day. Several schools we work with have made EF literacy a whole-­community
priority and have made great strides toward educating all teachers, students, and families with
special events, newsletters, and curriculum-­night workshops. Having a background in EFs will
ensure that your community responds supportively when discussing strengths and challenges with
their children.

2 Janet
Rhude teaches at Scott Young Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission. Student name
changed to protect privacy.
 Laying the Foundation 21

The saying goes that anything worth doing is worth doing well. Perhaps, though, anything
really worth doing is worth doing in whatever way you can—no matter how limited your resources
and how short the time. Exposing your students to even a few key concepts about EFs plants a
seed and is so much better than nothing. So, have no fear. Feel no shame. We believe that a time-­
strapped education in EF literacy is a darn fine place to start.

How to Teach EFs:

Highly Structured
The big idea here is that teaching students about EFs can be done in a routine
and structured way. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the fol-
lowing:

• Teach each EF in a systematic way using the 11 lessons provided in Appendix B.

• Engage your students in a variety of projects related to EFs, including posters, pamphlets,
storybooks, or magazines.
• Add an EF component to classroom routines you already have up and running.

Many teachers decide that EFs will be a major focus in their classroom and adopt a highly
structured approach. By this method, EF literacy is built up slowly as EFs are introduced one by
one throughout a portion of the school year. By this method, attention may be covered in the first
2 weeks, time management in the second, and so on. Or you may choose a weekly or monthly pace.
While this doesn’t front-load EF literacy quickly, it does allow students to fully explore each EF
in a systematic way. It is important, however, that this learning is not relegated only to separate
mini-­lessons. You need to reinforce the ideas in casual discussions and encourage your students to
make connections during meaningful academic and social learning experiences for this approach
to be truly powerful.
Stephanie Walker’s fifth-grade classroom is a good example of how this can work.3 She intro-
duces one EF per month, preparing a wide variety of different activities to deepen her students’
understanding. Stephanie’s lessons often begin with a four-­square Frayer model (Figure 2.6). In
the first square, she provides a clear definition for the EF they are focusing on. In squares 2 and
3, she encourages her students to come up with written and drawn examples of its impact on
their performance. Finally, in the last square, students think of a strategy that helps them manage
the EF being discussed. With this basic understanding established, she conducts other activities,
including reflective bulletin boards created with the help of students, poster making, journaling,
podcasts, songs, and daily bell work. For an additional mini-unit on working memory, her class
created a variety of fun working memory games and hosted a fair for other students at the school.
Students leave Stephanie’s classroom with very well-­established EF literacy.
To support Stephanie’s work, we created a series of 11 mini-­lessons, which are available in
Appendix B. For each EF, you will find a blank Frayer model and a sample of how it may look when
filled in. As well, we’ve described several quick, hands-on activities that will allow your students
to play with the ideas and bring each EF to life. These lessons are designed to cover one EF per
teaching period but could be extended across several lessons. Or if you don’t have time or the need
for all of them, you may find the material useful as a way to deepen understanding in one or two

3 Stephanie teaches at Scott Young Public School in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
22 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Definition Drawing

Working Memory

Examples Strategies

FIGURE 2.6. One of 11 Frayer models used by Stephanie Walker at Scott Young Public School in
Omemee, Ontario, Canada, to discuss each executive function. Used with permission.

key areas. The activities are straightforward, suitable for any age, and highly adaptable. Teach-
ers in one Ontario school have used the lessons for schoolwide EF teaching, agreeing that every
classroom will designate one 45-minute teaching period per month to launch an EF. Then the “EF
of the month” is discussed in school assemblies and in the school newsletter. The timing of highly
structured teaching is predictable, so this approach is compatible with collaborative teaching,
either between classrooms or among whole schools.
Several teachers we work with facilitate in-depth projects relating to EFs. Students in Julie
Hough’s grade 7/8 class worked in groups to create articles for a magazine on EFs for their par-
ents.4 Each student researched and wrote a short piece describing an EF and how strategies can be
used to support it. This project did double duty—both supporting student learning and bringing
parents up to speed! Some classes create “EF passports” or portfolios over the course of the year.
Students created small booklets in which each EF is listed along with their personal strengths,
challenges, and most effective strategies. When created inside a small 5 × 7 photo album, these
booklets are heavy duty enough to travel with students from class to class, and they become an
invaluable part of a students’ transition plan when graduating to a new grade, school, or program,
or even when a new teacher joins the faculty. These in-depth projects require planning and time
but can be very rewarding.
Teachers already using social and emotional learning programs, such as Zones of Regulation,
restorative practices, or community circles, may find that the teaching of EFs falls nicely into the

4 Julie Hough teaches at Woodville Elementary School in Woodville, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 Laying the Foundation 23

structures and routines they have already set up. You can add on to your Zones bulletin board, for
example, because Zones tackles emotional regulation, and this is itself an executive function. If
your class is already self-aware, self-­compassionate, and strategic regarding their emotional regu-
lation, building these attitudes and skills around other EFs will be second nature. Other teachers
incorporate discussion prompts relating to EFs into their community circle conversations. Col-
leen Eagle’s grade 7 class uses a ring of task cards that she purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers
through a vendor called Pathway 2 Success.5 The cards may ask, “You have a lot of homework, but
you have practice at 6:00 P.M. What can you do?” or simply, “What does it mean to prioritize?”
Students pick an EF to focus on, choose a question, and explore ideas together. This simple mate-
rial encourages students to engage in reflective, authentic dialogue about the ways that EFs relate
to their challenges in the classroom. EF teaching can be tacked on to structures you already have
in place.
We know plenty of highly structured EF teachers that are particularly data oriented. Is this
your style? If not, buckle up because things are about to get intense. There is a certain type,
who after working through an EF survey (available at http://activatedlearning.org) with their stu-
dents, simply can’t resist entering that data into a spreadsheet. Once entered, this data becomes a
delightful playground for making graphs and charts, aggregating groups of students according to
areas of strength, and planning whole-class lessons based on common areas of challenge. Charlene
Chapman’s grade 4 class was organized into expert groups based on an Excel spreadsheet of EF
survey data.6 These groups then consulted with other students to better understand how strength
and weakness in a particular EF might feel. On a day-to-day basis, data-­hungry teachers can use
widely available apps such as Plickers (https://plickers.com) to quickly snapshot, chart, and display
data on EFs that students feel are most affecting their performance for specific tasks. Organizing
your teaching around data is always a good idea, and it certainly fits a highly structured teaching
approach.
Delivering highly structured EF lessons builds deep understanding, compassion, and per-
spective, especially if you can provide ongoing reinforcement in your classroom. Your students will
become fluent in a language of learning that they can return to throughout their lives. So, even if
you are the only person at your school who is interested in EFs, and suspect that your class will not
have any further training with next year’s teacher . . . persist! Your work will be an enduring gift.

How to Teach EFs:

Organic and Free Flowing
The big idea here is that the teaching of EFs can take place during everyday class-
room challenges and experiences. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to
do the following:

• Capitalize on unexpected or unwanted behavior to make a connection to an EF.

• Share your thinking about your own EFs with students to help them learn.
• Look for EF challenges in the stories you read aloud using the mentor texts we list in Appen-
dix C as a starting point.

5 Colleen Eagle teaches at Scott Young Public School in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
6 Charlene Chapman teaches at Queen Victoria Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
24 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

When you are in tune with your class, you can approach the teaching of EFs in a way that
capitalizes on naturally occurring teachable moments. There are so many perfect opportunities.
For example, imagine a fall day at around 10:30 in the morning. Your class is outside for recess, and
you’ve managed to make a cup of tea. The bell rings, the heavy double doors at the end of the hall
burst open, and you hear your class arguing as they hang up their coats. (They tried to invent a hide
and seek game but couldn’t agree on the rules.) You can respond in several ways. You can tell them
to leave playground issues on the playground. You can suggest they all go outside and come back
in again quietly. Maybe you’ll sit them down and explain the proper rules for hide and seek. Or—
aha!—perhaps this is the perfect time to call them to the carpet to introduce the idea of flexibility.
Let’s think of an example a little closer to the classroom: Your students are lined up and head-
ing to the gym. They are quiet and orderly, but as they go down the hall, they drag their little
fingers along the walls, wiping away words written on whiteboards and ruffling art displays. You
remind them that this is destructive and ask them to stop but turn around to find a few students
still at it. Again, you have many possible responses. You can stop the group, stand quietly before
them, and comment seriously, “I am so disappointed.” You can loudly thank the students who have
followed your instructions, or name the students who have not. But what if, in a flash of inspiration,
you reflect on the science of EF and the fact that it is harder for some children to inhibit impulses?
You may realize that this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the term “response inhibition,”
and to explain that we all have different strengths and challenges. “Response inhibition is hard
for me too,” you might say. “When I have an itchy mosquito bite, it is so hard to stop myself from
scratching it!” From here, the conversation can flow more naturally into the different ways we
sometimes feel tempted to do the wrong thing, and how we can work strategically to make sure we
are in control of our impulses.
Let us provide a final example that is nestled right inside the four walls of your classroom.
Imagine your class has been researching animal adaptations for 2 weeks. Each student has a file
full of notes that will be useful for writing a short essay, and today is the day they are to begin.
You’ve given a good lesson about sorting the research idea into structured paragraphs. Your stu-
dents are excited about their research and ideas, but nothing is happening. Nobody writes very
much. They chat with each other and doodle, and after 20 minutes some haven’t managed a single
word. You might feel disappointed and frustrated. Your responses could include an exasperated
sigh, a calm warning that tomorrow everyone will be placed at separate tables away from friends,
or a generous reiteration of the lesson. In response, your students might look hurt or angry, and
someone might declare, “I hate writing!” In this way, even our most disciplined and effortful
teaching responses may compound problems with students. Consider how a knowledge of EFs
enables different approach. For example, you could say to your students, “I see everyone in the
room struggling with this work, and I don’t know why. Is this an organizational challenge? Or are
you worried about making your writing perfect in the first draft—is it emotional regulation? Or
are you just having trouble taking the first step to initiate the work?” In conversations like these,
you will discover something new about your students’ learning, and they will learn to apply their
EF literacy to their everyday challenges. By capitalizing on naturally teachable moments, it is pos-
sible to structure your EF teaching around the shared experiences of the students in your class.
This organic approach to teaching EFs takes place naturally in a language arts classroom. In
the upper grades, we have observed literature units focused on themes of “hero versus self” in
which classes spend weeks searching for evidence of goal-­directed persistence, emotional control,
and flexibility. In the lower elementary years, we have observed classrooms filled with stories that
 Laying the Foundation 25

either indirectly or directly focus on EFs. The “What Do You Do?” series by Kobi Yamada includes
three books on the topic of choice, control, self-­awareness, and goal-­directed persistence. Julia
Cook has several books that tackle specific EFs, and one of our favorite feel-good, you-can-do-it
books is Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall. You will find a complete list of great stories organized by
grade level in Appendix C at the end of the book.
People often wonder how complex ideas like EFs can be a part of the daily chatter in a room
of very young children. In fact, kindergarten is a perfect place to start. At this age, so many of the
children’s experiences are dictated by their emerging EFs, from limited flexibility to sometimes
explosive emotional control and to completely unpredictable response inhibition. Paula Barrow
capitalizes on daily teachable moments to introduce each EF in her primary classroom.7 When an
opportunity arises, such as a heated disagreement over whose turn it is to use a certain material,
she stops her class to teach the students about which EF is being challenged. “You had a hard time
controlling your emotions,” she tells them. Then, referring to a display of EF posters, she says,
“That is one of the executive functions. Emotional control is important because it helps us stay
calm and work together.” Finally, with the help of her students, Paula creates a poster to represent
the idea of emotional control. Guided by her students, she searches for pictures online, scrolling
through different options on the SMART board until the group agrees on just the right one. In
the case of emotional control, her students decided that a picture of a brain holding hands with a
heart made sense because it showed the way you can think about your feelings and choose how to
express them. While not every classroom has access to a SMART board, we think this idea would
work just as well using simpler materials to draw the representative images.
Teachers often worry that EF concepts will be too complex for their students to fully under-
stand. On one hand, they are right. Even adults learning about EFs will notice that their compre-
hension deepens slowly over many years. We, as authors of this book, feel as though each student we
meet teaches us something new. On the other hand, our experiences suggest that the acquisition of
basic EF concepts may come quite naturally to children, even at a very young age. We suspect this
is because their daily work at school is so novel, challenging, and heavily affected by the limitations
of their emerging EFs. Kindergarten children being included in a discussion about “response inhi-
bition,” for example, often lean in intensely, become very animated, or look at us as if to say “Duh!
What took you so long to talk to us about this? We struggle with this stuff all day long!” Conversa-
tions about EFs often feel personal to students, and make typical school tasks feel more interesting.
Once you start teaching EFs organically throughout a school day, you’ll wonder what in the world
you were doing before, and you’ll never look at your students in quite the same way again.

How to Teach EFs:

Working with a “Stressed” Class
The big idea here is that teaching students about EFs is a wonderful way to
build trust, acceptance, and openness. In this section, you’ll learn more about
how to do the following:

• Show students that it is safe to be vulnerable and honest.

• Intentionally plan the EF challenges that will be involved in lessons and activities and discuss
them with your students as they arise.

7 Paula Barrow teaches at Fenelon Township Public School in Cameron, Ontario, Canada.
26 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Our classrooms can be intense places, and many teachers worry that EFs will be too personal,
too “touchy-­feely,” or too triggering to discuss with their students. You might, for example, teach
children who always seem stressed—­tightly coiled springs ready to explode at the smallest disap-
pointment or perceived slight. Will they feel offended at the idea that their ability to pay attention,
say, might be slightly less acute than that of a classmate? Or perhaps you have a class that is very
distracted and impulsive and can only manage the basics. Can this group be trusted with the vul-
nerability of their classmates? Other teachers tell us that their ability to try new things is dictated
by one or two volatile students. They feel bad for the rest of the class but generally avoid anything
unusual or special because it might cause a meltdown. Many of the teachers we work with use the
Zones of Regulation program and refer to these students as “red zone” students or “high fliers.” If
you find yourself in one of these situations and are concerned about delving into EFs because your
students might feel threatened, overwhelmed, or angry, this section might be particularly useful.
How can we help students feel safe, relaxed, and engaged during conversations about EFs?
We can start by being sensitive to their reality, both past and present. Remember that many of our
students’ past experiences of EF challenge will have been negative. A failure to plan, for example,
may be associated with getting into trouble, failing to meet expectations, or feeling embarrassed
in front of peers. Students with weaker attention may be used to the frustrated sighs of their class-
mates when they ask another question that has already been answered. Struggles with emotional
regulation may be a reminder of tearful, traumatic moments and subsequent shaming responses
from family, friends, and others. Almost everyone has difficulty managing one or two EFs. Can you
think of what is most challenging for you? Can you remember a moment from your life at which
this weakness made you feel embarrassed, not smart, or unkind? Our most stressed students are
often those who have significant difficulty in several areas and have well-­established habits of
avoidance and helplessness. These students would rather go anywhere than into a conversation
about behavior that might result in punishment or embarrassment.
Because of this rocky past with EFs, stressed students often perceive our EF teaching as a
clear and present danger. Compared to others who are often willing to trust us and talk openly
about EFs, our stressed students may seem stubborn, willfully self-­destructive, and intentionally
unsuccessful. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, our most needy students may not have room in their
self-­esteem budget to make risky and vulnerable moves at school. For example, let’s say a student in
your class doesn’t start daily math assignments because her working memory is unreliable, and she
can’t always recall the instructions. If she admits this, will everyone roll their eyes? Will she be the
only one to admit to a difficulty? Or will her teacher be mad at her for not asking about the instruc-
tions? Furthermore, will these reactions make her feel angry and sad and out of control? This
student may have only one or two friends to socialize with during recess or break; will these pre-
cious friends turn away and find someone else to spend time with? For these reasons, a legitimate
and adaptive response for this student may be to pretend she doesn’t care about math or create a
wide range of different distractions. By making such a choice, she can control the situation, appear
strong in front of her peers, and experience a predictable outcome. School isn’t easy for our most
vulnerable learners. To deliver our EF teaching, we need to make it a safe and in-­control option.
Once you are tuned in to the experience of your most vulnerable students, you can get active
with an approach that will calm them down. Experienced teachers of EF tend to rely heavily on
modeling self-­understanding and self-­acceptance. To do this, teachers need to understand their
own EF spectrum and may find the teacher survey available at http://activatedlearning.org help-
 Laying the Foundation 27

ful. From there, teachers can reinforce the message that they themselves are capable and success-
ful despite a few lagging EFs. We hear them say things like “Organization is not my strongest EF,
so I have a red lanyard on my keys”; “You know me; I can’t hold anything in my working memory
in a noisy room. Can someone shut the door please?”; or, in a more serious mood, “I think we’re all
upset about what happened yesterday. I know I’m not feeling very calm or flexible. Maybe we can
all try to be extra patient and considerate?” We can even have a laugh at the unique qualities that
make us special. “I was working on my reports with Ms. Brown who also loses focus easily. We got
ourselves in a terrible muddle until we agreed on a few strategies and set some goals.” The message
to students is that “It’s okay if you’re not perfect.” In this context, we can accept and appreciate
our differences, and believe that no matter the obstacle we face, we can be bright, creative, and
powerful.
There are many playful ways to model positive feelings about EFs. Feast your eyes on Figure
2.7, in which two teachers asked their students to guess their identity based on EF behaviors.
While students were initially worried about embarrassing Ms. Kuiken and Mrs. Tomlinson, they
were quickly reassured that it is okay to have strengths and weaknesses. In this way, the teachers
worked together to model humility, self-­understanding, and self-­acceptance for their students.
One of the most effective teachers of stressed students we have ever seen is Stephanie Walk-
er.8 When we met her, she had already been teaching her students about EFs for years, working
with smaller classes in a strategy-­focused environment. While she comes across as a strong and
clear-­thinking person, she frequently shares her own struggles, limitations, and life hacks with
students. During one of her lessons, she presented her own EF profile of strengths and weak-
nesses and revealed that planning and prioritizing was a challenge for her. She then provided her
students with copies of her daily to-do list and asked them to help her prioritize it. Her students
were delighted with the trust she had placed in them, cut the list into strips to manipulate each
task more easily, and engaged in animated conversation about what makes a task higher in prior-
ity.

Guess Who → Mrs. Tomlinson, Mrs. Kuiken, or BOTH?

• I keep detailed to-do lists for every aspect of my life.
• I don’t like leaving jobs unfinished; sometimes I’ll even forget to eat when
I’m focused on finishing something.
• I have a filing cabinet where I keep manuals and important receipts.
• When I work out, I often forget the number of repetitions I have completed.
• If something didn’t go well, I get upset with myself and have a hard time
putting it behind me.
• I don’t like when plans change at the last minute.
• People describe me as someone who “doesn’t have a filter.”

FIGURE 2.7. Classroom activity to reinforce self-­understanding and self-­acceptance. Sam Tomlinson
and Julie Kuiken displayed this provocation for their grade 7/8 students. Used at Central Senior Public
School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

8 Stephanie Walker teaches at Scott Young Public School in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
28 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

John Bianco takes a calculated and deliberate approach to teaching EFs in his mixed grades
6–8 classroom.9 Part of the planning he does each day is to loosely estimate the amount and type of
EF challenge his assignments will place on students. For example, familiar tasks will be straight-
forward, but group work will demand organization, flexibility, and emotional control. Because
many of his students follow a modified curriculum that is tailored to their developmental level, he
sometimes throws them a curveball to ensure they will experience a specific EF challenge and
a slightly higher stress level. For example, he might omit a useful piece of information in a math
problem to create an opportunity for his students to persist without it. Or he might ask them to
organize their own groups. Once, he tightened a deadline to challenge his students’ time manage-
ment. These challenges are sometimes intentionally fabricated, but he often just forecasts the type
of EF demands that will already exist in his planned activities and assignments. Could you do this?
What if you added the prompt “Predicted EF Challenge” to the top of your written plans and tried
to fill it in for each lesson or activity? Or what if you wrote your predicted EF challenge on the
board and then covered it with a paper called “EF Mystery”? Your students might enjoy guessing
which EF you were trying to challenge as their daily learning unfolded.
Fabricating EF challenges? This may sound a bit extreme, but we like it for several reasons.
First, John’s class knows he is trying to develop their awareness of EFs. He has warned them there
might be special challenges in their work and that he’s excited to discuss them as they arise. Using
this approach, he has meaningful conversations with his students about EFs every single day.
Finally, because his students know the challenges were premeditated, both John and his students
feel a greater sense of security. “This was planned,” they many think. “We are in control, and we
are learning something important.” For a volatile class, this calculated challenge is like a controlled
burn to prevent a forest fire, or a driving teacher asking a nervous student to steer onto a gravel
shoulder to see how it feels. This approach takes finesse and trust, but we like the way it deliber-
ately targets EFs and encourages students to be conscious of their responses.
Teaching stressed students is double the work—twice as much planning, twice as much
patience, twice as much adaptability, and yet twice as much risk that everything will go sideways.
We persist because our stressed students are already so compromised; we don’t want them to get
behind academically, or suffer socially, so we work overtime, day after day, to scaffold and ease
our core academic program. We propose that the delivery of information about EFs may provide
a more permanent scaffold. Teachers who model self-­understanding and self-­acceptance create a
safer environment for risk taking. In this climate, a confused student may feel okay asking for clari-
fication, a traumatized student may feel comfortable opening up, and a disorganized student may
take the opportunity to work with others to get back on track. Breaking through to your trickiest
students with an education in EFs might be the most productive thing you do all year.

9 John Bianco teaches in an alternative program in Kawartha Lakes Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 CHAPTER 3

How EF Literacy
Can Improve Instruction
A Simple and Versatile Approach

MOVING SUPPORT INTO THE MAINSTREAM

As you become more informed about the impact of EFs on performance, your approach with stu-
dents will undoubtedly change. You may see your students with fresh eyes, feel more empathy, and
change the way you provide support. And while you will continue to collaborate with a broad range
of colleagues that you respect and admire in many different ways, your deeper understanding of
EFs may not be shared by very many of them. Students rarely encounter EF-­literate teachers, and
when they do it is usually after they have been streamed into a smaller-­group context to receive
special education. Studies conducted in the United Kingdom and North America show that most
qualified teachers have not been prepared to fully understand and address the needs of students
with poor attention, inhibition, organization, or emotional regulation (Bekle, 2004; Bussing, Gary,
Leon, Garvan, & Reid, 2002; Jones & Chronis-­Tuscano, 2008; Martinussen, Tannock, & Chaban,
2011; Gilmore & Cragg, 2014). For example, when asked what was important to mathematics learn-
ing, only the most experienced teachers named factors such as the ability to store and manipulate
information in one’s head, focus on relevant information, and avoid distractions. And as of 2014,
fewer than 20% of all U.K. teachers had heard the term “executive function.” Knowing this, you
might wonder if EF-­literate educators belong only in intensified, remedial contexts. Don’t give up
just yet! Let’s talk about why EF support belongs in the mainstream.
First, EF challenges are a huge problem in the mainstream. Even teachers with no training
in EFs will tell you that something more than a lack of intelligence is bogging down almost every
one of their students. We limp home after long days of playing an EF version of “whack-a-mole.” A
typical day might look something like this: First, we’re bent over a group of disagreeing students
29
30 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

in the hallway (emotional control); then it’s back into the classroom to help another group get orga-
nized (organization); after that, we’re over to the group by the window where a certain student has
forgotten the timeline (time management); next, off to the corner group who hasn’t started at all
(task initiation); and finally, back to the hallway where the principal has swooped in to help. Only
15 minutes has gone by. As soon as we resolve one problem, another one pops up.
With 25–35 unique students to support per lesson, we are literally wearing out the soles of our
shoes just to accomplish the basics. We, authors of this book, chuckle at the memory of bewildered
spouses, children, and friends asking how our work in schools could possibly be so exhausting.
“Just do independent reading!” they’d suggest. “Just tell them to write in a journal!” Or in kin-
dergarten, “Don’t they just play all day?” Research tells us that EFs cause widespread impact on
academic success (Visu-Petra et al., 2011) and it’s not wrong. We move from child to child all day,
providing external support for their EF weaknesses. We can’t move every student into a special
education program. EF challenges are in the mainstream to stay.
The second reason EF support belongs in the mainstream is that it is actually, according to
research, best delivered there. Forgive us if you already know this, but there are “tiers” of inter-
vention. Generally, Tier 1 represents student support taking place in a mainstream, whole-class
context; Tier 2 represents a small-group context; and Tier 3 represents a one-on-one context. This
system is often illustrated by a triangle, as in Figure 3.1, to represent the ideal number of cases at
each level and the relative intensity of intervention. As we respond to student need, we are meant
to use resources from the bottom up, only escalating when our attempts prove unsuccessful. So, a

Tier 3
Interventions
and support
often delivered
in dedicated settings
by specialist staff.

Tier 2
Interventions and support delivered in small
groups within or close to the mainstream
classroom, sometimes by specialists.

Tier 1
Interventions and support that are offered to all
students in their mainstream classrooms by their
homeroom teachers.

FIGURE 3.1. Tiers of support provided to students at school.

 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 31

child who simply cannot learn to manage emotions in a Tier 1 context may be offered small-group
Tier 2 support for 20 minutes, four times per week. If this doesn’t work, ideally, that student would
progress to one-on-one support, but this may only be available in mini-­lessons twice per week. We
know, however, that the best way to teach EF skills is not in isolated mini-­lessons but as integrated
into meaningful and authentic tasks throughout a mainstream day (Diamond & Ling, 2020; Far-
rington et al., 2012). Isn’t EF intervention important enough for all teachers to learn about and
try to tackle as part of their core program? Longitudinal studies of EF weakness conclude that
interventions yielding even small improvements to individual capacity for EFs could dramatically
improve society (Moffitt et al., 2011, p. 2694). Given the amount of time children spend at school,
surely the everyday work of teachers—­a sizable corps of public service employees—­should con-
tribute to that improvement.
Third, boosting EF support in the mainstream would ease the burden on Tier 2 and 3
resources. Think about your school’s special education program; while some of you may reflect
upon a system that is providing targeted and effective support to students with specific challenges,
some of you tell us your special education department has become a bit of a muddled dumping
ground for students with behavioral problems. Often, these programs are clogged with extremely
discouraged students who have been unsuccessful and seem “impossible to teach” in the main-
stream. Indeed, students with EF challenges may be highly sensitive, overreactive, disorganized,
and inflexible. They can be overwhelming for classroom teachers, difficult to work with, and hard
to relate to. Furthermore, their maladaptive behaviors are often mistaken for symptoms of poor
character (Gaier, 2015), and they are frequently regarded as intentional (Elik et al., 2010). For this
reason, many students with EF challenges find themselves at odds with their classroom teachers
and streamed to Tier 2 or 3 contexts. If we could more effectively understand and support EFs in
the mainstream, from the very first day of school, we might free up some time and space in our
precious special education programs.
Also, an EF-­supportive mainstream is more equitable and fair for all learners. Because we
know that EF challenges are often intensified in children from traumatic and low socioeconomic
backgrounds, we can be clear eyed about what is happening when this group of children keep
winding up in our “alternate” programs. Getting our mainstream classrooms properly set up to
serve this prevalent group must be a top priority because, while being removed from the main-
stream can be very beneficial, it often invokes troubling side effects for students. Children in
alternate programs often feel stigmatized, disconnected, and embarrassed, and they lose access
to the influence of a wider peer group. In the case of intensive and effective reading remediation,
for example, these side effects are often worth it. But if the alternate or Tier 2 option is so oversub-
scribed and poorly resourced that it has, in fact, become a muddled dumping ground, the situation
is quite concerning. In many ways, we have a moral imperative to make our mainstream programs
as EF supportive as possible. While we may not be able to serve every student at Tier 1, we can
probably serve more.

A NEAT TRICK:
DISCUSSING BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES

Teaching is a very busy job. Managing the many competing demands and priorities of a classroom
is like juggling with a large number of different sized balls . . . if the number of balls kept chang-
32 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

ing and they sometimes needed to be chased down the hall. It is not surprising that even the best
“jugglers” among us often drop a few balls to the floor. On challenging days, the sheer volume of
unaddressed problems can make your classroom feel like an IKEA-style ball pit. You wade, hip
deep, through below-grade readers, forgotten math homework, and dissatisfied parents. On better
days, we efficiently rotate the dropped balls, spreading our attention as evenly as possible among
the many diverse students we serve. Knowing we won’t be able to meet every student need can be
stressful. It is no surprise that as we gain experience in the classroom we develop tricks, habits,
and routine responses that make us more efficient.
Some of our routines and tricks serve us well. Classroom management systems, such as orga-
nized libraries, well-­established cues, and shared responsibilities, make us more efficient in the
best possible way. Some of our habits, however, may have unintended results. Experts tell us that
all humans, even the very smartest ones, use certain mental shortcuts to think and work more effi-
ciently. In the classroom, these shortcuts speed us up, but they can also cause us to miss important
information, jump to conclusions, and sometimes take unhelpful action. Table 3.1 characterizes
the kinds of thinking errors teachers may be making. Each one leads to a teaching error that we’d
like to address.
Can you simply stop committing these thinking errors and thus avoid the teaching errors we
describe? Maybe, but it will be an uphill battle. After years of unrelenting stress in the classroom,
you have probably developed a lightning-­quick draw and an itchy trigger finger with these effi-
ciencies. They will be very hard to notice, let alone change. Instead, we recommend you try to
momentarily interrupt your habits with a semi-­structured teaching protocol. Table 3.2 presents the
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP), which is probably the biggest and most important idea
in this book and will be referred to continuously throughout the upcoming chapters. It essentially
asks teachers to gather students to discuss, first, “What are your/our barriers to this work” and then
“What strategies can we use to be more successful?” It will give you a rare opportunity to function
outside of your habits.
Let’s get technical for just a moment. Under the “hood” of the BSP is a powerful metacogni-
tive process called “mental contrasting with implementation intentions” (Oettingen & Gollwitzer,
2010). Mental contrasting refers to the process of contrasting one’s goal with its specific obstacles.
When accompanied by the formation of an “if this happens, then I will do that” plan, this contrast
has been shown to boost success in goal achievement by helping individuals to act more quickly
(Gollwitzer & Brandstatter, 1997), deal more effectively with cognitive demands, and execute
planned strategies with less effort (Brandstatter, Lengfelder, & Gollwitzer, 2001). These if–then
conversations stimulate metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control, the fundamental
processes at the root of self-­regulated learning (Corno, 1993; Winne, 1995, 1996, 1997). Sound
cool? It is. The researchers responsible for it have created an app called “WOOP” (by Gabrielle
Oettingen) that allows individuals to use the process for personal goals.
The BSP will force you out of your routine long enough to slow down, do things you usually
wouldn’t, see things that you might otherwise miss, and understand your students more fully. It
is effortful and structured, but let us compare it to being locked in a room with a window that is a
little too high. If you want to catch a glimpse of what is typically hidden from you, you will have
to expend some extra energy, jump up and catch the sill, and struggle to hang on for a moment or
two. Though you can’t hang there all day, the insight you gain from even a quick peek through this
ordinarily inaccessible window may change the way you see and support your students. Like many
protocols, this one is worth the effort.
 TABLE 3.1. Unconscious Thinking Errors That Often Lead to Teaching Errors
Thinking
error Definition Example from the classroom What we might be missing Teaching error
Race to Jumping to action before A student hasn’t finished her writing This student has a lot of ideas she is passionate Taking over
action considering all possibilities assignment in the allotted time and is about and is excited to share. Her actual problem students’
and fully understanding off track. We assume she needs more is the organization and sequencing of these ideas. creative control
problems. ideas, ask her to summarize her story Our scribing support is discouraging for her and thinking
orally, and then compose and scribe the because we don’t quite capture what she means.
first few sentences.

Confirmation Automatically paying more A student in math class is very rude Students who are rude do need boundaries and Missing
bias attention to information that when asked to contribute to the class to be reminded of our high expectations. This the lagging
confirms what you already discussion. We assume he needs student might also have reduced working memory skills that
think about something. discipline and ask him to leave. or attention that impairs his ability to keep track underlie poor
of what is happening in class discussions and performance
contribute without saying the wrong thing.

33
Vividness When something is loud, Our students are passionate about the The students’ poor performance may be due to Reducing
bias intense, or salient, we see it environment, so we assign a poster/ executive functioning challenges—task initiation expectations
as the norm, overemphasize essay in social studies. Several students and emotional control. While these challenges unnecessarily
its importance, and give it are way behind on Day 1, and several are often very loud and vivid, they don’t have
more attention. are not managing to collaborate, so we anything to do with essay writing skills. We may
cut the essay requirement. overreact and eliminate academic challenges that
are appropriate and important for our students.

Illusory The belief that you hold a We know that biases and thinking We can never appreciate what is missing from Wasted effort
superiority broader, more objective, and errors exist but believe we are our perspective. If we struggle with goal-directed for both
more accurate perspective the exception and can accurately persistence ourselves, we will probably assume teacher and
than most people. understand and appreciate the our students struggle in the same way. We may student
challenges experienced by our students. spend a lot of time on interventions that are not
the most efficient or effective for our students.

Note. The idea of intentionally interrupting biases in teaching is based on ideas from Katz and Dack’s book Intentional Interruption: Breaking Down Learning Barriers to Transform Profes-
sional Practise (2013).
 34 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

TABLE 3.2. Administering the BSP Before, During, or After Student Difficulty
Step in process How it can sound How it is documented
Clearly identifying academic goals (SMART goals)
Duration: 1 min. If done before difficulty On a flip chart,
Teacher identifies Specific, TEACHER: We are going to do some math whiteboard, or any other
Measurable, Achievable, problems today. The expectation is that display, teacher writes the
Reasonable, and Time-specific you will complete 12 of them (or modified agreed-upon learning goal
learning goal before, during, or number) accurately during this period. clearly.
after student difficulty. If done during difficulty
This learning goal can be Teacher: You seem to be having difficulty
differentiated for students with with these math problems. Just a reminder
accommodated or modified that the expectation is for you to complete 12
programs. of them accurately during this period.
If done after difficulty
Teacher: You had some difficulty
completing 12 math problems accurately
during this period.

Discussing barriers
Duration: 4 min. Teacher: What are our barriers to success? On the same flip chart,
Teacher asks students to describe What will stop us from succeeding? whiteboard, or other
their challenges and “barriers,” Students: We’re rushing and forgetting to display, teacher creates
helping students identify the EFs do certain steps. a “T-chart” with two
that may underlie each challenge. columns. The word
Teacher: That sounds like inhibition. Am I
“Barriers” is written above
Teacher encourages a broad range right? What else?
the first column, and
of different possible underlying Students: For me, it is hard because my student ideas are recorded
EFs. numbers get all out of line. in point form, along with
Teacher: That sounds like organization. the name of any EFs they
Am I right? are able to connect to their
barriers.
(Further discussion: Teacher elicits other
obstacle ideas and encourages class to
connect them to a broad range of EFs.)

Discussing strategies
Duration: 3 min. Teacher: What strategies can we use to On the same flip chart,
Teacher asks students to think overcome these barriers? whiteboard, or other
about good strategies to overcome display, teacher adds the
(Discussion, during which teacher charts
these barriers. label “Strategies” to the
a variety of strategy ideas created by the
right-hand column of the
Teacher encourages a broad range student[s].)
T-chart. Student strategy
of different strategy ideas for each
Teacher: You have suggested several ideas are recorded in point
problem.
strategies that might work. I will be watching form.
Teacher informs students that to see which strategy you choose and use. I
their use of strategy is important will be making notes about your choices.
and will be assessed.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 35

The BSP uses a metacognitive conversation that helps students notice their challenges and
respond strategically. When used in a classroom, it interrupts several teaching errors. Refer again
to Table 3.1 and consider how a process like this might slow down our race to action. The protocol
asks us to explore our challenges from all sides, soliciting many different opinions and perspectives
about what might make them tricky. This slower processing of problems is, according to research,
the hallmark of expert performers who seem to linger, poke around, and really get to know the
problem before jumping to action (Dronek & Blessing, 2006).
The BSP asks us to share a thorough process of problem analysis with students. By doing this,
we radically improve our chances of avoiding confirmation bias (attending to information that
confirms preconceived ideas) and vividness bias (attending to information that is most salient or
perceptible). Teachers using this protocol are often quite surprised by what they find out from stu-
dents. For example, in math class you might have assumed your students were struggling because
they didn’t understand the math. By this assessment, you might have reduced your expectations
and eliminated several of the more challenging questions. Using the protocol, however, you might
discover that two students are in a fight, three are hungry because they didn’t have breakfast, four
are confused by the instructions, nine don’t know where to find the materials, and the rest didn’t
pay attention to the lesson. You might be amazed at how diverse your students’ problems are. Work-
ing together, you can plan several different strategies for students to use to tackle these different
problems. Regularly checking your assumptions with a roomful of people, especially when they are
your students, can add tremendous clarity to your understanding, assessment, and intervention.
After you apply this protocol a few times, you might feel a little wiser and more self-aware.
That will be a clue that your illusory superiority, the sense that you alone possess the ability to see
the world clearly and without bias, is starting to erode. Without being too dramatic, using a proto-
col like this might help you develop a greater sense of compassion and humanity. When you look at
a roomful of people, you might be more likely to assume they hold different opinions, challenges,
and perspectives from your own. And if the use of this protocol can be so powerful for you as an
adult, imagine what could happen if we were trained to think this way from an early age.
A formulaic approach to teaching should be used judiciously. We think, however, that the BSP
is a wonderfully efficient little tool for driving EF literacy beyond lip service and bulletin boards.
It can help us replace empty cheerleading of the “You can do it if you keep trying!” variety with a
deep understanding of the practical problems and challenges of learning at school. With your team
of EF-­literate students, you will have everything you need to analyze problems as experts and craft
targeted, diverse solutions.

THE BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES PROTOCOL (BSP):

STRATEGIZING WITH STUDENTS INSTEAD OF FOR STUDENTS

Most teachers believe it is important to develop independence and problem-­solving skills in their
students (Perry, Hutchinson, & Thauberger, 2008). We bet you do too. In the research world, this
independence is referred to as “self-­regulated learning” (SRL). It is thought to require motiva-
tion, metacognition, and cognitive skill, and to take place in a cycle of planning, monitoring, and
reflecting (Zimmerman, 2002). While everyone—­parents, teachers, and researchers—­seems to
intuitively know that the ability to self-­regulate learning is essential, there is about a century of
research confirming its association with academic success and better life outcomes (Winne, 2017).
36 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

It isn’t easy to teach a large and diverse group of students to be motivated, metacognitive,
and capable; each student has unique needs, and the process seems to require an endless array
of different supports. Research tells us that, in general, teachers struggle to support SRL in real
classrooms (Dignath-­van Ewijk, Dickhäuser, & Büttner, 2013; Kistner et al., 2010; Spruce & Bol,
2015). Even the most well-­trained teachers do not engage students in SRL as often as they say
they’d like to (Spruce & Bol, 2015) because it just doesn’t seem to work for them. Properly sup-
porting students’ SRL seems to require constant individual attention from teachers and seriously
competes with other curricular demands (Winne, 2010).
So, how can one teacher help dozens of students find strategies to move forward when the
going gets tough? Because it is so efficient, adaptable, and pocket sized, we believe the BSP may be
the solution. Think about how you support your students. Depending on the grade you teach, you
may move around your classroom, kneeling, bending over, pulling up a chair, or sometimes even
kicking off your shoes and sitting with students on the floor. Or maybe you work through lineups of
students from your desk. The point of these interactions is to determine, first, How is this student
struggling? followed by What does this student need in order to move forward? and, later, Did our
plan work, or should we try something different? In this way, with many different students all day,
we move purposefully around the cycle of SRL presented in Figure 3.2. This is very important
work because the development of SRL is so essential to success in school and in life.
There is a big difference, however, between teaching strategies and teaching SRL. To teach
SRL, you have to involve students actively in the metacognitive part of the process, identifying
problems and choosing and monitoring suitable responses. If you’re like most teachers, you prob-
ably rally your students to be involved in these steps as much as humanly possible—­when you have
time. For example, during first period you might have time to settle in with a student who is having
difficulty with math problem solving in an effort to inspire some thinking about exactly how he is
struggling. “What’s happening here? What is making this so tricky for you?” From there you can
work with him to devise strategies that closely match the problems he is experiencing. By Period
4, however, you might be firing through a backlog of “stuck” students a mile a minute. “Make a list!

Interpreting Tasks and

Setting Goals

Adjusting Planning

Monitoring Enacting Strategies

FIGURE 3.2. A cycle of self-­regulated learning. This diagram is based on conceptualizations proposed
by Winne and Perry (2010) and Butler, Schnellert, and Perry (2016).
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 37

Next! Read it to a partner! Next! I see six mistakes; go and fix them! Next! Take 10 deep breaths
and put on headphones! Next!” As we quickly assess problems and churn out strategies, we dearly
wish our students could be a little more independent.
The irony is that the less independent our students are and the more they need us, the faster
we have to go while helping them and the less time we have to involve them in an informed pro-
cess of SRL. This shifts the process toward external learning regulation and deprives students of
important learning about why and when certain strategies should be used (Veenman, Van Hout-­
Wolters, & Afflerbach, 2006). Teachers describe the way their students sit waiting for help, hands
up, sometimes seeming to grow frustrated at the delays to service. In fact, to a large extent, this is
what we’ve trained them to expect at school. “Hello, 911? I’m trapped on a broken escalator.” It’s a
bit like that.
This escalator rescue work takes a lot of patience, attention, care, and time. A classroom with
28 students may have 28 unique and perplexing problems to be quickly understood and solved at
any given time on any given day. And the work you do with Sally on Day 1 might not even be useful
on Day 2. We often describe the range of problems experienced by any one child as kaleidoscopic,
because if you change the context or challenge even slightly, like turning the handle of the kalei-
doscope, the issue transforms into something completely new. So despite the tremendous energy
spent and the very best of intentions extended, this high volume of diverse and ever-­changing
student need means that when conducted one-on-one, a full, inclusive process of SRL may only
reach a handful of students per day.
For this reason—­because they are overwhelmed and looking for a way to be more efficient
and effective—­teachers often plan and deliver whole-class strategy lessons. Imagine a teacher—­
let’s call him Mr. Jackson—­who noticed that he spent a lot of time on Day 1 of an essay-­writing
project providing one-on-one organizational support. On Day 2, therefore, he may decide to begin
class with a group lesson on how to use a planning template: “My friends, yesterday we seemed
to have some difficulty with our essays. I thought about it long and hard, and realized that you
are all having trouble with organization. I figured out a strategy to help with this—let me show
you!” This whole-class strategy instruction will allow Mr. Jackson to support his entire class at one
time and will teach his students how to use a certain planning template, but did you notice who
is doing the metacognition? Mr. Jackson! This means that only he really noticed being stumped,
only he wrestled with the problem of being stumped, and only he devised a strategic approach.
While his students learned a useful cognitive strategy, they traded the metacognitive aspects of
self-­regulated learning for the relatively less creative work of strategy implementation.
Over the course of a year, in response to many different problems, imagine how Mr. Jack-
son will benefit from practicing this resilient, “dukes up” approach. Research tells us that as he
devises strategic solutions to a wide variety of different real-life problems, his ability to be strategic
will become more automatic. This is why, at holiday gatherings or family reunions, if something
unexpected happens and you have an unusual problem to solve, you’d be well advised to call on
the teachers in the family. They are guaranteed to be your strategic thinkers. Our goal, however,
should be to move more of this well-­practiced resourcefulness toward our students.
Could the use of the BSP solve these problems, or is this just more starry-­eyed, out-of-left-field
thinking learned from a teaching book? It’s certainly ambitious; when compared to status quo SRL
teaching, both whole group and one-on-one, it appears to be much more efficient, dynamic, and
inclusive (Table 3.3). But is it just too unusual to become a regular part of what teachers do? On the
contrary, the teachers we work with often point out that—well, thank you for the grand idea—but
38 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

TABLE 3.3. Classroom Options for Teaching Self-Regulated Learning

Whole-class
One-on-one strategy lesson BSPa
Number of students involved in each individual SRL 1 Whole class Whole class
interaction

Approximate number of students who may receive 4–6 Whole class Whole class
SRL support per day in one subject/class

Total teacher time required to provide daily SRL 5 interactions 1 interaction 1 interaction
support in one subject/class × 5 min. each × 10 min. = × 10 min. =
= 25 min. 10 min. 10 min.

Metacognitive monitoring of task is conducted Student Teacher Whole class as

by . . . a team
(“What am I struggling with?”) or
(“What are they struggling with?”)

Strategy created by . . . Student Teacher Students

(person getting practice creating strategies) (peers)

Strategy chosen for implementation by . . . Student Teacher Students

(person getting practice choosing and using
strategies when facing challenge)

Chance that SRL support is sufficiently tailored to High Low High

target problem actually experienced by students

Chance that SRL support is offered in a timely way, High for some, Medium Medium
right when students need it low for most

Note. aBSP, Barriers and Strategies Protocol.

the components of it aren’t actually all that new. “Why is this hard for you?” and “What strategy
can we use to be successful?” are questions we have been asking for years, all day every day, in our
one-on-one interactions with students. All the protocol does is transfer into group conversation an
interaction that is already taking place. “It’s the weirdest thing,” they tell us. “I’ve never done it
this way, but it is so powerful.”

THE BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES PROTOCOL (BSP):

A POWERFUL WAY TO CONNECT

Not too long ago, an Australian researcher named John Hattie conducted the largest ever meta-­
analysis of research on what affects learning in school. Many of the most powerful effects he found
were related to metacognition, monitoring, and problem-­solving, and, you guessed it, could be
stimulated using the BSP. Of his 18 teaching or learning strategies with the potential to “consider-
ably accelerate” student achievement, five of them are essential components of the BSP; you’ll find
these explained at the top of Table 3.4. It is worth noting that many of the other important factors
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 39

TABLE 3.4. The Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and Hattie’s “Visible Learning”
Teaching factor Effect size How it relates to the BSP
Cognitive task analysis 1.29 Research shows that helping a learner to analyze the
(CTA) cognitive skills, steps, and approaches required to accomplish
a difficult thinking task helps them to succeed. Within
the BSP, students work together to examine problems and
generate lists of possible skills, steps, and approaches. The
BSP is collaborative CTA.

Transfer strategies 0.86 The BSP incorporates problem monitoring at a high

frequency, during regular whole-class conversations. This
contributes to students’ familiarity with different types of
problems and the solutions they tend to prefer; it supports
their ability to quickly devise appropriate strategies or
transfer ones that were previously used.

Class discussion 0.82 Within the BSP, teachers regularly gather all students
together to respond to two prompts: “What are our barriers to
this task?” and “What strategies can we use to be successful?”

Planning and prediction/ 0.75/0.75 The BSP asks students to predict barriers and plan strategies
self-judgment and reflection in a group setting on a regular basis. This allows individuals
within the group to steadily notice and reflect upon what is
unique about their own challenges and preferred strategies.

Focus on problem-solving/ 0.67/0.58 The BSP integrates metacognition into the fabric of everyday
metacognition problem solving. Again and again, over many short BSP
interactions, students are scaffolded into the habit of
monitoring problems for barriers and experimenting with
creative strategies.

Feedback 0.64 The BSP helps students identify important process steps
(strategies) for any task. Teachers (and students themselves)
may then easily recognize and provide formative feedback on
these steps because they have been co-constructed and are
very clear to both teacher and student.

Cooperative vs. 0.55 The BSP takes place during a group conversation in which
individualistic learning students work together to actively consider and support other
perspectives and ways of learning.

Teacher–student 0.48 The BSP creates a regular opportunity for teachers to express
relationship interest in and make connections with students. During a
BSP, teachers find out about students’ experiences, thoughts,
feelings, and good ideas, which builds a strong relationship.

Note. From www.visiblelearningmetax.com (2018). When reading effect size, remember that, generally, 0.5 is a medium effect
and 0.8 is large.
40 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

that Hattie found are also supported by the use of the BSP, including feedback, cooperative learn-
ing, and good teacher–­student relationships. Hattie’s work is available online, and if you’re curious,
it’s quite easy to access at www.visiblelearningmetax.com.
In addition to lining up well with the factors on Hattie’s meta-­analysis, the BSP makes a lot of
sense for developing healthy learning mindsets. All students, and especially those with exception-
alities such as learning disabilities, sometimes struggle with negative emotions and a sense of pow-
erlessness. Left to their own devices, many students tend to believe their failures and successes
are caused by fixed factors that cannot be controlled. This is the “I’ll never amount to anything;
I’m just not smart” mindset. Not only does this feel terrible, but also it leads to maladaptive coping
strategies (Elliott & Dweck, 1988) such as avoidance and distraction. Pausing your classroom for
an open discussion about barriers to learning and strategies to be successful interrupts this pattern
in two ways: It helps students to see that many of their challenges are natural, normal, and shared
by their peers, and it trains them to look for and act upon sources of control. Let’s discuss this in
more detail.
Using the BSP within a socially shared process of learning regulation, learning challenges are
normalized. When students work together to brainstorm the many different reasons a task may be
difficult, they learn they are not alone. During these whole-class discussions, the silence is broken,
and students can see that their friends and teachers also experience difficulty. Instead of a guilty
secret that individual students experience alone, learning challenges become a source of camara-
derie and connection. In fact, by placing opportunities to engage in self-­regulated learning into
the social context of whole-class conversations, the BSP stimulates “social contagion,” which boosts
strategy use (see review in Jones, Alexander, & Estell, 2010). This idea, that motivation for strategy
use can be “caught” from peers like a virus, was mentioned by two grade 8 students from Central
Senior School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. After engaging in communal problem solving using
the BSP, Hunter Sidsworth commented on how reassured he felt to be cooperating with his peers:

“Now that we all learn and we all help each other through this, I think everybody’s on the same
gears. We all work together to solve it. I think it’s really important that teachers take this into
consideration of students, because students who aren’t doing as well can benefit from this.”1

Kylie Archer-­A lfred, meanwhile, provided an extraordinary comment about how energizing it can
be to create strategies among peers:

“It’s hard for me to use strategies, but when I see that other people in my class—and it helps
them—it gives me the motivation to use it too, and it helps. When you come up with strategies
as a class, it’s more useful to me. When it’s just me and a teacher talking about it one-on-one?
It’s just . . . I think, yeah, yeah, I think that’ll be really useful, but it just goes straight through
and I just completely forget about it and don’t apply it to anything.”

This is not to say teachers don’t have an important role to play in normalizing everyday dif-
ficulties. Time and again we see teachers setting a tone of self-­understanding and acceptance. For
example, when using the protocol to discuss math problem solving, a teacher might say, “I often
make small mistakes too. For me, it’s all about organization. I struggle to line up my numbers

1 Quotes from Hunter Sidsworth and Kylie Archer-­A lfred used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 41

neatly. I know that for some people the problem is attention. They don’t copy the numbers care-
fully enough. What is it for you?” Students working with a teacher like this will understand that a
wide range of underlying causes will be acceptable, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of. The
message is We’ve all got something to work on and that’s okay and We’re all on each other’s team.
This message comes across implicitly and often explicitly. As the trust builds, and more positive
sharing occurs, a ripple effect takes place and the class become more cohesive and cooperative.
In this increasingly supportive context, even your trickiest students may begin engage in the BSP.
As students become more motivated and strategic, teachers can step back from external learn-
ing regulation (and their “escalator rescue” work) and take a more attentive and facilitative role.
Instead of being focused on doing, they can focus on encouraging and appreciating how their
students do. Within this context, a huge diversity of student personality can be expressed, and
the feeling of being known, valued, and included by peers can make its considerable impact on
engagement and learning (Deci & Ryan, 2000). And as more students share, there is more chance
others will find not only common ground but also a strategy that will work. Students discussing
the obstacles to writing an essay, for example, may suggest several different possibilities. For one
student, the problem is task initiation; for another, organization. Yet another student may struggle
with perfectionism and conclude that the lagging EF is emotional control. Each of these obstacles
may resonate with a handful of different students in the room when suggested, as will the com-
pensatory strategies that the students discuss and list. Students often tell us that the challenges
and strategies shared by peers seem so much more interesting, relevant, and useful than what is
offered by adults.
The BSP lessens the experience of stigma and shame, but it also boosts students’ feelings of
control. When students practice breaking down problems and finding solutions, they get in the
habit of responding to challenges as though nothing is impossible. Even something as stubborn as
dyslexia, for example, can be supported using goal-­directed persistence to self-­advocate for access
to technology, organization to keep personal copies of anchor charts and other visual supports, and
emotional control to stay calm in the face of frustration. In this way, our students can learn to be
adaptive, getting in the habit of moving obstacles from the “impossible” pile to the “I can handle
this” pile. Scientifically speaking, teaching children to recognize and use sources of control is a
powerful approach. When students are struggling, decades of research suggests we should de-­
emphasize innate, internal, and fixed factors such as character or intelligence. Rather, we should
steer students to focus on external factors that can be controlled. This shift in focus has been shown
to consistently boost performance (Andrews & Debus, 1978; Chapin & Dyck, 1976; Dweck, 1975),
change students’ expectation of success, reduce debilitating emotions such as shame and hopeless-
ness, increase positive emotions such as hope and pride, and make the use of strategic approaches
more likely (Hall et al., 2007; Haynes, Ruthig, Perry, Stupnisky, & Hall, 2006; Menec et al., 1994).
These findings are most pronounced for students with performance worries (Van Overwalle & de
Metsenaere, 1990; Wilson & Linville, 1985) and poor past performance (Menec et al., 1994; Perry,
Stupnisky, Hall, Chipperfield, & Weiner, 2010).
At a time when everyone is so reliant on technology, the BSP is a refreshingly down-to-earth
and old-­school approach. Just as it moves students toward empowerment, it also helps them to
understand themselves and each other. They realize, I can help you and you can help me. Making
time to share reflections and insights on learning distracts students from their never-­ending quest
for an experts’ opinion and right answers and nudges them back toward developing their own
capacity for problem solving.
42 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

THE BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES PROTOCOL (BSP):

PLANNING LESSONS THAT CHALLENGE EFs
INSTEAD OF MAKING THINGS EASY AND COMFORTABLE

We have described the way the BSP injects a socially shared process of learning regulation into
the school day. It can be an efficient, effective, collaborative, and unifying way for students to learn
strategy and independence. We would like to touch on one more important benefit: the way the
BSP helps us move children out of their EF comfort zones and how very gratifying and healthy
this actually is.
First, let’s characterize the “EF comfort zone” and how it might feel to be there. This is the
zone where our EF abilities easily match or even exceed the demands being placed upon them. A
great place to see children dip in and out of this zone is a family restaurant. Odds are, when you
look around, over half of the children you see will be sitting perfectly still and will stay that way
for as long as they are permitted: perfect angels. Others might be enjoying themselves and eating
a meal with their family, but also doing some noisy or disruptive behaviors such as talking a little
too loudly (inhibition), knocking over drinks (attention), or fighting with their siblings (emotional
control). The difference? Mom or Dad took the iPad away. Most video games are set up to very
quickly and generously reward a player’s efforts, and thus nestle those players in a very comfy and
cozy EF zone. We can all agree that children relieved of all EF struggle are a good deal easier to
supervise and manage.
In classrooms, the EF comfort zone is sometimes created using an iPad, but not always.
Teachers may create this zone by either steering away from EF challenges or quickly patching
over them to get students closer to academic targets. Imagine a teacher assigning a set of math
questions. How will she respond when students get a little noisy and distracted in their struggle
with EF demands? Her students might stall, become distracted, miss details, present disorganized
answers, or experience performance anxiety. Feeling pressure to move her students though this
math unit, she might reduce her assignment to fewer questions, or provide students with additional
examples and increasingly straightforward algorithms. Before long, students will be tucked back
into their comfort zones, able to complete the assignment without applying any organization, atten-
tion, or emotional control to their performance. With this support, they will do their math quietly,
calmly, and without disruption for as long as they are allowed. When the principal, a parent, or a
colleague walks by, they may stop and smile and think, “What a great class.”
Let’s face it—­students who are out of their EF comfort zone can be challenging to manage.
They often become distressed because it seems as if something is going wrong. Meanwhile, every-
one appreciates a teacher who is flexible, adaptable, and responsive, so it seems perfectly reason-
able to announce, “Guys, most of you haven’t finished the questions, so let’s just do half of them,
okay?” or to size up the situation and find ways to do students’ EF work for them. Unfortunately,
when we smooth over all EF challenges for our students, we may be eliminating the very thinking,
problem solving, creativity, and autonomy that makes learning gratifying and supports motivation.
By stripping away these challenges, even a complex math assignment can be made as straightfor-
ward and mindless as a video game.
If you recall, motivation is one of the big three components in SRL, alongside metacognition
and cognitive strategy. For this reason, it is worth knowing a little bit about the theory of motiva-
tion, which has an awful lot to do with a sense of self-­determination—­the ability to control oneself
and make one’s own choices. When we exercise self-­determination, we fulfill three basic human
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 43

needs: (1) competence (the need to feel effective and masterful), (2) autonomy (the need to control
our choices and behavior), and (3) relatedness (the need to feel present in relationships with others).
When these needs are met, we experience intrinsic motivation, interest, enjoyment, and satisfac-
tion. When these needs aren’t met, we may feel unrelated to our work, experience a lack of control,
feel incompetent, and require rewards and punishments to persevere (Deci & Ryan, 2000). We’ll
talk a lot about autonomy, competence, and relatedness as we progress through the book. For now,
just hold in mind these foundations of motivation.
As EF-­literate teachers we have special powers of perception: We can see and understand the
lagging EF skills that underlie our students’ performance. This power can be used in two ways.
On one hand, we can use this ability to become even more efficient at patching up or steering away
from EF challenges. Thus, we can become expert scaffolders, designing a whole system of organiz-
ers, planners, routines, and supports to move students safely through EF challenge. Teachers do
this in a variety of subtle ways. For example, we might offer summaries of what we think a student
is thinking so they can get started on a writing task. “How about writing this . . . ?” we prompt.
Or “This is what you mean, right?” When supervising group work, we might circulate around the
room, gradually nudging each group forward by offering our strategies and solutions to their prob-
lems. These approaches often yield bewildered looks from students and escalate the frustration
for everyone. It is exhausting for a teacher to do seven projects at once, and, let’s face it, it’s pretty
boring for students to be at school when a teacher is doing all of the creative thinking. Constantly
patching EF challenges may ease the stress in our classrooms and keep everyone moving forward
with academic content, but it will not develop independence or support a feeling of autonomy and
competence.
On the other hand, we can use our EF literacy to consciously move out of the EF comfort
zone into another zone just beyond it called the “zone of proximal development” (Vygotsky, 1978),
where students will come into direct contact with EF challenges and will have to exercise their
autonomy and competence. This zone is the optimal place for students to grow—it offers challenge
that can be managed with just a little bit of guidance. As long as we’re equipped with the BSP, tak-
ing 20–30 slightly distressed kids into this more challenging arena isn’t actually all that crazy. As
we usher them in, and the tensions starts to rise, we can say, “Hold on, don’t panic. We’re going to
tackle this together. Now, let’s figure out what is standing in our way . . . ” In the zone of proximal
development, the BSP provides a sensible process to help everyone manage.
Teaching students to be autonomous, independent, skilled, and strategic is important to their
ability to meet the expectations of school and life, but it is also important for their mental health
and happiness. As described above, self-­determination just feels good. Consider the kindergar-
tener who can put on and do up his own coat, or the third grader who at first struggles through
a math problem and then becomes the classroom expert on it. As students get older, competence,
autonomy, and independence become a lifeline. Consider the delight of an eighth grader who pro-
vides just the right kind of support to a classmate experiencing an embarrassing moment or knows
exactly how to troubleshoot a new technology at school. People who know how to take the bull by
the horns and solve their own problems feel powerful, motivated, and satisfied.
The idea of taking a whole class of students outside of their EF comfort zone, we admit,
sounds a little scary. Suddenly, things aren’t running quite as smoothly; students are a little agi-
tated and stressed, and work isn’t getting done as quickly. Whose idea was this, anyway? We pro-
pose that this discomfort is necessary for the growth of EFs and that by using the whole-class
BSP you can not only handle it but also learn to love it. When we gather our students for regular
44 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

whole-class troubleshooting, we work with them to learn how to navigate discomfort and ambigu-
ity. We create an opportunity in which the skills necessary for academic success, independence,
self-­determination, confidence, and happiness can grow. Equipped with the BSP, we can embrace
EF challenges not as unwanted side effects to be actively minimized and avoided but rather as
great opportunities to learn. Einstein famously said, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to
change.” Indeed, the ability to adapt and cope may be the most portable and valuable skills we can
impart at school.

How to Facilitate the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP):

Early Days
The big idea here is that neither you nor your students need to be EF experts
to start using the BSP. You can start right away! In this section, you’ll learn
more about how to do the following:

• Use barriers and strategies conversations to build whole-class expertise about EFs.
• Use the BSP to discover new things about your students, and to help them discover new
things about you.

The BSP is a dandy tool for establishing routines and getting to know a new group of students.
You can use it on Day 1 without doing anything to prepare and you will be richly rewarded with
important information about how your students think and what they are feeling. Picture this: After
everyone arrives, unpacks their materials, and exchanges a few nervous hellos, you gather the
group together to ask, “What was tricky about getting yourself here today?” With this question,
you have begun the first step of the BSP. You may choose to jot down their answers on a chart, or
you may decide to simply enjoy the moment. Regardless, in the following conversation, students
may reveal challenges about finding lost items, avoiding distractions, or managing their frustration
with siblings. You might share similar experiences, telling your students about having to backtrack
to pick up a forgotten item, or about how you almost fell out of bed when your alarm went off. Soon
you will all know a lot more about each other, and your most nervous students will realize that
mornings can be tricky for their friends too. By giving them a chance to voice their challenges right
away, you will have cemented the first layer of your new relationship with common experience. We
hope you will delight in each other and have a few laughs.
The next step in the BSP is to get students thinking about strategies for success. You might ask,
“Who has a trick for managing? Who knows how to overcome these challenges? What strategies do
you use?” Scanning from face to face, you might see a little smile, or a twitch of a hand, or a know-
ing look. If you wait, your gaze may fall on someone who is bursting to share an idea. Or you may
be met with a quiet room—your students not quite feeling safe enough to take a risk yet. At this
point, you might encourage them by clarifying how good it is to be strategic. You can support their
confidence by saying, “Oh, last year everyone was nervous and then one person shared an idea and
it was like the floodgates opened!” or “I was just talking to a few older students about what they
do, and I wondered if any of you did the same thing,” or “I just bet we have a ‘morning person’ in
here. Who is going to be our morning expert? There’s one in every crowd and we need your help.”
If there’s a really popular older student or teacher at the school, you can mention something they
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 45

do as an example. It’s all part of the process of using social connections to normalize a strategic
and self-aware stance. The message is this: There’s nothing wrong with struggling, working hard,
and being open about it.
In addition to bonding your students, easing first-day jitters, and making space for good humor,
using the BSP on Day 1 could provide crucial diagnostic information. Through the BSP, your stu-
dents can deliver important context for how they feel, how they will behave, and what they need
from you. You’ll know who is tired, hungry, sad, or frustrated. Or in this case, if you’re asking about
the challenges of getting to school, you might find out that a student missed breakfast that morning,
found a dead mouse on the street outside of their house, or got elbowed in the nose 2 minutes before
the bell rang. Whether you’re discussing math, science, English, or a field trip, you’ll hear a great
deal about what your children are experiencing in those domains, some of which may even surprise
you. Regardless, this knowledge and understanding is a gift. It will make your students’ unplanned-­
for responses a little less of a shock, allowing you to respond in a more tailored and sensitive way.
And it works in reverse. Contributing to a BSP conversation with information about yourself
will provide the raw materials your students need to behave in a sensitive and compassionate way
toward you. When we asked teachers of the BSP about their relationship with students, we got
responses so full of kindness and warmth they sounded more like stories from a family: students
offering to read aloud the last chapter for a teacher they knew to be emotional, students providing
a fidget toy for a teacher they knew to struggle to pay attention during staff meetings, or students
taping little reminders around the classroom for a teacher who was open about working on her
organizational skills. One teacher commented, “They know flawed is okay.” We suspect that the
truth is just one step further—­that the little “flaws” a teacher reveals are the texture that allows
students to get a grip and hang on to in a caring relationship. These close, positive dynamics are
deeply satisfying and also a key ingredient for social development, engagement, and achievement
(Rimm-­Kaufman & Sandilos, 2015).
We hope you agree that this “early days” use of the BSP is too valuable to hold off on until
your class is EF literate. Don’t wait! While you may have big plans to teach your students about EF,
not only can you start using the BSP before you mention anything about EFs, but also it can really
help you get started. Figures 3.3–3.6 provide the notes gathered during four different BSPs in four
different classrooms. Each one takes a different approach to the integration of EFs, showing how
an understanding of EFs can emerge naturally alongside these Barriers and Strategies conversa-
tions. In Figure 3.3, the BSP was used in a primary classroom with no explicit mention of EFs at
all. Rather, while discussing “Getting Dressed to Go Outside Quickly,” Danielle and Nikki chose
to boost students’ confidence and sense of mattering by typing their ideas on the overhead with
student initials next to each contribution. You will notice that the themes of emotional regulation
and organization are present in several of their comments. As a result of this conversation, these
teachers chose to pick up and directly teach the idea of organization.
The “Organization of Materials” BSP in Figure 3.4 integrated an EF as an overarching theme.
This was an unplanned 5-minute booster that Julie used to quickly support her grade 6 students’
management of the papers, equipment, books, and other materials in their shared spaces. She
began by suggesting that the overall problem was organization and then recruited students to
explore why disorganization had become such a problem. You might notice that time manage-
ment is a factor in many of the barriers they mention, and also in the strategies they propose. This
was a nice “aha” moment for students to discuss. They realized they could be more organized if
46 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Getting Dressed to Go Outside Quickly

Barriers Strategies
Not enough room (AB) Move to another space with more space (CJ)

Bumping into other people (HR) Use your words if someone pushes you (AB)
ork it out before getting a teacher (CS)

Talking (EN)

It is too loud (IP) Calming down or taking a few breaths before

you go out there (LP)
Ask people to be quiet (RW)

We are being too silly, getting distracted (AB)

Getting distracted because friends are talking

and making you stop doing your jobs (KS)

Size of the person; can’t move as fast (FB)

Winter was hard because we had a lot of Hanging up your stuff (MM)
stuff to put on (FB)

We didn’t know where our stuff was (EN) Put hat and mittens in sleeve (CA)

FIGURE 3.3. BSP: “Getting Dressed to Go Outside Quickly.” Created by Danielle DeRusha and Nikki
Reese at King Albert Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

the teacher provided a little more time—so she did! An approach like this performs double duty,
as it engages students in some metacognition and self-­regulated learning, and also helps them to
explore the many facets of one single EF.
The “Focus: Finish Your Work on Time” BSP featured in Figure 3.5 also concentrated on
one EF (time management). This chart was created by a teacher hoping to address what seemed
like a dreamy, slowpoke kind of problem, but quickly realized the issue was much more related to
student stress and emotional regulation. Through this conversation with her class, Paula was able
to help them elaborate on calming strategies such as self-talk and self-­advocacy. These strategies
turned out to be useful for resolving disputes at the cubbies and on the playground, and so this
teacher decided to explicitly teach the idea of emotional regulation. A casual conversation about
barriers and strategies provided the perfect teachable moment.
Finally, the “Submitting Work on Time” BSP in Figure 3.6 was conducted by grade 7 students
with a good basic understanding of EFs. As they described their challenges, Mrs. Pearson encour-
aged them to connect these challenges to EFs. As their conversation progressed, they began to
notice that, for different students, the same issue was borne out of different EF obstacles. So, for
example, forgetting work may be related to time management for a student who wakes up late and
rushes though their packing, organization for a student with a messy desk who loses the homework
in a pile, and planning for a student who leaves the work at a friend’s house. Through this conver-
sation, the students (and their teacher) learned how diverse they all were, and accordingly how
diverse the strategies would need to be in order to meet their needs.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 47

FIGURE 3.4. BSP: “Organization of Materials.” Created by Julie Hough at Central Senior School in
Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

FIGURE 3.5. BSP: “Focus: Finish Your Work on Time.” Created by Paula Barrow from Fenelon Town-
ship Public School in Cameron, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
48 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Submitting Work on Time

Barriers Strategies
Not done (TI) Make a schedule
Didn’t start yet (TI) Chunk the assignment into small parts
Started really late (TI) Advocate for help
Too busy (PP) Use class time
Didn’t understand the task (RI/SA) Use bus time or car rides
Distracted during work periods (SA) Ask to stay in at recess
Don’t have materials (SA/O) Go to homework club
“What assignment?” (SA) Ask for clarification
Tech difficulties Ask for a repeat of the instructions
(F/GDP) Find a quiet spot to work
Lost it (O) Set a reminder or use the calendar
It’s at home (O/P) Create a special binder, folder, or list
Forgot (TM/O/P)

FIGURE 3.6. BSP: “Submitting Work on Time.” Created by Nicole Pearson at Ridgewood Public
School in Coboconk, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

A short, simple BSP can be used to great effect at the very earliest stages of working with a
group of students. In 5–10 minutes, it will allow you to inject self-­regulated learning, metacogni-
tion, self-­awareness, and strategic thinking into your teaching day. And contrary to what you might
think, it is not easier to use in a small group, or with an EF-­literate group, or with a group who
already know each other. All you really need is the willingness to listen to your students. You can
bet they will be curious about each other, and delighted by the knowledge that, in your classroom,
their experiences, feelings, and ideas matter.

How to Facilitate the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP):

Time Strapped
The big idea here is that using the BSP will actually save you time. In this sec-
tion, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Use the BSP to replace other less productive approaches you may use to check in, problem-­
solve, and get students started on work.
• Reuse your Barriers and Strategies charts by returning to them for reference, continuation,
or adjustment.

While every teacher has moments of feeling “time strapped,” some of us make a career out of
it. Whether you rush from room to room to teach a language, receive different groups of students
all day as a specialist, or work in a religious or cultural school and balance the basics plus extra
lessons, we realize there will be readers of this book who feel they have exactly no extra time. It’s
no easier for teachers in typical settings. There are so many things that take a bite out of active
learning time. Consider the way a 45-minute period might be used: Usually, we begin by put-
ting out the behavioral fires; then we establish order, teach a small lesson, make sure students
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 49

have understood the lesson, and finally give instructions for activities. This “fires-to-­instructions”
process might take 10 or 15 minutes, but what happens next? We’re betting that, on many days,
you spend the rest of the period repeating almost every one of the steps you’ve just finished. You
may follow up with students who weren’t paying attention, who had questions but didn’t ask them,
or for whom the expectations required a slight modification. While you’re tied up recapping and
troubleshooting with those individuals, or with small groups, you might otherwise be standing
back to observe your students, providing feedback or making useful assessment notes. So, how can
you avoid this duplication and make your precious teaching time more productive? You guessed it:
A time-­strapped context presents a great opportunity to use the BSP.
Even the busiest teachers probably already do something similar to a BSP. Let’s say you’re a
Spanish teacher asking students to write a paragraph about a cultural celebration. After conduct-
ing your fires-to-­instructions teaching, you might say, “Okay—we have about 20 minutes to work
on this. Before we get started, do you have any questions?” Silence. You might then nudge your
students further by asking, “Anything? Are you sure? You’re completely ready? You’ve got your
research? Everyone? So, when I pass out the materials, we’re all set to go? José? You good? Sami?
Yes? Ahmed? Really? Okaaay . . . ” It is amazing how quickly things can fall apart right after a
check-in like this. In fact, you may find that José missed half of the instructions, Sami is stumped
by a spelling word, and Ahmed has no idea where to start.
A more productive line of questioning might have been “What will be tricky about this? What
barriers could many of us come up against? How will we struggle?” Questions like these ease a
student’s sense of being the only one who doesn’t get it. Instead, they allow the students to come
together and answer as a team; they can reflect on personal experience, but they can also make a
prediction or consider the experiences of their classmates. This is the first step of the BSP, and if
you want to keep it really short, you can simply ask students for one or two barriers. In response,
Sami might feel comfortable suggesting that a number of classmates tend to get stuck on the spell-
ing of Spanish words.
Depending on how much your group knows about EFs, and how time strapped you really
are, you can mention EFs by name or not. Either way, their impact will probably be evident. You
might glance at an anchor chart posted in the room and ask, “Is it just hard to keep going?” (goal-­
directed persistence). Perhaps Sami will agree, or perhaps she’ll say, “Not quite. I start to feel
overwhelmed and worried when I don’t get the spellings right” (emotional regulation). Or perhaps
she’ll tell you that when she can’t spell the words perfectly, she doesn’t even want to give them a
go (flexibility). As you’re chatting with your students about the assignment, EF connections will
come up naturally.
Before you even ask for strategy ideas, José might point out that there are Spanish/English
dictionaries on the shelf, Ahmed might mention that there is a word list in the front of the text, and
another student might suggest that when she can’t spell a word, she just tries her best, underlines
it, and comes back to it later. Another student might suggest using self-talk to manage stress, and
another might suggest working with a partner. Before you know it, you’ll have a list of good sugges-
tions for how to manage this particular problem, and the second part of your BSP (strategies) will
be well on its way. At this point, you can circle back to ask about another barrier, but because the
conversation has already been so rich, you could also just wrap it up by saying, “Great. So today
I’ll be watching to see how you use these strategies.” If you’ve charted their ideas, you will have
created a valuable resource that you can pull out or refer to any time you ask students to do a piece
of writing.
50 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

In just a few minutes a day, you can work with students to tackle many different areas of per-
formance. For example, after dealing with the spelling barrier, this Spanish teacher could tackle
the challenge of students missing half of the instructions—­why is that happening? Or perhaps
she’ll deal with the issue of students not knowing where to start. The BSP is a worthwhile process
in even the most time-­strapped classrooms. Day by day, common barriers will become better
understood, strategy ideas will accumulate, and after the fires are out and the instructions are
delivered, you might just notice that your students are getting things done.

How to Facilitate the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP):

Highly Structured
The big idea here is that a BSP can be used to create structure and discipline in
daily work, small assignments, or big projects. In this section, you’ll learn more
about how to do the following:

• Use a more involved BSP for a larger project.

• Help your students pursue high standards by using the BSP to tackle the barriers that are
holding them back.

In this section, we will present a highly structured application of the BSP for a rather unstruc-
tured “21st-­century” task. You will see how even a teacher taking his or her first steps into student-­
centred, inquiry, or design-­based learning can bring order and specificity to the development of
problem-­solving skills. We share this type of example because we know many teachers are strug-
gling to meet the demands for a 21st-­century education with a student body that is largely devoid
of 21st-­century skills. How can we set complex problems, release control, and let students practice
adaptive skills before they actually have any? It is very much like the chicken and egg quandary,
or the paradox of “I can’t get a job because they want me to have experience.” In our case, we often
feel our students can’t do complex work because they don’t have the ability, but they can’t develop
the ability without being immersed in complex work. The BSP offers the missing link between our
ambitious projects and the tools students need to complete them.
These ambitious projects typically take place over a few weeks, offering us a chance to focus
on thematic topics and dig deeply into the potential of our students. In kindergarten this can look
like a weeklong project in which everybody brings in cereal cartons, kitchen towel tubes, and
tissue boxes, and figures out how to stick them together to create a robot. In grade 4, it may be a
monthlong project working in teams to design a disaster-­proof house. In grade 8, it might be an
eight-page careers project and class presentation. No matter how many days you’ve dedicated to
these projects, we’d like you to imagine allocating a considerable chunk of time to creating, and
then continually adding to, a BSP. We suggest dedicating a full period at the outset and then revis-
iting it daily as the project evolves. We have seen that this is time well spent, a stitch that definitely
“in time saves nine.”
Our friends’ experience with a “makerspace” provides a good example. In case you’re not
familiar, in a makerspace, students can use all sorts of different tools and materials to construct
objects they themselves design. Dawn, Steph, and Roger, a team of grade 3, 6, and 8 teachers who
opened a space like this in their school, used an EF-based approach and the BSP to help it run
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 51

more smoothly.2 They told us about their ambitious beginnings: planning exciting challenges for
their students, gathering all the necessary materials, freeing up a generous amount of time, and
securing the support of their administration. They noticed, however, that even though they had
planned “design” activities that should have been very creative and engaging—­brainstorming,
developing ideas, planning, and prototyping—­students often weren’t as productive as they had
hoped. Rather, the children often seemed overwhelmed and frustrated. What to do? Should they
reduce their expectations? Remove components from the project? Step in and do parts of the work
with students? They wondered how to help without taking over the very creativity and indepen-
dence that the makerspace was designed to support. They were fine tolerating a little chaos, but
they felt their problem went beyond noise and disorder. Their students seemed to be lacking the
essential skills that they needed.
These teachers wanted to support their students’ ability to plan, organize, manage time, stay
calm, and pay attention to details, so they initiated a BSP. After clearing a space amid the sawdust,
tools, and drawings, they spent a good 25 minutes reflecting with the students. “What is happen-
ing?” they asked. “What is stopping your progress?” Their first conversation, captured in Figure
3.7, included the kinds of challenges one might face on a real construction site: how to manage the
use of valuable tools when they are in demand by different teams, how to ensure each builder’s
time is used optimally, and of course, how to minimize the natural distractions arising from task
avoidance and fatigue. During that short conversation, the students created systems they would
continue to refine and improve upon throughout the course of the project. Roger, Dawn, and
Stephanie made time for short follow-­up conversations on a daily basis to allow students to update
the list of good strategies or add more dimension to the types of barriers they faced. This list
became the backbone of the project.
After construction wrapped up, the teachers shared several observations. First, many of the
students who had previously been reluctant to speak up in front of classmates were the ones to step
up with the most strategy ideas. We have heard this before. Research tells us that students with
a wide variety of learning difficulties often struggle to respond strategically to challenging tasks

Our biggest barriers

for completing our
house have been . . . Executive function Our strategies to overcome these barriers
Waiting for tools Flexibility, planning, We can each have the tool for 20 minutes and then switch, work
time management with something else, or see if the same tool is somewhere else.
Taking too long on Planning, task initiation, Two of us can work on one thing, and the other two can work on
one task time management something else, search for something to help us go faster, or ask
a partner for help.
Getting distracted Task initiation, time Move away, set a time limit, or use positive self-talk.
management, attention

FIGURE 3.7. The BSP for a long-term makerspace project. Created by Roger Reynolds at Jack
­Callaghan Public School in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada.

2 Dawn Mattiussi, Stephanie Chislett, and Roger Reynolds teach at Jack Callaghan Public School in Kawartha Lakes,
Ontario. Used with permission.
52 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

(Swanson, 1990; Torgesen, 1977), though they tend to benefit especially when taught adaptable,
resourceful responses (e.g., Wong, Butler, Ficzere, & Kuperis, 1996). Second, the teachers com-
mented that they had never seen such a polite and optimistic group of grade 7 and 8 students; it
sure is satisfying to have your experiences validated and your ideas taken seriously. In addition,
learning new skills feels good, especially when they allow you to bring your ideas to life.
So, reimagine your daily life in a bold, student-­centred, 21st-­century classroom. Where once
you moved from student to student, continuously providing information and guidance, now you
begin to interrupt this daily activity to ask your class, “How will this be hard for us?” and to
discuss the strategies necessary for success. This is a small but mighty interruption, a flip of the
script, and a radical departure from routine teaching—­so radical, in fact, that we wonder if using
the BSP isn’t a little like a science fiction scene in which the hero rips a portal through time and
space. When you stop the everyday grind for a moment to guide your class into a metacognitive
conversation, you lead them to a different dimension to explore a rarely used aspect of their cog-
nitive ability. It is like walking our students forward though the grey matter in their own brains,
past simple reactions and academic ability, toward the most reflective, adaptive, and strategic
structures.
From day to day, we can pop in and out of this “portal” with our students to explore math
challenges, writing difficulties, or social problems. When doing larger projects, however, in which
students learn and practice new skills over a longer period of time, we can step through, build a
fort, stick a flag in it, and plan to come back. Using a BSP throughout these longer projects can be
like creating a metacognitive basecamp: a place designed with children around the demands of a
shared classroom task, assembled from a ramshackle collection of common tricks and strategies,
and cemented by a meaningful shared experience. Built over weeks, this place becomes a comfort-
able, beloved, and complex structure that students will not soon forget. “Did you know this was
here?” we might ask. “This place called ‘metacognition’ has been here all along. It’s yours, and you
can come back whenever you like!” It is a wondrous thing to discover.

How to Facilitate the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP):

Organic and Free Flowing
The big idea here is that the BSP doesn’t have to be a big, disruptive, formal
“thing.” In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Use a “pocket-­sized” BSP whenever and wherever you might need it for on-the-fly problem
solving.
• Engage in the BSP as a truly open-ended and curious form of inquiry with students.
• Use the BSP to discover something new about your learners.

After using the BSP a few times, you might find yourself turning to it more casually and organ-
ically. These may be unplanned-­for moments—­perhaps right in the middle of a classroom activity,
out on the playground, or in the middle of a museum while on a field trip—when you realize that
your instructions have missed the mark or your students are off track. Something is going wrong.
What begins as just a little whiff of a problem can intensify into something rather unpleasant, and
like a bad smell, you might not know exactly what is causing it. Instead of jumping to a quick diag-
nosis, a teacher equipped with the BSP can step back, refocus, and say, “Stop. Talk to me. Let’s
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 53

understand what is going wrong here . . . ” This process is pocket sized and universal enough to use
for almost any tricky “on the go” moment.
For example, put yourself into the shoes of grade 4 teacher, Janet Rhude, who was halfway
through a literacy period when she started to notice that something wasn’t working. Students had
been divided into groups with a page of text, and Janet had asked them to split it into sections and
take turns reading aloud. The text was not too hard or too long for her students, yet almost none
of them had started the activity. A few students were rocking back in their chairs. One was look-
ing fed up, and another had put on her headphones. Scanning her class, Janet might have made a
number of quick assumptions. Are they just low energy, and do they need encouragement? Or are
they struggling to manage their time and perhaps need a 10-minute deadline? If neither of these
approaches worked, she might have started moving from group to group, dividing up the text and
assigning roles for the students.
Janet, however, took a different approach. She took a step back, and a deep breath, and
watched her class for 8 seconds straight. After spending this calm, focused eternity trying to
understand what was really going on, she stopped her students and initiated the BSP pictured in
Figure 3.8. She discovered that, in fact, the students were not low energy, and they did not need a
deadline. Rather, they were having trouble dividing up the text because they had strong feelings,
both positive and negative, about different sections. Janet was surprised and delighted by their
deep responses to the text, and this became a point of further conversation. In the meantime, they

FIGURE 3.8. A Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) conducted midway through a reading assign-
ment. Created by Janet Rhude at Scott Young Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with
permission.
54 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

correctly diagnosed the issue as one of flexibility and emotional control and worked out a way to
divide it up that was acceptable to everyone.
Consider a few days in the life of Victoria Young, an educational assistant who specializes
in challenging behavior and autism spectrum disorder. On Day 1, after receiving word that the
schedule had changed and her grade 4 students would have to attend French class during the last
period of the day, Victoria hosted a quick BSP to set them up for success. The class brainstormed
barriers, divided them up, and tasked small teams of students to tackle each one. On Day 2,
­Victoria was helping a mixed group of students from grades 1 through 3 to deal with some of the
frustrations they were feeling while playing tag. In response to the vexing annoyance of the person
tagged denying it happened, the students quickly agreed to try three things: first, to take a deep
breath and count to three; second, to try using self-talk by saying, “This is no big deal”; and third,
to simply move on and try tagging another person. She found she could much more confidently
send this capable group out to recess. Later that same week, Victoria dropped in on a classroom
and found a grade 1 group struggling to share a set of whiteboards and markers. There weren’t
enough to go around, and after describing how frustrated they felt, the students worked with
­Victoria to make a list of good strategies for sharing, getting along, and getting their work done (see
Figure 3.9). Students realized that they sometimes preferred drawing their ideas on scrap paper
and that they could also can arrange to use a whiteboard after another student had finished. These
obvious-­seeming ideas were reinvented and applied by the grade 1 students with a great deal of

FIGURE 3.9. A Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) conducted to problem-­solve the sharing of
materials. Created by Victoria Young at King Albert Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used
with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 55

pride and enthusiasm. Victoria reflected that, while the conversation was hilarious in its simplic-
ity, it seemed to work because the students did not have a problem sharing the whiteboards again.
Our final example of how quick, easy, and powerful the BSP can be comes from Julie Kuiken
in grade 8.3 It was the end of the day, and Julie’s students were packing up their books for an unusu-
ally heavy night of homework. With a science test planned for the following day, the students were
a little nervous and Julie needed an efficient way to help them manage. In a 5-minute BSP, she
realized why they were so stressed. A few students had incomplete review notes, one was having
trouble accessing the online materials, and still others weren’t sure if their answers to the practice
questions were correct. Before long, her class had swapped strategies and notes, made plans to
copy the answers to the practice questions, and fixed the technology problems. How might these
students have managed otherwise? They may have used avoidance, lowered their expectations, or
externalized their frustrated feelings with anger or tears. The BSP can be a healthy and merciful
support for an overloaded teenager.
With so much to get done in a day, it is always tempting to jump to a quick conclusion about the
source of student problems. The task is too hard, you might assume. The game is too intense. The
groups are too large. And without the help of our students to appreciate the problem in an accurate
and nuanced way, we might execute one of a few big, clunky, blunt-force strategies: quickly reduc-
ing our expectations, removing parts of an activity, or providing solutions that we were hoping our
students would work out independently. There is a simple genius to embracing the limitations of
our own judgment and trusting students enough to ask them what is going on. We hope you’ll let
the BSP help you out at these moments; it is a compact little strategy that can be used to be more
sensitive, precise, and supportive throughout your day.

How to Facilitate the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP):

Working with a “Stressed” Class
The big idea here is that you can use strategies and tactics to ease a more
stressed group of students into group problem-­solving conversations. In this
section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Model a mindset of self-­understanding and compassion.

• Keep your barriers and strategies conversations short and snappy.
• Persist for 10 full attempts before becoming discouraged.
• Recruit as much support as you can from your colleagues and administrators.

Not to give our ages away, but when we (the authors) were growing up, stress was not a word
we heard very often. If we did, it pertained to a disorder suffered by adults, not children. Over
the past 30 to 40ish years, however, the effect of stress has infiltrated our communities, the word
has entered our daily vocabulary, and even very young children are now sometimes described as
“stressed.”
Though it sometimes feels scary or hard, we can actually benefit from the stress arising from
everyday challenges. As our heart rate and blood pressure increase, and our bloodstream fills with
epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol, we may feel energized for learning and performance.

3 Julie Kuiken teaches at Central Senior Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
56 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

For you, about to give a presentation at a staff meeting, and for your students, about to do a test,
this is a feeling worth getting used to. This is the stress that is associated with risk taking, learn-
ing, and growth, and with any luck every single one of us will experience it on and off throughout
life. Managing this stress is necessary for success in a wide variety of jobs and careers, during
parenting, while enjoying relationships, and in order to stay healthy. As teachers, therefore, our
job is not to minimize all stress but rather to teach students how to recognize it, embrace it, and
manage it properly. Using the BSP, we have the opportunity to prepare our students with resilient,
can-do habits; the confidence to involve others in problem-­solving; and a familiarity with the kinds
of strategies that work for them. We can rally our students to go boldly toward challenge with the
firm belief that “We can do hard things!”
Stressed students come in many forms, and occasionally they come in groups. At some point,
you may wind up teaching a class that is notoriously stressed. One that has “history.” This is the
class that everyone talks about in the staff room, the one that wasn’t allowed to go on the yearly
canoe trip, and the one that absolutely has to have the same shatterproof substitute teacher every
time. This class may include a few highly stressed students who act out and make others feel
unsafe, or they may just have a generally challenging dynamic. And while these students would
probably benefit the most from additional strategies, self-­regulated learning, and team problem
solving, they may also be the ones who have the most difficulty accepting help. They will be tough
nuts to crack; when conducting a BSP with a group like this, we can pretty much promise that it
won’t work on the first or even second try. But stay the course; this is the bold, life- and world-­
changing work you may have dreamed of doing in university or college. It’s the “Oh Captain, my
Captain” type stuff. It may take a while for a stressed group to trust one another enough to open
up, talk about their challenges, and collaborate on solutions, but there are tricks that make it easier.
We have several pieces of advice for initiating a BSP ritual with a stressed class:

1. Model the mindset. Always start the conversation by modeling self-­understanding, self-­
acceptance, and self-­compassion. So, before you ask your students what is challenging for them,
share with them what might be challenging for you about the task. Saying things like “Organiza-
tion is tricky for me. You’ve all seen the state of my desk by the end of the day!” might go a long
way toward establishing trust, reducing stigma, and showing students that even successful people
struggle sometimes.
2. Keep it short and sweet. Your class will probably feel quite vulnerable and out of their
comfort zone the first few times you conduct the BSP. Don’t leave them in this position for too long,
or you stand more chance of losing their cooperation. In fact, you might want to reassure them by
setting a 5-minute timer and stopping the conversation promptly when it dings.
3. Try for a 2 + 2. The first few times, make it your goal to model the mindset, and then work
with students to discover only two barriers and two strategies. This will provide more structure,
keep the conversation short, and allow everyone (including you) to feel a sense of accomplishment
in a short time. When you feel they are ready, you can bump it to 3 + 3, and so on.
4. Stay the course. If your class has difficulty the first two or three times you attempt the BSP,
don’t give up. We recommend budgeting for 10 short and sweet attempts. Until you have finished
all 10 attempts, try not to evaluate your success or make any conclusions. The approach will need
time to work. If you can suspend your judgment and resist quitting, you might be surprised at what
you can achieve.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Instruction 57

Our colleague Irena Farkov is a grade 4 French immersion teacher at Ventura Park Public
School in Thornhill, Ontario. Though she doesn’t work with an especially stressed group, she
adapted the BSP in a way that we think might be calming and reassuring for students. For her
first five attempts, Irena asked students to write down their barriers on little squares of paper.
She quickly gathered these papers in a collection box and read them out anonymouavsly. In this
way, students could take their first cautious steps without really risking anything at all. While we
think it is important for students to trust one another and believe in their overall ability enough
to “own” their challenges, this seems like a move in the right direction. With this approach, Irena
filled the room with real student voice and classmates began to understand that to struggle is
normal. Soon, her students began to open up and Irena no longer needed to use anonymity as a
scaffold.
Speaking of shatterproof substitute teachers, consider Miya Bradburn’s story about a day she
spent covering a grade 4 class in the Trillium Lakelands District School Board in Ontario. Miya
sent us the note, below, to describe her experience using the BSP.4 Her description is special
because it acknowledges a supportive principal, Jamie Stone, also from the Trillium Lakelands
Board, and shares the many feelings and responses experienced by both herself and her students
throughout the process.

“I had a supply day booked in a class that was, by all accounts from admin and staff, going to
be tricky. The regular teacher had been away for 4 days, and the group had been taught by
four different teachers. The principal started our day with a community circle to discuss the
barriers to learning that might come up. We then discussed strategies to handle the barriers.
First block went so well! I was finding myself very present and intentional in all my words and
actions and used EF language as much as I could. After first recess I could sense some upset
energy, so I did another circle, this time on my own, to talk about barriers to success in Block
2 due to what happened at recess. Block 2 went pretty well! [For the] final block, they came in
and seemed okay after recess, so I asked them about this and they said it went a lot better than
first recess. I don’t usually get compliments from students about my teaching, but today in
Block 3 they said I really listened to them. They were, for the most part, really self-­controlled,
attentive, and on task, and this is what they told me they had been struggling with. All this to
say that I had direct and immediate proof that what I felt was a practical approach actually
really was! I almost kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the wheels to fall off, but
wouldn’t you know? Those shoes stayed on.”

Miya’s story illustrates so many important points. First, when working with a stressed group
of students, the hands-on support of an administrator who really understands what is going on can
make a world of difference. Jamie Stone didn’t just pop his head in to say hello. He showed up,
proved to Miya that it was okay to be bold and ambitious and compassionate in her approach with
the students, and helped to shoulder the responsibility for pulling it off. Without this engagement,
a teacher might simply close the classroom door, do everything possible to keep the kids quiet all
day, and hope to avoid an embarrassing incident. Because of Jamie and Miya’s leadership, the stu-
dents seemed to have a much more connected and enjoyable day.

4 Miya
Bradburn teaches in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Jamie Stone is the principal at Mariposa Elementary School in
Oakwood, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
58 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

What was it that made the day so much better for Miya’s students? Notice that she didn’t men-
tion devising any earth-­shatteringly brilliant and brand-new strategies. We think that, most of the
time, the strategies mentioned during the BSP are rather ordinary. In fact, they may be the type of
strategies that Miya would have otherwise asked students to use, over and over again, probably to
little effect. “Take a deep breath!” she might have suggested. “Find a better place in the classroom
to work!” or “Take the time to get your materials organized before you begin!” The thing is, there
are plenty of strategies like this floating around in classrooms. The real challenge is to redirect
the prevailing and steady little forces surrounding students so they can start moving in a positive
direction and actually make use of a strategy. Using the BSP, we change the tone in the classroom
in a way that makes children feel more powerful, capable, and ready to act.
Another thing we know for sure is that it is very comforting, connecting, and empowering to
be heard. Particularly during times of stress, it means a lot to have your perspective considered,
your difficulties fully understood, and your ideas for solutions appreciated. This is true for both
adults and children. After working in school administration for many years, Carol (author) reflects
that when parents took the time to offer thanks, it was often because they were shown the simple
courtesy of attention. “I felt listened to,” they’d say. From the desks in Miya’s Block 3 math class,
attentive listening allowed children to explain the argument at recess, explore how it was mak-
ing them feel and act, and plan the best way to proceed. Miya became so much better informed
about her students, and we wonder how this increased sensitivity may have affected her decisions,
responses, and expressions as she interacted with them all day long. Regardless, when children
trust us enough to share these kinds of thoughts and experiences, we should consider it an oppor-
tunity. Through the BSP, we enter a space where truth and sharing, a sense of mattering, and
deep understanding makes genuine relationships possible—­and relationships are the foundation
upon which all other learning is built. We’re not suggesting this will be easy, but finding connec-
tion with a stressed class is incredibly rewarding. With some patience, an extra cup of coffee, and
especially with the help of a supportive colleague or principal, it is a 3- or 4- or even 6-week goal
worth striving for.
 CHAPTER 4

How EF Literacy
Can Improve Observation

HOW WE TEND TO OBSERVE

In the following discussion, we will describe the ways that your knowledge of EF can support a
more accurate and useful process of classroom observation. We will also characterize the ways
that a teacher’s careful observation of EFs can benefit students. By paying attention to the EF
demands and subsequent self-­regulation demonstrated by students, an EF-­literate teacher can stir
self-­awareness and energize a more active process of EF development.
Have you ever seen someone clap two old-­school chalkboard erasers together? We’ll begin
Chapter 4 with this classic bit of prewhiteboard mischief. As you remember the huge, lingering
cloud of dust this created, turn your attention to what may hang in the air between yourself and
your students. In this chapter, we will talk about the constant, quiet, invisible network of infor-
mation zipping around your classroom from moment to moment as you watch and listen to your
students. We’ll suggest that even though observation burns a lot of teacher energy, it often operates
without much notice or manipulation. We’ll also describe the ways that observation works from
both a teacher’s and a student’s perspective and argue that it is a highly active force in a classroom.
Finally, we’ll propose that with just a little bit of awareness and intention, EF literacy can help
teachers reclaim the process of observation and use it to steer and encourage student performance.
Let’s slow down for a moment to think about exactly what is going on when we observe. Imag-
ine you’re at your desk. It’s about 2:00 p.m. on a typical Monday, and you’re encircled by three
students who are blocking most of your view. You can hear a repetitive tapping noise, and someone
is laughing loudly. The classroom door bangs shut, and you realize that a whole group of desks is
empty. Why? Meanwhile, over the shoulder of the student directly in front of you are four students
who look very productive but who have arranged a heap of papers onto the head of another who
59
60 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

may or may not be sleeping. This is an ordinary moment at school—­a good moment—­but one that
illustrates the barrage of irresistible stimuli that capture our attention. In rapid succession, we
are supportive, irritated, curious, concerned, delighted, and, against our better judgment, slightly
amused. The point is that while we are capable of planning to actively observe something specific,
it’s not surprising that we occasionally go for long periods simply chasing the sights and sounds
in our midst. With upward of 6 hours of contact time per day taking place in a variety of loud and
active contexts, it’s easy to succumb to sensory overload. This is most acute for rookie teachers
or visiting parents, who are easily distracted and overwhelmed by every little movement, sight,
and sound in the room and struggle to appreciate the complexity of what is going on around them
(Wolff, Jarodzka, van den Bogert, & Boshuizen, 2016). The next time you’re in a classroom, notice
how you observe. Are you choosing where you focus your attention, or are just trying to keep up?
This may be different from morning to afternoon, Monday to Friday, or bright and early in Sep-
tember to the day after your sister’s wedding in May.
As much as we gather information in a subjective and disorderly way, we also tend to inter-
pret it that way too. Have you ever observed the same group of students as a colleague, asked her
what she noticed, and realized you each picked up on completely different things? Or, if you were
focused on the same events, that your interpretation was different? This can be particularly notice-
able after a scuffle on the playground, when almost every observer has a different understanding
of the events that took place. There are several reasons for this. First, like it or not, we all carry
unconscious biases. To some extent, the way we interpret the actions of our students will be influ-
enced by our previous experiences with them and our own sensitivities. Goodwin (1994) coined
the term “professional vision” to describe the specialized way professionals observe and accurately
interpret phenomena of interest to them. For teachers, professional vision becomes more and more
precise and insightful as knowledge of students, subject matter, and pedagogy grows (Kramarski
& Michalsky, 2009).
Our interpretations are also influenced by our teaching experience, skills, and knowledge.
For a specific subject like mathematics, the deeper our knowledge of mathematical principles,
the more noticeable our student’s mathematical thinking and action will be (Kersting, Givvin,
Sotelo, & Stigler, 2010). Similarly, having more experience with children and knowing more about
special education and child behavior enables us to clearly see and more accurately interpret a
diverse range of unexpected student behaviors (Michalsky & Schechter, 2013; Perry, Phillips, &
Hutchinson, 2006). With a knowledge of EFs, for example, we may observe a student repetitively
tapping her pencil and suspect that she is creating stimulation to support better attention. Or we
may recognize that two students are talking during math class to support emotional regulation and
goal-­directed persistence. This sharper vision is very beneficial, because a more accurate appraisal
of student behavior enables a more attentive response and fosters closer relationships with and
among students (Perry et al., 2008; Shivers, Levenson, & Tan, 2017; Yenawine, 2013). Conversely,
without adequate pedagogical knowledge, student behavior can seem a little overwhelming and
stressful. In response to the very same pencil tapper, a teacher with less professional vision may
feel more stressed and change their approach. Research tells us that teachers tend to respond to
stress by boosting structure, reducing expectations, and tightening up control (Klusmann, Kunter,
Trautwein, Ludtke, & Baumert, 2008; Muller, Gorrow, & Fiala, 2011; Yong & Yue, 2007).
So, what teachers see when they look at students is highly variable. Let us now explore how
observation is translated and understood on the receiving end. You might not realize that the little
point of focus you bounce from person to person and event to event around the room is quite an
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 61

important presence for your students. The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
(2004) tells us that from birth, children are wired to seek the attention they require to meet their
social and emotional needs. Furthermore, we know that over the years each piece of valuable
attention your students have received has made a real impression on them. These deeply satisfying
experiences teach subtle lessons about what is important and what is valuable (Berland et al., 2016).
For example, imagine standing at the front of the room watching your students write an
assignment. One is changing the assignment a little to demonstrate independence and free think-
ing, one is about to ask you for clarification to demonstrate obedience and respect, one is looking
through a thesaurus to demonstrate originality and creative energy, and another is disagreeing
with the thrust of the assignment to demonstrate critical and bold thinking. There might also be a
student who is thinking, “Why is she watching me?” and feeling a little worried that your gaze is
disapproving. The manner in which each of these students operates is based on their own assump-
tion about what is valued in the process of learning and thinking. This means that not only are
your observations subjective and guided by your own professional knowledge but also they will be
interpreted in an almost infinite range of ways by the diverse group of students who populate your
classroom. These forces of observation are strong, but surprisingly disorderly.
How can we bring more order and purpose to our observation? This will be described in vivid
detail throughout the following discussion and in the subsequent “how to” sections. Essentially,
we believe that by using a more mindful and intentional process, teachers can interrupt habitual
practices and leverage the great many observational forces already at work. We also believe that by
understanding student behavior according to a knowledge of EFs, we can appreciate it in a more
scientific and coherent way. Teachers have always been masters of giving “the look.” With a little
finesse, we can use this quiet superpower more efficiently to support and guide the students we
teach.

SLOWING DOWN AND TUNING IN

TO STUDENT PERFORMANCE WITH AN EF LENS

When you look at your students, what do you see? Their behavior may not match what you were
expecting, especially if that behavior takes the form of an eccentric and personal little strategy to
support their EFs and self-­regulated learning. In fact, some of their best strategies could cost them
brownie points. To function as teachers of creative, independent, and strategic thinkers, we need
to get comfortable with observing the unexpected—­to see it, strive to understand it, and make
very clear the fact that we value it. The old-­fashioned greeting “How do you do?” has never been
more appropriate or more considerate. Looking around the room, we should wonder, “And how do
you do? And you? And what about you?” Our style of observation should convey a genuine curios-
ity and delight at how our students “do” their learning.
As our familiarity with students’ EF grows, we will be more able to appreciate the diversity
and complexity in their approach. For example, to an EF-­literate teacher, a student who responds
to a writing prompt by seeking conversation with friends and teachers may look like a student try-
ing to support his attention or emotional regulation, instead of one who has chosen to ignore the
instructions. Or, we may interpret a student calling out in the middle of a lesson as, yes, a little
inconsiderate, but also as one who is trying desperately to share something before it is lost from his
working memory. “Try jotting down that idea,” we might respond, “and remember that when you
62 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

call out you make it difficult for others to pay attention.” After learning about the impact of EFs on
performance, you may feel as though you are looking at students through a new lens and noticing
things about them you’ve never seen before.
When we can actually see all of the little ways our students’ EFs affect their learning, and also
notice when they are attempting strategies to work around these challenges, we have new options
and choices for teaching. The simplest change we can make is to allow students the time, space,
and encouragement they need to do this work. Instead of shushing those unexpected prewriting
conversations, we can notice and support them. By creating this safe space, we can set the stage
for even more supportive and positive relationships in our classrooms.
Consider the interesting situation we encountered while leading a workshop for a group of
educators. After assigning a task, and giving participants a few minutes to get started, we began to
observe our way around the room. While many tables were filling in the assigned worksheet with
their responses, one group had skipped it entirely and was instead engaged in an energetic debate,
scribbling notes and small diagrams for each other as they tried to explain their ideas. We loved to
see their passion, but as we approached their table, it was like a dark cloud filled the room. These
experienced educators assumed we were displeased with their decision to stray from the instruc-
tions, and they responded to our observation with a bit of defensiveness and a “cold shoulder.”
Their negative reaction stirred negative feelings from us, and we were suddenly on our way down
a rather unfriendly and unproductive path.
This was a pivotal point in the workshop; thank goodness we figured it out quickly enough
to salvage a teachable moment. We stopped the group to call attention to the negative spiral tak-
ing place among us and suggested that the problem was both our unclear role and our values as
observers, as well as the fact that people tend to assume the worst. Operating based on their own
memories as schoolchildren or perhaps their own experiences as teachers being supervised and
evaluated, our participants assumed we were watching for compliance and rule following. They
thought we were cross, disappointed, and exasperated, when in fact we were delighted by the way
they were managing a high level of attention and persistence to the task. “We are really interested
in how you learn,” we reassured them. “We are so excited by your initiative and can’t wait to hear
about what you’re thinking.” It was as if the sun had come out. We learned that in order to preserve
a trusting, cooperative, and supportive relationship, we needed to make our intentions, feelings,
and observations 100% clear.
If the teachers at our workshop respond this way, how might students respond? For argu-
ments’ sake, let’s say these teachers were experienced, capable, strong, and powerful. While it may
not be entirely true, let’s also say they were secure and happy adults with extensive social safety
nets, a pocketful of money, a cell phone, and a teachers’ union to back them up. And in actual fact,
these teachers had to sit through only a few hours of our workshop before heading out the door
with the option to never see us again. Now, imagine how a similar confrontation might feel for
students, who attend school day after day for years, may arrive discouraged from other negative
experiences, and often already believe we won’t like them, won’t help them, and are “out to get
them.” This is a well-known phenomenon. “Stereotype threat” is the general fear of being observed
or judged according to a certain stereotype. Often, people who belong to stereotyped groups feel
this way, including people of color, people with disabilities, people from low socioeconomic back-
grounds, women, minority groups, the elderly, and many others. Someone with stereotype threat
may quickly assume the worst. Imagine how quickly the situation could escalate if the student felt
particularly isolated, prejudged, disrespected, or misunderstood. Reflecting on how a relatively
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 63

secure and skilled group of adults responded to the ambiguous messages they received from our
observation is a telling reminder of just how students may struggle to cope with something similar
at school. It only takes one look to get off on the wrong foot.
So, how do we fix it? How can we observe students in a way that makes them feel respected,
appreciated, and encouraged? Margaret Forster and Geoff Masters (1996) speak of a process called
“spotlighting,” through which specific outcomes can be targeted for special attention in one’s
observation. Traditionally, this practice is done by deciding to focus on certain curricular goals,
such as the use of punctuation. For example, a teacher might say, “Today I’m looking out for capital
letters and periods.” It is a simple step that can reduce cognitive demands for teachers and make
observation a little calmer. This approach is perfect for an EF-­literate teacher; we love the idea
of using it to transform the many confusing and zig-­zagging lines of observation into one steady,
warm spotlight that is focused on process. Throughout the day, and particularly when students are
struggling, we can focus a spotlight on the unique ways our students manage EF barriers or create
strategies to meet the challenges we place before them. “I can’t wait to see how you manage this
task. I’m interested in your strategies!” we might say. Spotlighting brings order to observation for
teachers, and reassurance, confidence, and power to students. The more you can make your obser-
vation of strategy visible, the more you can make it clear that you like your students’ ingenuity and
individuality. For this reason, we recommend you observe as conspicuously, noisily, and overtly
as possible, making sure your students know right away that you are regarding them with respect.
Any time we find ourselves watching students, it makes sense to clearly declare what we are
looking for. By saying things like “I’m very interested to see how you’ll do this . . . ” or “I can’t
wait to see the kinds of strategies you use . . . ” or “I’m watching to see all of the different ways
you’re going to manage . . . ” you can nip negative assumptions in the bud and project the kind of
curiosity, interest, and delight that will grow their initiative. It won’t take long for your students to
understand that their teacher appreciates the fiery determination and invention that lies beneath
their ultimate success.

THE NEED TO BE SEEN AND APPRECIATED

Shortly, we will describe a crafty and efficient method of observation for EF-­literate teachers
and provide you with more practical classroom examples than you ever dreamed possible. First,
however, let us share an inspiring story that is a little closer to home. We would like to explore the
naturally occurring form of process-­focused observation that can be found in the attention paid
by a calm and doting grandparent. While we appreciate that not every grandparent is the same,
we believe there is a set of qualities you will be able to recognize. By making this connection, we
hope to place process-­based observation deeply into the context of being human and suggest that it
is an essential ingredient in the healthy development of children. Much like a naturally occurring
nutrient, we can analyze it, understand its principal components, and synthesize it for use in our
classrooms.
First, consider how a grandparent lavishes a child with attention. Often, they can’t see their
grandchildren every day, so by the time a family gathering rolls around they are dying of curios-
ity and captivated by every little detail. “What have you got there?” they might ask, or “Show us
how you do that!” Meanwhile, children have spent the week desperately seeking attention by any
means possible. You may know how it feels to try to read the paper, talk on the phone, or check an
64 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

email while a child begs for more attention: “Hey! Look! Look at this! Are you watching? Watch!
Look! Hey! Hey! Look! Watch this! Watch me!” Or, perhaps you’ve had the remarkable experience
of having a very young child command your attention by taking your face in both hands. When you
have more than one child, the demands become more intense as they jockey, jostle, and compete
for either your approval or simply your most extreme reaction. Grandparents really are the perfect
fit for their grandchildren.
We would like to introduce you to one particular grandparent whose unique style of engage-
ment with his grandchildren provides an interesting example of the power of warm, attentive,
process-­based observation. Place yourself near the front door of Bill’s house and imagine him get-
ting ready to take his 4-year-old grandson, Adam, out for a walk. They have put on light jackets,
packed a snack, and are talking happily about visiting the park as the boy struggles to put on his
shoes. Placing each shoe carefully in the right position on the floor, Adam begins to receive the
benefit of Bill’s noisy, attentive observation. “Alright ladies and gentlemen, what will Adam do
now?” Adam looks up, massively delighted, not only by his grandfather’s attention but also by the
silly suggestion that an imaginary crowd is watching too. Bill continues, “First, he puts the shoes
in the right place!” and as Adam squishes his foot inside the shoe without first loosening the Velcro
strap he begins to whine with frustration. Bill remarks, “The foot doesn’t fit in the shoe, ladies and
gentlemen. What will Adam do now? I can’t wait to see . . . ” Hearing this, Adam looks up with a
worried expression, and then smiles mischievously as he turns his attention quickly to the strap on
the shoe. “I know! I know how to do it!” and before he even has time to say “Look!” his grandfather
chimes in “This is very exciting, ladies and gentlemen. He decides to open the strap! And now his
foot fits in! How did he know how to do that?” Throughout this process, Bill doesn’t waver in his
attention. While Mom and Dad are hurriedly checking phones and performing one last multitask,
Grandpa Bill sits solidly beside Adam, seemingly immune to the hustle and bustle around him.
Some readers will think this story is marvelous, and some will question our sanity. How in
the world can a classroom teacher carry on like a grandparent? No matter how possible it is to do
“calm, doting observation” in your context, there are a couple of interesting things to notice from
Bill’s example. First, Bill did not lay one finger on Adam’s shoe. While a busy parent might have
reached down to flip open the strap, Bill didn’t budge. With a level of response inhibition borne out
of maturity, wisdom, and perhaps the fact that he didn’t feel like bending down, Bill made space
and time for Adam to do this little job on his own. In turn, Adam responded to this with excite-
ment and determination, perhaps because Bill’s approach conveyed confidence and interest in his
ability. During their walk, Adam then continued to seek Bill’s doting appreciation with demonstra-
tions of walking backward, saving a worm trapped on the sidewalk, rolling down a hill, and fixing a
swing that was turned inside out. Of course, it would have been much easier for Bill to simply rush
in for a quick “save”: When faced with a whiny, worried, or frustrated child, jumping in is often the
simplest fix. If Bill had taken this approach, however, we wonder if Adam would have been quite
as resourceful when his zipper got stuck 2 minutes later, or whether he would have quickly given
up and called for help. In classrooms, while we can’t wait for students to figure everything out on
their own, you might like to have a go at inviting student initiative and creativity with comments
like “I’m watching . . . ” or “You’re the expert . . . ” or by loudly reflecting, “What will they do?” It’s
a balancing act. As a teacher you have to know when it makes sense to step in, and when you have
the time and energy to support your class in more self-­directed problem solving.
Second, Bill did not divide his attention at all. Watching him with his grandchildren was like
watching someone meditate: Not only did he focus his awareness exclusively on Adam, but also he
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 65

projected a clear and calm emotional state. We’re not asking you to sit solidly and calmly beside
each and every student all day long, but we wonder if you could take one more breath of observa-
tion before jumping to action. In that time, you might decide that instead of bending over to point
out a mistake or wipe up a spill, you can simply invite your students to self-­regulate and do some
problem solving on their own. The more you do it, the more confident and skilled your students
will become.
Generally, our discussions about observation and attention in school are grounded in the fact
that they drive performance. It is also important to remember that dedicated attention is part of a
loving and appreciative relationship, which is essential to both school success and children’s ability
to thrive. So, what should you do about those “attention-­seeking” behaviors? While we don’t advo-
cate rudeness, we think it’s always important to ask the question why? Why are children whining,
acting out, and unwilling to take risks? What might happen if we treated those behaviors as a cry
for more connection rather than attention? We know our readers teach in a range of varied contexts
and that everyone does the best they can—we leave the story of Grandpa Bill in your hands. Even
if it’s just for one afternoon, we hope it inspires you to try an even slower, more attentive, more
adoring approach with your class.

How to Observe Process, Strategy, and EFs:

Early Days
The big idea here is that observation focused on process and strategy will help
you to get to know students in a meaningful way. In this section, you’ll learn
more about how to do the following:

• Pause, when you feel like intervening, to slow down, take one extra breath, and tell your
students that you are watching and “can’t wait to see” what they do.
• Be a noisy and conspicuous observer.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Apparently 60% of people have experienced it, includ-
ing Prince Harry who swears he felt it the first time he met Meghan Markle (Naumann, 2004).
Psychologists believe it results from a subconscious search for positive emotions—­we study strang-
ers for loveable qualities and quickly form positive connections when we find them. Setting aside
romantic love for a moment, we would like to suggest that you can achieve a similarly fast, positive,
and fulfilling bond with students by paying special attention to their problem-­solving strategies,
coping methods, and spirit of resilience. During the early days of your work with any group of stu-
dents, you can use observation to very quickly seek out and “fall in love” with all of the best things
they have to offer.
As teachers, we spend a lot of time preparing for our first magic moments with students in
September: We want to set a positive tone, earn trust, and establish a good working relationship.
The one thing we can’t control, however, is the children. They will arrive in all their glorious
diversity, never failing to surprise us with their personalities, ideas, and energy. Our performance
in such unpredictable circumstances relies on our ability to quickly find common ground and
form a team, but this can be challenging. For example, imagine the tricky first day Laurie (author)
once had in grade 2. Upon arrival, her students found a puzzle, a bin of materials for making bead
bracelets, and a coloring page: calming activities that might have allowed everyone to socialize
66 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

comfortably. Before long, however, Butter Dumpling the teddy bear hamster had charmed his way
out of his cage. Overwhelmed by the excitement of it all, and acting totally out of character, he bit
a student quite hard on the finger and drew blood. Another student, suffering from a rare condi-
tion, caught sight of this, experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure, turned green, and flopped
dramatically onto the beanbag chair with fluttering eyelids. Simultaneously, a student entered the
hallway to have a snack and accidentally pinwheeled cherry yogurt from a floppy plastic yogurt
tube all over several other students, the lockers, the floor, and himself. This was not the type of
morning Laurie had envisioned, and not really the kind of situation to make a person fall in love.
What a messy, stressful moment! Students urgently needed support both inside and outside of
the classroom. As the only adult in the room, it was very tempting for Laurie to wade in, take over,
and try to fix both problems at once. After sorting out the ailing students, she might have entered
the hall and said, “Freeze! Listen carefully—­I’m going to tell you exactly what to do . . . Kevin,
go and get some paper towels. Maya, move those jackets . . . ” She then might have given students
5 minutes’ worth of specific instructions for exactly what to do to contain the mess. When Kevin
returned from the washroom with paper towels, she might have said, “No, give them to me,” and
started working on the students’ clothes herself while continuously reminding the student with
his foot in a puddle of yogurt to stay absolutely and completely still. This sounds intense, but how
many times have you been in a similarly stressful situation? Most experienced teachers have a few
hair-­raising stories.
What actually happened was a little different. Of course, the first step was to get first aid to
the ailing students. Then, newly fascinated by the power of attentive observation, and perhaps
because the whole situation was overwhelming and she needed help, Laurie took a step back.
Instead of rolling up her sleeves and taking over, she rallied the problem-­solving skills of her class
using attentive and noisy observation. Standing in the doorway with a good view of both situations,
she got everyone’s attention and said, “There is a lot going on right now. Kathy is not feeling well,
and Ryan’s yogurt is all over the place in the hall. What will you do? How will you respond? I can’t
wait to stand right here and watch how you all manage!” There was some urgency in her voice and
a genuine flush in her cheeks. This was a real situation and the students could tell. What she was
really telling them was “I want you to show me your best qualities. This is a great opportunity.
Show me your character, and let’s start building a relationship based on respect!”
Many different things began to happen. First, and this is important to keep in mind, not all
of the students responded well. In fact, out in the hall, one fellow took a few steps back, ran, and
slid, surfer style, though the slick of yogurt; these were normal grade 2 kids, and they were eager
to impress each other on the first day of school. However, when Laurie repeated, “Oh, this is com-
plicated. What will you do?” certain students really seemed to wake up and take charge. Calista
said, “Oh, I know! I’ll get some paper towel. You move those books, okay Maya?” This inspired
Ryan, who seemed happy to help Maya, which gave Arden and Stella the bright idea to scoop up
the yogurt spill with a dustpan. By providing an opportunity for leadership among the students,
Laurie made space for a positive, productive tone to catch on among the other students.
Standing back to observe this, a teacher might spend a moment with her eyes wide in surprise
and her hand on her heart. She might mouth the word “Wow!” to her students and nod encourag-
ingly. Not only did Laurie have a chance to experience and express positive feelings about her
students, but also they had a chance to experience and express positive feelings about each other.
Of course, there was a bit of unpredicted chaos—there always is. Instead of heavy control and
frustration, however, there was a lot of back slapping, many thanks, and several expressions of
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 67

satisfaction. And after it was all over, the story about the first day of school was that it was indeed a
biiiit of a disaster, but also that it was fun and that the kids left feeling good. “You know what, Ms.
Faith?” asked the yogurt surfer. “I think we are going to make a great team.”

How to Observe Process, Strategy, and EFs:

Time Strapped
The big idea here is that you can use EF-­focused observation to help shift your
students into gear. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the follow-
ing:

• Spend time to save time! Invest 5 minutes in an upfront 3 + 3 BSP conversation to clarify
what strategic behaviors you’ll be observing.
• Avoid getting overly involved in work that is your students’ responsibility.

You barely have time to take attendance, never mind sitting back to observe. If you consider
your situation “time strapped,” we’re willing to bet you’re operating at full steam, using all four
limbs, eyes and ears fully deployed, and perhaps occasionally also holding items in your mouth or
tucking pens into your hairdo. Below, we’ll paint a picture of what extreme time pressure can look
like with the understanding that it happens to the best of us. In doing so, we’ll describe why time-­
strapped teachers sometimes abandon the awesome power of attentive observation and suggest a
way to get that power back.
Ask yourself: Does the prospect of slowing down a little, taking a breath, and adding anything
to your already very tight 45-minute period drive you a little crazy? If so, you’re not alone. Though
we paddle into position in August, fresh from summer, amped with energy, and ready to rip, many
teachers spend September to June surfing a wave of overwhelming pressure. As the students roll in
and the work heats up, things steadily become more intense, and if we’re not careful, we can wind
up miles off course. In the madness, we may surrender all planning and proactive measures, and
instead focus on navigating the never-­ending torrent of immediate needs. For example, when your
students struggle to manage the EF demands of their work and seem off track or unfocused, you
may circle the room to remind each of them to “get going,” feed next steps, or slowly remove parts
of the assignment so they stand a chance of finishing on time. You may offer corrections, encour-
agements, and expressions of disappointment in a steady stream, responding again and again to the
same problems. It feels as if, if we stop, a giant wave will surge, crash over our heads, and utterly
swamp us.
With all of this going on, we know you have no time to waste and no extra pairs of hands to do
more. We will not recommend you layer something else on top, but rather that you put your foot
down, clear 5 minutes, and know that we fully support you in stopping the insanity. You can safely
dismount the wild ride for a moment, take a breath, get steady, and paddle into a much tamer and
more productive current.
How? We suggest that you clear 5 sweet little minutes to do a 3 + 3 BSP (see Chapter 3).1 After
providing instructions for the day’s work, grab a marker and urge your class, “Three things that

1 Remember, the BSP was introduced in Chapter 3. It is a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teach-
ers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be
more successful?”
68 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

will stand in our way and three strategies! Go!” Don’t let the conversation go longer than 5 min-
utes. In fact, your discussion might include some finger snapping or a timer. You may say, “Come
on, everyone, what will it be? This is supposed to be a quick conversation. Who has an idea?”
Then, when you’re finished, tell your students you’ll be watching to see them using the strategies
discussed: “I’m watching. Let’s see how many people use the tricks we’ve talked about.” This is
the moment you take back some control and switch from surfer to spectator. You should observe
heavily, attentively, conspicuously, and without lifting a finger, knowing each student has a small
handful of practical strategies to try right away.
Imagine if, with this 5-minute conversation at the beginning of class, you could drastically
improve your students’ ability to manage. What if the four students who might otherwise have
done nothing actually get started, and what if the rest of the students do roughly twice as much as
they would have otherwise? If your 5-minute investment makes the remaining 40 minutes twice
as effective, you’ve reclaimed 20 minutes! For example, let’s say you have just had a BSP con-
versation regarding your fifth graders’ problem-­solving work in math stations. During the BSP,
everyone agreed that emotional control and goal-­directed persistence would be challenged as they
attempted to share materials and not give up on the independent activities too quickly. The strate-
gies they created were to “rock–paper–­scissors” for first choice of materials upon arrival at each
station and then to read instructions out loud twice before deciding the activity was too confus-
ing. After the teacher says, “Okay. Go! We only have 30 minutes left. I’m watching to see you use
these specific strategies,” the students will know exactly what to do. The teacher’s main priority
will be, not to wade in and help 30 students at once, but to slow down, stand back, and appreciate
what they are doing on their own. We’re not predicting miracles—­new challenges may benefit
from another 5-minute BSP the following day—but as the students head back to their desks to get
started, they’ll know exactly which three achievable behaviors you’re looking for.
How can you afford the time? First, we would like to suggest that nothing you do as a teacher
could waste more time than an unfocused group of students. They win hands down. It doesn’t mat-
ter that you’re behind with the science project, that the speeches are not quite ready for assembly,
or that the math test is this Friday. For the most part, your students will proceed as usual—they
will miss your instructions, get into disagreements, stress over every detail, and lose their materi-
als. As far as time-­wasting goes, your indulgence of 5 minutes to get your students on track is a
drop in the ocean. If it can move the needle on their ability to use strategies that will support their
EFs, it will provide everyone with a smoother and more successful experience and will definitely
be worth the time.

How to Observe Process, Strategy, and EFs:

Highly Structured
The big idea here is that you can observe students’ use of EFs, process, and
strategy in structured ways throughout your day. In this section, you’ll learn more
about how to do the following:

• Use a structured observational technique such as a running record, an anecdotal record, or

event sampling to spend more time gathering data before jumping to conclusions.
• Establish an “observation post” or posture and use it regularly as a cue that you are observ-
ing.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 69

Do you remember when iPhone launched “live” photos? Having spent a day photograph-
ing loved ones, you might recall later discovering that your device had captured not simply one
moment but also the two fascinating seconds before and after. What a difference this made! For
example, you could see that your sister’s smile came after a glance at her dog and was followed by
an eye roll, or that your child drank hot chocolate just after a little shove from his brother and just
before the liquid sloshed onto his shirt. The richness of these 3-second videos reminds us that an
awful lot of information can be captured in a few extra seconds. Similarly, stretching classroom
observation just a little allows us to stitch together rich contexts, motivations, and emotions. It lets
us connect the dots on adaptive student behavior that may otherwise seem random. And, over
time, it creates a welcoming stage on which students can perform such feats. How long does your
attention rest on any one student before your memory “clicks” and you move on? Let’s talk about
two approaches to stretch and structure your observation.
First, let’s discuss a handful of highly structured approaches that might help you unravel the
mystery of an unusually tricky student. These will be useful when you’re feeling out of ideas and
patience, or temped to say, “I know exactly what’s going on with that kid” or “I’ve seen this kind of
thing a thousand times before.” When you hear yourself making comments like these, ask yourself
if your stance of frustrated already knowing may actually be sucking the life out of your ability to
observe. Are you watching for one second before jumping to conclusions? Maybe two if you’re feel-
ing generous? In these situations, your ability to observe may be crushed under the massive weight
of your experience and what you think you already know. Below, we will share a few techniques
to help you revive your observation and continue learning. They will function to, momentarily,
pause your instinct to interpret and instead encourage you to linger a while in a more deliberate
process of gathering information. Taking a closer look at a frustrating student may provide insight
on underlying EF challenges or compensatory strategies, increase your understanding and com-
passion, and expand your ability to provide timely and tailored support.

Running Records
You may be familiar with running records as a mode of reading assessment, but they can also
be used to objectively observe and understand student behavior. To make a behavioral running
record, choose a target student, decide how long your observation will be, and then begin mak-
ing notes about what you see the student doing. You should pay attention to the students’ physical
movements, their social interactions, their facial expressions, and the activities they seem to be
attending to. This won’t be easy. Your mind will be in “efficiency” mode, and you may feel tempted
to make a quick assessment about what is happening. For example, in the first moments of your
observation of a student who never seems to complete any work, you may see the student wander-
ing around the room and assume they aren’t interested in the activity. Or you might assume the
work you’ve assigned is too hard. Sticking to a mostly descriptive running record of what you see
the student doing before drawing too many conclusions, however, may reveal surprising informa-
tion. Looking back over your notes later, you may discover that the student was much more con-
fused about the basic instructions for the assignment than you realized. As an EF-­literate teacher,
you may begin to suspect that specific EF challenges are at play. Look at our example in Figure
4.1. As Katrina (the teacher) documented C.J.’s behavior, she began to notice his frustration, his
confusion, and a seeming desire to participate. Could C.J. be experiencing a working memory or
70 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Running Record
Student name(s): C.J.
Age: 13
Location: Rose School homeroom classroom
Date and Time: Monday, October 5, 2020, 10:45–10:55
Observer: Katrina
Type of Development Observed: C.J. rarely hands in classroom assignments.

Event Time Notes or Comments

Lags behind as group moves to back table. 10:45 Didn’t notice the transition?
Group starts work without him. Attention?

Arrives at table and looks frustrated. 10:47 Doesn’t seem to know what to do.
Rolls eyes at (other student). Listens to Not sure if he caught the instructions.
conversation briefly and then leaves to find
pencil.

Returns to group for instruction. Pokes (other 10:48 May need more reiteration of
student) with pencil. Asks, “What are we instructions before starting his work.
supposed to do?”

Gets up and asks to go to the washroom. 10:49 Avoidance. Looks embarrassed.

Returns, sits at own desk, and stares at 10:55 Did he manage to get enough
workbook; sighs loudly. information to start? Is it the actual
starting?
Significant Points Next Steps
C.J. is quite skilled at avoidance and is trying Ask C.J. if he’s having a hard time
a number of approaches to not start the understanding instructions? Should I slow
task. C.J. is starting to act out in frustration. down with instructions? Would writing down
C.J. wants to participate. C.J. is struggling to the instructions help?
pay attention. Would repeating the instructions be helpful?

FIGURE 4.1. How a teacher might fill in a running record.

attention challenge while trying to capture the details of classroom instructions? These are the
kinds of significant points and targeted next steps you may arrive at when you review the text you
have created, either alone or with a colleague.
The period of time over which this observation is conducted will depend on the resources
you have available and the extent of the problem you’re attempting to understand. In only 5 to 10
minutes, you may be surprised at the amount of information you can gather. In truth, we rarely
slow down enough to watch individuals for even this length of time. Or you may decide to conduct
a few 5-minute observations to really understand what is going on. On the other hand, if you have
an especially tricky student and you feel you are starting to hit a wall, you may want to consider
finding time for a longer observation and running record. By recruiting the support of a colleague
or administrator, you can gather a 20- to 40-minute running record and gain even deeper insight.
While this will require some organization and planning, it may completely transform your ability
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 71

to understand and respond to a struggling student. It may be one last thing to try before referring
this student for a more resource-­intensive intervention (such as an educational assistant or other
specialist). The information you gather will be useful in either case. See Figure 4.1 for a simple
example of the kinds of comments to include in a short running record and Figure 4.2 for a clean
copy to use in your classroom.

Anecdotal Records
Collect written observations about a specific child. You don’t need to follow a schedule; when
something happens that you think is interesting, simply write the date and jot down a few key
words, a quote, or the essence of the situation. You may wish to share the recording process
among several teachers, and you may wish to focus your attention on certain EFs or other growth
areas that are specified in an IEP. Much like with your running record, you should focus on gath-
ering objective and descriptive information that can be analyzed later. Then you can work with a
colleague or on your own to extract significant points and plan appropriate next steps from your
anecdotal record.

Event Sampling
Once you start to notice a pattern of behavior, you may wish to confirm it with event sampling.
Using this method, you simply keep a tally of how often the target behavior occurs over time. It is
especially useful to work with a colleague who can observe a specific student during certain les-
sons or periods of the day while you are engaged with other students. You may, for example, like
to compare the number of times a behavior occurs during a math lesson versus during a writing
lesson. Keeping track of the time and place during which the event sampling occurred is essential.
We realize the abovementioned approaches require an added investment of time and plan-
ning. A slightly less involved method of adding structure to your observation is to adopt a cueing
system. Each time you plan to observe how students are managing EFs or use strategy, you can
retreat to the same “observation post,” hold a notepad, or assume an over-the-top “I’m watching”
gesture. Will you lean on the same bookcase, retreat to your desk, or just stand where you are?
Is your gesture one of hands on hips? Or hand to chin? Or is it a slow, meaningful putting on of
glasses? Routine times of the day, such as transitions or daily bell work, provide a good opportunity
to get started with observation cueing. The first few times you try it, you might nudge students
with a simple, “I’m watching. I want to see what you do,” or “I’m watching how you manage this.”
On your first attempt, you may hear a defiant “I don’t care!” or a groan or two. Over time, however,
if you force your attention toward the adaptive, clever, creative, and positive actions taking place,
and acknowledge them with little smiles, nods, eyebrow lifts, and chuckles, most students won’t
be able to resist the opportunity to shine. You may hear them comment, “Guys! She’s watching!” as
they jump to action. Over time, this bit of theater will set a familiar stage for students, and you can
expand your system into less routine times of the day, such as math problem solving, creative writ-
ing, or even times when you are out of the classroom, such as field trips. Of course, this approach
pairs beautifully with feedback, and we will cover this topic extensively in Chapter 6. In a pinch,
all the follow-­up you need is to say, “I always learn something interesting when I watch you work.”
You may realize that, in sometimes big and sometimes small ways, this comment tends to be true.
 Running Record
Student name(s):
Age:
Location:
Date and Time:
Observer:
Type of Development Observed:

Event Time Notes or Comments

Significant Points Next Steps

FIGURE 4.2. A blank running record.

From Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies by Laurie Faith, Carol‑Anne Bush, and
Peg Dawson. Copyright © 2022 The Guilford Press. Permission to photocopy this material is granted to purchasers of this book for
personal use or use with students (see copyright page for details). Purchasers can download additional copies of this material (see the
box at the end of the table of contents).

72
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 73

How to Observe Process, Strategy, and EFs:

Organic and Free Flowing
The big idea here is that there are easy ways to make casual observations more
effective. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Use a tracking tool such as a class list or seating chart to jot your daily observations.
• Notice who you tend to observe and who sometimes falls under your radar. Adjust and pay
more attention to the students in your blind spot.

Picture the most organic and free-­f lowing woman of all: Jane Goodall. Jane eschewed more
formal research methods in favor of long, slow observation, so she had to spend a lot of time
camped out in the dry, prickly grass of the Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Quietly watch-
ing, she collected clipboards full of notes about a family of chimpanzees. She watched “Fifi” and
“David Greybeard,” among others, for hours, days, months, and even years, trying to understand
their behavior. In your more free-­f lowing and organic moments, or perhaps when your students
are acting like primates, you might consider adopting her approach. By taking the time to study
and record what she saw, Jane began to appreciate qualities in her subjects that you, in your class-
room, might understand more fully in your students: unique personalities and emotions, as well as
adaptive approaches to solving problems.
Following the publication of one of her books, Jane was criticized for plagiarism. “I don’t think
anybody who knows me would accuse me of deliberate plagiarism,” she responded, and explained
that disorganized note taking was to blame (Taylor, 2014). In her enthusiasm, Jane had not made
careful-­enough records of who did what as she conducted research for her books. She was so
immersed in her learning that these details escaped her—­organic and free flowing indeed! This
type of problem may be the hallmark of a teacher who is deeply and organically involved with stu-
dents on a daily basis, so let’s consider a few ways to tame and organize the process of observational
note making. Figure 4.3 provides three ideas from least to most restrictive to organize your collec-
tion of anecdotal observations. This is not rocket science, but if you’re not a kindergarten teacher,
you may not be familiar with approaches like these.
The first image in Figure 4.3 is a class seating chart. This tool can be rendered in quick-
and-dirty black marker as often as your seating arrangement changes. We recommend you copy
yourself a big pile on convenient-­sized paper, making the image large enough to jot notes inside
each student “desk.” Obviously, this approach is challenging if you are using a flexible seating plan.
Regardless, if you like the idea of writing observations in boxes, there are many options. Some
teachers create a template like this, but cluster the squares into other useful categories, includ-
ing reading group, project group, or in groups that represent different levels of support required.
As notes are added throughout the day, this tool provides a good visual map of where a teacher’s
attention has been paid. Over several days, interesting patterns may emerge and you might, for
example, notice that you rarely attend to the students in the back row.
The second image in Figure 4.3 is a wonderfully adaptive and simple tool. When expanded,
it fits onto a regular notebook-­sized page. Notice that, on this version, the first five students are
shaded. This can support your ability to quickly scan and find a student on the page, especially
if you cluster students by group. If your class is larger than about 24 students, you might have to
break this chart across two pages or make smaller charts for observing subgroups of your class on
different days. Whatever you choose, this tool starts out empty each morning except for the student
74 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Oct 4

Class
Seating
Plan

Date: Oct 4 SR CS MI JM IR KI RR SL RI PI

Sketching math problem    

Hands behind back in line 
“Let’s try both” in
groupwork
 
Doing a 5-sec exhale  
Working at the quiet desk 
… 

Date: Oct 4
Sketching math Hands behind back “Lets’ try both” in
problem in line groupwork …

Josh  with partner 

Rosa  needs help with this

Amara  struggling 
Ebo   
Lemar 

FIGURE 4.3. Three different daily strategy trackers. The class seating plan would be expanded to full
page, so observations could be written inside seats. The “handwritten” contents of these forms are dif-
ferent every day, added as teachers observe unique strategy use and add it to their tracker. Dotted lines
indicate the form continues.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 75

initials across the top. As the day progresses and you notice a student using a strategy, you can jot
it in the list on the left and check off which student you observed using it. This will provide the
perfect opportunity to look around the room to see if other students are using that strategy. Or, if
possible, you can remark upon the strategy you have observed so that other students will consider
using it. For example, you might say, “Oh, Sam is sketching the math problem. I’m going to jot that
on my strategy list.” Following this comment, you may notice that Maya, Michael, and Reyhan
quickly attempt the strategy as well. As you check off these names on the list, you might remark,
“Four students are using the sketching strategy,” which will probably encourage a few more. The
beauty of this list is that it is open-ended. You can add as many strategies as you see fit throughout
the day.
The third image in Figure 4.3 may be more suitable for larger classes. Students’ names run
from top to bottom, so more of them can fit on a page. This limits the strategies you notice to only
four or five, however, as they must fit across the top of the page. This format allows for larger
checkboxes that can accommodate short written notes, or multiple checks to indicate the number
of times any one strategy was observed. Because this form allows you to focus on a few specific
strategies, it might be suitable after a BSP (Chapter 3) conversation has been conducted and spe-
cific strategies have been agreed on. Or it can be useful for observing one specific subject, such as
during a math class or when writing in a journal, at which time students may naturally tend toward
using a handful of key strategies.
The great thing about collecting anecdotal notes about humans is that we can also feed them
back as a source of information about how to optimize performance. The data collected on all three
of these forms would support a great closing reflection at the end of a session of work, allowing
a teacher to provide rich overall feedback. We might say, for example, “Would you like to know
the most popular strategy of the day?” or “I observed someone using a strategy I have never seen
before. Do you want to know what it is?” or “On the way out to recess, I will show you my notes
and you can see how strategic you were today.” Imagine if Dr. Goodall could have done this for
the chimps: “Fifi, you’re using the longer stick, and you seem to be getting twice as many ants out
of the anthill!” How might Fifi have responded, and what would David Greybeard think? Both
chimps would probably have grunted, looked around nonchalantly, and then taken off into the
trees in search of a longer stick. There really are so many parallels to our human context.

How to Observe Process, Strategy, and EFs:

Working with a “Stressed” Class
The big idea here is that you can really improve the way observation feels
to a stressed student. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the
following:

• “Prime” your students with a quick, positive comment to establish the fact that you’re ready
to observe and appreciate the very best in them.
• Share your EF literacy with your colleagues so your students are observed through a more
consistent lens.

Your presence, attention, and observation may be very difficult for a stressed student. For
myriad reasons, they may jump to the conclusion that you don’t like them, won’t make them feel
76 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

good about themselves, or aren’t interested in helping them. We may reflect, “I haven’t even
said a word and this student has already shut down” or “She took one look at me and decided I
was the enemy.” When the slightest look triggers negativity, it can be tempting to give up, avoid
engaging, or take it personally. In this section we will address the issue of not only observing
stressed students but also, more broadly, how to simply be with these students in a way that is
comfortable, respectful, and effective. In preparing this advice, we draw from our knowledge of
EF and self-­regulated learning, the wisdom of practicing teachers and principals, and also from
a few practices advocated by trauma-­sensitive educators.2 We’ll make two very specific recom-
mendations, both of which relate to your role as an EF-­literate teacher who sees and appreciates
process. Prepare yourself for a slightly lengthy explanation of each; observation is subtle, and the
practical shifts we are proposing are a little counterintuitive. These fairly simple ideas require
some background.
First, we suggest that when you head into the orbit of a stressed student, either to observe
or engage, you should begin by “priming the pump.” If you know how old-­fashioned hand pumps
work, feel free to skip the rest of this paragraph. For others, the following mini-­lesson will get you
up to speed. Basically, there is a handle on the outside of the pump, and inside there are pistons
and valves that pull water up through a line from the ground. The important thing about these
pumps is that in order to pull water up, the piston and valve chamber as well as the line to the
ground need to be filled with water. If it’s dry, the suction you create by pumping has nothing to
grab onto. You can work the handle as fast as you like, for as long as you like, and all you’ll get is a
sore arm. To fix this, you need to “prime” the pump by pouring water into the top until the system
is brimming and full.
Similarly, many of our students arrive primed and ready to connect and learn. They are topped
up with positive past experiences at school, solid learning skills, healthy home lives, and a sense of
confidence. When we approach these students with a smile, a connection can easily be made and
only a slight effort is needed to get their positive participation flowing. Other students, however,
arrive in our classrooms quite empty and hollow, and instead of being ready to connect and learn,
they may be preoccupied by fear and distrust. These are the students who need to be filled up
before we try to tap into their potential as learners.
How to best “prime” these students? You should assume that any message, expression, or
gesture that is not overtly positive may be received as a negative. Experts in trauma-­informed
practices suggest that stressed students require ongoing and deliberate support to feel connected,
protected, and respected (Hummer, Dollard, Robst, & Armstrong, 2010). As EF-­literate teachers,
therefore, we are just what the doctor ordered. Our challenge lies in quickly establishing the fact
that we are ready to observe and appreciate the best in them, that we understand and appreciate
the diverse ways each student manages, copes, and solves problems. Table 4.1 includes several
types of priming comments that may help your students understand how you’re “seeing” them.
Don’t delay: Deliver these messages as soon as your students venture round the schoolyard gate
or appear in your classroom doorway. Yes, they do seem a little heavy handed and obvious. They
might feel conspicuous and clunky the first time you try them, but as with many new approaches,
we suggest you commit to using them 10 times before deciding they don’t work. For children who

2 Our insight on trauma-­informed classrooms owes a lot to the work of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative at
http://traumasensitiveschools.org.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Observation 77

TABLE 4.1. What to Say to “Prime” Stressed Students for Learning

After saying “hello,” these kinds of statements meet student needs for . . .
Connection Protection/safety Respect Skill/competence
I’m so glad you’re here. I We have everything we We really needed your You’re going to like our
missed you yesterday. need today. perspective yesterday. topic today. I bet you’ll be
Glad you’re back. good at it.
I always feel happy when Here you are. My team!
I see you. My people! I was thinking about I was thinking of you
what you said yesterday. when I wrote today’s
It is really not the same We are all going to take
plans. I can’t wait to see
without you. care of each other today. I was trying to use your
what you do.
strategy this morning.
You’re so important to We’re all safe here.
We’re doing X today. Mr.
me. I’m glad you’re here. Thank goodness you’re
It’s going to be a Y said it’s totally your
here. Nobody else knows
You’re just in time! It was great day in our cozy thing.
your trick for . . .
feeling wrong without classroom.
We’re starting a new
you here. You figure things out in a
We’re all going to support topic. Not naming any
way I would never have
Ms. X was telling me how you today. names, but I suspect a
thought of.
much she liked what you few of you are going to
We don’t have to do this
did yesterday! I really like the way you really excel.
perfectly. I’m interested
think about things. I
I’m so glad you’re here. I in seeing how you explore I really like to watch you
really like watching you
need your help! and problem-solve. problem-solve.
work!

automatically assume the worst, these messages will help to replace negative thoughts, begin to fill
an achy void, and make it more likely for connection and learning to take place.
Our second piece of advice is to let go of the idea that you will be the turnaround teacher.
Often, the more educators discover about the stress and disparity among their learners, the more
single minded they are in their desire to help. Unfortunately, it often takes years of slow and steady
nurturing and the attention of a number of teachers before any impact is made on a stressed stu-
dent. We make this suggestion not only to set you on a realistic course and help you prevent burn-
out but also because it may cause you to take actions that will be more effective.
In a practical sense, this might mean that you proceed quite differently. For example, consider
the approach used by a community of EF-­literate teachers at King Albert School.3 Their EF work
started in a typical way: A handful of really keen teachers began teaching children about EFs, talk-
ing to them about barriers and strategies, and observing their performance through an EF lens.
They felt gratified by their work; the approach felt appropriate, fair, efficient, and most of their
students were responding in positive ways. At this point, they might have simply closed their doors
and basked in this feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. They noticed, however, that their
students sometimes needed support outside of the classroom. They recalled students’ emotional
outbursts in the hallway, inflexibility in the playground, and inattention while under the supervi-
sion of a gym teacher.
With the support of a wise principal, a small group of interested teachers designed a feasible

3 Dean Burk, Victoria Young, and Christine Alldred teach at King Albert School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with
permission.
78 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

strategy to build a basic level of EF literacy among all students and staff. They wanted, at the very
least, for their students to feel as though they were being observed and understood through a simi-
lar lens throughout their school day. Their first move was to host monthly assemblies at which the
principal himself read and discussed EF-­oriented storybooks and presented recognition awards to
children demonstrating growth in strategy use. They also created a schoolwide behavior manage-
ment approach. Using several centrally located rings of small, laminated cards with the names of
11 EFs and their definitions (like a key ring), any staff member supervising a common space like
the yard, the hallway, or the main office could support a student in crisis. Without requiring too
much expertise, the EF cards could simply be presented to a stressed-­out student. The child could
then point to the EF they were struggling with, effectively translating their experience for the
adults (and sometimes students) present. The teachers told us that using these EF cards helped to
pivot the situation toward a more tangible, practical focus.
In this way, these teachers built a community of understanding observers and supporters for
their students. Using a handful of staff meetings, a few hallway chats, and a shared commitment to
serving their stressed students, they found a way to extend their program across their whole school
staff. Their ideas may need some adjustment to suit your context, but their example reminds us of
what can be done when we put our heads together. There is always a way to support the learning
and growth of a team of colleagues.
Working with stressed students is a challenge, but we suspect you’re the type of teacher that
even the toughest students often grow to love. In fact, due to your dedication and hard work, your
students may start to panic at the end of the year when they think about leaving you. While this
sure is flattering, we’d like to suggest that you could aim even higher. The greatest gift you can
give your stressed students is not one remarkable year but the continuity of a number of years
nestled within a whole community that truly sees and respects them.
 CHAPTER 5

How EF Literacy
Can Improve Feedback

HOW WE TYPICALLY GIVE FEEDBACK

Teachers talk with students all day. By 4:30, or 6:30, or whenever staff meetings, homework club,
and play practice are over, we may be a little dehydrated and feel as if our lungs are tired. We may
savor a perfectly quiet trip home, dive straight into sweatpants, and truly appreciate a few peaceful
moments before the evening’s activities begin. And while the armchair teaching experts at home
think our days would be a breeze if we “just let the kids do silent reading!” the fact is that all of that
talking is absolutely necessary. Giving effective feedback is the big kahuna of high-yield classroom
practices. In a well-­respected meta-­analysis of more than 100 factors influencing achievement at
school, effective feedback earned a top five ranking, right alongside direct instruction and stu-
dents’ prior cognitive ability (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). It is for this reason that understanding
and refining feedback is such a central goal of this book. You will see that by becoming EF literate
(Chapters 1 and 2), learning to use the BSP (Chapter 3), and learning to observe process (Chapter
4), you have vastly expanded the quality of feedback you are able to give. This feedback will allow
students to learn about the obstacles they face and the most effective strategies to use, and to fur-
ther develop their EF.
In this chapter, we will discuss the powerful psychological forces at work within your day-to-
day feedback approaches. This will be a realistic and practical discussion that acknowledges your
need for external motivation and short-term control, and suggests fresh approaches for longer-­term,
intrinsic motivation. To be clear, this chapter’s discussion of feedback will handle the formative
verbal and written exchanges that occur during learning to help steer and improve performance,
leaving the summative assessment conducted at the end of a task for Chapter 6.
How do classroom teachers tend to give feedback? This is a tricky question to answer. We
are isolated from the daily practices of our colleagues by closed classroom doors, and we tend to
79
80 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

mis-­estimate our own habits. On top of that, researchers are rarely welcomed to study teachers’
enacted classroom approaches because their presence seems so evaluative. Turns out, few teach-
ers are excited to have a random person perched in the corner, writing down everything they do.
Anecdotally, we all know that feedback comes in many forms. Sometimes we conduct long follow-­
ups with individual students, and sometimes we roar though lineups with quick “Yup! Good! Keep
going! Check the second paragraph!” encouragements. Occasionally, we sharply correct, express
displeasure, or lavish students with praise. Or have you ever seen a teacher who can communicate
almost anything by varying the speed, pitch, and tone of the word “shhh”? Some teachers achieve
“written” feedback through several checks on a rubric, while others compose a paragraph of per-
sonal and thoughtful comments. These may represent different teachers and different classrooms,
but more likely they describe the various feedback practices that each of us conduct every day;
each has its place within a dynamic and effective approach.
Over the years, researchers have been able to determine a few general feedback types. One
very clear and straightforward contribution is Tunstall and Gipps’s (1996) “spectrum” of feedback
(see Table 5.1). While this is from an older study, we feel the typology remains the best of its kind.
After making detailed observations of primary-­aged classrooms, Tunstall and Gipps proposed four
distinct types of feedback teachers gave when talking to students about their work and learning.
See if these types sound familiar: Feedback that punishes or rewards they call Type 1, feedback
that communicates a teacher’s feelings in the form of judgment they called Type 2, feedback that
is corrective or notices and names a student’s process they called Type 3, and feedback involving
a back-and-forth discussion of specific aspects of process they called Type 4. As you can imagine,
we are most intrigued by Types 3 and 4, because these are the types in which organization, time
management, or other EF processes can be noticed and discussed. We are also grateful to have
clear, straightforward categories for feedback that is punishing/rewarding or judging (Types 1 and
2) because these types are used often and have a variety of specific advantages and disadvantages.
As Tunstall and Gipps sorted through their observations, they realized that their four types
could be further grouped into that which was evaluative or descriptive. This was probably an
exciting moment, because much is known about the markedly different impacts of evaluative and
descriptive feedback; look in the final column of Table 5.1 for a breakdown of the differences. Basi-
cally, research tells us that after our evaluative comments, students may do exactly what we want
them to do but may also wind up feeling guarded, nervous, or eager to avoid mistakes in the future.
While this may sound okay, they may also begin to suspect we are simply watching for winners and
losers, and they may respond by hiding errors, faking expertise, and avoiding things that are hard.
Even if we have made a positive judgment about their performance, they may respond by fearfully
guarding and protecting this status, afraid to take any risk that might endanger it. This is the basis
of extrinsic motivation, which is powerful and necessary but seriously limited.
Meanwhile, our descriptive messages may cause students to feel competent, independent,
and clear about what is expected. In response, they may be keen to engage in more of the think-
ing, strategy, and process that we noticed, named, and wanted to discuss. Descriptive feedback
may begin to convince them that their struggling, striving, strategies, and yes, mistakes too, are
not only acceptable but also fascinating and important parts of their learning. This is the basis of
intrinsic motivation, which is truly fulfilling and causes students to persist longer and conquer
more challenges than those who are only extrinsically motivated (Pintrich & Garcia, 1991). The
important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as throwaway feedback. For better or
for worse, the words we say to children have slow and steady effects that build up over time.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 81

TABLE 5.1. A Typology of Feedback According to Tunstall and Gipps

Description Examples Impact
Evaluative
Type A: Simple rewards and Stickers, treats, or special Shapes performance
Rewarding punishments. privileges and recognition. quickly. Students focus
and punishing Or exclusion, removal of on doing better than
privileges, destruction of work, others or appearing
or ignoring. to succeed with little
effort. Students have
Type B: Expressions of general approval Body language, voice
greater failure avoidance
Judging or disapproval. modulations, or comparisons or
and feel embarrassed
comments that express negative/
when things aren’t easy
positive feelings or disapproval/
for them.
approval.

Descriptive
Type C: Factual observations from Noticing and naming process Shapes performance
Noticing teacher to student about the steps. Providing models of slowly. Students focus
and naming, small steps evident in students’ success or giving specific on learning, mastering,
correcting work, or the small steps practice. Naming errors in work and demonstrating
necessary to improve specific or restating criteria. Information a willingness to try.
work. flows from teacher to student. Students have greater
failure tolerance and are
Type D: Reflective and strategic Discussing processes, strategies,
more willing to expend
Discussing conversations among teacher challenges, or ways to improve.
effort, use strategy, and
and learners about what has to Often conducted in group
work through a process.
be and will be done on work. settings with teacher taking role
Often facilitated with groups of of facilitator.
students.

Note. This table summarizes the literature review and original research presented by Tunstall and Gipps (1996) in their article
“Teacher Feedback to Young Children in Formative Assessment: A Typology.” The bolded categories “rewarding and punishing,”
“judging,” etc., were added to provide a more straightforward reference point for teachers. Used with permission.

To be clear, nobody gives only evaluative or only descriptive feedback. In fact, we often mix
several types together in one utterance, the flavors blending like a fine wine. So, when you say,
“Great job, Group 2. So smart! You made a chart in the margin. Look at your punctuation in the
second paragraph,” why not imagine a sophisticated feedback “sommelier” standing in your class-
room, interpreting the individual components:

“Now this feedback has a typical balance of evaluative [Great job. So smart!] and descriptive
[You made a chart in the margin. Look at your punctuation in the second paragraph]. Notice
it opens with a rather heavy, toasty note of judgment [So smart!] but finishes with a bright,
crisp dash of notice and name [You made a chart in the margin] and corrective [Look at your
punctuation in the second paragraph].”

Or imagine you said, “Naz, let’s sit down and talk about your next steps. I have no idea what you’ve
been doing, but that can go straight in the bin.” The sommelier might swirl, sip, and comment:
82 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

“Now this feedback is very fruit forward. It opens with a structured, citrusy note of descriptive
discussion [Let’s sit down and talk about your next steps], which is then almost overwhelmed
by a rather gritty and acidic pop of evaluative punishing [Your work can go in the bin].”

Think of the ways your own feedback includes a blend of different effects. Some of our comments
will quickly shape students’ performance and bring them in line with our rules and expectations,
while others will stimulate deep feelings of satisfaction and engagement. While this is normal, it’s
important to remember that the benefits from our descriptive comments can be overpowered if
combined with too many of the evaluative ones (Bennett & Kell, 1989). Thus, while our feedback
habits are often well aged and stable—­comfortable habits that work to keep our classrooms run-
ning smoothly—­it’s worth questioning whether they achieve quite the most effective balance of
immediate satisfaction and aftertaste.

DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK,
GROWTH MINDSET, AND THE PROBLEM WITH “EFFORT”

If Table 5.1 seems familiar, it’s because it relates to a field of motivation research also referred to by
Carol Dweck in her book Mindset (2006). In it, she considered all of the studies on descriptive and
evaluative feedback, both hers and others, and coined a couple of useful buzzwords to capture the
frame of mind resulting from each: a “growth mindset” and a “fixed mindset.” Most teachers dis-
covered Dweck and the idea of growth mindset though her TED Talks, but if you haven’t already,
we highly recommend actually reading her book. Dweck earned her PhD in 1972 and has contin-
ued to think about motivation ever since. She has a knack for explaining things simply and brings
a giant range of life experience and insight to the topic; her examples will take you deeper into the
theory than you thought possible. In fact, you may find yourself reading a page, destroying it with
dog-ears and margin scribbling, and then requiring several moments of wide-eyed contemplation.
It’s a tasty, inspiring, game-­changing book.
Something very interesting occurred, however, as teachers began to read and interpret
Dweck’s message. She initially referred a lot to “effort,” talking about how commenting on this
could support a growth mindset. So, she told teachers, don’t dwell on students’ fixed qualities like
intelligence; highlight their effort instead. Before long, however, she realized this had become a
problem and began to correct the pesky phenomenon of “false growth mindset.” Turns out many
people wound up trying to support a growth mindset in children by simply encouraging them
to try harder; Dweck’s “effort” was assumed to mean something more like intensity. But have
you ever struggled to do something really challenging, such as, say, learning to drive a standard
transmission car or taking care of a newborn baby, and had someone suggest you ought to just try
harder? In both cases, like many of our students, you were probably white knuckled with effort and
intensity already. What you might actually have appreciated was some clear, specific feedback on
effective strategies: “You wrapped the baby snugly and she seemed to calm down,” or “The engine
is revving high—now is the time to shift to second gear.” Turns out, being a “Yet! Yet! Yet!” cheer-
leader isn’t very effective when the only prescription is more effort. Instead, Dweck clarified that
our feedback should focus on specific elements of process so students can connect their strategies
to their outcomes. This is welcome news to EF-­literate teachers, who are already so tuned in to and
ready to comment on the components of process. Carol Dweck, you had us at hello.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 83

To simplify this idea of focusing more on strategy than effort, think of a child trying to push a
very heavy rock. While one growth mindset teacher might stand beside the child chanting encour-
agements, with reminders to exert more effort, another might encourage the child to stop for a
moment. This second teacher might say, “Let’s consider what might be standing in your way,” and
guide the child in a little “walk” around the problem. On this walk around the rock, the student
and teacher together might notice that several smaller stones were resting in the way of the larger
one. In the same way, a classroom teacher might engage a student in a discussion about helpful
strategies for writing an essay or completing math problems and find that a little trick (such as
drawing a picture, making a list, or clarifying instructions) was all that was necessary to accom-
plish the primary task. Thus, the way to move the larger stone was not with more sweaty intensity,
or “effort,” but with a strategic approach whereby obstacles were identified and removed. Perhaps
you’ll be dazzled by Laurie’s Sharpie rendering of this difference in Figure 5.1.
Day by day, interaction by interaction, our feedback nudges students toward these different
mindsets. Our specific comments and conversations about aspects of strategy may leave our stu-
dents feeling growth oriented, seeking out larger and larger rocks to push, confident that they can
manage almost any challenge as long as they identify and remove obstacles. Meanwhile, evaluative
comments may support fixed mindsets, causing students to focus more on how we will rank their
ability and judge their finished products. They may find a way to avoid pushing the first rock, and
then head off in search of smaller and less daunting challenges at which they are sure to succeed.
For these students, classroom opportunities to get better, learn, or improve may only be embar-
rassing reminders of their inadequacy. This may affect them in one class or subject more than oth-
ers and can be either triggered or soothed by daily experiences.
Just one of the treats in Mindset is Dweck’s (2006) comparison of a more “growth”-oriented
mindset to the “exuberant” learning of babies:

Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just ordinary skills, but the most difficult tasks of a lifetime,
like learning to walk and talk. They never decide it’s too hard or not worth the effort. Babies don’t
worry about making mistakes or humiliating themselves. They walk, they fall, they get up. They
just barge forward. (p. 16)

Can you imagine a baby with a fixed mindset? Picture a 9-month-old utterly embarrassed by his
inability to put a spoonful of mashed bananas in his mouth. He might refuse spoons permanently
and commit instead to a lifelong diet of Cheerio handfuls, satisfied that anyone observing his eat-

FIGURE 5.1. A sketch illustrating the change from focusing on effort to focusing on strategy.
84 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

ing would always find him perfectly skilled. How much more successful would our students be if
they greeted challenge with an infant’s can-do exuberance, totally at peace with their messy pro-
cess steps, knowing their efforts were completely typical, important, and valued by others?
You may be realizing that a decent-­sized portion of your daily feedback tends to be evalua-
tive. You may also notice that it works pretty well, in terms of disciplining and controlling student
performance. What’s more, your class may seem a little addicted to it. They may be dying to know
not where their errors are, what you appreciate about their process, or what their next step is but
whether you think their work is good, deserving of an A grade, and furthermore, whether you
think it is better than that of their classmates in some way. Good grief, even their parents ask us,
“So just where does Amy place in comparison to the rest of the class?” Your students may have
developed a taste for the rewards of evaluative feedback and gotten comfy in their fixed mindset.
They may be a “handful of Cheerios” kind of group, and while this is something you’ll want to bal-
ance out, it’s not all that unusual or shocking. Our advice is to let it go . . . for now. Give yourself
a break—make a cup of tea (yes, another one) and take the night off. A better plan is to begin the
day tomorrow well rested, feeling accomplished for having done some professional reading, and
focus simply on using your EF literacy and sharp professional vision to introduce just a little more
descriptive feedback.

A REALISTIC LOOK AT EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

When researchers and experts suggest that you reduce your punitive/rewarding and judgmental
(Types 1 and 2) feedback and replace it with descriptive (Types 3 and 4) feedback, you may think,
“Okay, sure. Whatever.” This is a realistic teaching book, and we realize you’ve probably been given
this advice before. Whether or not you are vocal about it, admit it to yourself, or are even aware of
it, this advice likely hit your radar with a bit of a dull thump and fell to the floor, where you stepped
politely over it. The fact is, you may be a great teacher with years of fabulous results under your
belt who uses Types 1 and 2 feedback regularly. You may roll your eyes and tell us that in fact these
approaches often seem to work like a charm. For example, you may spend a lot of money on stick-
ers and rewards that your students delight in. When choosing among them, your students may hop
from one foot to the other, barely able to contain their excitement. Then perhaps they run back to
their desks to complete another “perfect page” of spelling, math, or handwriting. “They love them.
I love them. So, what’s the harm?” And who can deny that there’s a very special little moment of
connection shared when a reward or a piece of positive judgment is delivered. “Oh, Kai, look at
how nicely you’ve done your work. Why don’t you hand out the snacks and go to recess early?”
“Honestly, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” you might think. “There are too many other things to worry
about.” Even negatively judgmental and punitive feedback seem to serve a purpose—­we use it to
create order in our classrooms, calm the students, and get things done. “Listen, if I don’t command
the power in my room, one of my students will be only too happy to take control—­and that doesn’t
feel safe for anyone.” Types 1 and 2 feedback are not some mythical naughty teaching behavior that
nobody ever uses. They are approaches that actually solve classroom problems. We use them, you
use them, everyone uses them because we care deeply about our work, want our classrooms to run
smoothly, and want to help students feel calm, safe, and successful. Of course, when we remove the
treats, praise, and grades, the motivation stops (DeLong & Winter, 2002), but overall, for a teacher
in a busy classroom, it’s a pretty good deal.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 85

In fact, hoping students will act based on intrinsic motivation alone might be a disaster!
Trained to use only intrinsic motivation, our students might complain about revision by saying,
“But miss, I don’t enjoy doing that . . . ” or “I didn’t study for my exam because the French Revolu-
tion is not interesting to me.” In fact, many experts now believe our feedback should be a combina-
tion of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Cerasoli, Nicklin, & Ford, 2014). They say that while
intrinsic motivation predicts quality of performance, extrinsic motivation predicts the quantity.
In many ways, our efforts to leverage extrinsic motivation gets our students through the door and
keeps them in the room so we can do the deeper and more powerful work of promoting intrinsic
motivation.

THE BSP1 AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Have you ever scrolled past an online video of an animal doing something that looked playful or
curious? Think of cows romping around in a field, a deer rolling and splashing in a mudpuddle, or
a crow sliding down a snowy rooftop. If this doesn’t sound familiar, Google it! These phenomena
exist. In all cases, you may wonder if there is an external reason for the behavior. You might sus-
pect that the cow has an itch, or that the deer is trying to unearth a food source, or that the crow
is trained and will earn a small reward. In fact, just as extrinsic motivation exists in both animals
and humans, so does intrinsic motivation, and it is a wondrous thing. Intrinsic motivation feels
good. It is the state of being personally invested and interested in learning and doesn’t rely on
rewards. In general, people (and animals) who are intrinsically motivated choose to do challenging
tasks and can remain focused. They take pride in their work and enjoy doing it. It is associated
with high academic outcomes, independence, and the ability to understand, monitor, and direct
one’s own learning (see, for example, Patall, 2013). As you can imagine, an intrinsically motivated
citizen, be it a student, employee, spouse, or parent, is a highly productive and valuable asset to
society. Intrinsically motivated animals, on the other hand, can be cute or annoying, depending on
whether their project involves romping around in a far-off field or digging up your lawn.
Regardless, intrinsic motivation is an old idea that you’ve likely heard about a million times.
To many teachers, however, it is a rare, random occurrence. We may see it in a child who joins
our classroom after a few years of homeschooling, or during the handful of times that our projects
perfectly suit our students’ interests, but as a mental state it often seems impossible to cause. Will
it somehow grow naturally, like a fungus, in the vacuum left by stickers and other incentives? Like
growth mindset, there is a disconnect between how much we like the idea of intrinsic motivation
and how much we actually know about fostering it. Also, like growth mindset, we may find our-
selves trying to prompt intrinsic motivation in our students by simply suggesting or recommending
it. “Have a growth mindset! Have intrinsic motivation!”
In fact, lo and behold, much is known about the conditions in which intrinsic motivation
develops. There are four key factors, and we love to describe them because almost all of them can
be directly stimulated using our nifty little back-and-forth, group feedback practice called the
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP). According to Deci and Ryan (2000), they are as follows:

1 This chapter includes reference to the Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP), which was introduced in Chapter 3. It is
a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teachers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers
to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be more successful?”
86 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

• Autonomy: The ability to make choices based on one’s own free will.
• Relatedness or belonging: A sense of connection, caring, and interaction with others.
• Competence: A sense of mastery and control.
• Meaning: A sense that learning has purpose and is meaningful.

We are not the only team trying to find clever ways to incorporate these factors. A program called
Responsive Classroom, for example, weaves these factors across a whole bunch of different instruc-
tional approaches and activities; they have good results (Rimm-­Kaufman, Fan, Chiu, & You, 2007).
In contrast, our BSP is just one practice. It is a very carefully designed and compact approach that
can be learned in 5 minutes and used to improve your instructional conversations. It can be pocket
sized and quick, or unfurled to occupy a whole period of discussion, but you will see that in all
its forms it encompasses the factors for intrinsic motivation. Table 5.2 breaks down exactly how it
achieves each of the key conditions for motivation.
Thus, the BSP quickly sets the stage for an intrinsically motivating feedback encounter of
the descriptive, growth-­oriented type (#4) characterized by Tunstall and Gipps (1996). Instead of
moving from student to student conducting speedy semiprivate interactions, we tap into the social

TABLE 5.2. How the BSP Addresses the Four Key Conditions for Intrinsic Motivation
Construct Instructional goal How the BSP addresses it
Relatedness/ Help individuals feel as though they When a challenge is set, students are gathered
belonging matter and are valued in a supportive in a group to discuss it. The experience of
learning community. Emphasize problem solving, students’ barriers, and their
common goals and shared ideas. strategies are derivatized and shared. Students
get to know each other as problem solvers,
sometimes acting as experts for one another,
sometimes receiving support. Through this
process, teachers and students learn information
that may have previously been kept hidden
about themselves and each other as learners.

Competence Help students see challenge as a way Within a short, structured, routine conversation,
to improve ability and skill. Create a T-chart is made in which students list their
a structured way for students to barriers and work together to devise matching
attempt challenges, use strategies, and strategies. This coupling of barriers and
try again when they fail. Reinforce strategies reinforces a strategic habit.
strategy use and reflection though
process-based feedback.

Autonomy Share decision-making power and The opportunity to develop strategies positions
support students’ choice in how they students as experts. Teachers then encourage
practice and demonstrate their ideas students to choose and use an appropriate
and skills. strategy and watch attentively as they attempt it.

Meaning Help students connect instructional Whether students are EF literate or not, having
concepts to their personal interests, a structured, shared opportunity to explore and
values, goals, and dreams. understand one’s own personal barriers and
strategies is inherently meaningful.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 87

power of belonging by working with the whole classroom community at once. We make time for a
more student-­driven discussion of barriers and strategies and provide the opportunity for students
to choose and use the strategies they like. As we saw in Chapter 3, the BSP is handy because you
don’t need to overhaul your whole classroom to start using it. Rather, it is one straightforward
practice that you can establish in any context. After a few uses, you may notice it spreading seeds
of intrinsic motivation throughout your classroom. You’ll be better informed about processes and
strategies taking place among your students so you’ll be more able to notice and name them. From
one small tweak, a mighty change will begin to occur.
Mighty though it may be, don’t expect intrinsic motivation to grow overnight. The funny thing
is, it does grow like a fungus—­slowly, steadily, and quietly. We’re not talking about the mess that
springs up between your patio stones. Instead, imagine the famed white truffle, valued at upward
of US $3,000 per kilogram, or even better, the rare yartsa gunbu, which grow on dead Himalayan
ghost moth caterpillars and are valued at a whopping $50K each. Like yartsa gunbu, intrinsic
motivation is worth the time and effort. It’s potent and powerful, even millennials think it is cool,
and the demand for it has skyrocketed in the past decade.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Early Days
The big idea here is that getting to know students should be all about discover-
ing (and feeding back) the processes and strategies they use to operate. In this
section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Create a culture of strategy talk in your classroom.

• Share the EF-based feedback you give to your students with their parents using a homework
book, notes on an assignment, or one of many online platforms.
• Create classroom systems and routines for delivering process-­oriented feedback.

While sitting in the dirt, chipping away at wheels and trying to spark up fires, perhaps the
ancient cave teachers gave their students rudimentary feedback: “Ugh. Hey, kid. I see you. You’re
doing neat stuff.” Nowadays, searching Google for “ways to give feedback” yields 223 million hits.
In hundreds of different spoken dialects, you can find examples of verbal feedback delivered in
whispers, shouts, acronyms, rhymes, raps, songs, community circles, huddles, or using the magic
of traditional Indian Kathputli puppets. Some teachers dabble in sign language, while others make
up gestures or use specific facial expressions. These messages may be delivered hourly, daily, or
during special meetings that sometimes include peers, parents, or principals. Written feedback,
meanwhile, is given on paper, adhesive notes, charts, diagrams, journals, or cards, using com-
ments, callouts, stamps, stickers, or a variety of symbols. Sometimes we digitally record feedback
using fancy apps. One teacher we know uses a whiteboard marker to scribble feedback right on
students’ desks, while another uses washables to jot friendly comments up and down their arms!
There is no shortage of feedback approaches in our modern times, but the basic message has
remained the same: You are cool, kid. I see you doing important stuff.
What has come a long way is our ability to notice, understand, and accurately name the kinds
of processes our students are using to pursue their goals—even during the earliest of days and in
the most basic of interactions. Imagine, for example, it is the first day of school and you’re walking
88 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

by a crowd of third graders in the hall. Before you even enter the classroom, you can begin to guide
and shape your students’ performance with feedback. If you say, “Boys and girls! You’re so noisy!”
they will probably be noisy again tomorrow. If you say, “You really stick together!” you might see
more of that sticking together at recess. If you say, “Everyone in grade 3 seems to be friends with
each other!” you might find that the group continues to grow. Most teachers know how this works.
For better or worse, when you notice and mention something, especially to a group, they can’t
seem to resist leaning in and doing more of it.
Research tells us that students actually spend a lot of time ruminating about unclear or vague
feedback, and this distracts them from their work. Researchers suspect that the provision of more
“elaborative” feedback that connects success or failure to specific process steps or strategies would
ease this rumination so students could quickly process it, understand it, and get back down to
business (Baadte & Kurenbach, 2017). As EF-­literate teachers, we can use the language of EF
to achieve this specificity. Indeed, as soon as you meet your students you can start noticing and
naming the little strategies they use. We have learned much from Paula Barrow, a primary teacher
we know who gives great EF-­oriented feedback.2 Walking around a full table of children jostling
to share a bin of markers and finish a worksheet, she might say, “I notice that four students have
used their task initiation to get started right away.” In Table 5.3 we imagine a few other pieces of
feedback that Paula might deliver to a group of students using her EF lens and compare it to what
a teacher might say otherwise. Notice that, without an EF lens, typical responses often include
reduced expectations, solutions for problems, or expressions of judgment.
The process-­based feedback we have imagined for Paula’s class names a whole range of stellar
performance. We know, however, that in real life students aren’t always quite so picture perfect.
In this very class there might have been a bit of pushing between two of the more squished kids,
a few students might have been making careless errors, and one student might have been stall-
ing and wasting time. The struggle is real—in fact, another teacher might have walked in, picked
up on it, and wondered aloud whether the kids were off to a rough start. Meanwhile—­and this is
the fun part—Ms. Barrow could have barged ahead with her process-­based feedback, observing
positive and effective strategies regardless of how prevalent they actually were. Even better, in a
pinch, she could have used her imagination and “observed” Jonny or Janet X, the invisible student
who was doing the right things, filling her students’ ears with feedback about target behaviors that
weren’t quite happening yet. Saying, “I see someone who is making a great choice” or “Someone
just took a moment to get organized” or “I see someone who is paying close attention” can have a
surprisingly effective impact on a group of students who need clear guidance and motivation to
make good choices, get organized, and pay attention. Regardless, by searching for even the tiniest
little whiff of effective process and commenting on it, we cultivate good ideas among our students.
In response to the EF-based feedback we imagined in Table 5.3, the students sitting in Paula’s
classroom might have straightened up, paid closer attention to their pages and the clock, and made
extra space for the elbows of their seatmates.
This careful process of cultivating performance is much like conducting a science experiment.
If you ever took any upper-level biology, you might remember using a petri dish full of agar jelly to
grow cultures of bacteria. Agar is a nutrient-­rich material, and about a week after you run a dirty
swab across it, a whole bunch of different bacteria will start to bloom. You’ll see a variety of desir-

2 Paula Barrow teaches at Fenelon Township Public School in Cameron, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 89

TABLE 5.3. Two Different Feedback Types

Challenge EF-based feedback Other feedback
Students jostling for space I just saw someone use response Boys, please move to the table by the
at a table with limited inhibition! Their elbow was bumped. window. Boys. Boys? Come on. That
space. They just said, “No problem,” and seat really isn’t working today. Maybe
moved over a bit. you can try it again tomorrow.

Students trying to write I see someone rereading her story to Okay. Let’s see what you’ve got. Okay,
stories and getting stuck. plan what comes next. She’s planning so what would the bird do? Would he
and prioritizing! fly away? I think so.

Students managing I see a student who has organized her Before you do anything else, Jack,
materials for a project. papers in three piles. I don’t think please get those papers organized.
she’ll lose any of them.

Students stalling and not Someone just looked at the clock. I Okay, guys. Just a reminder! You only
getting things done on time. think he is managing the time he has have 10 minutes left to finish your
left before recess. stories!

Students making careless I see someone reading his story to I see a mistake in the second line,
errors. make sure he didn’t mix up what he and are you sure you want to put that
was thinking. That’s a big help to his question mark there?
working memory!

Students distracted by Devon and Jason noticed the front Remember, if you can’t get that done
others while working. table was getting too full, so they in class, you’ll have to take it for
decided to move. That’s metacognition! homework.

Students arriving or I see someone taking a minute to If you can’t behave properly, you won’t
becoming upset. relax, take a deep breath, and practice be able to join us at the assembly later.
emotional control.

Students failing to I see someone who is using sustained Read this out loud. Did you do that?
proofread properly. attention to check work carefully. She Does it make sense to you?
points to each word with her pencil.

Students getting frustrated Peyton couldn’t find her book, so she’s Peyton, honey, if your book isn’t in
or stopped by lost materials just using loose paper. She doesn’t your backpack and you’ve searched the
or changes to routine. mind doing something different today. classroom, I can’t help you. Find some
That is so flexible! scrap paper.

Students losing momentum This group is working together to make Let’s go, guys. I don’t know why I’m
and failing to finish their this work more fun. They are using seeing so many people fooling around
work. goal-directed persistence to get it all because only two of you are finished.
done today.

Note. “EF based” refers to the kind of feedback that may be possible in a classroom with an EF-literate teacher and students. “Other”
refers to classrooms without this emphasis.
90 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

able and undesirable specimens in different colors and patterns—­very much like the many differ-
ent behaviors you see in your classroom. In the science lab, a researcher will look at this mixed-up
culture under a microscope, choose one target specimen, carefully pick up a tiny smudge of only
the target specimen with a cotton swab, and carefully swipe the separated single sample onto a
fresh dish. In about a week: voila! With any luck, the little smear will have replicated, and the
researcher will have a dish full of that one special specimen. Do you see the similarity? We watch
our students carefully, notice a few really productive, effective processes, and emphasize those
things with highly specific feedback. We need to watch closely and be quite precise about what we
notice—­a good background in EFs helps with this. We also need to have an open enough mind to
recognize the really unusual (but valuable) specimens in the diverse cultures we begin with.
Of course, there are other ways to give good notice and name feedback. Paula, for example,
has evolved to using EF “cards” on which the names of different EFs are featured (see Figure
5.2). When students are caught using an effective process or strategy to support EFs, they receive
a little laminated card to acknowledge their achievement. Below, Paula reflects on her choice to
use a token. You will see how cautiously she applies externally rewarding elements like tokens
and competition, blending them artfully with intrinsically motivating elements like her attention,
recognition of process, and a sense of community.

“Noticing and naming is powerful, but sometimes my kiddos need something tangible. I like
to go stealth and set a card quietly in front of a child so as not to disturb, but to let them know

FIGURE 5.2. Earning a “ticket” for metacognition in early primary. This photo features the formidable
Eli Watson from Paula Barrow’s SK/1 class at Fenelon Township Public School in Cameron, Ontario,
Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 91

that I am noticing. I watch them sit up a little straighter and a silent smile spread across their
face. Then I sit back and watch even more effort going into their work. Budget wise, I do not
let the kids keep these tickets. They get a friend to take their picture holding the ticket or a
video snippet, which is uploaded to the parent communication tool called Seesaw. Parents and
children get feedback, and parents learn about EFs with their child. It gives parents the same
language to use at home and hopefully inspires them to notice and name EFs in another set-
ting. I am considering black-and-white paper copies to keep. . . . I think I will ask my students
today! I thought about placing them on my bulletin board for showing off with student names,
but I can’t bring myself to make it a competition at this young age.”

As we reflect on Paula’s choice, we admire the design of this temporary, quiet, visible token.
Because it is a silent acknowledgment, this feedback can be given while students are deep in a
train of thought without interruption. Silent though it may be, this feedback is highly visible, not
only to students, but also to their parents and whomever else peeks into their Seesaw account.
Most importantly, these tokens won’t be accumulated, counted, and compared among students.
The brief feeling of excitement and pride won’t be followed by an ominous worry that “oh no, other
students are getting these too, and maybe they’ll have more than me!” Similarly, these tokens won’t
be piled up, crumpled, lost, and start to lose their value in the back corner of a desk. The choice
not to give takeaway tokens or post tokens to a bulletin board is probably a good one—­though we
love that she’s asking her students what they think, and we wonder what they’ll say. Regardless, we
truly appreciate this powerful, yet highly sensitive and child-­friendly approach.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Time Strapped
The big idea here is that there are many everyday routines that can be modified
slightly to deliver powerful feedback. In this section, you’ll learn more about how
to do the following:

• Get students involved in giving “shout out” EF feedback to one another.

• Use exit slips for self-­reflection on EF strategy use.
• Do a quick BSP with strategies that will provide a basic script for what to say as you provide
high-­quality feedback.

Perhaps you cycle through 120 different students every week as an instructor of art, French,
or Spanish. Maybe you’re a homeroom teacher who runs three different reading groups plus an
enriched project, all while providing accommodations for students with special needs. Or, who
knows, maybe your principal has you teaching something completely unfamiliar and you’re feel-
ing stretched. All of these examples, and many more besides, would place you squarely into the
category of a time-­strapped teacher. Regardless of what you’re doing that makes you strapped for
time, we recognize that whatever EF-based feedback approach we try to sell you needs to be quick
and seamless. Below are a couple of suggestions that might work.
First, we know several middle school teachers who maintain “shout-out” routines, through
which students themselves are encouraged to notice and name each other’s performance. They set
92 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

up a bulletin board with several EF categories, often simply printing out a set of EF posters and
using sticky notes to add student observations about effective process.3 This is efficient because a
single setup can last all year; you simply create a bulletin board to collect strategies and run with
it for as long as you like. And while using EF categories adds coherence, you certainly don’t have
to set your display up this way. In Sallie Byer’s classroom, shout-outs are added on a random col-
lection of sticky notes and colored paper, written casually and quickly.4 The strategies noted on
Sallie’s board regarding goal-­directed persistence include the following:

• “Sit away from other people to do independent work.”

• “Email teacher for extended time when life has surprise problems.”
• “Take the lead with growth mindset (possibly by encouraging classmates?).”
• “Make time after school or at lunch to work on projects.”
• “Ask lots of questions so I know exactly what has to be done.”
• “Edit and revise repeatedly to make sure there are no mistakes.”
• “Ask for extra work to improve in a class.”

To solicit these ideas, Sallie might have stopped the class midway to see if anyone had noticed an
effective strategy: “Any shout-outs on how to do this?” In response, students might have said things
like “Jo is using an app to make notes”; “Reema is putting her research in colored folders”; or “We’re
reading these questions to each other and it’s helping.” This conversation could also take place dur-
ing a transition, while students were gathering their books and materials or tidying up equipment.
“You have 5 minutes to tidy up and get going to your next class. I’m writing down shout-outs. Call
them out. What were our innovative approaches today?”
As the bank of “shout-out” ideas grows, it can be used in different ways. Considering the
breadth of strategies collected in Sallie’s classroom, she might consider responding to off-task stu-
dents by having them tell her one strategy they plan to use to get their work done. If they aren’t
sure, she could ask them to refer to the chart and choose a certain EF to focus on. Or she could
ask the whole class to jot down the strategies they plan to use at the top of whatever assignment
they’re working on. If Sallie wanted to spend a few extra moments creating small “exit slips,” she
could have students attach one to their daily work before leaving, declaring the strategy they used,
rating how successful it was, and writing down what might have worked better. Figure 5.3 pro-
vides a simple model of how this could look. Again, this is a premade tool that could be created in
September, copied hundreds of times, and kept piled up and ready for use all year long.
No matter how busy you are, you should consider hosting a modified version of the BSP. This
will give you the raw material you need to provide high-­quality, EF-­oriented feedback. Consider
these two options: a rolling BSP or a lightening round BSP. To do a rolling BSP, teachers designate
certain pages in a flip-chart pad for certain subjects, EFs, or even classroom routines. On the
math page, for example, all kinds of different barriers and strategies can be added throughout the
year for quick reference. Then, on a particularly busy day, the chart can simply be opened up for
students and teachers to refer to. As students make use of the noted strategy ideas, their teachers
can use the chart like a script to provide high-­quality, EF-based feedback.

3 Oh,yes. We know those sticky notes will lose their stick and flutter maddeningly to the ground. For a lasting effect,
and your own sanity, we suggest you reinforce them with a little piece of tape.
4 Sallie Byer teaches at Central Senior School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 93

The strategy I used today . . .

It worked . . . (circle one) very well | well | poorly | very poorly

So, my next strategy will be . . .

FIGURE 5.3. Exit slip for quick feedback/formative assessment of process.

The other option is to do a lightening round BSP. This can take place in a snappy 3-minute
back-and-forth. In a hurried tone, you can say, “Okay. 3 + 3 BSP! Before you start, tell me three
barriers and three strategies. Go!” If you do this regularly enough, your students will become flu-
ent and efficient and may only take a few minutes to articulate the obvious stumbling blocks and
appropriate strategies. By quickly generating a few agreed-­upon strategies, you will be able to
vocalize very specific and useful group feedback throughout the work period.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Highly Structured
The big idea here is that you can revamp traditional feedback systems to deliver
EF-­focused feedback. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the fol-
lowing:

• Create a rubric that incorporates the EF strategy targets.

• Use EF rubrics during longer projects.
• Use a scoring system on an EF or strategy rubric.

Let’s imagine a typical day; some of your students are off track, and some are tackling EF
challenges using innovative strategies. One is diagramming a math problem, another is using a
supportive technology, while another needs your help to organize folders of notes and materials
on the computer. It would be nice to have a record of these processes because, first, it will be
report card gold (see Chapter 6). Second, collecting data and information on your students’ abil-
ity to manage their EFs will also provide immediate benefits. Right away, you can feed it back to
them for motivation and direction. There are many convenient ways to collect this information—­
we’ll present one for daily use, one for yearly use, and one for special projects. Hopefully, you can
modify, change, and spin these off into as many other variations as you need.
First, however, you need to do some planning. Most teachers we know who provide structured
feedback on EF strategy use base their observation and comments on strategies that have already
been discussed among the class within a BSP (see Chapter 3). Following a conversation like this,
your students will have a good idea of the kinds of strategies that might work, and you will be much
more likely to witness the kinds of clever approaches you’re hoping to record.
A daily writing task, such as journaling or creative writing, is a perfect opportunity to give
structured EF-based feedback. Consider Figure 5.4, on which a grade 4 teacher we know listed
academic goals as well as the EF strategies her class had discussed and planned to use. In this
case, students were working in pairs to learn how to craft proper expository paragraphs. Right
away, the teacher conducted a BSP. She then transferred the strategies to this sheet to use while
94 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

observing students at work. Walking around the room as they worked on their paragraphs, she
could easily record what she saw. When students managed an academic or EF skill independently,
this was tracked with a “3.” If a reminder was given, the teacher tracked a “2” (with reminder). If
students required one-on-one reteaching, the teacher tracked a “1.”
As this data was gathered, the teacher conspicuously narrated her note making. In this way,
the daily tracking page became like a lyric sheet for daily feedback, reminding both students and
their teacher to focus on the five agreed-­upon strategies. For example, regarding a student who
was stuck, the teacher said, “Just a reminder to choose and use a strategy. I’m watching to see
you choose independently,” and tracked a small “2” on the chart (reminder). When the student
required further assistance, the teacher said, “Let’s practice rereading the examples together” or
“Let’s reread each sentence together,” and tracked a small “1” on the chart next to these strategies
(required 1:1 help). This approach is particularly effective if students know the goal is to move
toward independent use of these strategies. We’ve seen this done in many ways, but the simplest is
to tell students exactly what a 1, 2, and 3 mean. Over the course of one period, you may track a “1,”
and then a “2,” and finally a “3,” indicating the progression of a student from one-on-one support
to a reminder and finally to the independent use of a strategy. In this example, students knew they
had met their goals when they heard the teacher say, “You’re using positive partner talk indepen-

Academic skills SR CS MI JM IR KI RR SL RI PI
• Use three transition words.

• Use a clear topic sentence.

• Use three supporting

sentences.
• Use effective collaboration.

• EF strategies

• Restate what your partner said.

(Attention)
• Say, “Okay. What’s next?”
(Planning)
• Reread the examples.
(Goal-directed persistence)
• Reread each sentence.
(Attention)
• Use positive partner talk.
(Emotional regulation)

FIGURE 5.4. Feedback chart with academic and EF targets. This chart has been abbreviated at the
right-most column to save space. It can be produced in landscape format to include all student initials.
Or it can be produced with a smaller number of students to facilitate feedback that is focused on specific
groups each day. Teachers may use the following code to enter data: 1 = one-on-one support, 2 = with
reminder, and 3 = independently.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 95

dently. I’m tracking that.” Many of them took an interest in how their independence seemed to be
growing, asking to see the teacher’s records of their 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s.
Structured feedback can be provided regarding yearly goals as well. Early in a school year,
general classroom behavior can be discussed and agreed upon according to EF categories. In fact,
this is a nice way to introduce the idea of EFs because it provides students with clear, grounded
examples they can relate to. Consider Figure 5.5, in which a team of grade 7/8 teachers and stu-
dents at Montcrest School in Toronto, Ontario, engaged students in a more general discussion of
the barriers they might face in class and the strategies they could use to be successful. Notice that
they chose to focus on only a handful of EFs that seemed most relevant to their context. Once co-­
created, this chart was copied for each student and placed in the teachers’ assessment binders. It
provided a useful ongoing record for the teachers to return to over the course of the term. As the
teachers gathered simple  or  data, they conferenced with students about their progress. Even
though the indictors under each EF were quite general, the teachers often circled back with stu-
dents who were struggling to ask, “I’ve noticed you’re not demonstrating these attention strategies.
Do we need a more specific strategy?” In this way, the teachers’ feedback was specific, process
oriented, and based on targets that were well understood by everyone.
The final example of a highly structured feedback approach we’ll provide refers to a very
specific, monthlong project taking place in a grade 2 classroom. For this project, students were
matched up with two classmates they were not used to working with and were asked to use a kit of
wooden materials to build a creative structure. In previous years, this project had been rife with
student fighting and disorganization. It required a seemingly never-­ending amount of class time,

Planning/prioritizing Response inhibition

Using daily organizer Thinking before speaking
Keeping bag and work spaces tidy Appropriate tone of voice

Time management Cognitive flexibility

Arriving at class on time Building on partners’ ideas
Finishing daily assignments on time Participating fully in perspective activities

Sustained attention Goal-directed persistence

Eyes on speaker, not talking Avoiding long stalls
Effectively using work time Staying activated on longer tasks to meet
goals on time
Task initiation
Emotional control
Starting homework the day it is assigned,
if possible Responding calmly to disagreements
during debate
Meeting milestone objectives
Accepting feedback gracefully

FIGURE 5.5. A chart of Term 1, grade 7/8 behavior expectations. Created by senior teaching staff and
students at Montcrest School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission. This chart has been
abbreviated at the right-most column to save space. It can be produced in landscape format to include
all student initials. Or it can be produced with a smaller number of students to facilitate feedback that
is focused on specific groups each day.
96 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

and students only made reasonable progress when attended by an adult who would feed them
specific next steps. Moving constantly from group to group, the teachers felt as though they were
slowly building all eight creative structures. How is this teaching them anything, they wondered?
Regardless, the teachers felt the project had potential and they were committed to making it work.
The first step toward making their students more independent was to devote a full period to a
discussion of BSP. After describing the task, they explained that its purpose was not only to apply a
handful of science principles but also to build key 21st-­century skills (goal setting, listening, speak-
ing, turn taking, and resolving conflicts). As the students explored the kinds of things that could go
wrong, and the kinds of steps they could take to be strategic and successful, the teachers created a
chart of behaviors to “look for” and “avoid” (Figure 5.6). The chart had been created based on the
students’ own ideas, so they were familiar with the expectations. This class happened to be EF
literate, but you could easily create a chart of behaviors to look for and avoid without connecting
them to EFs.
This chart was used in an interesting way. Every building day, each group of students was
given a fresh copy of the sheet to place in clear view at their workstation. It then became a landing
pad for teacher feedback. Circulating the room as usual, teachers were no longer pulling up a chair,
rolling up their sleeves, and trying to make the students’ design ideas work for them. Nor were
they taking students into the corridor to talk through their disagreements or help them “cool off.”
How did they spend all of this saved time? They were glancing at the chart and making comments
such as “I see you playing the blame game. Can you choose a ‘look-for’ strategy?” As this com-
ment was made, the teacher placed a little check next to “playing the blame game” on the rubric.
“I’m watching to see how you use our strategies,” they added. A few moments of calm, focused
observation after these comments often yielded a rather awkward, sarcastic, or lame attempt at
using a strategy. This was the moment of truth, at which the students stood at a fork in the road
between old, ineffective, but comfortable habits and new, possibly more effective, but frighteningly
unfamiliar and risky ones. In much the same way that you might coach a child to let go of training
wheels on a bike, the teachers at this moment needed to be fully present and jump on the least

Skill Look for Level 3 Avoid Level 2 Comment

Goal setting “First . . . second . . . third . . . ” Doing before talking.
(organization) Plan who does what. Making huge goals.
Check in as you go.
Listening actively Look at speaker and nod your Just waiting and not really
(inhibition) understanding. listening.
“So, I heard you say . . . ” Finishing the speaker’s idea.
Speaking Wait for readiness. Bossy tone.
(attention) Use eye contact and clear voice. Negative body language.
Turn taking Explore and try your partner’s “Closing or slamming the
(flexibility) ideas. door” on an idea.
Resolving conflicts “Can I explain that again?” Ignoring or avoiding.
(emotional “I’m not sure if that will work Playing the blame game.
regulation) because . . . ”

FIGURE 5.6. A daily tracking sheet for groupwork.

 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 97

sign of willingness, positivity, and courage. The moment the teachers saw a student trying a new
strategy, they checked it off on the rubric right away. “You just explored your partners’ idea! I’m
tracking that,” the teacher might have commented, and an upward spiral would begin: Even the
most awkward use of strategy started to untangle the students’ problems, they felt more successful,
they realized that using the strategies worked, and they began to use them with more conviction
and ease. They were off! At the end of this unit, the students were proud of their accomplishments.
They all felt as though their EFs had grown. They also made reference to the way certain strategies
had helped them to get to know new people and form satisfying new relationships.
We know there is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the recording sheets we have
suggested. In fact, you could easily upgrade them with apps like Plickers, Padlet, or Google Jam-
board. In our experience, the kind of feedback that helps children build EFs isn’t necessarily fancy.
It simply helps them to understand how, when, and why they are successful, and teaches them to
think for themselves and to be strategic. Anything you add beyond that might add convenience,
allow for faster communication, or impress the heck out of parents, but it will only ever be the
cherry on top.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Highly Structured Project Work
The big idea here is that to succeed at highly structured projects, students need
ongoing feedback to support their management of complex processes and EF
demands. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Use your support of EF and process skills to persevere when the going gets rough.
• Use a variety of conversations, rubrics, tracking sheets, daily written reports, and personal
journals to steer your students’ performance.

Teachers who are perceived to be highly structured by their peers often have a good laugh at
the idea that it comes easily to them. We hear this in workshops—­after being outed by colleagues,
they will say, “You think I’m naturally structured? You have no idea how hard I’ve worked on it!
This is not my natural state!” They tell us that their structured approach to teaching was something
that evolved over time, in response to all kinds of emergencies, missed opportunities, and mess
ups. As the demands of their work evolved and changed, things got tougher and they realized they
needed a proper, structured plan in order to manage. They tell us, “For goodness sake, I organize
myself in this way because I would have drowned in chaos otherwise.” If you’re one of these “struc-
tured” types, the following discussion may be right up your alley.
It may be counterintuitive, but we’ve noticed that students working on the least structured
academic units often require the most carefully planned systems of ongoing feedback. To cultivate
21st-­century learning, for example, we may offer students complex projects with authentic, open-
ended problems. To facilitate these projects, we need to step back and allow students the time and
space to wrestle with tricky problems, but it takes finesse to counterbalance this freedom with
appropriate support and discipline. In fact, many of us dread student-­centered projects because
the idea of giving a class more responsibility and even less guidance seems completely absurd—­
like jumping straight off a cliff. How can teachers build in students the EFs they will need to man-
age such open-ended projects?
98 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

In business management, control in an open-ended thinking environment is called a “con-

straint” and is considered very important. When the goal is to balance innovation with some sta-
bilizing coherence and focus, expert managers talk about using enabling constraints (Davis &
Sumara, 2006). This doesn’t have to be complicated, but it usually requires some planning to set
up. Enabling constraints force children to exert executive control, even in creative and open-ended
environments, because they funnel activity through specific, safe, agreed-­upon channels. This is
very much like creating boundaries for a game of hide and seek or designating one specific room
for your kid’s wild and crazy sleepover party. The trick is to design constraints that feel comfort-
able and don’t intrude on the target activity. Cue the BSP, and let us enter the busy grades 6, 7, and
8 makerspace classrooms of Roger Reynolds and Dawn Mattiussi.5 We think their adaptation of the
BSP and subsequent feedback process provide just the right level of constraint.
Makerspace? If this context sounds unfamiliar, we encourage you to translate the following
example to something more familiar; Dawn and Roger’s insights apply equally to many different
teaching situations. You might imagine an art room, a typical primary classroom, or a middle
school math class. In Kawartha Lakes, however, our makerspace teachers are in their preferred
habitat: surrounded by glue guns, saws, drills, electrodes, and computers. For the first time they
are allowing their students to progress through several projects at different rates. They have pulled
their students out of lockstep because they feel that following a specific timeline is limiting creativ-
ity and innovation. So, while they all started at the same time making roller coasters, each group
will then work through three other projects (robots, mobility devices, and disaster-­proof houses) at
their own pace. Although their students now have even more freedom, Dawn and Roger are faced
with an additional challenge in the logistics of providing EF support and control. They want to
design a structured feedback process to stay ahead of the chaos.
At the beginning of this unit, Dawn and Roger sat their students down to conduct several big
BSP conversations. They wanted to zoom in on a few important skills for makerspace, including
getting started quickly, using positive self-talk, and being open minded to different ideas. They
described these goals to their classes, and then asked them what EF barriers might stand in their
way and what strategies they might use to be successful. You can see what their students came up
with in Figure 5.7. Based on these conversations, Dawn and Roger were able to circulate around
the room giving feedback. They might have said, “I see that you’re procrastinating. Which of our
strategies do you plan to try?”; “I see you’re breathing to control your frustration”; or “This group
is listing pros and cons of a new idea!” The students knew what types of strategies they could use
to be successful, and the teachers knew exactly what kind of performance to notice and name with
their feedback. The straightforward expectations added a sense of predictability and calm for both
students and teachers. And to their delight, the students knew that as long as they demonstrated
the agreed-­upon strategies, most of the creative decisions would be up to them. This is an example
of “enabling constraints”: The students knew that if they used the agreed-­upon strategies, they
would remain on track and be allowed the autonomy they wanted to make creative decisions.
As certain groups finished more quickly than others and moved on, however, Dawn and Roger
realized it would no longer be practical to host one big BSP conversation. Students were at very
different points in their work, and the conversation seemed too general to be useful. At this point,
they thought carefully and designed a new structure for their feedback—­they started to experi-

5 Roger Reynolds and Dawn Mattiussi teach at Jack Callaghan Public School in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada. Used
with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 99

Goal
Stop procrastinating and begin
tasks immediately
Goal
Barriers To use positive self-talk when
Talking and socializing encountering difficult situations
Not knowing how to begin Goal
Social media/other distractions Barriers Be more open-minded to
Not wanting to work Not knowing triggers receiving new ideas and using
Too upset to care new strategies
Strategies Being angry at certain people
Move away from distractions Feeling sad Barriers
Ask friends or teachers Unwilling to implement
how to start Strategies group members’ ideas
Shut off devices Ask for help (parent, teacher, Arguing
Use a reward system when peers, counselor) Some students take control
work is finished Breathe all the time
Listen to relaxation music
Give yourself space and time Strategies
before working through Consider pros and cons
problem Consider how you can
No sad music—only happy, implement new ideas
uplifting music Remain positive and look for
the value in new ideas
Assign roles to all group members
Change roles often

FIGURE 5.7. Using the BSP to troubleshoot makerspace skills. Reproduced from posters created by
Dawn Mattiussi, Roger Reynolds, and their students at Jack Callaghan Public School in Kawartha
Lakes, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

ment with daily BSP journals. Before and after each session of work, they provided their maker
design teams with several prompts (below) and gave them 5 minutes to collaborate and respond
in writing. These moments of wide-awake, metacognitive thinking would not have happened oth-
erwise. Without this opportunity, Dawn and Roger knew that many of their students would head
into the classroom with unclear plans and make the same types of mistakes over and over again.

Journal Prompts to Be Answered Before the Day’s Work

1. “As a group, identify your goals for today.”
2. “As a group, identify barriers and strategies to achieving your goals.”

Journal Prompts to Be Answered After the Day’s Work

1. “Individually reflect on your group’s progress toward achieving your goal. What worked
and didn’t work?”
2. “As a group, decide on your goals for tomorrow.”

The resulting journals became something the teachers could easily collect, read, and respond to.
When desired, they could gather the class to share an especially insightful entry, or to ask for help
100 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

strategizing on a particularly challenging barrier. If a group was not performing as desired, Dawn
and Roger could note this in their response to the students’ writing, commenting, “You didn’t make
much progress today. What went wrong? What will you try next?” Or if students devised strategy
ideas that were vague, they could ask for more specificity. This approach allowed for a high level of
personalized structure for each student without taking too much class time or overcommitting the
teachers. Imagine how Dawn and Roger could have provided feedback on the following student
journal. They may have asked for a more specific plan for avoiding distraction, or to hear more
detail about how time was conserved.

“Goal: Our goal today is to have a reliable button that works perfectly. Two things that are
going well are our board for melody and the buttons on our board. We have been paying atten-
tion to our work, we have conserved time reasonably well, and we were able to change our
plan when we needed to. A barrier that we are having trouble with is a few distractions. We
will overcome that barrier by focusing more on our work and less on other people.”

There are many ways to share feedback, but delivering it while maintaining our students’
sense of freedom and creativity takes finesse. Like architects, we can plan structures that provide
support and safety, that fit the ecology of the context, and that provide the least obstructed views
for the students who dwell inside. During one term’s worth of maker activities, Roger and Dawn
explored several different feedback structures and were able to foster their students’ metacognition
as well as big, broad transdisciplinary EF skills. When we are comfortable with the basic setup
of EF-­literate teaching, the adaptations we make are only limited by our courage and creativity.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Organic and Free Flowing
The big idea here is that feedback gets a lot better when we deliver it mindfully.
In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Breathe deeply before delivering feedback. As you inhale, think, “Why . . . ” and as you
exhale, think “ . . . are they doing that?”
• Respond to children based on your EF literacy rather than on a habitual reaction.
• Notice and name the EF barriers or strategies at play in your students’ performance.

A student is behaving unexpectedly. Instead of finishing a math test, for example, he is creat-
ing a dusty, black scribble on his desk with a pencil. Your feedback may be so organic and free
flowing that it emerges before you even have time to think: “Ten minutes left,” you might say, or
“Start with the ones you know.” Or you might remark, “You’ve got this—­almost done!” or “Under-
line the important words.” Alternatively, you might simply walk closer to the student, say his name,
point to the next step, or gesture toward the clock. Each of these pieces of verbal or nonverbal feed-
back supports a different EF. Did you notice? First was time management and then prioritization,
emotional control, working memory, attention, and finally organization. What’s your style? Do you
tend to give time reminders? Are you a reliable source of emotional support? Or do you give a wide
variety of different responses? How often do you think you hit the mark, and how often do you
miss? For example, have you ever given a time reminder to a student who was actually frustrated
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 101

and overwhelmed and in desperate need of emotional support? Depending on the student, this can
cause a giant meltdown.
Whether we realize it or not, classrooms are overflowing with EF challenges and teachers
are walking dispensaries of EF remedies. But ask yourself if you often dispense the same type of
“medicine.” Stuck on a question? Check the time. Disagreeing with your group mates? Check the
time. Don’t know how to finish your essay? Check the time again—you only have 10 minutes left!
We spend a lot of valuable time offering these corrections, so improving their accuracy would be
worthwhile. We believe the fix lies in better everyday diagnosis and that this begins with better
everyday observation.
Take a deep breath: in for two seconds and out for three. Even if you count fast, this is all the
time you need to organically, naturally, and easily improve the quality of your feedback. The trick
is, while you’re breathing in, to think, “Why . . . ” and as you’re breathing out, to think, “ . . . are
they doing that?” Then, glance at your EF posters and change up your feedback. What if the prob-
lem was related to organization? Or could it be related to task initiation? Should emotional control
be considered? When your students are behaving unexpectedly, slow down, take a breath, watch
carefully, and consider interpreting the situation through an EF filter.
Teacher Janet Rhude describes the way her EF lens and a few seconds of extra observation
changed her perception and dictated a different feedback approach.6 After weeks of frustration
with her grade 4 class, she made a discovery:

“In my daily math warm-up, I always assign a problem that all students can solve. I noticed that
the weakest students, the ones who most needed review or to build skills before beginning
the next unit, avoided the task at all costs. It was so frustrating because I was trying so hard
to encourage them, but they didn’t seem to want to even try . . . so I changed my teaching.
Under the problem, I gave steps: First draw the problem, second write the information you
know, and third write the information you want to find. Now they had a way to get started.
Over time they started getting to work and trying.”

Janet had been focused on pumping her students up to feel confident, but emotional support wasn’t
what they needed. When she took a deep breath and asked herself, “Why are they doing that?”
she realized that her students actually needed scaffolding to prioritize and get started on the task.

How to Conduct Powerful Feedback:

Working with a “Stressed” Class
The big idea here is that there are strategies and tactics that make delivering
powerful feedback to stressed students less tricky. In this section, you’ll learn
more about how to do the following:

• Convey feedback in less confrontational ways, such as a back-and-forth journal response, an

exit slip, or a written chart of observed strategy.
• Gently infuse your teaching and classroom feedback with an emphasis on process.
• Convince your students that you really are interested in their strategy use and process steps.

6 Janet Rhude teaches at Scott Young Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
102 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Quite a number of students are stressed about their performance at school. Some are highly
capable, but perfectionist. Some have lagging academic skills and spend their days hiding behind
disruption and distraction. Still others come to school hungry, tired, and discouraged from chal-
lenges at home. Teenagers, meanwhile, can go entire school years seeming to be irritated by every
little thing. Add in a fire drill and a fight in the parking lot, and you might be tempted to scratch
“feedback” right off your list of daily tasks. If you’ve ever experienced these feelings yourself, you
know that getting “advice” at the wrong moment can be extremely grating. Our goal is to offer you
ways to support stressed students that are genuinely helpful, without poking the bear or becom-
ing yet another annoyance. It may only take a little tweak to make feedback work in a stressed
environment.
Stressed students have 99 problems, and you shouldn’t be one of them. How can you become
part of the solution? First, there are many ways to reduce the emotional intensity of feedback. You
might try using a daily feedback journal, asking students to respond privately to prompts such as
“What strategy did you use today?”; “Did it work?”; or “What might you do differently?” This will
allow you to respond in a quiet and nonconfrontational way with congratulations, requests for
more information, or gentle nudges to try something new. Similarly, private exit slips can be a good
way to start with a stressed group, helping you get the ball rolling by gathering data on “Most help-
ful strategy used today” or even “What strategy didn’t work for me today?”
With younger students, who are sometimes so sensitive that even the slightest attention causes
embarrassment and sets them off, you might try using nonverbal feedback. We know early years
teachers who use hand signals, small tokens, little cards, or small symbols that get jotted on work.
No matter what you choose, this approach works particularly well if your students are EF literate.
Instead of giving a generic “good job” type token or card, you can give one that more specifically
identifies effective performance. You might like to create a set of laminated EF cards as Paula
Barrow did. Remember Paula, from Fenelon Township Public School in Cameron, Ontario? We
discussed her cards in the “Early Days” section. She makes several copies of each little EF card
and then simply and quietly places them before a student who she feels is using a strategy to sup-
port a certain EF. For example, when she saw a student independently looking at the clock while
completing daily work, she placed a “time management” card discreetly at his desk. Paula remem-
bers the day on which one of her students mimicked her discretion and sensitivity when sliding
a response inhibition card (a little stop sign) toward a friend who was playing a little too roughly
in an activity center. “The behavior stopped immediately without adult intervention,” she told us,
“and nobody got defensive or argumentative.”
Another key feedback approach for stressed students is to help them appreciate their own
progress. This can be accomplished by collecting a simple form of performance data over time in
a visual format such as a tally chart or graph. For example, you might consider making a bar graph
to display the number of times you observe a student independently using a calming strategy. Over
the course of one week, you can check in with this student several times, letting them see the way
their performance is slowly improving. For our most dysregulated students, negative thoughts
often dominate the inner monologue and your visual feedback may come as a pleasant surprise.
In fact, for some students a visual representation almost gamifies their strategy use, creating a
colorful pattern that can be irresistible to try to build upon and extend. In any event, with a visual
representation, you can cut through days that might be muddled full of frustration, self-doubt, and
stress with a clear and encouraging indication of growth and improvement.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Feedback 103

These visual tools solve another problem for a stressed student. By cutting down on the
amount of verbal rhetoric, they may help us work around what amounts to a total system shutdown.
Imagine how our highly stressed students may respond to the sound of a well-­meaning teacher
trying to explain the implications of their performance. As the sounds of “nagging” or “judgment”
start to trickle in, do some of our students close up like space-aged transforming robots, all senses
mechanically shuttered and sealed? They might not even be in control of this reaction—­it might
begin like an inevitable, automatic protective response. As the barrier begins to form, both you
and the student might realize the imminent failure of all verbal communication. “I’m sorry! I’m
losing you! I feel too much humiliation to hear you!” the student, in a perfect world, might shout
from across the void. “I know! And I have no idea how to talk to you without sounding negative
and exasperated!” you might holler back. “Forget talking! Just look at this!” you might say, as you
throw the charts like a lifeline. Students like these, despite their uncontrolled emotional response
to our intervention, often truly do want and appreciate help. By sharing the raw data we gather
using charts, graphs, or lists, we allow them to process and interpret the data themselves, with
a boosted sense of competence and autonomy. Most importantly, by letting go of the traditional
verbal approach, we reduce the temptation to steer away from tricky students with feedback; they
need it just as much as the others. With a little finesse, we can ensure that feedback to stressed
students is delivered, received, and processed.
It is worth remembering that solving problems in the more communal space created by the
BSP can, in itself, be calming. Instead of always relying on an adult teacher with whom they may
have little in common, students can draw inspiration and feedback from one another. This contrast
is particularly stark in communities in which there may be historical, cultural, or racial conflict
between students and their teachers or the very institution of school. We’re not saying a teacher–­
student connection is a lost cause. There are plenty of teachers who manage to overcome these
challenges and enjoy rich, respectful relationships with their students. For a vulnerable learner,
however, diversified feedback systems may provide a needed boost.
We may have a hard time convincing our most stressed students that we truly value their pro-
cess steps. As we know, without correction, many students have a fixed sense of what is cool. They
want us to think they execute brilliant performance with little effort because they are . . . geniuses!
You may be aware that one of the highest accolades among your students, when considering a suc-
cessful peer, is the observation that “she doesn’t even have to try . . . ” A friend of ours, the parent
of a grade 4 girl, was lamenting this challenge. Trying to coach his stressed-­out daughter through
a big homework project, he realized she was absolutely process averse. He explained, “She is very
uncomfortable just experimenting and trusting the value in the process without concern for the
outcome.” In fact, many adults leave school feeling the same way and struggle with a sense of inad-
equacy for the rest of their lives. Particularly for someone who is already stressed out, it takes a lot
of courage to let people see your messy, behind-­the-­scenes, “I’m not done yet, hang on!” process
steps. What can we do in school to help students avoid this fear? The key seems to be, again and
again, to pull back the curtain, focus our attention on all of the muddled and imperfect develop-
ments hiding back there, and reassure students that what we see is interesting, useful, and often
delightful.
 CHAPTER 6

How EF Literacy
Can Improve Summative Assessment

THE ENDURING IMPORTANCE

OF SUMMATIVE EVALUATION IN AN EF‑ORIENTED CONTEXT

In this chapter, we complete our very practical tour of EF-­literate teaching with a discussion of
summative assessment. If you recall, we have moved from building EF literacy in Chapter 2 to
applying it to a whole-class pedagogy in Chapter 3, bringing an EF lens to our observation of
student performance in Chapter 4, and using a feedback approach that acknowledges and culti-
vates EF-based strategy and process in Chapter 5. We’ll now describe how tests, evaluations, and
reporting can be improved using an EF lens. Before providing practical guidance, however, we
will tackle some of the issues surrounding summative assessment with a particular emphasis on
those most relevant to an EF-­literate teacher. What is the role of strategy assessment alongside test
scores, and how does it fit into a report card?
It may surprise you that we wish to begin with a defense of academic summative assessment.
How does a deep focus on daily process square with cool and objective academic summative evalu-
ation? As teachers and students focused on EFs, should we even concern ourselves with final tests
and data? Our answer is an emphatic yes—being focused on day-to-day details doesn’t mean that
overall performance data no longer counts. Rather, having information upon which to set long-
term goals is essential to our sense of “discrepancy”—the distance between where we are now and
where we want to be next (Bandura & Locke, 2003). Imagine, for example, a long-­distance swim-
mer churning through miles of water with singular focus on shoulder rotation, breathing patterns,
and stroke rate. Similarly, in our classrooms, we (teachers and students) may feel as though we’re
utterly preoccupied by the little daily strategies we use to improve performance. Our knowledge
104
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 105

of EFs allows us to look beyond academic achievement to the adaptive transdisciplinary skills used
to get there: Kevin designs strategies for managing time, Joey creates tricks for noticing details in
her writing, and Mae works with Reema to organize large projects. Pull, breathe, kick, glide—we
know that by optimizing these processes, we can finish the race with “personal best” results. Just
like long-­distance swimmers, however, we need to look up every so often to sight the next marker,
assess our position, and make overall adjustments. This is the role of academic summative assess-
ment, and it applies just as much to an EF-­focused learner as to anyone else. It is so important to
“look up” from the hypnotic routines of our daily grind to determine whether our approaches are
moving us in the right direction. Are we actually improving reading and math scores?
The fact is, teachers who collect and use student data to make decisions make better modi-
fications and changes to the way they teach. Without this information, they are prone to making
faulty decisions according to unreliable gut feelings and bias (Schildkamp, Lai, & Earl, 2013). As
teachers, we must be cautious not to assume we know what is happening as a result of our teach-
ing. There are many frames of mind that may lead us in this direction, but our two favorites are
the bright-­eyed, “My approach is way beyond tests,” super-­innovator perspective and the strong
and steady, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” trust me perspective. For teachers with the super-­
innovator perspective, who may begin their teaching units with a single sweeping arm across the
tables of tradition, the idea of testing and assessment may seem too reductive and standardized.
“How can we gather standardized data on an educational experience that has become so applied,
individualized, and creative?” they may wonder. We would respond that when school is a playful,
diverse rumpus room of creativity, it is even more important to pause occasionally to take a breath,
look around, and gather a few sober facts about student achievement. Safety first, right? Conditions
of authentic mystery, challenge, and change can be thrilling, but they provide even more reason to
double-­check our assumptions.
It is all too easy to assume that, when teaching feels good for us or seems fun for students, it
is productive. Even if your students are peacefully lost in their own creative thoughts, applying
fabulous learning strategies, and knee-deep in papier mâché, you may be missing key benchmarks
for your grade level. This is a giant problem for students, because academic targets that seem hard
to achieve in a grade 3 classroom may be almost impossible to remediate in grade 5, especially
when caregivers don’t have the resources needed for extra support at home. Getting and staying
lost for a whole school year can be a real disaster. The hard data we gather from good overall assess-
ment supplements our assumptions and helps us make appropriate, even lifesaving, instructional
decisions. When delivered in individual classrooms, and even when conducted by whole schools
or school boards, summative evaluation is how we ensure that each of our students will leave our
care with the literacies required to graduate school safe and sound. This is not an either/or situa-
tion; we don’t have to give up on creativity or our process focus to fulfill our civic and moral duties
toward our students.
Academic summative assessment is just as important for very experienced teachers who have,
over time, steadily honed and perfected their knowledge of both children and teaching. These are
the teachers who might say, “Trust me, I’ve learned a few tricks in my 10 or even 20 years in the
classroom.” They not only have amazing lesson plans and materials but also often seem to intui-
tively understand the processes and strategies students use. Regardless, the first time these vet-
erans teach a class of students who have been bussed in from a neighboring community, they may
miss the mark. Blinded by their superb materials, confidence, flawless discipline, and immaculate
organization, these teachers may miss deeper academic problems. Is the tried and true approach
106 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

allowing these particular students to master key writing, math, and reading objectives as usual? To
call back our swimming metaphor, even for a very experienced swimmer, unfamiliar waters can be
surprising. The greatest of the great are strong, steady, prepared, and still self-aware and flexible
enough to change course when necessary.

GATHERING AND REPORTING DATA THAT TELL A TRUE STORY

Oh, reporting. First you collect a pile of summative data—you give tests, do reading assessments,
and review quiz scores—­and then you spend a ton of time sorting it into report cards to send home
with students. Still recovering from this process, you enter the third leg of the triathlon in which
you navigate parent responses. They show up at your classroom door, find you outside the school,
or send you an email to ask, “So, what’s the story?” They might say, “I saw the report, but tell me
what’s really going on.” When you ask if they have any specific questions about the report, they
usually don’t: “Just tell us what you think.” It is as though those 2 weeks you spent trying to do
your daily teaching from underneath piles of tests, class lists, and crashing computer servers never
happened.
Parents often want more information than our reports contain, and we can’t really blame
them. Scores, numbers, thresholds, and benchmarks can only tell us so much. Parents want con-
text, implications, conclusions, and a clue about what they should be doing in response to the
report. Pat on the back? Grounded? Less media time? Tutoring? They may also probe to under-
stand how vigorously they should take these actions, at the worst of times demanding a ranking.
“Do we need a 1-week consequence, or should we pull him right out of all extracurriculars?” Par-
ents are desperate for next steps and control.
Report card comments about EFs may address this need by providing information about
aspects of performance that can be deliberately improved. As you begin the heavy work of gather-
ing academic data, you may begin to notice interesting patterns: Larisa started paying better atten-
tion and has gone up a whole reading level; Shaw’s math result isn’t high, but he really improved
his organization and his progress is awesome; and even though Zach is really bright, his planning
skills for essay writing seem to be regressing. Equipped as you are with not only the academic
scores but also a day-to-day knowledge of the EFs through which these achievements were won,
you will understand the stories behind your students’ learning.
There is actually a whole method of assessment called “Learning Stories,” and the science
behind it is illuminating. It was first developed in New Zealand in 2001, and has since been used
around the world (Carr, 2001). Using this approach, teachers work with children to collaboratively
“describe,” “discuss,” “document,” and “decide upon” how to interpret their learning. In this way,
the teacher can avoid making assumptions and instead respects the unique personal, physical,
and cultural context of each child. Like all process-­oriented approaches, it aims to make the daily
operation of learning “visible” and thus knowable and reproducible (Project Zero & Reggio Chil-
dren, 2011). It also promotes children’s capacity for self-­reflection and self-­education (Liljestrand
& Hammarberg, 2017; Schulz, 2013).
We realize that by advocating “story-based” or “narrative-­based” assessment, we risk running
seriously afoul of busy teachers. We are not talking about writing the next great novel about each
and every one of your students. We are also not talking about spending hours making an adorable
scrapbook to celebrate how cute and lovely they are. The meaning we seek is a simple remedy for
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 107

summative assessment that often strips away important context and veers toward meaninglessness.
Imagine, for example, the information you would want and need if you were being assessed. If an
adult received an email from a superior categorically indicating poor performance, odds are they
would immediately try to add contextualizing information to the record. “June is a slow month for
sales throughout the whole company,” they might say. “My team was down two members, and I
was experimenting with a new analytic platform. My results were actually quite good, given those
factors.” Similarly, imagine how our students with disabilities, challenging home lives, cultural dif-
ferences, unusual approaches, or just a mind of their own might feel when faced with categorical
assessment. Indulging students, parents, other teachers, and ourselves in contextual information
when weighing summative academic data is hardly an indulgence at all. In fact, for a student with
any conceivable investment in his or her progress and result, it may be the only option that is not
outright infuriating and absurd.
To further illustrate how ordinary this idea is, let’s return to the long-­distance swimming
metaphor. As a swimming coach, instead of simply telling our athletes, “Your time was 23:30 min-
utes!” we can say, “Your time was 23:30 minutes! The water was choppy, and you were swimming
about two degrees off course for the first 10 minutes.” The summative evaluation will be even more
useful if the swimmer is encouraged to participate. She might add, “Yeah, and my goggles were
foggy!” Which summative assessment is going to yield better learning and future performance for
both swimmer and coach, do you think? In response to the second type of summative assessment,
the swimmer will enter her next race thinking about staying on track, and the coach may realize
that foggy goggles are a bigger problem than she had realized. What if half of the swim team has
faulty goggles? By involving your students in a more contextualized process of interpreting their
performance, everyone learns so much more.
Dr. Amy Fast, a principal at McMinnville High School in McMinnville, Oregon, recently
tweeted that “one of the saddest and most ironic practices in school is how hard we try to measure
how students are doing . . . and how rarely we ever ask them” (@fastcrayon). We couldn’t agree
more. Inside the body and mind of many students at school sits a distinctly unlicensed driver,
quietly holding deep and valuable insight about their learning. This wisdom may far exceed what
teachers and other experts have access to. When asked, for example, “Why do you think you did
so well on our novel study?” a student will not say, “I answered all 14 questions correctly,” as their
test result would indicate. Rather, he might say, “First of all, I love cats and I read about them all of
the time. Some words in this book were difficult for me, but I actually knew a lot of them already.”
While our actions based on our test result might have been to give the student more challenging
reading material, our actions based on our conversation might have been to find more books at
approximately the same level. In addition, while we wouldn’t necessarily have time to scour the
library for other cat books, we might make mention of cats in the afternoon math lesson. Either
way, involving a student in summative assessment allows us to provide more timely and tailored
follow-­up. It is so easy to get it wrong and miss opportunity when we make unilateral assumptions
and rely solely on test scores.
Our students are complex in ways we can scarcely predict. Just when you think you’ve under-
stood them, you realize there is even more to learn. Consider the unique and personal learning
approach of Joelle, a grade 8 student.1 When asked to recall a list of random pictures, she suc-
ceeded with flying colors. It would have been easy to assume that this type of task came naturally

1 Joelle Inguagiato is a student from Menlo Park, California. Used with permission.
108 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

to her. When asked how she did it, however, she told us, “I put them into categories. So, I put
the chair and tree together because they are both made of wood. I put the pencil and the books
together because they are school supplies.” We thought we understood Joelle’s approach, but then
she said, “I put the iPhone and the brush together.” This surprised us. Was she wrong to group
these items? According to our schema, a brush and an iPhone do not belong in the same category.
Based on this, it would have been easy for us to assume that her strategy was flawed. When we
continued talking to her, however, we discovered that these items went together as stuff from my
mother’s purse. From this interaction, we realized that memorization wasn’t easy for Joelle but that
she quite naturally and imaginatively used a strategy to accomplish the task. Regardless of whether
a student succeeds or fails, there will almost certainly be much more going on than our summative
assessments can tell us. Research shows that when students struggle, they often struggle in many
overlapping ways that change as our demands and their context evolves (Aitken, Martinussen,
Childs, & Tannock, 2017). Much like looking into a kaleidoscope, looking at our students at one
point in time may present a very different picture from what we see only a moment later.
The stories of our learning are personal and special. Through them, we make meaning of
seemingly random events and learn lessons for the future. When you think of your own proudest
accomplishment, the tale that accompanies it might be one of your favorites to tell. In the next sec-
tion, we’ll talk briefly about how to balance information about EFs and strategy use with academic
data on report cards, and then we’ll provide you with five different practical examples of how to
make your summative assessment more meaningful and powerful.

BALANCING ACADEMIC AND EF GOALS

IN SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

If you’re reading this book from back to front, you may now be dabbling with a few new teaching
tricks: EF literacy, close observation, barriers and strategies conversations, and process-­oriented
feedback. In this case, we won’t be surprised if you have accumulated quite a bit of information
regarding your students’ use of strategy. You may have collected anecdotal notes on how they man-
aged a group project. You may have a chart on which you have kept track of specific organizational
strategies used during math class. Or you may have a week-by-week record of attention, flexibility,
and emotional control shown during lessons. Alongside your math scores, reading levels, and proj-
ect rubrics, any information you have managed to gather about your students’ EF strategy use will
be very useful and important come report card time.
Many jurisdictions have finally begun to emphasize the teaching of “soft” skills related to EF,
process, and 21st-­century learning skills. It is about time! At school, EF often explains more than
half of all variation in academic performance (Visu-Petra et al., 2011). Recent guidance from the
Center for Curriculum Redesign suggests that teachers should focus as much on “soft” skills, those
related to collaboration, communication, and self-­regulated learning, as on foundational knowl-
edge such as mathematics, literacy, and science (Bialik & Fadel, 2015).
So, the shift toward reporting this learning has begun, albeit slowly and inconsistently. For
example, you may have a whole page of tick boxes devoted to learning strategies. Or you may find
EF indicators such as “organization” woven among character-­based indicators such as “responsi-
bility.” Many report cards have empty text boxes in which anecdotal comments must be entered.
When filling in these boxes, teachers are often encouraged to describe their learners in terms
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 109

of their accomplishments and next steps. Armed with actual observations, information, and data
about how your students have accomplished their learning, you may finally feel prepared to fill
in those boxes. An EF-­literate teacher with a lot of notes on process and EF strategy can have a
field day. Can you imagine writing comments that balance academic and EF strategy reporting
like this?

• Johan can add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers. He prefers to use a highlight-
ing strategy to focus his attention on each detail in written questions when applying these
skills to problem solving.
• Michael has made solid progress on his time management skills this term, which has sup-
ported his ability to plan and complete a three-part essay. He said, “I discovered that if I
chunked my time and wrote down how long I worked on each section, it helped me com-
plete my essay on time.”
• Mae uses written notes to help organize and prioritize the ideas she presents during debate.
With this preparation, she presents clear and well-­reasoned arguments with confidence.

In Figures 6.1–6.3, we present the report cards from just a handful of English-­speaking
places—­Toronto, London, and New York—and highlight the ways they facilitate summative
reporting about EF strategy use. It is important to note that each of these report cards also
includes space for anecdotal comments, so a teacher using any of these templates could include as
much information about EF strategy use as desired. In the Toronto District School Board, teach-
ers use a provincewide (Ontario) report card, and a rating of “Learning Skills and Work Habits”
occupies the whole first page. On the NYC Department of Education report, a similar section sits
at the bottom and is called “Academic and Personal Behaviors/Teacher.” In London, the report
cards are not as standardized, but one designed by a typical state (public) school includes a rat-
ing system for assessing independence, engagement, and behavior. In all cases, references to EFs
were easy to find, either explicitly or implicitly. Take a look; when we found a connection to an
EF, we highlighted it and described our connection in brackets. If you look hard, you’ll prob-
ably find a connection we missed. You may also notice that we weren’t able to find a reference to
working memory on any of these report cards. We wonder if there might be a way to refer to this
EF in parent-­friendly language. It might sound something like “Can manage complex tasks with
multiple demands.”
The evolution toward tracking process and EFs in report cards is important for several rea-
sons. First, a report card is a formal and important document, and our choice of what to include on
it sends a message about what we value. By including a comment about a student’s most effective
strategy alongside their academic results, we reinforce the idea that these two types of perfor-
mance are equally important. While we may personally convey this message in our classrooms, we
cement it as fact by making it a part of our official assessment documentation. This phenomenon
has been studied and researched, and is referred to as a “backwash” effect, through which our
formal, summative assessments dominate what students are oriented toward in their learning (e.g.,
Baartman, Bastiaens, Kirschner, & Van der Vleuten, 2006). If learning to use strategies is a part
of our classroom program but those strategies don’t make it onto the report card, they won’t really
“count” as far as students are concerned.
There are even deeper psychological reasons to include information about EF strategy use on
report cards. Decades of research confirm that one of the biggest predictors of academic success
110 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

is an understanding of and belief in one’s own capabilities, also called self-­efficacy (e.g., Bandura,
1997). How do our report cards affect this important feeling in our students? Well, for those who
are highly skilled academically, reading a report card might feel pretty terrific. On report card day,
a student in this situation might rip open the envelope, devour every glowing detail, share it with
anyone who will listen, and think, “I am so powerful! I can do anything!” A student like this will
likely begin the next term of study full of energy, determination, and self-­efficacy, and in this way,
the “rich” get richer. But what about students who are not as academically skilled and won’t receive

Learning Skills and Work Habits E – Excellent G – Good S – Satisfactory N – Needs Improvement
Responsibility Organization
• Fulfils responsibilities and commitments within the • Devises and follows a plan (planning and prioritizing)
learning environment (goal-directed persistence). and process for completing work and tasks.
• Completes and submits class work, homework, • Establishes priorities (planning and prioritizing) and
and assignments according to agreed-upon manages time (time management) to complete tasks
timelines (time management). and achieve goals.
• Takes responsibility for and manages own • Identifies, gathers, evaluates, and uses information,
behavior (response inhibition). technology and resources to complete tasks.
Independent Work Collaboration
• Fulfils responsibilities and commitments • Accepts various roles (flexibility) and an equitable share
(goal-directed persistence) within the learning of work in a group.
environment. • Responds positively to the ideas, opinion and values of
• Completes and submits class work, homework, others (emotional control).
and assignments according to agreed-upon • Builds healthy peer-to-peer relationships through
timelines (time management). personal and media-assisted interactions.
• Takes responsibility for and manages own • Works with others to resolve conflicts (emotional
behaviour. control) and build consensus (flexibility) to achieve
group goals. Shares information, resources, and thinking
to solve problems and make decisions.
Initiative Self-Regulation
• Looks for and acts on new ideas and • Sets own individual goals and monitors progress
opportunities for learning (task initiation). towards achieving them (goal-directed persistence,
• Demonstrates the capacity for innovation and a metacognition).
willingness to take risks (emotional control). • Seeks clarification (goal-directed persistence) or
• Demonstrates curiosity and interest in learning assistance when needed.
(attention). • Assesses and reflects critically on own strengths,
• Approaches new tasks with a positive attitude. needs, and interests (metacognition).
• Recognizes and advocates appropriately for the • Identifies learning opportunities, choices, and
rights of self and others (response inhibition). strategies to meet personal needs and achieve goals
(metacognition).
• Perseveres and makes an effort when responding to
challenges (goal-directed persistence).

FIGURE 6.1. Learning skills and work habits. Implicit and explicit references to executive functions in
a report card from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of 2019, this figure appeared as the first of four pages
on the Ontario provincial report card. The following two pages presented grades for each academic sub-
ject with space for teacher comments regarding strengths and next steps. The fourth page included a
description of each letter grade; space for teacher, principal, and parents’ signatures; and space for par-
ent and child reflections and comments. Bolding has been added to highlight aspects related to execu-
tive functioning; parenthetical and italicized comments have been added by the authors. Copyright ©
2014 Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Reproduced with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 111

Descriptors of Learning
Independence
1 Works independently using a variety of strategies to ensure full understanding (metacognition). Homework
is always handed in on time (time management) and goes beyond what is expected of a student at this stage.
Always fully equipped (planning, organization) for lessons.
2 Works independently the majority of the time with some support occasionally. Homework is routinely handed
in on time and completed to a good standard. Usually well equipped for lessons.
3 Can work independently on occasion but needs support to do so. Homework is not always handed in on time
and may be late and/or lacking in effort. Sometimes does not have the correct equipment for lessons.
4 Is not yet working independently and routinely needs to be guided through tasks. Homework is often not
handed in. Regularly does not have the correct equipment for lessons.
Engagement
1 Is fully engaged (attention) with all areas of the subject; always keen to contribute to class discussions and
group work (attention).
2 Engages well in most areas of the subject; often contributes to class discussions and usually makes a positive
contribution to group work.
3 Is not always fully engaged with the subject and needs prompting to question and develop ideas, making
limited contributions to class discussions and group work.
4 Shows little engagement with the subject; often needing to be kept on task or frequently missing key ideas as
a result of not participating adequately.
Behavior
1 Demonstrates impeccable behavior at all times. Makes mature choices (response inhibition), consistently
works hard (goal-directed persistence, attention) and is a role model for others.
2 Demonstrates good behavior. Generally chooses to work hard with only occasional lapses.
3 Does not consistently demonstrate a high standard of behavior and/or is easily distracted by others. Shows the
ability to make positive decisions but does not always do so.
4 Does not behave in an acceptable manner in lessons therefore progress is impeded. Behavior is a serious
concern as it is often detrimental to the learning of others.

FIGURE 6.2. Implicit and explicit references to executive functions in a report card from London,
United Kingdom. As of 2019, this figure appeared as the third of three pages on the report card for
an 11-year-old student at a typical state school in London. It explains numerical scores that will be
awarded on the first page. The first page of this report was filled with academic and independence/
engagement/behavior scores for autumn, spring, and summer, and the second page held explanations of
the academic scores, which were explained. It represents a typical format that is adjusted and tailored
slightly from school to school. Bolding has been added to highlight aspects related to executive func-
tioning; parenthetical and italicized comments have been added by the authors.

a report that satisfies their need to feel capable and competent? In this case, reading a report card
might be a real drag. This student might leave the dreaded school envelope in his or her backpack
for several days and share it only when asked, eventually pretending not to care about its contents.
“I can’t do anything,” such a student might reflect, “so why even try?” Because we know about the
impact of self-­efficacy, we understand that a report card focused predominantly on lack of skill is a
big problem. By failing to confirm any evidence of efficacy, it can further disadvantage and deplete
an already “poor” student.
112 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Academic and Personal Behaviors/Teacher Marking Period

Manages time (time management) and consistently demonstrates effort
(attention) to independently achieve goals (goal-directed persistence)
Works in an organized (organization) manner

Persists through challenges (goal-directed persistence) to complete a

task by trying different strategies (metacognition)
Asks for help (goal-directed persistence) when needed

Respects school rules and works well in the school community

FIGURE 6.3. Implicit and explicit references to executive functions in a report card from New York
City. As of 2019, this figure appeared as part of a large one-page table comprising the standard grades
3–5 of a New York City report card. Schools can either use this report or create something different
with different grading methods. Bolding has been added to highlight aspects related to executive func-
tioning; parenthetical and italicized comments have been added by the authors. Used with permission.

Because of this worry about self-­efficacy, we may be tempted to blur and obfuscate a tough
academic result. While understandable, it may not be necessary to compromise accuracy in such
an important record of learning. Rather, we can worry less about reporting below-­average aca-
demic performance if it is balanced with other indications of efficacy. At any academic level, every
single one of our students is capable of doing really cool, innovative things. Students with learn-
ing disabilities can dazzle us with compensatory strategies, use of technology, and self-­advocacy,
among many other things. Students with no background in a subject can impress us with their abil-
ity to quickly form personal connections, access information using partners, and develop personal
systems for staying organized. Our reports should include these types of important accomplish-
ments, whenever possible. By including this information about EFs, process, and strategy use in
report cards, we can balance information about core academic skills and ensure these documents
reflect the whole picture of our students’ efficacy. This is important! Recently, researchers have
begun to carefully tease the feeling of self-­efficacy apart from other forms of positive thinking
such as “grit” or an effortful attitude. They have found that a student who thinks he or she has the
skills necessary for success—­self-­efficacy—­will far outperform one with a simple commitment to
working hard (Usher, Caihong, Butz, & Rojas, 2018). This means that a report card documenting
a students’ specific strategy use will be much more powerful than one focused on effort. We have
been talking about educating the whole child for so many years. Isn’t it time that we started to
report on the whole child?
Of course, we will also come across students who are struggling academically but not doing
anything else that we find particularly innovative or impressive. These are the students who have
given up on being efficacious according to socially acceptable means and may instead be pursuing
nonstandard and much less helpful forms of mastery. We may find them absorbed in despairing or
angry activities, at which they have achieved all-time superstar status: a first-rate absentee, bully,
or prankster perhaps? There may be more than one of these students. Some years, it may seem as
if this describes your whole class. In this case, we’ve got some bad news and we’ve got some good
news. The bad news is you may be trying to report on students who have previously had a very
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 113

discouraging time at school. They may not know their processes and strategies are delightful and
important. The good news is that fixing that problem is what Chapters 1 through 5 of this book are
all about. Your hard work learning from those chapters may turn the tide.

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Early Days
The big idea here is that it is tempting to stop after you’ve taught students
about EFs. We’ll encourage you to teach students how to use their EFs. In this
section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Ensure you have embedded EF literacy deeply into your daily pedagogy, observation, and
feedback. You can’t assess it if you haven’t taught it!
• Change your teaching approach. The time is now, so be bold!

“How to” or “how not to do,” that is the question. This, the first of five practical sections on
summative assessment of EF-based skills, takes a slightly new approach by focusing on what not
to do. This may seem a bit too theoretical for a “how to” section, but let us explain. We’ll describe
such an exceedingly common mistake that we feel our warning will resonate with many teachers.
To help you fully appreciate the scenario we’re alerting you to, we’ll frame our discussion in a
“ghost of schoolyear future” type of story. To really evoke Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, you may
wish to imagine a sleepy version of yourself in old-timey pajamas and a long nightcap.
We’ll describe a mistake that teachers often make despite the very best of intentions. Think
of your own best intentions: If you’ve read this far, you might feel full of enthusiasm for “growth
mindset” teaching. You may have risen today fresh from a good night’s sleep, strode energetically
across the room, and thrown open the shutters to look out at the day with a great deal of satisfac-
tion. Life is good! Teaching is good! You might have whistled as you logged in to social media,
scrolled through inspiring growth mindset postings, and clicked on a podcast discussing grit. You
might have smiled as you reflected on chapters of this very book, or the big assessment confer-
ence you attended this summer in which the value of process skills was mentioned. No matter
what you’ve learned, let’s assume you plan to end your unit, term, or school year with big student
improvements to things like grit, growth mindset, and EF strategy use. Further, let’s imagine
you also intend to emphasize them in conferences, in portfolios, or on report cards. The mistake
we’re referring to is often innocently committed by people just as knowledgeable and invested as
are you.
The mistake is simple. It is a comfy little partial approach to being a growth mindset teacher
that is often substituted for the deeper and more pedagogical change that we and others (Dweck,
2016) have advocated. The partial approach does not operate on your regular observation, instruc-
tion, and assessment activities. Rather, it takes place in addition to and around these things during
special add-on periods and lessons. Below, we’ll briefly reemphasize the value of using a fully
pedagogical approach, but more importantly we’ll characterize the partial approach we’re troubled
by. Our goal is to forewarn you; while the partial approach can be added on with only a few simple
handouts in a period or two, it cuts an awful lot of corners. Much like old Ebenezer Scrooge, you
might not fully appreciate where this penny pinching is leading you, and how it might affect your
results. So, before you get started, let’s talk about the early days of September.
114 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Let’s step into the future. Do you see yourself among all of those teachers heading off into
classrooms? There are your students, there is your desk, and there is your coffee mug. The bell has
rung, and your school year has begun. As a teacher, you have a few new tricks: The future you is
well equipped and optimistic, making frequent mention of growth mindset, effort, and grit. You
have designated a period to explain what growth mindset is, and if you listen carefully you may
hear yourself saying, “Students, you should have a growth mindset because you can do anything
you set your mind to! Effort is what counts!” During this period, based on an activity you found
online, you may ask your students to write one thing they like about themselves for a display on
the classroom door. Look along the back wall of your classroom—­you might have set up a bulletin
board that says, “Grit Is What We Got!” and tomorrow you might ask each child to write a few
words about a time that he or she worked hard or showed effort. The next day, you might ask the
class to sort a list of 12 phrases, including “This is too hard” and “It’ll take me some time to get
through this,” into either growth or fixed mindset. You might even start to introduce the idea of
EF, using one of the practical approaches from Chapter 1 of this book. These are powerful things
to do. They will set a positive, optimistic tone and show your students that, in theory, you respect
their process. All of these activities will take place before or after your academic work, requiring a
special period or two. The problem is that you may not go any further—­you may avoid making any
substantive change to your core observation, instruction, and feedback practices. This happens for
a very good reason—­your habitual approaches are comfortable and familiar, and in a busy, stress-
ful classroom that’s a big advantage. When using your established pedagogy, you may feel most
relaxed, in control, and well prepared. It may make you feel more lighthearted and playful, which
is beneficial to your relationships with students. By naturally taking your growth mindset teaching
along a path of least resistance, you reduce your stress, but you do not directly and regularly teach
students how to respond to challenging situations with a strategic attitude.
What happens next? Weeks may pass and you may continue to refer to the bulletin board
either a little or a lot. When your students are discouraged, you may remind them to maintain a
growth mindset and you may even walk them over to the bulletin board for a refresher. They will
understand that they should have a growth mindset, but your students’ ability to respond to chal-
lenge with a strategic approach may remain about the same. They will not have learned when and
how to apply strategic processes because, actually, they have not been taught. You may begin to
feel frustrated and annoyed, and you may begin to suspect that your students’ ability to use EF
strategies is fixed: “Some of my kids can do it, and some just can’t,” you may think. This future is
distinctly not leading toward a growth mindset and is almost certainly where you will find yourself
if you don’t specifically decide to do something different. This is the type of approach taken by
many, many teachers who identify with the growth mindset movement. The partial approach relies
more on lip service and cheerleading than deep, substantial pedagogical change.
We realize this is the first time that we’ve come right out and characterized something as a
“mistake.” We do this because there is a lot on the line. We want to draw a bright line between
pedagogical and partial growth mindset approaches because they are so often muddled. We are
concerned that the type of substantial change we advocate will be lumped together with other,
more superficial approaches. So, to be frank, we do not advocate lip service, cheerleading, or
simply whistling a new tune on an old path. Or, to follow our literary theme, we do not believe
children will become more powerful simply because we’ve clicked our heels twice and mounted
a bulletin board saying, “Growth Mindset! Growth Mindset! Growth Mindset!” We believe you
need to make substantive change in your core teaching practices to foster substantive change in
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 115

your students. In the end, despite your best intentions, you will either be able to write report card
comments about how your students talk about growth mindset and define grit or be able to write
comments about the specific and tangible strategies that they actually use every day.
Now step into the future of pedagogical growth mindset teaching. While the preceding chap-
ters have provided a detailed description of a new, EF-­literate approach, you might want a more
straightforward and specific way to actually get started. Below is a glimpse of a tiny little weeklong
plan that drives a dash of growth mindset deeply into your daily observation, instruction, and feed-
back. Though it is condensed, it may be the perfect way to get your feet wet and gather baseline
information about what works and what doesn’t. Also, attempting this plan will give you plenty to
talk about with your grade partner, if you’re lucky enough to have one willing to collaborate. Look!
Here you are in a different future. Can you imagine?

1. On Monday, you define “executive functions” and describe a few key EFs. Perhaps you
gather your students in front of a list of a few simple, intuitive ones, such as organization, time
management, or attention. “These are the processes we use to meet our goals. Think about which
one you are best at. I’m best at attention. It helps me when I listen to you speak and when I read
your writing,” you might say. After describing the ways you show attention to meet your goals, you
may allow students to participate in the discussion.
2. On Tuesday, you bring EFs into your instruction. For example, you might say, “I’d like you
to solve the following problem with a partner. Think about the barriers you will face. Which EFs
do you think you will use? Which one will be hardest for you? And what strategy might you use to
be successful?” You don’t worry about making this conversation perfect—­you simply write what-
ever ideas your students have on the board. Keep doing this several times every day and watch the
conversations become richer.
3. On Wednesday, you start observing students’ use of strategy to support their EFs. You
challenge yourself to really watch and appreciate how your students operate. That’s it—you just
open your eyes and ears and really notice what they’re doing. While you watch, you might com-
ment, “Oh, how interesting!” or “Hmm . . . I just saw something I wasn’t expecting.”
4. On Thursday, you give students a typical academic task and start giving them feedback
about the strategies they are using. For at least 5 minutes, you drop everything and just walk
around the room noticing and naming, say, their organizational strategies. For example, you might
say, “I just saw Josh pulling out his math book. He knows we have math class after recess. That’s
so organized!” or “I see three people making a list before they begin. Nice planning strategy!” or
“Sadia just checked the time. I wonder if anyone else will use Sadia’s time management strategy?”
5. On Friday, you feel ready to sit down with a colleague to discuss your progress. What
approaches worked? What needs to be modified? What needs a little more discussion or teaching?
With just 1 week of experience, you have a feel for a wide variety of approaches and are hungry for
more information. At this point, you flip back though Chapters 1–5 to find examples of classroom
practice that will be right for you and your students.

For teachers, time marches forward unrelentingly. We do not have the luxury of putting off
decisions about how we will teach—­before we know it, the summer, the break, or the weekend
is over, and there we are again standing in front of a room full of students making decisions and
changing lives. Just as quickly, it will be report card time and we will be conducting summative
116 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

assessments. We hope this discussion has given you a sense of the distinct choices you have as an
EF-­literate teacher and where they may lead.

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Goal Setting in the Early Days
The big idea here is that your students can get started by targeting specific EFs
to work on. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Model goal setting for your students. By mentioning an EF you struggle with and telling your
students about a goal you would genuinely like to achieve, you can show them it is safe to be
self-­accepting, self-­compassionate, and strategic.
• Encourage your students to create their own goals by asking, “What EF do you struggle
with?” and “What EF goal will you create for this term?”

After you get your feet wet, you might be interested in doing a goal-­setting activity. The
creation of goals falls naturally at the beginning of a cycle of summative assessment and can pro-
vide focus for both you and your class. In the same way that we work with our students to make
academic targets, such as moving up a reading level or mastering certain times tables, we can
also encourage them to think about the learning skills, process steps, and EFs they would like to
improve upon. We’ll focus our attention on teachers who have developed EF literacy in their class-
rooms, but much of the terminology they use can suit a generic conversation. EFs such as attention,
time management, organization, and emotional control, for example, can be discussed with very
little background preparation. The most important thing is to open up a conversation about what
approach they would like to take to achieve their academic goals; we can then reflect on whether
those approaches were effective in our summative evaluation. We have two interesting examples.
Stacey Falconer, who teaches a group of eight students (grades 4–6) with learning disabilities,
begins her term by setting process-­based goals.2 But before asking a group of unfamiliar, nervous
students to reveal their areas for growth, she will include them in a conversation about a goal of
her own. Once she told her class that she wanted to become a better teacher by improving her time
management skills: “I want to remember to give 2-minute warnings before we start something new,
but it really doesn’t come naturally to me. How can I manage? Does anyone have a suggestion for
me?” After a discussion during which the students helped Stacey devise strategies and approaches,
she noticed they were more willing to open up about their own challenges. To further ease the pro-
cess of goal setting, Stacey followed her example by charting her students’ ideas about “the types of
goals students like us might have.” By easing the conversation toward personal goals slowly, Stacey
provided the time and safety needed to reassure any feelings of reservation, discouragement, or
distrust. This modeling of self-­understanding and self-­compassion is a key approach that is used
by many successful EF-­literate teachers and is particularly important when working with students
who may be stressed or defensive. We’ll provide information about an even more in-depth calming
trick that Stacey uses in our “how to” section relating specifically to stressed students.
Kirstyn Pepall also sets EF goals with her grade 5 class, according to a similar process.3 After
a brief introduction to EFs, her students are asked to decide in which area of EF they feel most

2 Stacey Falconer teaches at Lakeshore Public School in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
3 Kirstyn Pepall teaches at Legacy Public School in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 117

challenged and to create a simple goal for improvement. For example, a typical goal for organiza-
tion might be “to always put my materials neatly into my binders,” a goal for response inhibition
“to listen more patiently during groupwork,” and a goal for time management “to use my calendar
more often for homework deadlines.” Then these goals are jotted on small, individual “EF Goals”
sheets and posted in a quick and cheerful display.
When the goals are set and displayed, they become very useful. They can be referred to often
and woven into daily conversations about learning. A teacher like Kirstyn, for example, can wander
by the display and mention posted goals during teaching, perhaps grouping teams of students who
are focused on similar EF goals for certain tasks. For example, when assigning an essay, she might
say, “Before beginning, I’d like those students with planning and prioritizing goals to get together
to discuss strategies. Please report back to me with three good ideas before starting.” Or, when
assigning multistep math calculations, she might ask the students with both working memory and
attention goals to develop strategies and share them with the class. The working memory team
might suggest that students say each step out loud or work with a partner to avoid errors. The
attention-­focused students might suggest strategies such as quiet workspaces, underlining ques-
tions to show a double-­check has been done, or wearing headphones to block out distractions.
In this way, teachers can keep students’ goals front and center during teaching, ensure they are
building useful strategies, and also have specific targets to reflect on when making summative
assessments. Stephanie Walker also asks her students to set EF goals and described how they
sometimes spontaneously refer to them.4 Knowing one of her students was working toward better
response inhibition made it extra satisfying to hear him quietly reflect, “I really didn’t mean to
just shout that” after finishing a task and hollering, “I’m done!” For Stephanie, this particular stu-
dent’s emerging self-­awareness and self-­monitoring represented huge progress. Watching students
awaken to goal striving is so exciting.

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Time Strapped
The big idea here is that you can get your students to help you gather data on
their EF growth. In this section, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Work with students at the end of a project, unit, or term to determine specific EF barriers and
strategies that played a role in their success.
• Work with younger students in age-­appropriate ways to gather end-of-term data regarding
their learning, reflections, barriers, and strategies.

The report card deadline is a week away. Your academic assessment is finished, and your
grades have been calculated and entered. Depending on how comment heavy your report cards
are, you now have somewhere between 2 and 20 hours of work left. This task of crafting comments
about students’ learning often takes forever because we have so little substantive information to
work with. Instead, we engage in an often agonizingly slow process of weaving tidbits about our
program (“This term, Alexa participated in a geometry unit . . . ”) with chatty, subjective com-
mentary (“She enjoyed manipulating 2-D shapes to make a patterned quilt . . . ”) and with vague
qualifiers to explain any highs or lows in grades (“Alexa required occasional support to manage

4 Stephanie Walker teaches at Scott Young Public School in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
118 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

the expectations of this unit.”) To complete your class list, you may be writing upward of 8,000
words that don’t feel very useful, and nothing fires up writer’s block and resentment like a lack of
purpose. To remedy this frustrating and time-­consuming situation, some teachers rely heavily on
cut and paste, which further depletes the meaningfulness of the work. Others advocate slashing
report templates back to checkboxes or marks-only. Who can blame them?
We think, however, that when based on tangible, personal information about process and
EF-based strategy, writing report card comments can feel like time well spent. They can provide
essential information about context, process, and next steps and, just like the “discussion” and
“conclusion” sections of a well-­written research paper, make raw data points meaningful. The chal-
lenge is that we often just don’t have enough information. We sit down to write thinking we must
know so much about our students, and then spend hours grinding through what ends up being a
creative project. How is it possible not to know everything about students after so much time spent
together? If we haven’t been gathering information about process and strategy all along, accurate
information about it often hides behind our erroneous assumptions, students’ crafty excuses and
compensation, and the sheer volume and intensity of what we manage in a classroom. For example,
you may pick up on the fact that Adele’s book report is late because of a written organizational
problem, but maybe you won’t. Maybe that information will be confounded by the fact that she’s
also noisy or messy. Or maybe you’ll miss it because eight other students were late and there was
just too much going on. We’re suggesting that after months of FaceTime with students, what you
have passively gathered about why they perform the way they do may be much skimpier than you
realize. This is a well-known, normal phenomenon called “illusory superiority,” and it refers to an
exaggerated feeling of expertise. This is good news, actually, because it probably explains a large
part of the struggle we have when writing anecdotal report card comments. We have a suggestion
for how to quickly deepen them.
For this discussion of “time-­strapped” teaching, we’ll assume you haven’t been documenting
EF or process-­oriented information about your students throughout the term; let’s talk about how
to quickly gather it up. You probably already know this, but student self-­evaluation is a huge time
saver. While, of course, rich information is gathered through longer-­term observation, feedback,
and documentation, in this case there’s nothing wrong with doing an intense little burst of assess-
ment right at the end of a learning cycle. To do this, you’ll need a period with your students and a
few focused questions. Julie Hough provided us with a good example of how this can work.5 While
she typically uses a range of both fast and slow assessment approaches, she finds that this little
trick works no matter how much information she already has.
Julie was getting ready to write report card comments for grades 7/8 English language arts.
During the first term, her students had focused much of their attention on a book report project,
so she simply jotted two questions on the board: “What was your biggest executive functioning
challenge when working on the novel study? What was your biggest executive functioning strength
when working on the novel study? Give examples.” It is not necessary to refer specifically to EFs in
your question, of course. You could simply ask students about their biggest “challenge or barrier”
and most useful “strategy.” A student responded as follows:

“My strength in my novel study is working memory. I say this because whenever I am reading
my book I can remember what I read so I can apply it to my work. An example of when I used

5 Julie Hough teaches at Central Senior Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 119

working memory is when I was reading Grown and The Perfect Ten. I remembered important
events to add to my summary for the novel study. I struggle with task initiation. I say this
because sometimes I run out of time during the week so I get stuck doing both of the novel
studies in one day. An example of when I did this was for our 15th and 16th entries. I left the
two entries for one day.”6

Armed with a pile of student responses like these, Julie would be much more informed about
her students; she would know them better as individuals and as a class. Reviewing many responses,
she might notice patterns of challenge or strength, and might come up with ideas for how to
improve her classroom context or instruction. If, for example, many students mentioned time man-
agement as a challenge, she might front-load a lesson dealing with time management onto her next
unit of study for these students, and onto the book report unit the next time she taught it. Julie
would also be much more prepared to document meaningful information on a report card. Assum-
ing this reflection was submitted by a student with good book report results, Julie might have fol-
lowed a sentence describing the academic results with a comment such as this:

“For [this student], reading, understanding, and remembering grade-level material is less of a
challenge than managing time. She sometimes rushes work meant to be done throughout the
week and packs it into 1 or 2 days. With better organization, planning, and time management,
[this student] could get started earlier and earn even better results.”

In just a few short sentences, this report card comment presents an encouraging and unique record
of efficacy (strength in academic performance and working memory are noted), a specific record of
difficulty, and an actionable recommendation for next steps. A student, future teacher, tutor, coach,
or parent receiving this report would know a lot about this learner and exactly how to proceed.
Consider how Julie’s task of composing personal and useful comments for every single student
in her class might have been eased by the wide variety of responses she received. For example,
when answering the same two questions, one of her students mentioned challenges with flexibility
(“I need to see it through more than one person’s view”), while another mentioned challenges with
metacognition (“I make the same mistakes over and over again and don’t try to make my novel
study better”). The students’ reflections on their strengths were just as diverse. In our experience,
when you actually have the information you need, writing good summative comments on report
cards isn’t actually that hard. Instead of grinding them out based on foggy recollections and art-
ful repetition, we can use them to document information that is genuinely interesting, useful, and
unique. Julie comments, and we agree, that when she takes the time to collect process-­based infor-
mation from and with students, her report cards seem to “write themselves.”
Is there any way for teachers of younger students to reap these benefits? We think so. With a
little more time, and perhaps simpler vocabulary, this approach works just as well for those with
basic writing skills. For prewriters, teachers can gather simple smiley and serious faces, or checks
and crosses, on photos or sketches of different classroom EF challenges. For example, students can
put “ratings” on a page with six small photos or sketches of different classroom challenges such
as sharing (flexibility), turn taking (response inhibition), sitting on the carpet (attention), being
pushed (emotional control), threading beads or cutting (goal-­directed persistence), and following

6 Some details changed to protect privacy.

120 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

two-step directions (working memory). Collecting these pages, a teacher can see that for Alita,
goal-­directed persistence feels like a big frown and response inhibition feels like a giant smile. This
would provide just a little bit of information about which EFs may be more or less challenging,
and it might be surprising and useful. This activity would be even more revealing if done during a
one-on-one chat, in which teachers ask for further information, engage students in discussion, and
isolate them from the temptation of parroting their friends’ responses.
At any level, this simple approach is a big win in terms of logistics, and it might help you to get
your reports done more quickly. You could easily use it as the final class for each and every unit of
study you do. Even more importantly, however, is that it is itself a tremendously powerful process.
Even if you accidentally leave all of the student responses you collect in the staff room and some-
one shreds them by mistake, you will have created a formal, shared, structured time for summative
reflection that may not otherwise happen.

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Highly Structured
The big idea here is that students can play a major role in assessing the growth
and development of their EF skills. In this section, you’ll learn more about how
to do the following:

• Involve students in a self-­assessment of their learning skills and strategies using your school’s
actual report card (or a simple chart that is similar).
• Recruit students to be your report card editors. They can adjust or add more detail to your
comments about the processes and strategies they use.

If you have the luxury of starting early, a more structured approach to summative process-­
oriented assessment can be powerful. In this section, we’ll describe Julie Hough’s (grades 7/8)
yearlong summative activities, including self-­assessment, goal setting, frequent check-ins, and
collaborative report card writing. There’s a lot here, but don’t be overwhelmed. This represents
a year’s worth of material, but it is all very simple, straightforward, and practical. In fact, her
approaches are so classic that you could probably modify them all the way down to grade 1. These
are approaches she used single-­handedly with a full-sized class.
Do you recall seeing the front page of the Ontario report card in Figure 6.1? This page forms
the basis of Julie’s summative assessment process. At the beginning of the year, before starting any
assessment, Julie makes sure her students really understand what those indicators mean. To do
this, she copies the first page of the report, cuts the learning skills into strips, and has her students
sort them into piles of “do” and “do not understand”; then they work together to rewrite the tricky
ones into more student-­friendly language. This would be easy to do with a wide variety of different
report cards.
Then, at the beginning of school and again before each of the three report cards, Julie con-
ducts a self-­assessment survey with her class using each of these “learning skills” indicators. There’s
nothing very fancy about this; she simply takes each and every indicator exactly as it appears on
the report card, provides precisely the same scoring system, and asks students to self-­assess. In
this way, they complete a mock report card. You can imagine how informative and useful this is
for students at the very beginning of a school year, when they may not know exactly what Julie is
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 121

looking for in their performance. Starting the year with overarching expectations clearly in mind
is like beginning a race with a wide-open view of the finish line.
To her survey of report card learning skills, Julie attaches a series of reflection questions,
which you will find in Figure 6.4. These questions probe students’ thinking about their strongest
and most challenging EFs and ask them for specific examples for each. It is important to note that
Julie’s students have plenty of practice with this type of reflective self-­assessment, because she
also incorporates it into rubrics for projects and assignments. Regardless, Julie is often surprised
by what students write. The fact is, the way EF strength and weakness look to a teacher is often
different than the way they feel to a student. So, for example, a student who seems to struggle with
organization may reveal that time management is the source of the kerfuffle. Or what appears to
be a strength in flexibility may feel to a student like a weakness in emotional regulation: “I need
strategies to make sure I don’t just cave in and do all of the work for the group.” Much can be
learned about individual students through this process, and there are also many enduring, general
lessons for teachers. Never underestimate the extent to which biased and incorrect assumptions
about student performance are made.
Working with her class in this way offers great benefit to Julie. She manages to supervise stu-
dents through this process with only light, whole-class support, gathering learning skill levels and
reflective comments that can be applied directly to her report cards. When there is a discrepancy
between student and teacher perspective, Julie has time to indulge in one-on-one consultation:
“I noticed you rated yourself as ‘excellent’ for ‘self-­regulation.’ I’m concerned this doesn’t reflect
your challenges with mapping groupwork. Tell me what you were thinking?” While this allows
Julie to consider the student’s perspective and gather information she may not have been aware
of, the students know the final decision belongs to Julie. Could you manage a process like this?
When estimating how long it may take you to attempt it, you should subtract the time you might
otherwise spend on your own searching for data and contemplating students’ learning skills with-
out their input. How long does that ordinarily take, do you think? Julie can conduct this process in
one focused 45-minute period.
Speaking of involving students in a meaningful summative assessment process, you might be
surprised at how Julie actually writes report cards. After several meetings with her bosses, Julie
received permission to write her anecdotal comments both to and with her students. Let that
sink in—we think it’s fabulously cool and contemplated it with a good 10 minutes of “oh man, I
wish I had thought of that” revelry. So, after drafting a first copy and submitting it to her admin
for the usual approval, Julie makes a photocopy so students can add their edits. This serves a few
purposes. First, students become more invested, as coauthors, in the process of formal reporting.
They feel aligned in an important and authentic project as partners and collaborators with their
teacher and principal. And this is not an empty gesture. The students often find inaccuracies,
over- or underrepresentations, or omissions in Julie’s description of their learning skills. She said
it keeps her honest and reminds her to steer away from “edubabble.” On a basic and obvious level,
this process also just ensures the kids have read the darn things. Julie comments that this makes a
big difference because it allows her to refer to them throughout the year, asking the students about
their goals or how they feel they are progressing on certain tasks. To return to a long-­distance
swimming metaphor, can you imagine if a swimming coach wrote, “You were swimming to the
left the whole time and it cost you 5 minutes. You need to defog your goggles and steer more to
the right,” and the swimmer took it home, gave it to her parents, and never looked at it? Absurd.
 You will discuss two EF skills, one that you feel is a strength and one that is a challenge.

1. My biggest EF strength is                        . I show it when I

   
   
    .

2. I showed this during the year when I .

   
   
   
    .

3. Next year I will (set a goal for yourself) .

   
   
    .

4. My biggest EF challenge is                        . I show it when I

   
   
    .

5. I showed this during the year when I .

   
   
   
    .

    Next year I will (set a goal for yourself)

   
   
    .

FIGURE 6.4. Worksheet for reflection on EF skills. Created by Julie Hough at Woodville Elementary School
in Woodville, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.

From Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies by Laurie Faith, Carol‑Anne Bush, and
Peg Dawson. Copyright © 2022 The Guilford Press. Permission to photocopy this material is granted to purchasers of this book for
personal use or use with students (see copyright page for details). Purchasers can download additional copies of this material (see the
box at the end of the table of contents).

122
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 123

Because she uses this structured process, Julie’s report card comments are very specific. A
sample has been included below, with the student’s name and specific details changed to protect
privacy. We have bolded aspects of the comment that resulted from student consultation. You can
see how they comprise about half of the comment, in balance with other information about “Alex’s”
academic and social work.

“Alex, you made a very smooth and positive adjustment to life at [school name]. You continued
to consistently complete all tasks thoroughly and with attention to the expectations. I enjoyed
seeing you become an independent learner who developed systems to organize large-scale
projects like your sustainable city and novel study. You enjoyed the responsibility that came
with having choice, and you rose to the challenge each time. I was regularly impressed
with the strategies you used to keep track of work or your notes. Make sure you continue
to think and work like this next year. You checked in with me throughout the day to make
sure you were ‘on track.’ Advocating for yourself like this is very important, and you need
to ensure you do it next year as well. Your social achievements this year were strong too. You
made new friends, had fun throughout the day, and developed positive relationships with
peers and adults outside of your classroom. You leave others with a warm impression. Putting
in the effort in a new school is important. I hope you continue to make good choices about
your peer group next year so you can avoid any conflict or trouble that would prevent you from
having a good experience at school. On a learning skills survey you highlighted a number of
achievements you are proud of this year, particularly being so organized and independent.
You felt your hard work paid off in math, literacy, and social studies. You need to keep all
of your strategies and tools in mind for next year, where you will be expected to take more
ownership over the day. I look forward to seeing the great things you’ll do next.”

After all this summative reporting is behind them, Julie conducts one last activity to help pre-
pare her students for their transition to high school. At the end of the school year, Julie and her stu-
dents create a summary of the most important insights about their learning. They call it a “passport”
because, although it is an essential reflection experience for the students themselves, the intended
audience is the following year’s teacher. Though every teacher, year, and curriculum is different,
Julie hopes it will remind students of their effective processes and strategies and also give the fol-
lowing year’s teacher a little heads-up. The passport focuses on many different academic areas and
project types: “Anything I think the students may encounter again,” Julie told us. In Figure 6.5,
you’ll see two different examples of the simple, point-form notes students typically make about their
strengths, challenges, and strategies. Julie conducts this activity with upward of 30 students, so she
does not tweak, perfect, or otherwise change the students’ responses. Accordingly, you’ll notice that
some students wrote more than others, and within each students’ passport, the entries vary from
being really on point to a little incomplete. Creating this document helps students notice patterns
in their strengths, challenges, and strategies across subjects, so they can stitch together a sense of
what they are like as learners. Julie told us that it also stimulates a real sense of pride and satisfac-
tion, because students can appreciate the depth and breadth of their learning at a glance. As such,
Julie sometimes adds an extra dose of this experience around midyear. Regardless, by the time this
passport activity rolls around, Julie’s students are pretty self-aware with plenty to share.
Julie tells us that during her first year of teaching, a more senior colleague suggested she not
“waste” too much time on report cards. “They have a 5-second shelf life,” she was advised. Julie,
124 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Area (project or
situation) Info (strengths, challenges, interests) Strategies I have for this (be specific)
General executive Thinking through, taking my time Focusing on it and not talking
functioning strengths
General executive Not always reading the last piece of Taking my time
functioning challenges information
Group projects City, Playground Splitting the work

Reading Crossover, The Hate U Give, The Making a schedule for times to read
Hunger Games
Writing Proof writing, using the whole Not saying the same thing
paper
Math Problem solving, reading the Taking my time
question
Other things you need I like shoes.
to know

Area (project or
situation) Info (strengths, challenges, interests) Strategies I have for this (be specific)
General executive Emotional control, planning tasks Ask a teacher.
functioning strengths
General executive Organizing materials, monitoring Use a binder.
functioning challenges
Group projects I’m easy going and get along with Just not do work for other people
people, but I usually end up doing or section it so I know what to do.
all the work.
Reading Fluency is a challenge for me. I Read more and find audiobooks or
like books that are about real-life use Overdrive.
problems.
Writing My writing is messy and I can’t I use a computer and want to write
spell. I can write rough drafts more often. I want to make sure I
quickly so I get feedback. check my work over.
Math I know all my facts, although I need a conversion chart—I know
sometimes I forget them and just how to use it.
need more time. I’m not afraid to
try things. I pick up on new things
quickly. I find measurements and
conversions hard.
Other things you need I will not be afraid to ask for a rubric. I want a binder.
to know

FIGURE 6.5. Sample summative “passports” created by students for next year’s teacher. Some details
changed to protect privacy. Created by Julie Hough at Woodville Elementary School in Woodville,
Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 125

being highly practical and more than a little determined, decided that if she was going to have
to do them, she may as well make the process, as well as the final product, worthwhile. We like
imagining the advice she’d give to a first-year teacher.

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Organic and Free Flowing
The big idea here is that in-­person conversations with students are a powerful
way to stimulate reflection and learning and gather assessment data. In this sec-
tion, you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Use a 10-minute one-on-one conversation to expand your understanding of a student’s EF

strengths and challenges.
• Provide a safe space for your students to share their fears and negative thoughts about their
learning, and use this safe space to offer reassurance and a more positive interpretation of
their abilities.

It’s the end of a school term or year, and you’re preparing to comment upon your students’
process skills in report cards. You may have gathered little bits and pieces of data as part of your
ongoing formative assessment, but you want to take one last look at the strategies your students
have learned to use. Using a “free flowing and organic” approach, you hope to weave this final
round of data gathering into your program in a way that is meaningful, personal, exploratory, and
constructivist, avoiding methodology that seems mechanical. How can this be done?
We searched our community for a good example and found grade 4 teacher Charlene Chap-
man.7 Like many of the summative assessors we spoke to, Charlene was eager to engage students
as partners using reflection and self-­assessment. Instead of asking for written reflection, however,
Charlene created a schedule and recorded personal, one-on-one reflective conversations with each
of her students. Each conversation took about 10 minutes, give or take, and she achieved several
per day by scattering them creatively throughout her schedule. Though this was time-­consuming,
Charlene realized benefits for students, their parents, and for her own practice as a teacher.
Charlene used these conversations to reassure each student with a very important statement
about her role as their teacher and assessor. This seemed long overdue. For years, Charlene had
worried that, for those with difficulties at school, report cards had become a bit malodorous; writ-
ten in private and often containing a few difficult truths, they seemed to be a kind of last word from
teacher to student. After many months of trust and collaboration, it didn’t make sense to deliver
such important information in a one-sided, written document. You thought your teacher liked you,
the report seemed to imply, but wait till you see what’s going into your permanent record! While it
is not common, we have probably all seen a report card that sounded a little ranting and negative.
Rather, speaking to her students in person vaulted Charlene into a more healthy and professional
position of caring and support. In each meeting, she softened the big black-and-white process of
summative assessment with several clear, direct messages: I’m gathering information because I
have enjoyed watching your progress, you are important and valued, your strengths are delightful,
your challenges are understandable and okay, we can all improve performance through strategy

7 Charlene Chapman teaches at Queen Victoria Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
126 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

use, and I care about your long-term success. Charlene and her students came together across a
table, looked each other in the eye, and negotiated new roles as assessor and the assessed—­in our
estimation, this shift in policy and tone was a breakthrough moment in report card diplomacy.
“Interviews allowed me to dig out the most surprising information,” Charlene told us. She
explained that, though she began the interviews knowing an awful lot about her students, the pro-
cess often seemed to double her insight. She would begin with simple questions such as “What is
your best strategy?” and “What is your biggest barrier?” It wasn’t the initial question that mattered
most, however, but her follow-­up. Instead of having a student reply simply “My flexibility in groups
has improved,” Charlene used a spiral of “Why,” “But, exactly how?” and “Can you tell me more?”
prompts to move toward a deeper understanding of challenges and improvements. For example,
a student with improved flexibility revealed that he used the strategy of asking more questions,
which reduced his tendency to be controlling, allowing him to feel involved with group mates
without being so overbearing. These more nuanced insights were safely recorded on an iPad video
recorder placed unobtrusively on the table so they could be reviewed later, making perfect mate-
rial for report cards. Charlene could share whole, full interpretations of her students’ performance.
Her learning about her students was profound. “I realized,” she reflected, “that I should be doing
these interviews earlier in the year.”
Investing 10 minutes per student for interviews had another benefit. In addition to identifying
students’ growth in terms of strategy use, she could triage and begin to address any unproductive
mindsets. For example, as her conversations progressed, she was struck by the persistent belief
from a small handful of students that despite knowing exactly what they needed to do, they would
“never be able to change.” After several follow-­up questions, these students all confided the same
general feeling: hopelessness. “I am not really changing. I am not really growing. I am not the sort
of person who will be successful.” Reflecting on a hodgepodge of different types of performance,
stretched out over months, struggling students simply couldn’t pick out and believe in their suc-
cesses. So, before the meeting was over, Charlene would roll up her sleeves and help these stu-
dents sort through the jumble of experience. Together they could make a neat little pile of small
but steady victories and make a plan for the growth to come. With unwavering support, she’d say,
“Are you kidding? You’ve made really important progress this year and I’m proud of you.” Her
message was “You, too, are a changer and a grower.” This is yet another example of something that
is perfectly simple but may be overlooked in the rush and bother of classroom life: simply respond-
ing to a child having hopeless feelings with reassurance, confidence, and appreciation. And while
there is no simple solution to the problem of hopeless mindsets, Charlene’s moment of connection
provided the bump she needed to continue building optimism and a sense of opportunity among
her students.
Drawing upon these conversations, Charlene can write report card comments that refer
deeply and specifically to individual student learning. And after all of the interviews are over, and
report cards are written, Charlene thinks they make a nice tool for educating parents about the
evolving function of school, teachers, and assessment. She hopes that, with this boost, parents will
be more likely to reemphasize a growing and improving mindset among their children, and under-
stand that though every problem cannot be solved in 1 year, a toolbox of strategies is steadily being
accumulated. The final comments on Charlene’s reports sounded like the excerpt below (names
and some details have been changed to protect student identity). You may notice that while several
ongoing challenges are described, the language is largely positive and encouraging.
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 127

“Learning skills are an important part of Lauren’s learning. She has worked this year toward
understanding herself better as a learner—­her likes and dislikes, as well as her strengths
and weaknesses. She has participated in classroom discussions around bettering ourselves by
understanding the barriers we face and strategies we can choose to help us overcome these
issues. When discussing her executive functions, Lauren said, ‘I am good at planning and
prioritizing. When we were building structures, I tested all of my motors first to make sure
they were working.’ Lauren has found it challenging to work in a group. Conflicts arise when
she doesn’t compromise her views. She has learned to be more flexible by asking questions,
so everyone can feel involved and heard. Lauren is very comfortable and capable when lead-
ing students younger than herself. Overall, Lauren does a very good job at regulating herself
when she attends school on a regular basis, but the longer her period of absence, the more she
struggles. Lauren’s next challenge is to develop strategies to ensure that she comes to school
rested and prepared to learn.”

Owing to this in-depth process, Charlene finishes her year with a healthy appreciation for her
own strengths and challenges as an educator. More than ever, she is painfully aware of her stu-
dents’ leftover academic gaps, missing strategies, and discouraged mindsets. Like every teacher,
she will worry over these challenges during the summer, plotting and planning for even better
logistics and approaches next year. In addition, however, this process has helped Charlene tune in
to some pretty encouraging victories. She knows that many students leave her classroom feeling
they are growing and becoming more skilled. They report feeling proud of their accomplishments
and eager to face new challenges. Also, a number of her students describe having expanded their
social networks. Reflecting on this, she suspects that her approach “pulls students out of their
boxes.” Those who were once “pigeonholed” by lagging skills and excluded from certain classroom
groupings are now more often seen, appreciated, and included by their peers. “The diversity of
groups has tripled!” she reflects. Charlene also delights when the big, overall message she advances
in her program, and summative assessment approach, is received. She’s not trying to be right all
the time, or dominate her students, or have the last word in some kind of snarky report card slam
dunk. When trying to explain it, Charlene says, “I don’t need to make smarter students; I need to
make more strategic, self-aware, and conscientious students. I need to create lifelong learners.” In
a note written to her on the last day of school, one of her students nailed it: “I love that you don’t
just want me to be good this year; you want me to be great always.”

How to Assess EF Strategy Use:

Working with a “Stressed” Class
The big idea here is that there are strategies and tactics to make self-­
assessment a little more manageable for stressed students. In this section,
you’ll learn more about how to do the following:

• Teach students to put some distance between themselves and difficult challenges, feedback,
or assessments.
• Create specific, predictable times and spaces in which students can anticipate an open and
honest conversation.
128 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Stressed students are not always thrilled to engage in reflection, self-­assessment, or anything
requiring vulnerability, so attempting to tackle personal qualities like EFs or process skills may be
even harder. How can we make it more likely that stressed students will open up and engage with
us in the various forms of summative reflection and assessment we might attempt? In this section,
we’ll present an approach that works with younger and older students, and that connects satisfy-
ingly to a niche of research of which you may not be aware.
First, let’s dig into the science. To begin, get inside the emotions of a student who is ruminat-
ing over a challenging or disappointing result. In your world, this might translate to, say, showing
up late for recess duty twice in one week and feeling that a couple of colleagues are subsequently
irritated with you. Can you relate? The science tells us that if you feel bad about this, and worry
about it quietly and alone, keeping it all to yourself and remaining absorbed in it, you might dwell
on some rather unproductive feelings. Your troubled mind might cycle through feelings of inad-
equacy or frustration, or maybe even anger at the perceived reaction of your colleagues. You might
call up a friend on your way home from school to vent. Conversely, however, if you find some dis-
tance from the mistake, separating it a bit from your self and seeing it a little more objectively, you
might have an easier time. You might realize that you’d just had the kind of bad week that most
people have from time to time, and that two lates aren’t really that catastrophic. The difference,
according to research, is distance. If we can take a step back and reflect on our challenges from
a little bit of a distance, we can ease some of the most difficult emotions, reduce the temptation
to blame, respond with more insight, and experience more closure (for review, see White, Kross,
& Duckworth, 2015). It’s a subtle insight, but when you’re trying to engage stressed students in a
moment of real, open, frank discussion about their performance, every little bit helps.
This research is hardly surprising. In fact, it seems obvious. Upon hearing it you may line it
up with comments you typically make in your classroom, such as “Don’t worry”; “It’s no big deal”;
or “Tomorrow’s another day and we can try again.” These are, indeed, reassuring comments, but
if you really pay attention to the science, you notice that it recommends something just a little
more specific. You would be closer to the science if you said, “Your behavior is not you”; “Yep,
that’s a problem, but let’s step back and see it from a bit of distance”; or “Let’s move away from it
so we can actually see it.” Do you notice the subtle difference? When helping students to create
distance from challenges, we are not aiming to shrink or discount the importance of those chal-
lenges. Rather, we can confirm the importance of the challenge but encourage students to remove
themselves from it. Taking this approach allows students to process the situation from a higher
level, with more of a “big picture” perspective. From this position, removed from emotion, one can
see a situation in its entirety.
To model this calm and objective self-­reflection, Paula Barrow asked her primary class (senior
kindergarten/grade 1) to help her reflect on her own teaching practices. “Just like you, I want to
learn and get better every day,” she told them. “I would like you to help me think of a few things I
need to work on.” Her students then helped her create a chart of successes and things she should
change (Table 6.1), but before they started, she took a moment to confirm their trusting relationship:

“Teaching my students to be empathetic is a big thing for me, not just toward each other but
toward anyone. I front-­loaded this discussion by asking students to consider their comments a
moment before sharing. I asked them to be reasonable and not make requests that I certainly
cannot honour, like, for example, ‘play all day’ or ‘no more writing.’ I also asked them to con-
 How EF Literacy Can Improve Summative Assessment 129

sider my feelings. I told them that words can hurt and that we need to use metacognition and
response inhibition before raising their hands.”

In the list of things students suggested Paula should change were a few items that might have
stung had she ruminated quietly upon them. She may have thought “Snacks? We missed snack on,
like, one day!”; “Yeesh, I go to garage sales all summer and all you notice are the broken toys?”;
and “Oh, man. I’ve really failed them if they are asking me for more stories . . . ” Just like the kids,
had she kept this process close and quiet, Paula might have indulged in blaming or self-doubt.
Rather, while conducting her reflection in conversation with her students, she modeled an objec-
tive attitude. In response to their comment about toys, she said, “Oh. Hold on. That’s a surprise but
let me take a step back. Okay. Well, that is easy to fix!” While there is nothing particularly earth
shattering about being calm and objective about your mistakes in front of kids, it is pretty crafty
to intentionally create a space in which your real, genuine challenges will be exposed so you can
model a healthy, objective response. It’s even better if you can apply state-of-the-art science and
intentionally use “distancing” language. To be even more direct, Paula might have explained how
she was responding: “Oh! When you mentioned toys, my first feeling was a little hurt and defen-
sive.” At this, their eyes might widen; teachers’ disclosures of personal feelings are often fascinat-
ing to students. She might continue, “But then I decided to put the problem down, stand back, and
really get a look at it.” She might have even gestured to a spot on the floor where she had “placed”
the problem. This is one good way to teach even very young students to maintain their self-­esteem
and confidence, and to remain objective, when talking about challenges.

TABLE 6.1. Kindergarten/Grade 1 End-of-Year Feedback for Teacher

What should my teacher keep doing? What should my teacher change?
A little bit of play Jenga
See Saw Snack everyday
Executive functions More stories
Persuasive writing Throw away broken toys
Math Put old toys/games in storage and get different ones
Telling time Agendas
Crafts
Outside gym
Keep tables where they are
Chart paper talks (Barriers and Strategies Protocol)
100th day of school
Daily 5 and Daily 3
Kinder sight words
Day of the week/months
Puzzles

Note. This table is based on a chart created in Paula Barrow’s senior kindergarten/grade 1 class at Queen Victoria Public School
in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
130 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Stacey Falconer, a grades 4–6 special education teacher, uses a slightly more involved meth-
od.8 As a special ed. teacher, she spends a lot of time helping her students to understand themselves
as learners and refine personal strategic approaches. Her class, therefore, is very well equipped to
comment on the teaching approaches that Stacey uses to support their learning. She uses a survey
called “Feedback for My Teacher” (Figure 6.6) to collect their initial responses. This tool offers
three to five different examples of environmental supports for each EF, and asks students to rate
the extent to which each one is provided in the classroom. These supports include accommoda-
tions to time, space, materials, and interactions, and just reading over the document is like taking
a course in special education.
Imagine Stacey administering this tool with her students: About half of them retreated to a
quiet place with the survey to read and contemplate, while others worked through it in a chatty,
collaborative group. After about 20 minutes, the students regrouped with feedback that was, for
Stacey, truly useful and often quite humbling: “I told them that I was genuinely shocked at some
of my areas for growth.” In a few cases, what she intended and what the students said they were
receiving was completely different. For example, she thought she was providing students with
adequate reminders about timing, deadlines, and transitions but realized she needed to drastically
increase the dosage and frequency of this support to register any impact with students. As they
watched her respond to their feedback, Stacey’s students saw her progress through a series of feel-
ings. Initially, Stacey tells us she genuinely felt bad. She was disappointed with herself, was a little
mistrusting of the feedback, and felt tempted to assume her students had somehow misrepresented
what she was doing. Sitting in her teachers’ chair, however, mindful of modeling her very best
behavior, she managed to slow down, consider the feedback more objectively, and finally use it to
improve her performance. “Feedback can be hard, but it is so important,” she reassured them. “I
just needed a moment to take a breath and step back from what you told me. Now I can see it more
clearly. I get it and I’m excited to try a new approach.”
In addition to using distancing language and modeling objectivity, Stacey emphasized how
much of her own sharing, connecting, honesty, and vulnerability it took to cultivate trust among
her students. There is no faking it. “You have to be willing to take a risk,” she told us, “reveal some
weakness, admit to a few mistakes, and share your true feelings.” From here, in Stacey’s classroom,
the students became more open to discussing strengths and challenges, first in private conversa-
tions and then among their peers. This is not to say that her students walk around all day in a per-
manent state of vulnerability—­they are perfectly typical kids. Instead, Stacey dedicates specific
time, sets a stage, and cues students for short, intense bursts of sharing. “It takes a lot of trust on
both sides,” she clarified. “We sit down on the floor together, and it may take a moment to shift
gears.” It is perhaps because they know she won’t expect them to remain perfectly exposed that
they feel comfortable sharing in the first place. When the room is calm and quiet, and everyone
feels safe, Stacey can engage her students in objective discussions about their goals, their most
effective strategies, and where they plan to go next.

8 Stacey Falconer teaches at Lakeshore Public School in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

 How much does my teacher help my
executive functions?
Feedback for My Teacher (a Ton, a Little, Rarely, almost Never)
Response Inhibition
My teacher gives instructions slowly, so I can keep up. T L R N

My teacher helps the class calmly and patiently. T L R N

My teacher finds time to talk with me about personal things of interest. T L R N

Working Memory
My teacher makes charts, posters, and other strategies that help me remember things. T L R N

My teacher gives her instructions out loud and with some kind of visual. T L R N

My teacher believes me when I tell her that I forgot. T L R N

My teacher helps me connect new learning to things we already know. T L R N

Sustained Attention
My teacher lets me eat a healthy snack or take a walk when I need it. T L R N

My teacher tries to eliminate distractions. T L R N

My teacher makes sure I know what to do before asking me to start my work. T L R N

My teacher reminds me to get back to work if I become distracted, but she doesn’t T L R N
make me feel bad about it.
My teacher posts the daily agenda, so I know what to expect. T L R N

My teacher tries to make classes interesting and meaningful. T L R N

Emotional Control
My teacher talks to us about emotions (both ours and others’) and how to handle them. T L R N

My teacher lets me have a break or go to a “safe, quiet spot” if I’m frustrated. T L R N

My teacher lets me know when she’s worried about me. T L R N

My teacher has given me strategies that help me to calm down. T L R N

Flexible Thinking
My teacher tells us when something unusual is going to happen—just gives us a quick T L R N
“heads up.”
My teacher explains new situations and lets me ask questions if I’m unsure. T L R N

When my teacher gives me a “next step,” she also reminds me of the things I do well. T L R N

(continued)

FIGURE 6.6. “Feedback for My Teacher” assessment tool. Created by Stacey Falconer at Lakeshore Public
School in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, in cooperation with Laurie Faith. Used with permission.

From Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies by Laurie Faith, Carol‑Anne Bush, and
Peg Dawson. Copyright © 2022 The Guilford Press. Permission to photocopy this material is granted to purchasers of this book for
personal use or use with students (see copyright page for details). Purchasers can download additional copies of this material (see the
box at the end of the table of contents).

131
Organization
My teacher helps me to make systems to stay organized, like online binders, folders T L R N
with colors, bins, etc.
My teacher has a place for the things I need. T L R N

My teacher helps us keep an organized classroom. T L R N

Prioritizing and Planning

My teacher checks in on my independent work to make sure I’m not falling behind. T L R N

My teacher helps me to break jobs into chunks, so I know what parts need to be done. T L R N

My teacher makes checklists and success criteria with me, so I know what I should be T L R N
learning.
Time Management
My teacher gives me the “2-minute” warning before we finish. T L R N

My teacher helps me to remind my parents of upcoming things. T L R N

My teacher lets me have input into how I finish tasks. T L R N

Task Initiation
My teacher is clear about what I should be doing. T L R N

My teacher makes the work “just right for me.” T L R N

My teacher makes me believe in myself by letting me know she believes in me. T L R N

Perseverance
My teacher lets me learn with and from other students. T L R N

My teacher gives me ideas or examples to help me keep trying. T L R N

My teacher lets me have choices in some of the things I do. T L R N

My teacher checks in with me to see how I’m doing. T L R N

My teacher makes things easier, so I can do well. T L R N

Metacognition (thinking about my thinking)

My teacher goes over finished work with me, so I know where I went wrong and what I T L R N
did well.
My teacher develops next steps with me. T L R N

My teacher doesn’t just give marks; I get to help decide on my marks by thinking about T L R N
what I understand.

FIGURE 6.6. (continued)

132
 CHAPTER 7

How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports

Other Educational Priorities

In this chapter, we describe how an EF-­literate approach can support your work on six other edu-
cational priorities: the achievement gap, global competencies, equity, IEPs, Universal Design for
Learning, and the reduction of teacher burnout. We point out the advantage of building a basic EF
literacy among your students (and colleagues) and focus heavily on the utility of the BSP.1 To navi-
gate this chapter, you may flip through to find the topic you’re especially passionate about, read
up on the issue your district is currently focused on, or tackle the whole lot. In any case, we hope
it will make your EF-­supportive teaching more satisfying and that it will help you find efficiencies
and opportunities to “kill two birds with one stone.”
A little disclaimer before we dig in. Writing this chapter was like galloping up to seven power-
ful tribes, wielding a peace offering and asking for a parlay. In essence, we entered the traditional
lands of the achievement gap, global competencies, equity, IEPs, UDL, and healthy communities
and said, “Let us summarize our interpretation of your needs and suggest the ways that we can
work together.” Then we sat ourselves down and began the intense process of trying to find inter-
connection. Hours, days, and weeks of slow, careful negotiation would pass, and when we finally
rode away, we’d mumble an exhausted “Um, that went well, don’t you think? That was helpful?”
About an hour later, however, we’d be circling back after reading, hearing, or conversing about
something new on the topic. “Nope. Not right,” we’d say. “Missed something.” All this to say, we’ve
done a lot of learning, thinking, and editing, and, doggone it, we know there’s very little chance
that we’ve got it all right. Regardless, we remain dedicated to traveling outside of our small terri-
tory of EF-­literate teaching to discover connections with other domains.
1 Remember, the BSP was introduced in Chapter 3. It is a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teach-
ers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be
more successful?”

133
134 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

EFs AND THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Differences in school achievement related to socioeconomic disparity exist around the world (Mul-
lis, Martin, Foy, & Hooper, 2016). The following discussion will make a connection between these
gaps and EF. We will suggest that the support of EFs in school should be considered a moral
imperative for those hoping to educate fairly, remove barriers for all children, and empower the
most traditionally disadvantaged learners.
First, let’s take an imaginary field trip to the achievement gap. We load our students onto a
bus, count heads, and drive half an hour north. Along the way, we turn around to chat with a stu-
dent sitting alone: “Are you looking forward to the trip, Sean?” Hearing the roar of his classmates’
voices filling the bus, and feeling a little motion sick, he looks up weakly and gives the tiniest
nod. Sean seems so discouraged, even before the day has begun. Upon arrival, we park, visit the
washrooms, and then head off through the woods. As we approach the gap, we see that it is wide
and will be quite challenging for some to cross. Before we even have time to provide instructions,
however, one or two of our students take a running start and leap boldly across. While the others
watch, the successful jumpers celebrate—­play, climb trees, chase each other around—­becoming
the best of friends. A few others are encouraged by this example and take the leap, joining immedi-
ately in the celebrations on the other side. Still others are urged across with a few words of advice.
We spot Sean among a small group on the near side.
In many ways, this is a trip we make every day at school. The day begins, we present some
kind of a challenge, and students begin to respond. Both in school and on our imaginary field trip,
there are a handful of students who need an extraordinary amount of help to cross the achieve-
ment gap, some who will not make it, and some who will not even try. Work that relies heavily on
EF, such as learning to read, completing mathematical problems, or engaging in critical thinking
or collaboration, will be the most challenging. How do we respond? On our imaginary field trip,
would we walk the stragglers down to the shore, find a bridge, and pass over? Would we carry
students across one by one? Or would we set up camp on the near shore with this small group
and come up with another engaging activity? All of these options avoid or replace the challenge of
crossing the gap. Though we endeavor to support these students with encouragement and reassur-
ance, the alternate activities we offer day after day will come to feel like failure for many.
Looking back at photos of this field trip, we might notice several things. First, we might notice
that the students who made it across the achievement gap were all romping around in a comfort-
able pair of shoes, while the discouraged few had none at all. This would represent an opportunity
gap, an unequal distribution of resources; the unsuccessful students may actually be powerful
jumpers who are only disabled by the stones and prickles under their ill-­equipped feet. This is a
good comparison to the many children who arrive at school lacking (to varying degrees) another
fundamental piece of equipment—­their EFs. They are in possession, often, of adequate or even
exceptional knowledge, wisdom, and creativity but are severely disadvantaged by their inability to
manage and execute. Imagine, for example, a math class focused on problem solving.
For example, equipped with an average level of aptitude and high EFs, Kelsey will pay atten-
tion to instructions and get started right away. She will find the mathematics challenging but will
stay calm enough to persist by asking her teacher for clarification. Meanwhile, Sean, who has an
extraordinary aptitude for math but lower EFs, might lose focus during his teacher’s instructions
and delay getting started. After he starts, he might tackle the work using a self-­designed approach
that is ingenious but time-­consuming. Any frustration he experiences will further suppress his
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 135

EFs. Add to this how alienated he might feel if his teacher walks by and suggests he is on the wrong
track. Without classroom support to manage this spiral, it is very likely that Sean, despite his supe-
rior aptitude for math, will not succeed and enjoy the fruits of his talents. In fact, he will probably
end up in trouble. Kelsey, meanwhile, will experience success, receive positive feedback from her
teacher, enjoy admiration from her peers, and perhaps wind up in a group with other optimistic
high achievers. “Kelsey is a hardworking student,” we will all agree, and “Sean is often off track
and needs to put forth more effort.” How might our responses change if the disability represented
by a weakness in EF was as obvious as a missing pair of shoes?
Looking at photographs from our trip to the achievement gap, we might notice something
else. Most of the children, girls and boys, who are huddled around the teacher doing alternate
activities on the near side of the gap are not White. Weakness in EF is a selective disability.
In the United States, ethnic minority students, and particularly male ones, are at the high-
est risk for inattentive and hyperactive behaviors. Researchers believe, however, that almost all
association between ethnicity and weak EFs is explained by a third factor: low socioeconomic
status. Poverty, through its association with household chaos, grinding stress, and instability in
parental care, interferes with the normal development of the prefrontal cortex and impairs EF
(Martel, 2013). Meanwhile, wealth, though not always a guarantee of attentive parenting or low
stress, is associated with enriching preschool care, specialist lessons, and tutoring (Chmielewski,
2019). Each day in schools, therefore, the most economically privileged children are often better
equipped to leap across achievement gaps; enjoy the satisfaction of expressing their knowledge,
wisdom, and creativity; and reap praise. Meanwhile, the least privileged cope with, yes, not only
the daily challenges associated with their socioeconomic status but also the discouragement,
shame, and fatigue of trying to operate with neurological equipment that, as a result, just doesn’t
function as well.
If our children were literally jumping across the achievement gap, and some of them literally
had no shoes, the discrepancy would be plain and our response would be automatic. We would
do everything possible to provide each child with such an essential piece of equipment. As educa-
tors, we should elect leaders that support young families, but we can also intervene by making
EF development and support a core focus in our classrooms. To level the playing field, we can
support the slow, steady development of core EF by providing joyful, structured, and stimulating
classroom environments (see Chapter 1). Also, we can help students to build the compensatory
strategies necessary to use what EFs they do have more efficiently and effectively. So, while we
can’t give them all the exact same shoes enjoyed by the most privileged in their class (and may not
move the needle much on their core capacity for, say, attention) we can teach them strategies for
crossing the gap no matter what shoes they are in (strategies to pace, manage, and optimize what
attention they can manage). By helping students to become EF literate, we can alert them to the
biggest and sharpest obstacles they will face (see Chapter 2). Each time we work with students to
notice the EF challenges in a task, we can make them more adept at quickly spotting and avoid-
ing them in the future. When we gather students together to discuss both these barriers and the
strategies they can use to be successful, we can build morale, courage, and skill (see Chapter 3).
Then we can reorient our observation, feedback, and assessment systems to notice, cheer on, and
reward their progress (Chapters 4, 5, and 6). “This is really challenging,” we can tell them. “To
cross this gap, you will have to work extra hard to manage your executive functions.” Through
our EF-­literate teaching, our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students can learn the complex
adaptive skills to cross the gap no matter what “equipment” they arrived with.
136 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

EF‑LITERATE TEACHING AND 21ST‑CENTURY LEARNING

Around big family dinners, the conversation inevitably turns to the new and surprising deficien-
cies of “kids these days”: they’re glued to their phones, they don’t do enough chores, and they
don’t seem to want to grow up. When the conversation shifts to what to do about them, you can be
sure there will be little agreement. Grandma and Grandpa may advocate strongly for a back-to-­
basics approach, through which children learn useful skills like sewing, cooking, mechanics, and
balancing a checkbook. Uncle Lionel, frustrated by his lot in life, may feel education should focus
primarily on money, the law, and business. For their part, kids often envision a future of YouTube
stardom or gaming glory. As the educator at the table, your family may look to you for guidance.
The following discussion will give you a few points to share regarding the aims of education in the
21st century, as well as a clear breakdown of how our process-­oriented approach is aligned. We
hope, at the very least, it will help you to navigate your holiday dinners.
The first point you should make is that it is unusually difficult at this moment in history to
figure out which skills and knowledge to focus on in school. Many believe it is crucial for students
to learn to code and handle data, and others emphasize the importance of training in STEM (sci-
ence, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and AI (artificial intelligence), while others are
focused on the importance of social sciences, such as history, psychology, culture, and environmen-
tal studies. Each of these disciplines, on its own, is a tall order and may be more complicated than
what educators have traditionally been responsible for teaching. As well, each of these disciplines
is constantly changing due to rapidly evolving technology and far-­reaching environmental change;
even if we hit a few of these moving targets in school, and we will surely try, it is doubtful that the
specific skill sets and knowledge we impart now will be wholly useful in the future. The Python
computer programming language commonly taught to seven- and eight-year-olds at school, for
example, will probably not be the one they use as engineers at Google.
For this reason, you can confidently reassure your relatives that even among experts, a spe-
cific curriculum of skills and training hasn’t been fully agreed upon. Before they throw up their
hands, however, reassure them that among experts, a plan has begun to form. We’re going to teach
children not as if we’re programming microwaves, each with the same fixed set of functions, but as
if we’re programming super modern robots who can adapt, learn, and respond to a variety of chal-
lenges. If you’d rather, we can just agree to teach them, for the first time, like they’re “humans.”
(Whaaat?) This is the second point you should make: that we’re going to teach children to use their
full potential as human beings. A group of experts based in the United States (“Framework for
21st Century Learning,” 2016) have agreed that, in addition to subjects like math, science, literacy,
social sciences, information technology, and media literacy, students should learn the following:

• Interdisciplinary themes such as global awareness, as well as financial, civic, health, and
environmental literacy
• Learning and innovation skills, such as creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem
solving, communication, and collaboration.

So, to recap, the vision for 21st-­century education includes traditional school skills, unified by
several global and environmental interdisciplinary themes, and powered by a set of learning and
innovation skills. That power-up is where we come in, because those skills are distinctly not things
to learn but ways to learn things. Any time we talk about the ways students do things, we’re talking
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 137

about execution or executive function. Table 7.1 presents just a few of the most obvious connections
between 21st-­century learning and innovation skills and EFs.
The idea of teaching learning and innovation skills should be pleasing to those with a back-
to-­basics perspective. Back in the good old days, before life became so automated and simple, they
were like the “frontier” skills that any ordinary person needed in order to survive. When instilled,
they will allow graduates to retrain and quickly figure out new technologies, and also to manage
unexpected change. They will enable the next generation to adapt to and even capitalize on the
myriad shifts and changes to come. For example, our students will be pioneers in the retrofitting
of homes that must endure extreme weather conditions. Or they may work toward needed efficien-
cies in the distribution of personal protective equipment during a global pandemic. Even in their
own homes, our students will need to troubleshoot: new remedies, the switch to renewable power,
and the conservation of water, to name a few. After the Cold War, the U.S. military coined the term
“VUCA” to describe the quality of these particularly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous
problems. VUCA problems typically arise when we don’t know exactly what situations we will have
to confront and are unable to anticipate the results of our actions. To manage a future with these
kinds of challenges, our students will need to hit the ground running, equipped with learning and
innovation skills that can be adapted to pass a wide variety of novel tests.
The third point you can make is that we will achieve this level of independence and problem
solving by teaching it directly. It won’t be enough to simply tell children about learning and inno-
vation skills—­we’re going to have to provide them with direct guidance to develop and apply them.
In the landmark book Four-­Dimensional Education, Fadel, Bialik, and Trilling (2015) provide
what many believe to be the best available advice for forward-­looking educators. Focus your efforts
at school on knowledge, skills, and character, they suggest, but also surround these efforts with an
emphasis on “meta-­learning.” Across most major international education planning organizations,
they explain, meta-­learners have been characterized as versatile, reflective, self-­directed, and self-­
reliant individuals who know how to learn. Fadel and colleagues caution, however, that to instill

TABLE 7.1. Connections Between Learning and Innovation Skills, and EF

Creativity and • Flexibility to imagine/consider a range of new ideas.
innovation • Response inhibition to resist distraction.
• Goal-directed persistence to carry a vision through to completion.
• Emotional control to tolerate ambiguity calmly.

Critical thinking • Organization to understand and analyze complex situations.

and problem solving • Planning and prioritizing to tackle multistep problems.
• Response inhibition to resist jumping to conclusions.
• Goal-directed persistence to stick with challenges and time
management to meet deadlines.
• Metacognition to monitor and evaluate the impact of different
approaches and solutions.

Communication • Flexibility to see other points of view and explore opposing models.
and collaboration • Working memory and sustained attention to listen to, understand,
and respond to others.
• Response inhibition to take turns and share ideas.
• Emotional control to manage disagreement and tension.
138 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

this capacity teachers must go beyond the simple delivery of prescribed strategy toward the devel-
opment of deep growth mindsets, self-­monitoring, and persistence (p. 96). Practical approaches to
mobilize this ambition have been explored and explicated throughout Chapters 2–6 of this book.
We’re advocating for classrooms in which children regularly stop to collectively monitor problems,
plan strategic approaches, and optimize their executive function. We believe that, with daily prac-
tice, all children can learn to approach novel problems not with their hands up, waiting for help
from an expert, but with the ability to stand on their own two feet and strategize.
Finally, you can wow your family with the idea that because school is going to prepare chil-
dren for unknown problems in as-yet-­unseen global conditions, it’s going to be a little bit like
astronaut training. Chris Hadfield (2013), a retired Canadian astronaut, has penned a few useful
lessons. In his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, he describes a type of readiness that
sounds an awful lot like 21st-­century skills: “Competence,” he says, “means keeping your head in
a crisis, sticking with a task even when it seems hopeless, and improvising good solutions to tough
problems when every second counts. It encompasses ingenuity, determination, and being prepared
for anything” (p. 26). He explains that “astronauts have these qualities, not because we’re smarter
than everyone else . . . [but] because we are taught to view the world—and ourselves—­differently.”
At NASA, it turns out, in addition to learning how to fly and maintain a space shuttle, perform
basic medical procedures and science experiments, and speak Russian, astronauts are given train-
ing in “survival.” Their journals, published online at www.NASA.gov, describe learning to use
imagination, common sense, and trust among team members to improve collaborative problem
solving under the toughest of conditions. This is how we need to train children in school: like bold
adventurers who are ready to enter radically new spaces and times, feeling in control of their cog-
nitive resources, and ready to manage whatever challenge they may encounter.

EF‑LITERATE TEACHING
FOR AN EQUITABLE AND MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM

For many children, school is an unreceptive place. They arrive with a lifetime of skills, strategies,
tricks, experiences, and interests, and realize that their wisdom is foreign. Even working with the
best of intentions, the average teacher will not meet the needs of unusual or unfamiliar students.
We hope to provide the many teaching teams, school committees, and camp staffs working on this
challenge with a powerful new idea that is practical enough to understand, share, and attempt
right away. The following discussion will state the case for adding the BSP to your multicultural
teaching approaches. To do this, we will summarize the importance of equitable and multicultural
education and describe the challenges that many teachers are facing while trying to achieve it.
We hope to help broaden your appreciation of equity in a classroom, summarize the time and
resources generally recommended for achieving it, and convince you that the BSP offers excellent
value for your effort.2
First, let’s get grounded in what multicultural education really means. Consider a hypotheti-
cal student named Aarav: One morning he spat into a vial, capped it, enveloped it, and signed

2 Remember, the BSP was introduced in Chapter 3. It is a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teach-
ers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be
more successful?”
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 139

across the label. Six weeks later, he found out he was part Welsh and had a half brother in Pennsyl-
vania. In addition to these new discoveries, Aarav has a sister with a severe illness, is intellectually
gifted but a little disorganized and intense, loves learning languages, went to an arts-based grade
6 program in Mexico, and, like his mom, is quite drawn to math and computers. He is a rich and
complex individual, and he shifts between his many ways of knowing depending on who he is with
and on what he is working. If you ask him for advice, he may respond with sensitivity, suggest a
technical work around, or steer you away from confrontation.
We believe identity is about more than just race. It also encompasses, for example, religion,
sexual orientation, class, gender, or income level. Each one of us, like Aarav, is blessed with a dif-
ferent combination of background, interests, talents, skills, and challenges. Rich in emotional con-
nections, powerful memories, and formative experiences, this intersectional framework is a lens
through which we will process almost every new opportunity we encounter (NASEM, 2018). Each
of these unique qualities, however, creates the opportunity to feel marginalized and misunder-
stood among a group of more typical-­seeming peers.
Aarav’s parents immigrated from Bangalore in South India when he was a baby, so, like more
than half of all U.S. children, he is part of a non-White ethnic group (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015).
Canada is expected to hit this milestone by 2036 (Statistics Canada, 2017), while the United King-
dom projects 30% by 2061 (Rees, Wohland, Norman, & Lomax, 2017). These changes to the com-
position of our schools will pose complex social and academic challenges. Socially, we know that
while most children go through phases of feeling they don’t fit in, girls, immigrants, students of
color, and students with low socioeconomic status tend to report these feelings most consistently.
On a scale of 1 to 5, they circle high scores when asked if they feel like an outsider, feel left out of
things, have a hard time making friends, feel awkward and out of place, suspect that other students
don’t like them, and feel lonely at school (OECD, 2017). Consider also the profound effects that
loneliness and isolation have on learning. Children who don’t feel accepted, valued, and included
experience a reduced sense of safety, which can close the door to optimal EF, the pursuit of high
goals, and the taking of academic risks (Brownlie & King, 2011). Meanwhile, researchers have
demonstrated that feeling interesting and important to others, or as though you “matter,” is a cru-
cial aspect of overall well-being, and a shortage of it is associated with delinquency, depression,
and anxiety (Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981). Schools need to adapt to meet the needs of their
changing populations.
At school, students with a sense of cultural isolation may also endure ill-­fitting academic expe-
riences. International students, for example, often arrive in classrooms that bear little resemblance
to the learning environment they are used to. They may suddenly find themselves among teach-
ers with pedagogical styles and teaching approaches that differ considerably from those to which
they previously became accustomed (e.g., constructivism, student orientation, discipline, collabo-
ration, and use of resources; OECD, 2009). Moreover, in order to fit in, students often discontinue
important cultural- and value-based learning preferences and practices they have mastered from
their elders, in their home communities, or from their cultural teachings (Tyler et al., 2008). To
whatever extent a sense of disconnect persists between a child’s roots/home life and the dominant
culture at school, a risk exists for reduced emotional well-being, efficacy, self-­esteem, and GPA,
and increased anger and self-­depreciation (Arunkumar, Midgley, & Urdan, 1999). Also, academic
topics, examples, or materials that are unfamiliar and do not engage students’ preexisting knowl-
edge make it difficult for them to fully grasp and remember new learning (NASEM, 2018). How
many of your students experience these challenges?
140 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Before we propose a solution, let’s add up the time, resources, and attention equitable teach-
ing may require. Even if you begin with the basics, it’s a fairly tall order. The first thing you should
do, according to the most well-­accepted frameworks (Gay, 2000), is validate each student’s identity.
That means making their cultural, linguistic, and social uniqueness your business, and also get-
ting to know their particular dispositions, attitudes, and approaches to learning. Considering the
complex range of origins and cultures in our classrooms, and the natural limitations of our ability
to gather, learn, and remember information, this will be quite a task. “Oh shoot,” we may think,
“is Aarav the one who grew up in Mexico, or is that Juno?” Your second job is to purposefully
incorporate these qualities into the curriculum and skills taught, the materials used, and the man-
ner of instruction applied in the classroom. The goal is to know enough about the cultures among
your students to intentionally plan learning that incorporates them. The most respected voices on
this topic encourage educators to develop not one or two new techniques, units, or lessons but a
multifaceted approach that will transform the school day and allow a broad range of students to
succeed (e.g., Hammond, 2015). Toward this goal, teachers will do all of the usual tricks: build a
nice collection of mentor texts and teaching manuals, follow certain blogs, and attend workshops to
get ideas from other educators. This is such important work, but how will we “afford” such a deep
and broad change when our time, resources, and attention are already so stretched?
We don’t blame you for feeling overwhelmed. This is a lot of work for one teacher to do in the
background while integrating the demands of a language, math, and social studies curriculum.
We believe, however, that you can succeed if you stop taking all of the learning about the multiple
cultures in your classroom upon yourself and instead share the process of learning and, more
importantly, some of the control with your students. Our advice is to move your approach further
upstream—­past topics and different delivery techniques—­toward the way you regulate learning
in your classroom. Using the BSP, you can regularly incorporate meaningful and authentic oppor-
tunities for your students to voice their perspectives. This theory may take a moment to wrap your
mind around, so look at the practical examples in Table 7.2. Each vignette contains a blow-by-blow
account of three different types of learning regulation for the lovely Aarav: a self-­regulated learn-
ing style through which he manages his own performance, an externally regulated learning style
through which his teacher takes over and regulates learning for him, and a socially shared learning
regulation style (see review in Panadero & Jarvela, 2015) through which he is encouraged to bring
his culture and experiences to bear on the learning regulation taking place among the peers in his
class. We had fun piecing together the scenarios and think they nicely capture what can happen
in a typical classroom.
With our little tweak toward socially shared learning regulation, we are interested in using
daily classroom challenges to actively distribute voice, participation, and authority evenly among
all members (Perry, Yee, Mazabel, Lisaingo, & Maatta, 2017). By using the BSP, Aarav’s learning
problems will no longer be solved by a single teacher who puzzles and scrambles and worries
over how to correctly and deeply incorporate his unique cultural background and range of skills.
Rather, Aarav himself will be pulled into the process and invited to weigh in alongside his peers
and teachers. For example, instead of his teacher alone trying to figure out how to make the solv-
ing of math problems culturally relevant, she can gather Aarav and his peers to ask, “What are our
barriers to this challenge?” and “What can we do to be successful?” In response, Aarav and his
classmates can share a diverse range of strategies and solutions for handling EF challenges. This
process becomes even more aligned with the goals of equitable teaching when a teacher or peer
stops to ask Aarav, “Where did you learn that?” and provides reassurance that his ideas are valid
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 141

TABLE 7.2. The Impact of Self-Regulated, Externally Regulated, and Socially Shared
Learning Regulation on “Aarav’s” Experience at School
Socially shared learning
Self-regulated learning: Externally regulated learning: regulation:
Students individually monitor Teacher monitors problems, Collaboratively, class monitors
problems, create solutions, and creates solutions, and reflects on problems, creates solutions, and
reflect on process. process. reflects on process.
First period (math): Aarav is overwhelmed by a crowded math page
To calm himself, Aarav works The teacher believes the room The teacher asks the class to
with a partner. Like his mother is too noisy for students to focus. share barriers and strategies, and
does, Aarav methodically They are asked to work silently. many do. Aarav shares his mom’s
rewrites each question on a Aarav becomes frustrated and approach of rewriting questions
separate piece of paper to make leaves the room for 20 minutes. and also uses a peer’s idea to
it less overwhelming. This takes Reflecting on the success of this cover adjacent questions. Later,
a long time, but he uses a similar approach, the teacher uses it the class reflects that Aarav’s
process later, in science class. again the next day. approach takes longer.

Third period (history): Aarav’s notes are disorganized and he is a little behind
Like his grandfather, Aarav takes The teacher calls Aarav as well The teacher asks the class to
a deep breath and talks himself five other students to her desk at share barriers and strategies, and
though the organization of his the beginning of class. She gives many do. From a friend, Aarav
notes: “Okay, this goes first, and them a special folder and tells learns to number his pages; he
I’ll put this in a folder, and this is them she will keep their notes won’t have such a mess to deal
garbage.” Fifteen minutes later, behind her desk after class each with next class. Three girls start
he’s ready to start. day. using his self-talk strategy.

Fourth and fifth period (science): Aarav builds a bridge with a team of peers
Aarav uses a computer program The teacher gives 20 minutes of The teacher asks the class to
to plan the structure of his detailed instructions on exactly share barriers and strategies,
bridge. This takes a long time, how to manage materials, plan and many do. Aarav demos the
and his group builds a different the structure, and collaborate planning program he likes. His
structure without him. with others. group combines it with another
idea for organizing materials.

After-school diary entry:

Today I felt lonely. Nobody My teacher doesn’t understand Chen-Ling’s numbering strategy
listened to my ideas for building me, and she doesn’t like me. is my new favorite, and Marci,
the bridge. It was nice to use Nobody wants to be my partner. Ami, and Tonika loved Papa’s
Grandfather’s trick for getting The girls said I’m a mess. self-talk strategy. I taught my
organized, but nobody really whole class how to use Sketcho. I
noticed. felt so proud.
142 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

and useful. “That is so cool, Aarav,” one might comment. “I wish I grew up in your house.” While
this may sound overly sunny and ideal, we often overhear comments like these among children
who have been given the chance to deeply appreciate the value in each other’s differences: “I wish
I celebrated Diwali” or “I wish I could go with the reading teacher,” or observing a particularly
creative use for a leg brace, even saying, “I wish I had a broken leg!”
This approach places problem solving into the social arena of the classroom. When children’s
perspectives and strategies are validated on this stage, it cements their feelings of autonomy and
competence in the third essential factor for motivation: relatedness and a sense of belonging (Deci
& Ryan, 2000). In contrast to feeling alone, unknown, and unimportant, a child can share an old
family organization trick, a calming strategy they learned from their grandparent, or a mindset
they learned in their place of worship and feel appreciated for their most personal qualities. Fur-
thermore, by providing communal space for classmates to participate in the regulation of their
learning, we make it possible for children with many different backgrounds to help one another on
a strategic level. By this approach, when a learning problem arises, the processes of understanding
it and figuring out what to do next are no longer tethered to the experience, habits, and biases of
one particular teacher. Rather, within open large-group conversations, students are free to share
ideas that may be worlds apart from those of their teacher. This process allows students to belong
in their fullness in the classroom.
How often do you think self-­regulated learning actually happens when students are faced
with challenging problems in your classroom? Failing that, how often do you think you wind up
taking over and switching into externally regulated learning? If you think you might support stu-
dents with external regulation as a go-to, it is interesting to consider whether they are discouraged
by it and if they may quickly be reinvigorated by a more communal, socially shared approach. By
interrupting your habitual teaching practices several times a day to actively recruit your students’
expertise, knowledge, creative thinking, and voice, you place your own power, biases, and per-
spective in check. You also create authentic and meaningful opportunities for cultural learning
among your students and for yourself.
You might know an extraordinary teacher who has transformed his or her classroom, materi-
als, and teaching practice and is making huge strides toward multicultural education. You may
have seen their posts on social media or listened to them speak at a conference, and you may feel
inspired by their work and called to action. We think it is important to remember that multicul-
tural teaching is not only for those who eat, breathe, and sleep the issue. Our schools will be truly
equitable when multiple cultures can flourish and thrive in every classroom. While the BSP is a
powerful practice for leaders in multicultural teaching, it is also a great, self-­contained starting
point for teachers with more general interests. It can be adapted to an almost infinite variety of
classroom situations and is compact and manageable enough to be used by regular ed. teach-
ers. Using the BSP, teachers can begin to offer students’ experiences, cultures, backgrounds, and
unique wisdom the voice and power they deserve in the classroom.

EF‑LITERATE TEACHING
AND INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS

In the following discussion, we will speak rather generally about “IEPs” (individualized education
programs or plans); by this, we mean to evoke a variety of structured, legally binding documents
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 143

created and monitored by parents, teachers, administrators, and district representatives to support
a student who is experiencing difficulty. This document consolidates assessment results, interven-
tions chosen, and a timeline for the accomplishment of specific goals, and is revisited several times
per year to ensure progress and make adjustments. Sometimes the target students are involved in
this process, but often they are not. In your part of the world, these may be called IEPs or 504s or
something else—we are writing for an international audience, and while the procedures are quite
similar in essence, the details and logistics vary.
In a perfect world, a student with special needs could enter any mainstream classroom armed
with one of these IEPs and receive the support required for success. For a handful of reasons,
however, this doesn’t always happen. In the following discussion, we’ll describe three complex
challenges regarding the delivery of special education. We’ll do this in order to set a stage on which
the contributions of an EF-­literate teaching approach can be fully understood and appreciated. As
lifelong teachers and advocates for children, we don’t challenge the established special education
approach lightly; throughout the history of public education, students with special learning needs
have been terribly underprivileged at school, and the essential rights and protections offered by
IEPs are vital and hard won. Our goal is to propose ways that this system may be complemented
and strengthened by our approach.

Challenge 1: IEPs That Aren’t Specific Enough

IEPs are based on top-notch diagnostic approaches and are meant to contain specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals. To determine these goals for each student, a team will
weigh current academic achievement as well as unique learning challenges. While the diagnosis
and targets are specific, the recommendations for accommodation and intervention are often less
so. They tell us clearly where the student is and where he is going but include less detail about how
to get there. Odds are, if you have four students in your class with an IEP, they share a handful of
similar accommodations: preferential seating, time and a half for tests, and the provision of quiet
space and release time for an additional service like occupational therapy. These are just a few of
the most common ones. With 10 out of 25 students jammed into a preferential front row that winds
up being loud and chaotic, however, you might wonder if there is anything missing in the IEPs.
In fact, students’ needs shift and change in ways that are often not included in an IEP. Imag-
ine Jana, a student with a language-­based learning disability and anxiety. Her IEP prescribes
accommodations for extra time and a computer and suggests that she practices mindful breathing
when she feels overwhelmed. We know, however, that students with special needs often have a
cluster of challenges that interact in complex ways (Aitken et al., 2017). On Day 1 of a group project
assignment, Jana may actually require support to manage the interpersonal aspects of the work.
On Day 2 she (and others) may be bogged down by the organization of the project and benefit from
a filing or labeling strategy. As the project evolves, it may tax Jana’s abilities in a slightly different
way each day. While her accommodations for time, technology, and breathing will be essential to
her ability to succeed, they may not ensure her success as she navigates specific tasks.
To optimize student success despite these multidimensional and dynamic challenges, experts
believe that diagnosis and intervention should be conducted in the context of daily performance
(Fletcher & Grigorenko, 2017). That means “Hey teachers! It would be really great if you could
conduct a separate assessment for each new challenge and then provide the specific and tailored
accommodations that each of your students really needs.” When publishing this finding, Fletcher
144 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

and Grigorenko may have paused to wonder how it would be useful to mainstream teachers
responsible for large numbers of needy students. “Let’s put this in the highly theoretical, for-use-
in-a-­perfect-­world pile,” they may have thought. We agree. This recommendation sounds almost
impossibly precise and time-­consuming, but we think our EF-­literate approach comes pretty close
to pulling it off.
Consider how the BSP accomplishes frequent diagnosis and intervention in the mainstream.3
When we assign groupwork, for example, and ask our whole classes to explore the types of barriers
they will face, Jana will have a chance to describe her worries about sharing responsibility, and
she may hear a peer’s concerns about handling disagreement. Her teacher, otherwise focused on
fulfilling the specific recommendations mentioned in her IEP, may be surprised. Students in the
class may agree to assign roles within the groups, use timers, or create to-do lists. One class we
worked with suggested using “safe words.” Regardless of what is discussed, when the class works
together to identify strategies that may intervene on these specific challenges, Jana will receive
the type of personal, just-in-time special education support that is recommended by Fletcher and
Grigorenko (2017). The following day, the protocol may reveal a fresh range of challenges and
suitable interventions. In this way, the use of our EF-­literate approach may provide more precise,
specific, and timely support for students with special education needs. It may also be a big help to
students who have not been formally assessed but who have special learning needs and could do
with the support.

Challenge 2: IEPs That Seem Contradictory or Are Confusing

There is a big difference between a teacher and a psychologist; cognitive processes are complex,
and it takes years of training to really understand how each little component works. Unfortunately,
this complexity can be hard to decode on a psychologist’s report, and the confusion often trickles
onto the IEP. For example, imagine Logan. He has a “strong visual working memory” in math (He
can hold numbers in his mind during arithmetic?) and also “struggles with reading comprehen-
sion” (He can’t hold words in his mind when he reads?). You may wonder why Logan can hold
numbers in short-term memory but not words. If we could get it all straight, we might start using
a certain approach with him across many subjects. Given the contradiction, however, we may feel
overwhelmed and end up not doing much of anything at all.
This is another time that the BSP may prove useful. Using a regular whole-class check-in
regarding the barriers presented by different tasks, and which strategies might be helpful, teachers
can build on their understanding of how each student learns. In fact, we’ll argue after using the
BSP for a few months, teachers can substantially enrich and extend the insight of psychologists and
IEPs. This is easy to appreciate when you consider the high degree of context-, subject-, emotion-,
and peer-group specificity available to a teacher as a result of these conversations. For example, by
December, Logan’s teacher might understand that his working memory struggles most when he’s
reading, except if it’s a poem or song, especially if he works with a partner, more so in the morning,
and less so after a good breakfast. Similarly, she may realize that Logan automatically translates

3 Remember, the BSP was introduced in Chapter 3. It is a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teach-
ers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be
more successful?”
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 145

mathematical information into mental pictures, and that this is why his working memory seems
better with numbers. Even better, Logan may understand this too! The BSP offers teachers (and
students) an almost infinite opportunity to clarify and build upon IEPs that may be confusing or
seem contradictory.

Challenge 3: IEPs with Recommendations That Aren’t Feasible

Have you ever received an IEP with recommendations that rely on technology that hasn’t arrived,
materials that are scarce, or space you don’t have? For example, it can be tricky to provide a calm,
quiet, or private workspace in a room that barely has enough space for desks. While we do every-
thing possible to adapt and make do, it can be challenging to meet the demands of an IEP created
outside of your classroom context. For this reason, the work done by your students during daily
barriers and strategies conversations may be extremely helpful for fine-­tuning student accommo-
dations.
For example, in a really squishy classroom, a recommendation for calm, quiet space to help
manage attention may seem as if it can only be accomplished with the use of headphones. Dur-
ing a BSP, however, students may discover alternative strategies that also work. As a team, they
may realize that a calming effect also results when students work in partners and talk each other
through math problems, run the stairs between every three problems, or focus on smaller chunks
of work. While some students may be happy to calm down while using headphones, others can
explore strategies that feel perfect for them. For example, our friend Stacey Falconer has a student
who invented a strategy to address an almost impossible combination of needs.4 He required both
“proximity to teacher” and a “quiet workspace.” Eager to make use of a study nook in the back of
the room, this student rigged up a camera that projected his image, larger than life, onto the class-
room whiteboard. In this way, he was able to enjoy the calm workspace while still benefiting from
the feeling of close supervision. A student like this would never otherwise have had access to the
study nook. Even the very best IEP committee cannot match the innovation possible when a whole
class of students looks around their environment, thinks about the resources available, and flexes
their playful and creative problem-­solving skills.
We’ve discussed the ways an EF-­literate approach can fortify three critical weaknesses of the
IEP process. In general, we believe you can use the BSP like a mini, auxiliary IEP: It revs up and
kicks in when more powerful and precise navigation is required. Over the course of an academic
term, the learning will accumulate for both teacher and student. A hyperactive student with a
September IEP specifying motor breaks, computer access, and a quiet workspace may head out
for winter holidays regularly using a handful of alternative, student-­styled, precise little strategies.
These may include the following:

• Tape box around desk. If I’m in it, I’m on the right track and counted as “in my seat.”
• Use of a 10-minute timer to plan out breaks.
• Read instructions on math tests to myself in funny (and friendly) voice.
• Watching a very calm student to figure out how to behave.
• Reading while walking around or reading with my feet up the back wall.

4 Stacey Falconer teaches at Lakeshore Public School in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
146 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

Under ideal conditions, students themselves would have a starring role in the creation of their
IEPs. When this isn’t possible, the work done by teachers and students within BSP conversations
can provide similar benefit. And after doing so much work to understand students’ learning, class-
room teachers and students themselves will be much more prepared to take an active role in inter-
preting and offering suggestions for updates to an IEP. In this way, the BSP becomes like a daily
IEP workshop in which students see themselves as frontline field testers and innovators, bringing
meaningful insight about what works and what doesn’t.

EF‑LITERATE TEACHING AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Throughout this chapter, we have emphasized the way the BSP, our method of socially shared
learning regulation (see review in Panadero & Jarvela, 2015), promotes equity, student voice, and
empowerment. The following discussion will present similar arguments but will align them spe-
cifically with the objectives of UDL. We know there are quite a number of schools focused on
UDL, and we hope to serve up the exact information you need to present our EF-­literate approach
to your team as an option. In a nutshell, we think our approach moves a step beyond conventional
UDL practices. Using the BSP, our approach supports a more adaptive, unbiased, and data-based
version of universal design.
First, let’s agree that UDL is a method for making your educational environment usable and
supportive to the widest range of students. It encompasses everything we can control in the class-
room, including the means of representation (how students acquire info), expression (how students
demonstrate learning), and engagement (the way we motivate and interest students). UDL asks us
if there are things we can install in our core approaches, environments, and materials that will
make learning more universally accessible.
If you read the previous section about IEPs and accommodations, you may agree that a dis-
cussion of UDL is a perfect next step. As we come to terms with the requirement for individual-
ized support and intervention, we may feel as though we’ve opened a Pandora’s box; while some
students are extraordinarily needy, almost every single one could do with some individualization.
Accordingly, teachers strive to provide fully differentiated instruction, through which many differ-
ent versions of their materials, tasks, objectives, and instructions are available (Tomlinson, 2001).
In stark contrast, UDL is satisfying because it promises efficiency; we can throw away our elabo-
rate lists of exactly who needs what and simply install a few good universal solutions. For example,
we can stop providing four specific students with lesson goals and simply post them for everyone.
The more we can universally design our spaces, the less time we’ll spend organizing and managing
one-off accommodations and differentiation.
How can we achieve more through Universal Design? We believe that a move toward socially
shared learning regulation holds great promise. Previously in this chapter, we talked about the dif-
ference between socially shared learning regulation, self-­regulated learning, and externally regu-
lated learning (see Table 7.2). This is not as complicated as it sounds. While students are learning
to self-­regulate, to go about their day managing their own attention, inhibition, and organization
(for example) independently, we typically boost their performance by supplying external regula-
tion. We intervene on learning regulation that is immature and often a little chaotic to give specific
instructions for how to regulate. For example, after having assigned a one-page book summary, a
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 147

teacher (let’s call him Mr. Martin) might notice that many students in his class have failed to settle
down and pay attention to the task. Supplying some external regulation, Mr. Martin may ask his
whole class to work quietly to support their ability to focus and get the work done. Or he might
suggest they all organize their summary using a Venn diagram, which is a strategy that always
works for him. While these methods will be very useful for some students, they will not provide a
differentiated environment that is suitable for all learners. For example, what if one of the students
he’s asked to work silently is low on energy and desperately needs the stimulation of a partner? Or
imagine that there is a student with visual or spatial impairment who might organize an essay more
effectively by talking through its structure. Externally regulated learning is our default, but it isn’t
very differentiated or universally supportive.
It is interesting to consider what drives our decision making when providing learning regula-
tion instructions for students. When we rely on external regulation of learning, we may design our
classroom in a way that is suitable for our own instructional and learning preferences. Mr. Martin,
for example, may have chosen silence and a Venn diagram because those two strategies work for
him. We all do this from time to time, and for good reason. We’re operating based on a genuine
desire to help and support, but according to a “false consensus bias,” we truly think our own pref-
erences, habits, and thoughts are typical and shared by others. As Mr. Martin watches his students
working silently on Venn diagrams, he assumes they are as satisfied and well served as he would
be. Now that you know about this bias, you may be thinking you can (or often do) consciously
override it. Even that assumption is biased. That feeling arises from another form of bias called
“illusory superiority,” through which we believe we have a superior level of insight and self-­control
to those around us. In actual fact, unless you’re doing something really radical to interrupt your
habits, these biases are almost impossible to ignore (Katz & Dack, 2013). Don’t worry though. Both
of them are perfectly normal, and we will shortly recommend a detour. We only raise them to sug-
gest that our default to external regulation of learning leaves our classroom environment rather
narrowly designed—­perfect for the handful of students who think just like us. Fascinated by this?
We discuss teacher bias at greater length in Chapter 3.
We think teachers can use our approach to socially shared learning regulation, via the BSP,
to create universal designs that are truly universal. If Mr. Martin can interrupt his own biased
assumptions for just 5 minutes, he can conduct a BSP and do some real learning about his stu-
dents’ needs. When he asks, “What are our barriers to this specific task?” he has the chance
to gather data from not one or two but every single student in his classroom. He may be quite
surprised by the information he gathers and gain some unbiased insight about the needs of his
students. “I had no idea that silence could be so unproductive! Some students need movement
and conversation to stay focused and feel confident,” he may think. Similarly, when he asks, “And
what strategies might we use to be successful?” his entire class will have a chance to voice their
suggestions and approaches. Based on this, Mr. Martin may discover the most unexpected and
kid-­friendly approaches for the regulation of learning. In addition to showing the students his
Venn approach, he may learn that Mark organizes written tasks using a list, Leisl would love to
make a giant mind map on the board, and Malia once spoke her history assignment into a record-
ing app and it seemed to really help. These student-­created strategies may be much simpler and
more efficient than Mr. Martin’s suggestions, and easier to add to his universal design. In fact,
he may post a list of these strategies and announce, “Anytime we do a writing task, you can use
these strategies.”
148 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

It is so easy to misregulate learning on behalf of our students. Indeed, while perfect silence
and Venn diagrams may work as a treat for most of the class, these options may be uncomfortable
and unproductive for others. It is only through the continual and routine collection of data that we
can interrupt and correct our misconceptions about what students need. And we need to do this
not once at the beginning of the term, not from only the loudest and most vocal students, and not
from only those whose parents call us with requests but from everyone, every day, for many differ-
ent tasks. You can accomplish this using the BSP.
We are reminded of our experience with a grade 2 student, who huffed and rolled her eyes
at our suggestion that she ought to repeat a positive affirmation before heading out to recess. The
boys had been excluding her from their game of BUMP, and she seemed to get bonked on the head
with a basketball every single time she stepped onto the court. Unlike so many students, she man-
aged to correct our mistaken assumption. Head tilted to one side, lips tight, and eyes squinty, she
seemed to be thinking, “Oh goodness. Here we go with the meditation and mantras.” What she
actually said was: “I just need to learn the rules to BUMP!” Promoting this type of voice
among all of our students would be the ultimate universal design.

EF‑LITERATE TEACHING AND BURNOUT

In the last several pages, we’ve discussed the ways our approach may affect the achievement gap,
global competencies, equity, IEPs, and UDL. With space for one last discussion, we checked in
with our community on Twitter: “Here’s what we’ve already covered,” we said. “Is there anything
else that you wouldn’t want us to miss?” Below, you’ll see a list of their replies. We didn’t steer
these responses in any particular direction, but almost all of them followed the same theme. No
joke—it happened to be the exact one that we had in mind.

• What about the benefits of an EF approach on the wellness of all stakeholders in a

school?
• How about teacher burnout? How does this approach support teachers by decreasing their
mental and emotional load?
• Please talk about how we can better support students when we feel good ourselves.
• I’m excited about the way your approach develops efficacy in both students and teachers.
• We really think that EF-­literate teaching makes the support team around a child more well
informed, capable, and strong. Can you talk more about that?
• Can you talk about how EF teaching can renew teacher energy and reduce burnout?

These responses came from people who were already doing EF-­literate classroom teaching.
Like so many educators we work with, they were saying, “I know what this seems to do for me, but
I want to understand exactly why.” We set about explaining the connections between EF-­literate
teaching and a reduction in feelings of burnout. Much of what we found reflected the very same
issues of emotions, efficacy, and “mental load” that had been raised by our community, so that is
what we’ll tackle in the discussion below. We won’t deal much with the straightforward remedy of
overall wellness, but please know it is heavily represented in the literature. You should definitely
keep hustling to make those smoothies, pack a lunch, go to bed early, and exercise regularly. You
know, in all of your free time.
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 149

Burnout
To begin, let’s define this term. Traditionally, “burnout” is seen as a combination of emotional
exhaustion, a reduced sense of personal accomplishment, and feelings of depersonalization
(Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). That means, yes, feeling wiped out and frustrated, but also
distant, unsympathetic, and out of touch with the value and uniqueness of the individual children
in your class. Recently, arguments have been made that because burnout shares many of the symp-
toms of depression—­including moodiness, weight gain, excessive sleepiness, and something called
“leaden paralysis,” good grief—it should be treated as such (Bianchi, Schonfeld, & Laurent, 2015).
Burnout is caused by excessive workload, lack of control, unclear expectations, troublesome poli-
tics, lack of support, and chaos, as well as “moral distress.” While moral distress is often ascribed to
nurses or medical professionals, it is just as applicable to teachers. It happens when you believe you
know the right course of action, but some kind of institutional barrier, such as a lack of resources,
stands in your way (Raines, 2000). You may not be fully distressed and burnt out, but odds are
you’ve had a few questionable days, months, or even whole years. We all cope in different ways.
While the first thing we may try to focus on is the management of our physical hygiene (sleep,
diet, and exercise), research suggests we should be just as concerned about interpersonal factors
that may be more related to emotional hygiene. We’ll focus on the ways our EF-­literate teaching
approach may support your emotional health and ability to thrive in the classroom.

Emotional Intelligence
We are all sensitive and emotionally intelligent, but this is a skill that comes more naturally to
some people than others. It turns out, despite the conventional wisdom that it takes a “thick skin”
to survive as a teacher, it is the most sensitive and tuned in among us who tend to suffer the least
burnout. In a study examining the role of high emotional intelligence, teachers who most effec-
tively paid attention to and subsequently met students’ needs ended up becoming the least burned
out. Increased sensitivity reduces burnout because it allows teachers to deal with problems before
they escalate and become more complicated. This finding, however, is not a silver bullet. After
reading this, you probably shouldn’t expect to switch up your approach and immediately see a big
improvement. While a more sensitive teacher will not prevail in each and every individual situa-
tion, research shows that those who are generally oriented toward more sensitive responses tend
to respond to students just a little bit more effectively and report less burnout over time (Nizielski,
Hallum, Schütz, & Lopes, 2013).
Consider how our approach may improve teachers’ sensitivity and responsiveness in the
classroom. First, by becoming EF literate, teachers gain a new lens through which to see and
understand student performance. When appraising a student doodling on his math assignment,
for example, teachers may begin to query potential EF obstacles rather than assuming defiance
or lack of interest. They may wonder, “What is really happening? Did they lose attention during
the instructions for the task? Are they unable to plan the next step?” Even EF-­literate teach-
ers, however, are often surprised when they take the time to probe deeper with a barriers and
strategies conversation (Chapter 3).5 A doodling student may be using a focusing strategy learned

5 Remember, the BSP was introduced in Chapter 3. It is a semistructured teaching protocol. Essentially, it asks teach-
ers to gather students to discuss “What are your/our barriers to this work?” and then “What strategies can we use to be
more successful?”
150 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

from a therapist, applying an unfamiliar counting strategy, or attempting to sketch the problem.
We may be experienced and sensitive, but we are not mind readers! In fact, we know a teacher
who directly admits to students that she sometimes misses important things and makes incorrect
assumptions, and that she uses the BSP to get at the truth. Remember, researchers tell us that the
more you know about your students, and the more responsive you can be, the less burnt out you
will feel.

Relationships
Ever had a year of just not getting along with one or a handful of students? Relational conflict is
especially wearying; it is the type of teaching stress most associated with emotional exhaustion,
depression, and quitting (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011). Knowing this, it seems understandable that
teachers sometimes put a little distance between themselves and their most challenging students.
You may recall saying something like this: “I know she’s cutting her eraser into tiny pieces and
dropping them all over the floor. I’ve decided to ignore it because I’m going to go crazy if I have
another confrontation with her today.” “Avoid the conflict, reduce emotional exhaustion, and have
more bandwidth for the other 27 students who need me,” we think. Researchers, however, have
suggested there is something that may be even more productive than avoiding and reducing con-
flict: building close relationships (Corbin, Alamos, Lowenstein, Downer, & Brown, 2019). Close
relationships with students are well reported to be the main source of enjoyment, satisfaction,
and motivation for teachers (Quan-­McGimpsey, Kuczynski, & Brophy, 2013), and having achieved
them makes teachers feel a sense of professional accomplishment (Chang, 2013). It seems counter-
intuitive, but we should run toward our challenging students, not away from them.
You could form closer relationships with your students by hosting special, add-on experi-
ences. For example, you might host a fun little pizza party, do an “All About Me” project, or go on
an exciting class excursion. During these atypical events, however, your most challenging students
will still be challenging (and maybe even more so). Furthermore, after having gone out of your
way to reach out to them, you may find yourself engaged in conflict that is even more disappoint-
ing than usual (Rodríguez-­Mantilla & Fernández-Díaz, 2017). Haven’t we all had those days? You
drag yourself into the teachers’ lounge at the end of it all, perhaps covered in paint, or cupcake
sprinkles, or soaked from a rainy excursion, flop into the hermetically sealed vinyl couch, and say,
“I give up!” These big efforts are sometimes successful, and they can be truly wonderful, but we
think there are more steady and routine ways to build relationships with your students.
In terms of a regular, low-­stakes, and feasible way to get closer to your class, you could do a
lot worse than the BSP (Chapter 3). You only need 5 minutes and an interesting shared challenge
to unify your students in an authentic little “getting to know you” experience. By asking students
to tell you about their barriers, you are expressing interest and compassion, and by asking them
about their strategies, you are expressing respect and appreciation for their wisdom. Not only will
you gather information and build relationships during the 5-minute exchange, the frequency with
which you can use the BSP may allow you to normalize a tone of sharing and care. And who knows,
this type of rapport may seep into other, less structured, interactions. You may find your students
approaching you informally to tell you about other difficulties or bright ideas. While this won’t nec-
essarily eliminate conflict in your classroom, it may allow you to walk a more positive, emotionally
fulfilling path with even the most challenging of students.
 How EF‑Literate Teaching Supports Other Educational Priorities 151

Efficacy
If we apply the job demands–­resources model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001),
the well-being of teachers relies on the balance between the effortful work we do and the physical,
social, or organizational assets we have to achieve goals, ease strain, and thrive. The more of these
advantages we have, the more energized and dedicated we will feel, and the more we will be able
to deal with the exhausting effects of a classroom (Bakker, Demerouti, & Euwema, 2005). Yes, of
course teachers benefit from supportive supervisors and adequate physical materials and space,
but the personal resources of a teacher also count. Again and again, researchers confirm that the
most important personal resource for reducing teacher burnout is self-­efficacy (e.g., Bermejo-­Toro,
Prieto-­Ursúa, & Hernández, 2016). This refers to our sense that we can successfully instruct, man-
age, and engage our students, and also that we can develop and sustain positive relationships with
them. If self-­efficacy can tip the balance of our burnout level, it is worth pursuing.
You will not be surprised to hear that we think the BSP (Chapter 3) can help you build self-­
efficacy. We’ll present two approaches—­the first more obvious and the second a little more novel.
First, we would like to suggest that the BSP provides data that even the most well-­trained teachers
need to rack up teaching “wins,” avoid frustrating “losses,” and cultivate self-­efficacy. Consider
the way teaching challenges are ordinarily diagnosed and tackled. To manage a group of students
who can’t perform 2-digit subtraction with borrowing, for example, a teacher might gather her
class to reteach the lesson using base-10 manipulatives and a story about how we borrow from
neighbors. This “best practice” intervention could take 10 minutes to plan and prepare, as well
as 20 minutes to execute. Any teacher of mathematics, however, knows that even the very best
practices sometimes mysteriously flop. We return to school fresh from a math training course with
innovative approaches that yield the same blank stares and wrong answers. This is a big drag on
our self-­efficacy.
Alternatively, the same teacher can use the BSP to ask her students for precise information
about the barriers they face. She may discover that most of the class understands the concept
of borrowing and base 10 but are actually struggling to keep the digits in each problem straight
and tidy. After supplying a different-­sized graph paper and assigning double-­check partners, as
the students themselves have suggested within the BSP, she can deliver tailored “best practice”
support to the small group who really need it. Knowing more about these students, it is no sur-
prise that the standard “best practice” approach was unnecessary for most of them. Using the
BSP to gather data about her students’ precise needs, this teacher has not only a greater chance
of success but also a lower chance of mysterious failure; she increases and protects her sense of
self-­efficacy.
Another route to a reduction in feelings of burnout may be through class collective efficacy.
This term refers to how capable we feel, as a team, of working together with students to achieve
learning goals (Bandura, 1997; Chen & Chin, 2006). Around a school, teachers often talk infor-
mally about their class collective efficacy. You might hear, “I have to keep a close eye on this class.
We just can’t seem to get it together” or “This is an amazing class. I feel like they can handle any-
thing.” In much the same way that self-­efficacy grows, perceived collective efficacy is also thought
to grow when we work together to master new challenges, watch others master new challenges,
and work together in a social climate of goal striving and success (Bandura, 1997). Your personal
success and self-­efficacy can protect against burnout, and so can the success and efficacy you feel
as part of a team with your students.
152 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

We think the BSP can guide you toward greater class collective efficacy by providing more
structured, scaffolded opportunities for communal problem solving. Whereas a teacher might
ordinarily struggle with intervention ideas, accommodation plans, or instructional challenges
independently, the BSP moves more of this work into the collective space. Within daily conversa-
tions, whole classes can wrestle with shared problems and enjoy small victories together. “We can
do hard things,” our teachers often reassure their classes. “It doesn’t matter how hard the task; if
we work together and share strategies, we can do anything.”
Teacher burnout is a significant concern for the profession. Too many seasoned educators, who
should be in the prime of their careers, providing guidance, leadership, and mentorship to others,
are instead either lingering resentfully in classrooms or limping off on medical leave. Our wonder-
ful teacher friend Paula Barrow swears that discovering an EF-­literate teaching approach after 22
years in the classroom pumped her up for another 15.6 Are you at the end of your rope? Before you
start packing boxes and filling in job applications, why not try just one more little thing?

6 Paula Barrow teaches at Fenelon Township Public School in Cameron, Ontario, Canada. Used with permission.
 CHAPTER 8

History and Reflections

Our Work with Teachers

CREATING AND NAMING THE PROJECT

Sometimes, after a talk or a workshop, an educator hangs back to ask us, “How did you get from your
teaching jobs to where you are now?” Practically speaking, the approach we describe has been in
development since 2010. The BSP first took shape in Laurie’s classroom after a vice principal intro-
duced the idea of EFs to the whole staff. Then, feeling very enthusiastic about the potential of the
approach, she began sharing the idea in blogs, a website, and at teaching conferences. Adding up
to almost 40 separate engagements over 3 years, the presentations were rough and experimental,
and almost every one of them had a moment of reckoning: Teachers coping with really challenging
classes are tough customers. “You don’t know my students,” they would say, or “You don’t know
my school day.” A big, strong gym teacher told us, tearfully, “You don’t know my stress level.” We
learned how badly teachers needed solutions for managing students’ self-­regulated learning and
stress, and also how dynamic and shatterproof the solutions needed to be. We were so grateful for
this early learning.
While teaching, Laurie met Peg Dawson and Richard Guare, who took an interest in her
work, provided guidance and moral support, and later devoted a chapter of Executive Skills in
Children and Adolescents to Laurie’s description of the emerging approach (Faith, 2018). They
invited Laurie to participate in more high-­profile speaking engagements, mentioned her work on
their own speaking rounds, and facilitated many interesting introductions. In 2014, Laurie discov-
ered the work of Gabrielle Oettingen and Peter Gollwitzer. After 17 years in the classroom, she left
her teaching role and set off on an academic path. Oettingen and Gollwitzer’s research on “mental
contrasting with implementation intentions” seemed to substantiate the barriers and strategies
153
154 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

conversations. This work, alongside the well-­established scholarship on self-­regulated learning,

plus several important studies on EFs and growth mindset, fit together into a research basis for the
approach. So much powerful insight was there for the taking; all it needed was an educator’s eye to
assemble it and mobilize it into a classroom.
With a chapter published by Dawson and Guare, and a PhD in the works, Laurie had the
opportunity to present, collaborate, and network on a larger scale. Another big breakthrough came
in the form of a five-­person team of teachers from Trillium Lakelands District School Board in
Ontario, who approached Laurie at a teaching conference. These experienced teachers wanted to
learn more about EFs in the classroom, so had applied for and received an Ontario Teacher Learn-
ing and Leadership Project (TLLP) Grant. They used their funding package to pay for release time
for themselves and their colleagues, and were then able to engage in several workshops and other
collaborations with each other and with Laurie. Two other teams from the same school board later
applied for and received TLLP grant money to build upon this work in design-­based teaching and
in the arts.
Collaborating over the next few years with teachers from the Trillium Lakelands District
School Board—­getting to know them and their students—­allowed for deep learning. It was fas-
cinating to support teachers as they adapted to various challenges, steadily honing a whole range
of EF-­literate approaches that were both practical and powerful. Many of those teachers are the
stars of this book. From this work, a team of 11 especially keen teachers emerged and helped to
fine-tune a slide deck and workbook of materials used for training other schools in the board. This
team also helped to coin a name for the movement: “Activated Learning.” Following this, several
other school boards requested training, talks, and partnership.
During this time, Laurie was building a relationship with a group of U.K. psychologists and
educators called Connections in Mind. Over 2 years, Laurie visited London several times to col-
laborate on an EF-­literate approach for local teachers, coaches, and parents. Finally, through this
organization, an introduction between Laurie Faith and a very experienced educator with both
U.S. and U.K. experience was made (Carol-Anne Bush). Carol had just left a 10-year post as an
administrator, was seeking a big creative project, and was reenergized by the potential of EFs in
the classroom. Laurie and Carol quickly formed a partnership, with Carol’s skills complementing
Laurie’s perfectly. Around the same time, Peg Dawson and Laurie had been talking about the suc-
cess of Laurie’s website, and before you know it, Carol, Peg, and Laurie were crafting a pitch to
document the whole project in a book with Guilford Press.
The task of naming this project has haunted us. In the 2018 Dawson and Guare chapter,
it was called “EFs 2 the Rescue Pedagogy.” Later, teachers called it “Activated Learning” and
“#EF4ALL.” For now, we’re holding on to the name “Activated Learning” so it can be located on
the Internet and referred to, with the understanding that new teams of teachers may continue to
rename it as they like. The whole challenge around naming arose because, technically, we didn’t
really know what the project was or should be. A program? A practice? A movement? Anytime you
make something cool, even if it’s just cobbled together from scraps of research and ordinary class-
room practices, people start to worry about these things. Any creation that seems like a commodity
triggers pressure to name it, hoard its ownership, and hurry up and monetize it before someone
else does. Even our most relaxed friends tracked us down, looked us in the eye, and tried to talk
some business sense into us. “Well . . . ” we were warned, “you don’t want to have any regrets.”
Our neighbors told us to apply for a trademark. Our grandmas told us to get a lawyer. At one
point, someone suggested we should patent the idea. “A patent,” an expert cheerfully informed us,
 History and Reflections 155

“kills trade secrets and independent creation.” We had a good laugh at the absurdity of this: The
contents of this book, and its overall ambition, are based on the thriving of teachers’ independent
creation and trade secrets. Even so, in this context, the threat of being taken advantage of, some-
how, prompted many discussions and kept us up at night. Around this time, Laurie had a call with
Carol Dweck to discuss these concerns. “This is what scholarship is all about,” she advised. “Share
it and move on to your next idea.” So, after much contemplation, we realized that to hoard this idea
would stop it, and us, in our tracks. It was a growth mindset moment. We decided: Let’s be think-
ers, learners, and collaborators rather than owners. Indeed, for any decent educational invention,
and particularly those operating on teachers’ daily, ingrained, pedagogical habits, the biggest goal
should be user ownership. Therefore, we’re placing this idea into the public sphere and truly hope
that any educator who wants it will grab it up and run with it.

MEETING TECHNICAL AND ADAPTIVE NEEDS

WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Starting around 2015, references to EFs started coming from all sides: in the news, on psychoedu-
cational reports, in staff rooms, and at conferences. When teachers learned the technical name for
the off-track, disorganized, and inattentive behaviors they were so familiar with, they wanted to
know a lot more. “How do we address this in the classroom,” they wondered? Requests for after-­
school training, 1-day workshops, and other forms of professional development (PD) started pour-
ing in.
We took meetings with superintendents, directors, principals, and teachers to understand
what our training should look like, but the opinions were often contradictory. First, we listened to
teachers, who told us, “Give us as much as you can. Supply us with posters, lessons, and anything
else you have to make our job easier.” We also listened to several administrators, who told us, “The
last thing we want is another binder or spiral-­bound curriculum. Hundreds of those land on our
desks every year, and they are rarely useful. We want something that teachers can muddle into and
adapt to their own classrooms.” Both muddly and easy? This stumped us for a while. Should we
provide premade materials or not?
One thing we knew for sure was that teachers don’t show up to work hoping to solve as many
elaborate problems as possible. If a simple, one-size-fits-all solution exists and will make the day
run more smoothly, teachers tend to use it. Who can blame them? For example, teachers often
share tried and tested worksheets, easy lesson ideas, or activities. They share ideas for how to best
organize a classroom library and borrow each other’s lineup tricks. Solutions like these are essen-
tial, but they only go so far. How do we respond to children who are off track or whose behavior
surprises us? There is no worksheet that will help us, for example, when we walk in the room and
Daniel is lying on that perfectly sorted bookshelf. No quick and easy activity will support Frida,
who has been in remedial reading support for 6 weeks and hasn’t made any progress. These are
pedagogical aspects of teaching and cannot be handled with a quick photocopy or a premade les-
son. Experts call these adaptive rather than simple technical challenges, and they require prob-
lem solving (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002). While some parts of our approach are technical (teaching
children new EF terminology, for example, is pretty straightforward and can be done with simple,
premade lessons), some of it is adaptive. The BSP must be administered creatively, flexibly, and
using teachers’ judgment. We realized that the most effective day of learning would include some
156 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

sharing of quick and easy technical solutions, and a lot of guidance to support the necessary adap-
tive (muddly) problem solving.
On this basis, the training evolved toward providing a half day of technical solutions for teach-
ing EFs plus a half day of exploring ways to adapt the BSP. In the morning, we’d playfully dig
into the materials you’ll find in Chapter 3, using the surveys and posters for practice. We’d show
pictures and tell stories of the many ways other teachers had taught EFs. We’d lead participants
through the “11 Lessons to Teach EFs,” modeling a few of the activities. This allowed our par-
ticipants to gain a deeper understanding of EFs, and also to get ready to use these materials in
their classrooms. Then, in the afternoon, we led participants through three or four different BSPs.
Again and again, we noticed smiles, laughter, and a sense of connection among the teachers as they
opened up and shared their personal barriers and strategies. It seemed like a good balance.
A problem arose, however, when these teachers headed back to their classrooms. Through
extensive follow-­up consultation, we noticed they were getting stuck, often focusing for a long time
on teaching EF knowledge. Teachers would spend weeks slowly administering the 11 lessons,
developing special folders to collect EF activities, or creating elaborate bulletin boards to display
facts about EFs. They would linger, trying for perfection. While these initiatives demanded a lot
of technical work—­photocopying, scheduling, planning, and organizing, not to mention time—we
realized they did not require much change to the most ingrained and fundamental pedagogical
habits. This pattern fit perfectly into Piaget’s theory of learning, which tells us that as humans, we
are much more comfortable assimilating new ideas into preexisting schemas than making funda-
mental schematic change (Piaget, 1952). When they were teaching EF knowledge, teachers were
using a well-­established schema: Learn some information, prepare a lesson, and deliver the lesson.
In order to administer the BSP, however, they would have to undergo an uncomfortable cogni-
tive dissonance resulting from the fundamental change to their schema for pedagogy. Instead of
responding to off-track students by supporting, redirecting, or reducing their expectations, they
would have to accommodate a brand new approach. Muddling isn’t easy; learning a new way to
respond to students isn’t easy.
After making these observations, we made a few changes. First, we took the time to acquaint
teachers with the importance of a little discomfort and cognitive dissonance. “This will feel
uncomfortable because it is real, deep learning. Don’t let the discomfort scare you off—it’s a sign
you are learning and doing something new.” We also moved all of the tempting knowledge-­based
content to an afternoon slot. While we continued to provide a basic education on the science of
EFs, we were careful not to overemphasize knowledge teaching. We stopped showing our favorite
15 or so slides of teachers with perfect bulletin boards, and instead showed one slide of a really
straightforward display. We decided to frontload the BSP. This allowed us to kick off our PD with
the smiles, laughter, and sense of connectedness it brought. It also provided authentic opportuni-
ties to explore EFs. We often, for example, asked teachers to consider a familiar and personal issue,
such as how to get report cards done on time, or how to stick to a new exercise routine. Through
these conversations, key EF vocabulary often came up naturally. “I am a terrible procrastinator,
and I leave my reports to the last minute,” they might say. When we responded by asking, “Does it
feel more like stress, or timing, or attention?” a conversation about EFs would arise. We also spent
more time helping teachers mentally prepare for the big pedagogical shift. We asked them, “When
do you think you might first use the BSP?” We made long lists of all the triggers, moments, and
opportunities: when there are a lot of mistakes in math calculation, when editing isn’t being done,
when groups can’t work well together, when a supply teacher is coming, or when a big project is
 History and Reflections 157

about to start. We even conducted BSPs on doing the BSP. We asked, “What will stand in your way
of starting this? What will stand in your way of doing it a second time? And how will you be strate-
gic to meet your goal?” They told us, for example, that they planned to work in teams, consult one
another, try “small starts,” and start at less stressful times. We also helped teachers practice several
universal and simple applications. For example, we made sure every teacher left our training with
experience doing a BSP on “getting homework done on time,” “having a good recess,” and “reading
to understand.” We challenged each trainee to try a BSP on their first day back in the classroom.
Our goal was to reduce the inertia that would slow down their first try, and then load them up with
coping strategies to ensure they followed up a second, third, and fourth time.
We also reoriented our delivery of technical, premade materials. We added a range of teacher-­
created materials to the website that could be freely accessed on an as-­needed basis (http://acti-
vatedlearning.org). If a teacher wanted a certain poster, lesson, or survey, they could simply pop
online and print it out. We also established a Twitter community under the hashtag #Activat-
edLearning that focused on sharing a wide variety of classroom approaches and tools. No longer
simply teaching 11 lessons over a few months, teachers began to follow and adapt to the needs of
their own classrooms. In this way, we avoided superimposing a rigid approach on top of the local
diversity. Rather, our training followed established best practice by being simple and flexible,
allowing users to organize their own approaches, and encouraging sensible and personal choices
(Lanham et al., 2013). The teachers we worked with seemed more energized, curious, and satisfied
by their efforts.

GROUNDING PD IN GENUINE PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE

Every time we gave a workshop, we would stimulate a cautious change among a majority of typical
teachers and completely light up a handful of the more unusual ones. Alongside the steady pace of
the masses, those early adopters would leave our sessions at a run. Back at school, they’d fabricate
time and energy as if by magic, play fearlessly with the BSP, explore new ways to build EF literacy,
and mobilize motivation psychology in ways we hadn’t anticipated. Then, they’d stop us in school
hallways to give us breathless feedback or email us with loud and enthusiastic testimonials. “This
is amazing!” they’d say. “This process is so easy!” or “I feel like this is the most natural thing in the
world!” When this happened—­let’s be honest—­we’d feel quite excited and satisfied. We’d make
time to visit their classrooms, arrange phone interviews, and beg them to Tweet out pictures to
share their learning. We were delighted to have new creative partners, and we knew these daring
few could help other teachers understand the approach and feel motivated to try it (Hall & Hord,
2001).
As much as it was thrilling to discover an Activated Learning superstar, however, we knew
they had very little to offer us as representatives of typical teachers. Outlier, outlier, outlier, we’d
remind ourselves. While these teachers were thrilling to learn with, we knew that if we wanted to
reach the majority of students, we had to gear our training 100% toward the needs of more typi-
cal educators. Knowing most teachers leave PD sessions feeling as though the demands placed on
them have been unrealistic (Fitzgerald, Danaia, & McKinnon, 2019), we set about equipping every
single attendee with a feasible approach.
The principals and superintendents who booked us always reinforced this concern. Having
witnessed many cycles of unproductive PD, they took very seriously the basic learning needs of
158 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

their teachers. Seemingly on cue and in perfect harmony, they were all quoting the same kinds
of concerns. Teachers wondered, first, “Who is this expert, and so soon after the last one?” They
complained of being tight on time, overwhelmed, and for that matter, still trying to implement that
last great new thing. They felt as though new approaches presented in PD were often random,
seemingly disconnected from what they were genuinely concerned about. Furthermore, they con-
fided that PD often carried the suggestion that they were doing it all wrong and ought to start from
scratch. If you don’t address these challenges, we were warned, you’re going to have a room full of
frustrated and checked-­out participants.
Inspired by these conversations, we dug deeply into the issue of feasibility and connected-
ness. We studied the literature on classroom implementation and discovered we needed to connect
what we were sharing to a professional problem teachers were genuinely frustrated by, stuck on,
or fed up with (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). We also needed to ensure our approach was
sensible, achievable, and not too intrusive (Kazdin, 1980; Lakin & Shannon, 2015; Reimers et al.,
1987). Teachers needed a lot of good reasons to believe us when we said, “This will help, and it
is something you are more than capable of doing.” These considerations guided the training, and
if you have been reading this book from cover to cover, they will be familiar because they have
guided our written approach as well.
As it turned out, helping teachers to recognize and get behind the problem we were try-
ing to solve was easy. We quickly discovered how enthusiastic—­riotous, even—­teachers could
be when asked to describe classroom challenges related to EFs. Accustomed as we were to trying
anything to connect with our audience, no matter how quirky, we once brought a whole bunch of
bells, whistles, and other noisemakers and asked teachers to sound off when they heard something
familiar. “Reexplaining instructions to students who weren’t paying attention!” we’d call out, to
a cacophony of Ding! Ding! Dings! “Helping students to solve disagreements! Putting students’
notes in order! Getting students going again when stalled!” Watching an exhausted fourth-­grade
teacher smile with satisfaction while repeatedly ringing a chrome-­plated customer service bell is a
sight we will not soon forget. Eventually, the bells broke, and we retired the activity. To replace it,
we asked teachers to sticky-­note all of the little snags, challenges, and obstacles they faced while
moving students from instructions to goal completion each day. From a roomful of educators, hun-
dreds of these little papers would be amassed and then slapped onto big chart papers representing
different EF categories. “I can’t believe how many of these problems relate to EFs!” the teachers
would recognize. It was never hard to convince teachers that lagging EFs and self-­regulation were
absorbing most of their attention and energy in classrooms.
We also helped teachers appreciate that they were already doing a lot of EF and self-­regulated
learning support. First, we described the way incremental, rigorous challenges in a calm, struc-
tured, stimulating, social, and joyful environment supports EF development (Diamond, 2014).
We asked teachers to consider all of the ways in which they were already meeting these needs;
they made long lists of every carefully planned lesson, organized learning space, special club, and
extracurricular activity they took the time to put in place. To emphasize how much self-­regulated
learning support was already happening, we simulated the way teachers often rush from student
to student, quickly moving through a cycle of plan, act, and reflect with each one: “Hi Sam. What’s
your problem? Whataya gonna to do about it? No ideas? Hmm. Try making a list! Great. Go!”
In training, we moved around the room kneeling and bending over our attendees one by one as
we tried to imitate the daily madness of trying to regulate for not only oneself but also 20 to 30
students. “It’s like playing Whack-a-Mole,” we said. “You get Sam going, move through six other
 History and Reflections 159

students, get halfway across the room, and look back to see that Sam has fallen apart again!” Or we
compared it to spinning plates, joking about how impossible it was to constantly keep them all bal-
anced and moving. While these ideas felt a little exaggerated to some, they were bang on to others.
We seemed to be hitting a nerve. Teachers were gratified by how vividly we could describe their
classroom experiences. They could see the connection between what we were presenting and what
they were already spending most of their days working on.
Freshly reminded of their daily work to support student EFs and self-­regulated learning,
teachers could interpret our suggestions as efficiencies. They explored our approach not as a “start
from scratch” but as a way to consolidate and front-load a process they were already doing. By
doing a BSP with the whole class, we suggested, teachers could get students started on tasks with
potential obstacles and strategy ideas already in mind. “Then, instead of playing Whack-a-Mole,
you can stand back and become an observer,” we encouraged. We modeled the way teachers could
migrate from kneeling beside desks to standing up straight. “You will have more time to observe,
pay attention to your students’ process, and provide ‘notice and name’ feedback.” We didn’t suggest
it would be a perfect process right away. We acknowledged it might take a while for certain classes
to relax enough to engage fully in conversations about their barriers. And while we admitted that
they, themselves, might sometimes feel nervous to engage with students on such a personal and
vulnerable level, we also reassured them that starting right away and practicing a little bit every
day would pay off.
Experts agree there is a right and a wrong way to deliver PD: Be content focused, they say.
Allow for active learning, provide feedback, involve collaborative examination of student work, and
provide long-term follow-­up (Ingvarson, Meiers, & Beavis, 2005). Accordingly, at each training,
we asked teachers to spell out their most troublesome content areas so we could delve into their
unique EF barriers and practice creating useful compensatory strategies. We created opportu-
nities to journal, talk, move, and create. When it was all over, we set up videoconferences and
return visits to provide follow-­up. Despite these provisions, however, we all agreed that even the
most skillful and captivating presentation is a complete and utter waste of time and money if it is
unnecessary, unwanted, or impractical. Providing feasible training that was grounded in urgent
problems of practice was our number one priority.

FINE‑TUNING THE FORMAT AND DELIVERY OF PD

Having fine-tuned our training, we began to question the format of our delivery. We knew we had
a role to play with educators, but it took a while to understand exactly how to play it. On one hand,
we were getting great reviews on our workshops. We had developed an engaging 4-hour program
that left teachers feeling enlightened and excited. We were aware, however, of the very bad press
surrounding “one-shot” PD. We could not deny the well-known fact that one day of learning rarely
leads to lasting change (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Yoon, 2001). Over time, we real-
ized that in addition to offering the training, there were three supporting pre-, during-, and post-­
workshop factors that were within our control and that needed to be in place.
First, we realized that our workshop groups were engaged in very different preparation prior
to our arrival; sorting through requests from teacher teams, principals, and school boards, we
became adept at detecting training engagements that were headed for disaster. If an organizer
wasn’t calling on behalf of the majority of our “trainees,” we suspected the crowd would be divided
160 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

into two polarized groups who were frustrated at one other. If a principal called us because he had
heard about the workshop from another principal, we knew we might arrive to a bewildered staff
caught completely unawares. And when a small group of teachers called, hoping we could come in
to transform the rest of the staff? Just . . . yikes! All of these situations involved us dragging tens of
teachers backward through hours of learning they didn’t ask for, didn’t necessarily want, and might
resent as a distraction from their actual priorities.
The kinds of organizers we looked for tended to tell different stories. Some explained that EFs
had emerged as a major area of concern in a staff meeting, while others revealed they had been
reading about growth mindset as a whole school team and felt ready for the next step. The very
best news, for us, was when a school told us they had come together as a group, found EFs to be
a major area of concern, and begun to gather data to understand the scope of the problem. Bingo!
We knew this was a promising and legitimate training situation, because it mirrored the structure
of “collaborative inquiry.” Collaborative inquiry, through which educators base their learning on
their own shared experiences and goals, is a reliable driver of improvement for both students and
schools (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008). What did we do with the more worrisome invitations? We
suggested they start with a 15-minute whole-staff introduction. In these meetings, both conducted
in person and via videoconference, we could quickly explain the challenges we wanted to tackle,
the kinds of science we would like to discuss, and the types of approaches to be explored. “Please
take a few weeks to think about this and talk it over. We do not want you to waste your precious
PD dollars on a workshop that doesn’t relate to your most pressing challenges.” Almost every single
group who received this pitch eventually asked for a workshop, but it was based on the agreement
and genuine interest of the majority of the staff.
The second supporting factor we learned to control was the involvement of principals. We
began to notice that the groups who went on to engage and change their practice the most were
those led by a dazzling variety of hyper-­involved principals. This type would come armed with
their own books on the subject, or rush off at every break to plan unique applications with groups
of teachers, or end the day with five or six questions and a to-do list. In contrast, teams who strug-
gled seemed to have principals who were distracted, were seated at the back of the room, floated
in and out during the morning session, or were pulled out unexpectedly during the afternoon.
Our hunch was affirmed by a whole lot of science that suggests that engaged, learning-­with prin-
cipals bring a crucial sense of relevance and importance to new learning (Ajzen, 1985, 1991; Ajzen
& Fishbein, 2000) and can almost double the impact of any other dimension of PD on student
achievement (Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd, 2009). Before booking a workshop, therefore, we made
sure to explain and emphasize these realities with principals. “Ugh. I know. I’m so sorry. I have so
much on my plate . . . ” they would tell us, with genuine regret. Indeed, distracted principals are
almost never shopping for vacations and new sneakers online—­in our experience, most are simply
overloaded and putting out one urgent fire after another. We wondered if it might make sense to
have principals fill in a barriers and strategies reflection prior to training. We prompted them by
saying, “My goal is to be fully present and engaged during today’s training. What barriers might
I face? What strategies can I use to be successful?” In response, principals sometimes made dif-
ferent arrangements to handle unexpected interruptions, such as sharing the responsibility with a
senior teacher. When principals were reminded that their participation would have a ripple effect
throughout the staff and determine the overall success of their initiative, they often found creative
ways to remain engaged.
The third factor we concerned ourselves with was follow-­up support. We wanted to make sure
that, after participating in a workshop and attempting to implement new approaches, a teacher had
 History and Reflections 161

someone with whom to problem-­solve. We also wanted to encourage a culture of ongoing adapta-
tion, personalization, and ownership. This has been called “generative professional development,”
and it treats teachers as free-­thinking individuals who can take an active role in their own learning
(Flint, Zisook, & Fisher, 2011). While our engaged principals carried much of the load, and teach-
ers often sought each other out for help, we also tried to provide a system of as-­needed, 20-minute
videoconference check-ins before and after school. Teachers from larger workshop groups were
offered semi-­private meetings in groups of three to four, while smaller training teams were spoiled
with private meetings. We learned a lot. Contrary to our assumption, the teachers who met in
groups thrived and persisted the most. Spending more than half of their “consult” time either
listening to other teachers or being overheard didn’t bother them. In fact, they seemed to enjoy it.
We did some reading and realized that, yes, while most real change to teaching practice happens
when teachers are encouraged to experiment with new understandings (Guskey, 2002), they ben-
efit equally from interactions with colleagues (Penuel, Sun, Frank, & Gallagher, 2012). By offering
private consultations, we were encouraging their experimentation but isolating teachers from each
other’s expertise and experience. Going forward, we made sure to create online opportunities that
would cluster at least three teachers into one conversation.
As we move forward, we are looking for ways to more fully empower teachers as learners. One
of our new directions is to remove the full-day workshop entirely and replace it with a number of
shorter engagements. By doing this, we hope to enable more use of videoconference, which will
increase our reach, reduce travel, and almost eliminate costs due to teacher release time. Even
better than the logistical advantages, however, is the fact that with more frequent, short meetings,
we can support an entire cycle of collaborative inquiry. Over several months, we can help teach-
ers gather data across four stages: first by identifying a challenge of practice, then researching
and establishing a suitable solution, then implementing the solution, and finally determining the
success of the solution and making plans for next steps. In this way, we hope to retreat almost fully
from being a one-shot, sage-on-stage performance and focus more on facilitating the hypothesiz-
ing, creativity, and adaptation that will be most meaningful and useful to teachers.

OVERALL TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR WORK WITH TEACHERS

Below, we summarize a list of the most important lessons we have learned about supporting teach-
ers’ professional learning. Within each lesson, we realize, is a factor that is well established in the
scientific literature of effective PD; taken individually, these lessons do not break new ground. In
this condensed format, however, we hope our list provides guidance as to which specific, research-­
based factors you should focus on to best foster our particular brand of EF-­literate teaching.

• Heck, yeah! Conduct workshops, training, and so forth, only if the learners believe it will
address an urgent problem of practice. A quick introduction of the proposed learning should yield
a “Heck, yeah!” response. Otherwise, you should circle back to figure out what your problems of
practice actually are and address those things.
• All aboard: Conduct whole-­school professional learning only when a principal is on board.
He or she must be fully available to attend the training and willing to participate in implementa-
tion in tangible ways. Otherwise, spend your money on the lunch program or new basketballs, or
something that will actually make a difference.
162 Executive Function Skills in the Classroom

• Are you with me? Upon starting a workshop or training, restate and characterize the prob-
lem of practice as thoroughly and vividly as possible to reenergize learners. Is this the problem you
urgently want to solve? Are you with me? The answer should be an emphatic “Yes!”
• This is that: Upon starting a workshop or training, clearly establish the time, energy, and
emotional resources that are tied up in current practices and balance the proposed solution as
efficiencies against these. Faculty and staff should think, oh, this is for that problem.
• Get real: Professional learning (training) experiences should be tied to realistic, content-­
based activities that teachers can relate to. For example, during a training day, teachers should
practice conducting the BSP for a specific math, reading or writing, groupwork, and social skill so
they can see how it really works.
• No home base: Teachers should be gently steered away from dwelling for too long on famil-
iar teaching activities, such as delivering lessons on EF definitions. While this is useful, it should
not go on for too long. Instead, they should begin the more uncomfortable work of changing their
pedagogy . . . stopping students regularly to investigate the barriers to their goals and the strategies
to be successful.
• We can do hard things: Teachers should be directly informed and reassured about the
uncomfortable feelings of cognitive dissonance that will accompany their real, deep learning and
change. Tell them, “This discomfort is a good sign. You’re on the right track.”
• Plan for a rainy day: Before heading out to try something bold and new, teachers should
work in teams to plan strategies for managing feelings of discomfort, discouragement, or even fear.
• All the help: Teachers need straightforward technical information and tools, as well as the
inspiration, reassurance, and guidance to attempt and master more adaptive approaches. So bal-
ance the provision of photocopies and premade resources with time for teaching, discussion, and
practice.
• Attentive support: When teachers are back in their classrooms starting new, stressful, or
uncomfortable approaches, principals and colleagues should regularly and generously support
them. This may feel like “helicopter parenting” until teachers get up and running.
• Make it your own: Teachers should be encouraged to continuously modify, change, and
adapt new approaches to the special dynamics of their own classrooms.
• Teamwork: Ongoing support should ideally happen in community with other teachers and
principals. Support from professional experts can be helpful, but if it happens without the involve-
ment of other staff and principals, it may feel irrelevant to implementers.
 APPENDIX A

Strategy Teaching Interventions

for Executive Functions

Intervention Description Strengths Limitations

Alert program Aims to develop students Students learn about No focus on strategies
(Nash et al., 2015) with fetal alcohol spectrum their sensory needs, for learning.
disorder’s self-­regulation of factors that affect them,
Not relevant for typically
their sensory needs. and strategies for self-­
developing students.
regulating.
Twelve 1-hour sessions over
High duration and
14 weeks. Delivered one-
frequency. Not delivered
to-one with an occupational
by school staff or in
therapist.
school/home setting.

Chicago School Add-on for preschool Focus on early No focus on strategies

Readiness curriculum. intervention. for learning.
Program (Watts,
Aims to develop preschool Training for teachers Only for preschool.
Gandhi, Ibrahim,
children’s strategies for and parents.
Masucci, & Raver, High time and resource
emotional regulation.
2018) demands.
Teachers receive workshops
to manage stress and
children with behavior
difficulties receive
counseling.

(continued)

163
164 Appendix A

Intervention Description Strengths Limitations

German Marburg Aims to support Includes physical Strategies for learning
Concentration difficulties associated with activity and learning are not the priority
Training (Wimmer, hyperactivity and attention. strategies. area targeted by the
Bellingrath, & von intervention.
Activities involve principles Delivered in the school
Stockhausen, 2016)
of cognitive behaviour setting. High dosage, frequency,
therapy, learning strategies, and duration.
and relaxation techniques.
Not delivered by school
Twenty-­five sessions over staff.
18 weeks; two sessions per
week (one for 60 minutes,
one for 90 minutes).
Delivered by two tutors.

Intervention Strategy learning for Focused on strategies Focuses on only one

for executive reading comprehension for for learning. area of learning (reading
processes involved 8- to 9-year-olds. comprehension).
Delivered to the whole
in reading
50 minutes per day for 12 class. Feasibility issues as two
comprehension
days over 4 weeks. trained professionals
(García-­Madruga Intervention involves
needed to deliver.
et al., 2013) Delivered by two practicing the strategies
researchers to a whole class. during the learning
activity.

OutSMARTERs Aims to develop social skills, Training provided for Not relevant for typically
program self-­regulation, and EFs for professionals delivering developing students.
(Hannesdottir, students with ADHD (ages it.
Feasibility issues
Ingvarsdottir, & 8–10 years).
Manualized. in terms of time,
Bjornsson, 2017)
Two-hour sessions, twice a availability of
week, for 5 weeks. professionals, and
financial resources.
Delivered by clinical
psychologists and Delivered outside of
occupational therapists typical lessons.
(three adults per group).

PASS (Planning, Aim to develop students’ Focus on strategies for Focuses only on
Attention, use of strategies in learning learning. planning skills.
Simultaneous, (research available on
Low dosage, frequency, No explicit teaching of
and Successive; reading comprehension and
and duration and EFs or EF strategies
Haddad et al., math).
delivered by class for learning (i.e., from
2003; Iseman &
Delivered by teacher in teacher in classroom teacher).
Naglieri, 2011)
small group or whole class. context.
Ten minutes of planning Supports learning from
facilitation for between 2 peers as students make
days and 3 weeks. suggestions of strategies.
(continued)
 Appendix A 165

Intervention Description Strengths Limitations

PASS (continued) This entailed asking Suitable for students
questions that elicited with and without
strategies that students additional learning
could use. needs.

PATHS (Promoting Add-on to school Provides strategies No focus on strategies

Alternative curriculum. for self-­regulation of for learning.
Thinking emotions.
Aims to develop students’ High frequency and
Strategies; Kusché
social and emotional skills. Delivered in the school duration.
& Greenberg,
setting.
1994) Three days per week for
20–30 minutes.

SMARTs Aims to develop Explicit teaching of EF Does not explicitly

Executive metacognitive awareness strategies and peer-­ develop students’
Function and and use of EF strategies supported opportunities understanding of EFs.
Mentoring through explicit teaching to practice the strategies
High ratio of teaching
intervention and peer mentoring. on learning activities.
staff needed.
(Meltzer, Basho,
Eighty minutes per week Incorporates goal-­
Reddy, & Kurkul, High dosage and
for 8 months. Two SMARTs setting techniques.
2015) duration.
teachers and two assistant
teachers per class. (Four
weeks of mentor training;
then 7 months of SMARTs
sessions, i.e., teaching EF
strategies.)
Secondary school students
with learning difficulties,
ADHD, and those
“struggling academically.”

Unstuck and On Focus on supporting Delivered by trained No focus on strategies

Target program students with ASD with school staff. for learning.
(Kenworthy et al., difficulties associated with
Other teachers and Not relevant for typically
2014) ASD such as flexibility in
parents trained to developing students.
thinking and behavior, and
promote generalization.
social skills. High dosage, duration,
Develops understanding and frequency.
Twenty-­eight 30- to
of areas of difficulty and
40-minute lessons by school
practices strategies of
staff.
support.
Note. Table created by Dr. Lisa Carmody for her doctoral research. Used with permission.
 APPENDIX B

EF Basics
A Series of 11 Mini‑Lessons to Build
Whole‑Class EF Literacy (Grade 2 and Up)

Depending on your approach to teaching EFs, you might enjoy the EF Basics Lesson Series. This
was created by popular demand, inspired by the outstanding classroom work of our colleague
Stephanie Walker at Scott Young Public School in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Teachers wanted
quick little lessons to directly teach each EF to their students. Each lesson provides two or three
simple experiences or mini activities that you can do with everyday materials. They will allow your
class to discuss, explore, and understand how each EF feels and affects their performance. We
know teachers who use these lessons every day for the first few days, weeks, or months of school.
Or some choose to use only a small handful of the lessons because they determined that EFs such
as attention and organization, for example, were already so well understood by their students. We
also know whole schools that agreed all teachers would cover one lesson per week over a specified
period of time. We don’t yet know of any schools that have committed to a schoolwide EF Spirit
Day, created EF lesson stations, and rotated their whole student body though all of the lessons in
one day, but we’re hoping to soon! As with everything else, modify and adapt these lessons to your
heart’s content.

166
 Appendix B 167

Teaching Guide for All Lessons: EF Basics Mini‑Lessons Series

BACKGROUND LESSON PLAN

Purpose: This series of repeating lessons will build Connection: Choose an EF to focus on for the
basic EF knowledge and skill for both teacher lesson. Gather whole class. Engage students in
and students. They can be used alone or in a short activity to demonstrate how the EF feels
combination with other lessons on EF. (suggestions listed in chart below).

Timing: Any time, but particularly useful at the Teach: Keep this clear, succinct, and direct. First,
beginning of the year. May be done daily, weekly, quickly review the “4 Facts” and “What Are . . . ”
or monthly. Each lesson should take 30–40 posters. Then display a copy of the Foursquare
minutes. activity sheet for the EF you are covering. Model
how students are to complete this. Write in the
Materials: Each lesson on the specified EF is definition for the EF you are covering (see chart
accompanied by rich supplementary notes. These below). Provide 2–3 examples of how the chosen
notes contain a clear definition of the EF, activity EF affects performance (see chart below for ideas
ideas, examples from daily life, strategy examples, or share your own). Show students how to draw a
and student worksheets. moment in which the EF is called upon.

A set of classroom EF posters will also be useful Active Engagement: Ask students to turn and talk
to have up as you present these lessons, and with a partner. If you’re working on attention, for
then to keep up for reference once your class has example, ask, “Is attention challenging for you?
developed EF knowledge and skill (more poster Share one time that attention is hard for you.”
options at http://activatedlearning.org).
Link: Provide students with a clean copy of the
Foursquare worksheet and invite them to fill it in
on their own or with a partner. “You can use some
of the examples that we discussed together, or you
can create a Foursquare that is personal to you.
Your job is to reflect on your own experiences,
search your memory for interesting ideas, and
make your ideas very clear on your Foursquare.”

Feedback to Students: “I see students thinking

carefully. I see students coming up with original
ideas and making clear notes and drawings. I see
students reflecting thoughtfully on their executive
functions.”
168 Appendix B

Response Inhibition: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Response What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
inhibition for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Thinking before ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
you act—to model self-­compassion, that might just work!
resist the urge to self-­understanding, and
say or do things. The Marshmallow Test! self-­acceptance.
Will students agree Apologize right away if you
to give up having one regret doing something
marshmallow now (or Blurting out something that impulsively.
similar candy) if they are you wish you hadn’t said.
promised two later? This Take one deep breath
tests whether they can Asking for help before you before you speak when
temporarily inhibit their really try something on you’re upset.
desire for a treat. Look up your own.
“Stanford Marshmallow Keep your hands in your
Experiment” to see cute Giving help or advice when pockets.
videos. someone doesn’t really
want it. Write “DC” next to each
On six blank cards, write question to show that
the names of six colors Rushing to the next you’ve double checked.
(e.g., red, green, blue . . . ) question before double
each in the wrong colored checking what you’ve Try to stay calm: Talk
marker. So you write the already done. about your concerns before
word “green” using a red they make you so stressed
marker, “yellow” using a Taking one more shot you can’t control your
green marker, etc. Flip after the whistle blows in responses. A great mantra
through the cards and basketball. to remember: Respond,
ask your class to read don’t react.
the names. Flip through
again and challenge your
students to say the color
that each word is written
in. Can they inhibit the
impulse to simply read the
word?
 Appendix B 169

Working Memory: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Working What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Memory for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Holding ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
information in model self-­compassion, that might just work!
memory while self-­understanding, and
performing Play a paired or group self-­acceptance.
complex tasks. “memory” card game in Jot information down.
which pairs of cards are
arranged face down and Playing chess and holding Make a song out of a list of
must be found as pairs. a series of moves in mind. information.
Can you hold several
different card locations in Remembering all items Reduce background noise,
mind? on a list or in a phone slow down, say it out loud.
number.
See if students can Use a mnemonic:
remember the last word Remembering to add your Attach meaning to the
of three or four sentences “carries” when performing information.
you say: “Everyone loves traditional addition.
chocolate cake. It is served Visualize what you are
at birthdays. I always Copying information from hearing.
hope to get a corner piece. one screen to another on a
computer. Stay calm.
Corner pieces have the
most icing.” Can they tell
you, “Cake, birthdays,
piece, icing”? This tests
their ability to hold the last
word of each sentence in
mind while continuing to
listen.
170 Appendix B

Emotional Control: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Emotional What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Control for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Managing ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
feelings so model self-­compassion, that might just work!
you can be self-­understanding, and
productive and Remind students of self-­acceptance.
successful. your work on Zones of Say exactly how you’re
Regulation, if your school feeling out loud. “I’m
uses the program. Remind Feeling so worried about feeling . . . ”
students that they can doing things perfectly
be more effective when that you can’t start your Make a “good enough”
they are calm and under assignments. start, even if it is just to
emotional control. get you to your next idea.
Getting your stage fright
Teach “box breathing.” under control. Try exercise, yoga, deep
Draw a big box on the breathing, and mindful
board, and as students Being so excited and activities.
trace the sides with their happy that you’re way too
eyes they breathe for a loud. Use self-talk, “I’m feeling
count of four, hold for a little X because Y, but I
a count of four, and out Feeling as if you can’t can handle it and I’m going
for a count of four. This let go of frustration from to be okay.”
is a strategy to promote something that happened
a feeling of emotional at recess.
control.
Staying calm and cool.
Do some yoga, exercise, or
mindful movement if your
class would enjoy it. These
experiences may promote
feelings of emotional
control.
 Appendix B 171

Flexibility: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Flexibility What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
Seeing many modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
sides of an idea ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
or situation. model self-­compassion, that might just work!
Being able to self-­understanding, and
change and Ask children, “Do you self-­acceptance.
adapt. know what flexibility is? Come up with three good
Is anyone very physically ideas and choose the best
flexible? Can you show Appreciating a different one.
me?” Make the connection point of view in a debate
between changing or disagreement. Say, “I’m going to put
positions and stretching myself in your shoes.”
physically and changing Trying a different method
positions and stretching to solve a problem. Make an effort to try new
your ideas and thinking. things at least once.
Can you change your Being open to someone
mind as easily as you can else’s choice of restaurant,
change your body? project topic, solution,
game, activity, etc.
Draw six simple pictures
on the board: a house, Learning a method in math
a dog, a heart, a cookie, class that is different from
an explosion, and a the first method that you
dollar sign. Ask groups of learned.
students to create a story
by organizing these details
in a certain sequence.
Notice how they can be
organized differently.

Hold up an everyday item,

such as a stapler, power
cord, or binder, and ask
students to suggest all of
the different, creative ways
it could be used. Can they
think flexibly?
172 Appendix B

Attention: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Sustained What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Attention for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Paying attention ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
even if you’re model self-­compassion, that might just work!
tired, bored, or self-­understanding, and
not interested. Show students a shuffled self-­acceptance.
deck of cards, one by one, Chew gum.
about one per second.
Ask students to clap their Listening to teachers’ Stay rested, fed, and
hands unless they see a instructions when they are watered.
king or queen. As their running long.
attention wanders, they Run the stairs or find a
will be more likely to clap Noticing small errors in way to move.
at the wrong time. written work.
Break tasks into smaller
Go online and search for Driving past your chunks.
“change blindness” videos. destination because you
Find one that is suitable stopped paying attention. Remove clutter or
for your group, and see distraction.
if they can pay enough
Sit close to a teacher.
attention to count all the
changes.
Talk over your work with a
friend or engage with your
teacher.
 Appendix B 173

Task Initiation: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Task Initiation What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
The ability to modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
begin projects in ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
a timely fashion. model self-­compassion, that might just work!
self-­understanding, and
Arrange students in a self-­acceptance.
circle, and ask one student Try to write the first
to cover her eyes so she sentence, or answer, in the
can be the detective. Getting going with work first minute.
Pick a student to be the after you’re given an
“starter” and instruct the assignment. Use self-talk: “Okay. What
others to silently follow do I have to do first to get
all actions of the starter. Deciding on the right going?”
See if the detective can way to start and feeling
figure out who is the confident enough to get Watch a friend who has
starter. Switch roles. Ask going. already started to see how
students how it feels to be she began.
responsible for starting an Starting big projects early.
action. Decide you will make a
“good enough” start, even
Give students a fun if it can’t be perfect.
three-­question quiz. “You
don’t have to share your Get started on work with a
answers—­you can keep partner.
score in your head!”
Use questions that your
students can relate to,
such as “Who here
brushes their teeth without
being reminded?”; “Who
here is an early riser, or
who needs to be hassled
to get up?”; “Who here
charges devices before
they run out of batteries?”;
or “Who here starts
homework as soon as they
get home, and who here
leaves it until just before
bedtime.” Enjoy getting to
know your students and
sharing your own strengths
and weakness with task
initiation.
174 Appendix B

Planning and Prioritization: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Planning and What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Prioritizing for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Creating a ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
roadmap to model self-­compassion, that might just work!
reach a goal or self-­understanding, and
to complete a What is the most self-­acceptance.
task. Deciding important thing to learn Say, “What’s the most
what is at school? With the class, important part of this
important to write 10 ideas on 10 blank Focusing on the most project? Where should I
focus on and pieces of paper or cards. important tasks rather start?”
what’s not. Give students 10 pennies than the easiest or most
each, and ask them to vote fun ones. Make a to-do list and
for what they think is the then start the three most
highest-­priority learning Being able to participate important jobs.
goal by placing a penny on because you brought all
it. They can put all pennies of the right equipment or When you get an
on one, or distribute them materials. assignment or worksheet,
as they like. After they are circle the part that will be
finished, count the pennies Getting ahead on most tricky and start there.
to discover the highest homework on Monday
learning priority. night because you’re busy
all of the other nights.
Discuss with the class:
“How do you make a
peanut butter and jelly
sandwich?” Make a list
of steps, and discuss the
decisions you make about
the order of those steps.
 Appendix B 175

Organization: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Organization What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
Creating and modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
maintaining ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
a system to model self-­compassion, that might just work!
keep track of self-­understanding, and
information or Teach students to play the self-­acceptance.
materials. card game Solitaire. Or Always find five things to
play Patience online. These put away, sort, or tidy up.
games are almost entirely Keeping a desk, locker,
organizational tasks. or closet tidy so you can Use baskets, binders, tabs,
find things when you need or sections to sort your
Ask students to describe them. materials.
how they organize their
rooms, their school Making numbers and Remove unnecessary items
bags, their desks, or any calculations orderly and or clutter.
other areas they have easy to follow in written
responsibility for. math work. Watch what organized
people do.
Being able to write so that
your ideas on one topic Use a graphic organizer to
are all in one section or pre-plan your writing.
paragraph.
176 Appendix B

Time Management: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Time What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Management for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Estimating how ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
much time model self-­compassion, that might just work!
you have and self-­understanding, and
how to use it Cover all clocks and self-­acceptance.
to stay within remove all watches/ Set a timer bell.
time limits and phones. Have everyone
deadlines. stand up and close their Knowing you have 45 Ask a group member or
eyes. Tell students to sit minutes to complete 10 teacher for reminders.
down quietly and open questions and focusing
their eyes after what they only on the first question Work in 5-minute bursts
believe has been a minute. for 20 minutes. and keep track of what you
Everyone will sit down and get done.
open their eyes at different Starting a big project on
times. time so you have enough Wear a watch or sit where
time to finish. you can see a clock.
Ask students to estimate
how many times they can Taking too long to get Assign a group time
do a small, token activity ready to go outside. manager.
(walk the perimeter of the
classroom or playground, Having enough time to
write their signature, proofread.
give handshakes) in
one minute. Were
estimates way off? Did
the group tend to over- or
underestimate? Do we
have a good sense of time?
 Appendix B 177

Goal‑Directed Persistence: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Goal-­Directed What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
Persistence for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
Following ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
through to the model self-­compassion, that might just work!
completion self-­understanding, and
of your goal Give students a yardstick self-­acceptance.
without being or a ruler and challenge Do big assignments in
distracted by them to learn to balance it “pomodoros” (or chunks)
competing on one finger, straight up Trying to figure out how with short breaks in
interests. and down. This will take to use new technology by between.
multiple tries and plenty of patiently exploring menus,
persistence. features, and YouTube Break your job into steps
videos. and check each one as you
Teach students how to go along.
make a “house of cards” Making multiple drafts of
by leaning cards against an essay. Work with a partner and
each other to make encourage each other.
structures. Invite them Proofreading or double-­
to persevere through 10 checking work. Make a goal and see if you
attempts in a row. can achieve it.
Trying once and then
Have students write down giving up.
an individual goal for the
day. Before dismissal,
circle back and see how
many achieved their goals.
178 Appendix B

Metacognition: EF Basics Mini‑Lesson Series

Supplementary Notes for Lessons
EF and definition Connection activity ideas Examples from daily life Strategy examples
Metacognition What do you have time Try to share examples Keep an open mind and
for? Mix and match, from your own life, but be creative. Students will
Noticing how modify, or simplify. These don’t feel you have to come up with surprising
you’re doing. ideas will get you thinking. exaggerate. Be honest and and unusual strategies
Thinking about model self-­compassion, that might just work!
how you’re self-­understanding, and
thinking. Display snapshots of self-­acceptance.
people. These might be Use self-talk: “Okay. What
shots you already have might I be forgetting?” or
of your class, or for fun Noticing that you’re “How can I improve this?”
you could use http:// making the same mistake
awkwardfamilyphotos.com. over and over again. Think of someone you
Draw thought bubbles admire and ask yourself,
over them and encourage Realizing that you know “How would they have
students to complete the the answer to a question done this differently?”
thought, “I just realized but just can’t remember it
that I . . . ” right now.

Give students a cue card Realizing that you’ve

and ask them to write forgotten something
advice to next year’s important and should find
students. “If I could do this a replacement.
grade/month/year/class
over again, I would . . . ”
 Definition Drawing

Write name of EF here

179
Examples Strategies
From Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies by Laurie Faith, Carol‑Anne Bush, and Peg Dawson. Copyright © 2022 The Guilford Press.
Permission to photocopy this material is granted to purchasers of this book for personal use or use with students (see copyright page for details). Purchasers can download additional copies
of this material (see the box at the end of the table of contents).
 APPENDIX C

Mentor Texts for Teaching

About Executive Functions

The following is a list of storybooks and novels that relate to EF themes at a range of different grade
levels. We hope you will consider incorporating them into your school year somehow. They make
great read-­alouds to recommend for home reading, to conduct with your class, or to present to your
whole school during assembly. We know principals who gather their entire population—­students,
teachers, parents, and staff—once per month to discuss an EF and read a related story. Using these
books, you can create shared experiences with EFs and build rich conceptual understanding. We
are grateful to Meg Clements and her colleagues at the Trillium Lakelands District School board,
as well as to Amarinder Mehta, a graduate of the University of Toronto Master of Arts in Child
Study and Education program, for doing so much of the heavy lifting to create this list.
We know the materials, even as we speak, are continuing to evolve and change in the hands of
the many teachers who helped create them and who use them. Now they are yours to expand upon
and improve. If you come up with anything interesting, including adaptations or improvements,
we’d love for you to share them with our community. Please see the preface for information about
where to find us!

MENTOR TEXTS: PREKINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 3

(AR = age range)

Response Inhibition: PreK–3

Cook. J. (2008). My mouth is a volcano. Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR: 5–8.
Cook, J. (2014). Decibella. Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 5–8.
Cook, J. (2016). That rule doesn’t apply to me! Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 4–6.

180
 Appendix C 181

Ferrell, S. (2016). The snurtch. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. AR: 4–8.
John, J. (2017). The bad seed. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 4–8.
Jones, C. (2012). Lacey Walker the non-stop talker. North Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books. AR: 4–6.
Watt, M. (2009). Chester. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. AR: 4–8.

Working Memory: PreK–3

Esham, B. (2016). Last to finish: A story about the smartest boy in math class. Naperville, IL: Little Pickle
Press. AR: 4–10.
Teckentrup, B. (2014). The memory tree. London: Orchard Books. AR: 5–8.

Emotional Control: PreK–3

Atwood, M. (2005). Rude Ramsay and the roaring radishes. New York: Bloomsbury USA. AR: 4–8.
Baptiste, B. (2004). My daddy is a pretzel. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books. AR: 4–8.
Bottner, B. (1992). Bootsie Barker bites. New York: Scholastic. AR: 4–8.
Cain, J. (2000). The way I feel. Seattle, WA: Parenting Press. AR: 2–8.
Cook. J. (2013). Thanks for the feedback . . . (I think)! Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 5–8.
Cook, J. (2015). Lying up a storm. Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR: 5–8.
Cornwall, G. (2017). Jabari jumps. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. AR: 4–8.
Desmond, J. (2014). Eric, the boy who lost his gravity. Maplewood, NJ: Blue Apple Books. AR: 4–8.
Ferrell, S. (2016). The snurtch. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. AR: 4–8.
John, J. (2017). The bad seed. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 4–8.
Joosse, B. (1991). Mama, do you love me? San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC. AR: 4–8.
Lienas, A. (2015). The colour monster. London: Templar Publishing. AR: 3–7.
Manning, J. (2012). Millie Fierce. New York: Penguin Group. AR: 3–7.
McCloud, C. (2006). Have you filled a bucket today? Brighton, MI: Ferne Press. AR: 4–10.
Parton, D. (2009). I am a rainbow. New York: Penguin Young Readers Group. AR: 3–5.
Seuss, Dr. Many colored days. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. AR: 3–5.
Tomlinson, J. (1968). The owl who was afraid of the dark. Middlesex, UK: Penguin Books. AR: 6–8.
Witek, J. (2014). In my heart: A book of feelings. New York: Harry N. Abrams. AR: 3+.

Flexibility: PreK–3
Baptiste, B. (2004). My daddy is a pretzel. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books. AR: 4–8.
Brown, M. (1947). Stone soup. New York: Simon & Schuster. AR: 4–8.
Cook, J. (2011). I just don’t like the sound of no! Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 5–8.
Cook, J. (2017). Bubble gum brain: Ready, get mindset . . . grow! Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth
Issues. AR: 4–8.
Goodrich, C. (2011). Say hello to Zorro! New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. AR: 3–8.
John, J. (2017). The bad seed. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 4–8.
Robinson, M. (2014). There is a lion in my corn flakes. London: Bloomsbury Press. AR: 3–7.
Spires, A. (2014). The most magnificent thing. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. AR: 3–7.

Sustained Attention: PreK–3

Gerstein, M. (2007). The man who walked between the towers. New York: Roaring Brook Press. AR: 5–8.
Hohn, N. L. (2018). Harriet Tubman: freedom fighter. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. AR: 4–8.
182 Appendix C

McCully, E. A. (1992). Mirette on the high wire. New York: Putnam. AR: 4–8.
Spires, A. (2014). The most magnificent thing. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. AR: 3–7.
Wild, M. (2017). The sloth who slowed down. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin. AR: 4–7.

Task Initiation: PreK–3

Hay, S. (2018). The star in the jar. London: Egmont Books. AR: 4–8.
Seuss, Dr. (1954). Horton hears a who! New York: Random House Publishing. AR: 5–9.

Planning and Prioritizing: PreK–37

Ferry, B. (2015). Land shark. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. AR: 4–8.

Organization: PreK–3
Cook, J. (2015). I can’t find my whatchamacallit! Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR:
4–12.

Time Management: PreK–3

Adler, D. A. (1992). A picture book of Harriet Tubman. New York: Holiday House. AR: 6–8.
Paramore, L. (2017). Anything’s possible. Anything goes! American Fork, UT: Heart Centered Productions.
AR: 4–8.

Goal‑Directed Persistence: PreK–3

Andreae, G. (2019). Giraffes can’t dance. New York: Hachette Book Group. AR: 4–8.
Ferry, B. (2015). Land shark. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. AR: 4–8.
Gerstein, M. (2007). The man who walked between the towers. New York: Roaring Brook Press. AR: 5–8.
Kirk, D. (2007). Library mouse: A friend’s tale. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. AR: 4–8.
McCully, E. A. (1992). Mirette On the high wire. New York: Putnam. AR: 4–8.
Piper, W. (2005). The little engine that could. New York: Penguin Random House. AR: 3–7.
Santat, D. (2017). After the fall: How Humpty Dumpty got back up again. New York: Roaring Books Press.
AR: 3–7.
Schoenherr, I. (2006). Pip and squeak. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 4–8.
Spires, A. (2014). The most magnificent thing. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. AR: 3–7.
Sweeney, M. (2016). How the crayons saved the rainbow. New York: Simon & Schuster. AR: 3–5.
Vazquez, P. [Blender]. (2016, January 29). Caminandes 3: Llamigos—­Funny 3D animated short [Video File].
Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkVqJ1SGeL0.
Wilson, K. (2009). Don’t be afraid, little Pip. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. AR: 3–7.
Yahgulanaas, M. (2010). The little hummingbird. Vancouver, BC: Greystone Books. AR: 5–6.
Yousafzai, M. (2017). Malala’s magic pencil. New York: Hachette Book Group. AR: 4–8.

Metacognition: PreK–3
Cook. J. (2013). Thanks for the feedback (I think)! Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 5–8.
Fogliano, J. (2013). If you want to see a whale. New York: Roaring Brook Press. AR: 4–7.
John, J. (2017). The bad seed. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 4–8.
 Appendix C 183

John, J. (2019). The good egg. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 4–8.
Yamada, K. (2014). What do you do with an idea? Seattle, WA: Compendium. AR: 5–7.
Yamada, K. (2016). What do you do with a problem? Seattle, WA: Compendium. AR: 3–8.

MENTOR TEXTS: GRADES 4 TO 6

(AR = age range)

Response Inhibition: 4–6

Copeland, L. (1998). Hunter and his amazing remote control. Chapin, SC: YouthLight. AR: 8–12.
D’Adamo, F. (2005). Iqbal. New York: Aladdin. AR: 8–12.
Wishinsky, F. (2004). What’s the matter with Albert? Toronto, ON: Maple Tree Press. AR: 7–12.

Working Memory: 4–6

Esham, B. (2016). Last to finish: A story about the smartest boy in math class. Naperville, IL: Little Pickle
Press. AR: 4–10.

Emotional Control: 4–6

Cook, J. (2012). Wilma Jean the worry machine. Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR:
7–11.
Cook, J. (2014). The Anti-Test Anxiety Society. Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR: 7–10.
Hunt, L. M. (2017). Fish in a tree. London: Puffin Books. AR: 10+.
Pittman, H. C., & Rand, T. (1993). Once when I was scared. New York: Penguin Group. AR: 7–10.
Riordan, R. (2010). Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: The lightning thief. New York: Hyperion
Books for Children. AR: 9+.
Zelinger, L. E., & Zelinger, J. (2011). Please explain anxiety to me! Ann Arbor, MI: Loving Healing Press.
AR: 6–12.

Flexibility: 4–6
Dahl, R. (2001). The BFG. London: Puffin Books. AR: 9–13.
Ellis, D. (2000). The breadwinner. Berkeley, CA: Groundwood Books. AR: 9–12.
Mikaelsen, B. (2001). Touching spirit bear. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 9–12.
Palacio, R. J. (2012). Wonder. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. AR: 9–12.
Spinelli, J. (2004). Stargirl. New York: Dell Laurel-­Leaf. AR: 9–12.

Sustained Attention: 4–6

Baltazar, A. (2017). Timeless: Diego and the rangers of the Vastlantic. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 8–12.
Walters, E. (2003). Run. Toronto, ON: Penguin Group Canada. AR: 9–12.

Task Initiation: 4–6

Espeland, P. (2008). See you later, procrastinator. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. AR: 8–13.
184 Appendix C

Planning and Prioritizing: 4–6

Cook, J. (2013). I just want to do it my way. Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 8–9.
Cook, J. (2016). Planning isn’t my priority: And making priorities isn’t in my plans. Chattanooga, TN:
National Center for Youth Issues. AR: 7–11.
Cook, J. (2016). Study skilled . . . NOT! Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR: 8–9.

Organization: 4–6
Cook, J. (2015). I can’t find my whatchamacallit! Chattanooga, TN: National Center for Youth Issues. AR:
4–12.
Fox, J. S. (2017). Get organized without losing it. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. AR: 8–13.
Smith, B. (2018). It was just right here. Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press. AR: 6–12.

Time Management: 4–6

Campbell, N. I. (2005). Shi-shi-etko. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books. AR: 7–9.
Goldish, M. (2009). Michael Phelps: Anything is possible! New York: Bearport Publishing. AR: 9–14.
Riordan, R. (2010). Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: The lightning thief. New York: Hyperion
Books for Children. AR: 9+.
Walters, E. (2003). Run. Toronto, ON: Penguin Group Canada. AR: 9–12.

Goal‑Directed Persistence: 4–6

Applegate, K. (2012). The one and only Ivan. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 8–12.
D’Adamo, F. (2005). Iqbal. New York: Aladdin. AR: 8–12.
DiCamillo, K. (2002). The tale of Despereaux. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. AR: 7–12.
Hiaasen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York: Random House Children’s Books. AR: 10+.
Jones, J. C. (2017). Pip and Houdini. Crows Nest, Australia: A&U Children’s. AR: 8–12.
Korman, G. (2009). Swindle. Toronto, ON: Scholastic. AR: 9–12.
Poletti, F., & Yee, K. (2017). The girl who ran: Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon.
Seattle, WA: Compendium. AR: 6–9.
Ridge, Y. (2017). Inside Hudson Pickle. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press. AR: 9–12.
Sachar, L (1998). Holes. New York: Random House Children’s Books. AR: 10+.
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 6–12.
Trottier, M. (2010). Terry Fox: A story of hope. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada. AR: 9–14.
Weston, C. (2014). Ava and Pip, volume 1. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. AR: 9–13.
Wishinsky, F. (2004). What’s the matter with Albert. Toronto, ON: Maple Tree Press. AR: 7–12.

Metacognition: 4–6
D’Adamo, F. (2005). Iqbal. New York: Aladdin. AR: 8–12.
Mikaelsen, B. (2001). Touching spirit bear. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books. AR: 9–12.
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 4–12.
Zelinger, L. E., & Zelinger, J. (2011). Please explain anxiety to me! Ann Arbor, MI: Loving Healing Press.
AR: 6–12.
 Appendix C 185

MENTOR TEXTS: GRADES 7 TO 8

(AR = age range)

Response Inhibition: 7–8

George, J. C. (2016). Julie of the wolves. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 14+.
O’Dell, S. (2010). Island of the blue dolphins. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. AR: 10+.
Paulsen, G. (2000). Hatchet. New York: Atheneum Books. AR: 15+.
Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.
Thomas, A. (2017). The hate you give. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 15+.

Emotional Control: 7–8

George, J. C. (2016). Julie of the wolves. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 14+.
Graudin, R. (2015). Wolf by wolf. London: Indigo. AR: 15+.
Mathieu, J. (2017). Moxie. New York: Roaring Books Press. AR: 14+.
Paulsen, G. (2000). Hatchet. New York: Atheneum Books. AR: 15+.
Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.

Flexibility: 7–8
O’Dell, S. (2010). Island of the blue dolphins. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. AR: 10+.
Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.
Thomas, A. (2017). The hate you give. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 15+ young adult.

Task Initiation: 7–8

Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.

Goal‑Directed Persistence: 7–8

Graudin, R. (2015). Wolf by wolf. London: Indigo. AR: 15+.
Mathieu, J. (2017). Moxie. New York: Roaring Books Press. AR: 14+.
Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.
Thomas, A. (2019). On the come up. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 15+ young adult.

Metacognition: 7–8
Ciccarelli, K. (2017). The last Namsara. New York: Harper Teen. AR: 13+.
Pierce, T. (2005). Alanna (the 1st adventurer). Toronto, ON: Simon Pulse. AR: 12+.
Thomas, A. (2019). On the come up. New York: HarperCollins. AR: 15+ young adult.
 APPENDIX D

Index of EF Barriers and Strategies

Following is a large index of the EF barriers and strategies students may experience across 10
academic skills and nine life (or 21st-­century) skills. We include this because no matter how many
times we encourage teachers to think of themselves and their students as “strategy experts,” we
are asked for strategy ideas. We get it. Teachers who are just getting started with EF literacy in
the classroom really want to have all the help they can get. We say, “Talk to your students—­they
will provide you with all of the eccentric and resourceful strategy ideas you could ever want!” and
teachers reply, “Great. Oh, and can you please send us a list of strategies?”
So, we have filled many pages with lists of the EF barriers your students may face on a daily
basis and a few strategies to overcome each of them. First, you will find a barriers and strategies
breakdown for 10 different academic skills. These are organized from the most common, ordinary
school skills like reading to more emergent skills like coding. Then you will find barriers and
strategies for nine other school skills that relate to 21st-­century learning. You will notice that the
EF barriers are sometimes clustered together. For example, for mathematical problem solving,
we have grouped together barriers related to task initiation and emotional control because they
often present themselves together in this context. Only a handful of EF barriers are highlighted
for each skill—these are the ones we feel have the greatest impact on the performance of school-­
aged children. Similarly, only a handful of strategies are provided for each one. These are just a few
examples of types of strategies we have learned from children and their teachers over the years.
We are grateful to the many educators who shared their insight and experience to help us create
this resource. We are especially grateful to Merrick David, a Toronto-­based educator, who helped
us bring life to this section with additional research, insight, and writing.
Several of the 21st-­century skills and one of the academic skills we mention are quite
emergent—­they are related to new or modern approaches that we are only just beginning to see in
schools. In these cases, we were grateful to be able to complement our educational knowledge and
186
 Appendix D 187

experience with the expertise of a few experts. So, the section on collaborative writing was writ-
ten with the input of Jana Sinyor, an Emmy award-­winning screenwriter. The section on design-
ing to specifications was written with the input of Brian Giesbrecht, a well-­established industrial
designer. The section on coding was written with the input of Arun Ranganathan, who was an
engineer at Netscape and has worked in the technology industry at AOL, Mozilla, and Pinterest.
Finally, the section on debate was written with the input of Jessica Prince, a former Canadian
national debate champ and noted Canadian lawyer. Debate isn’t really a new skill, but we couldn’t
resist asking Jessica for a few tricks.
We hope you will enjoy this material. Perhaps you’ll sit down and read it from start to finish
and make connections to your own school performance, or to the ways EFs continue to affect your
life and work. Perhaps you’ll navigate to certain pages as you tackle new academic or 21st-­century
skills. Or maybe you’ll share portions of it with your students. Regardless, we hope the practical
and tangible examples it provides will breathe even more life into your understanding of an EF-­
literate classroom. Most of all, we hope you use it primarily as a springboard to launch yourself and
your students toward the most valuable strategy of all: the ability to put this book down, roll up
your sleeves, and create some weird and wonderful strategies of your own.
188 Appendix D

INDEX OF ACADEMIC EF BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES

Academic Skill: Listening
Barriers Strategies
Response Listener is so focused on what he has to Think of one key “anchor” word that will
inhibition say that he is unable to listen to what is remind you of the idea for later. Use a
being said and blurts out his contribution. small notebook to quickly jot ideas (or just
a key anchor word) so you don’t lose them.
As soon as you realize you have blurted
or interrupted say, “I’m so sorry! Please
go on.”

Working Listener can’t hold and contemplate Say, “So what you’re saying is . . . ” and try
memory the first, middle, and final ideas to summarize the ideas. Ask, “Can you
simultaneously. please repeat that?” Use a notebook to jot
small key words or picture cues.

Emotional Listener is triggered emotionally, and all Take deep, slow breaths. Ask to excuse
control relevant EFs are suppressed. yourself for a moment. Say, “Hang on.
I’m interested in what you’re saying, but
I need a minute to take a breath/calm
down.”

Flexibility Listener doesn’t shift away from own Say, “I’m sorry, but I missed that. Can
and sustained thoughts in time to catch the beginning of you repeat the beginning?” when you
attention the idea. realize you’re lost. Watch and point to the
Listener can’t deeply or fully engage with speaker, and nod and smile as they speak.
and capture the information. Actively build connection and engagement
while listening by trying to sympathize
with, engage in, personally connect to, or
share in the perspective presented.

Task initiation Listener is unable to start the task as she Say, “Can you please repeat that?” Ask
wasn’t listening to the instructions. She if your teacher will always write two to
is unable to gather enough information three key “instruction words” on the
together to know what to do. board.

Metacognition Listener is partway through a task or Say, “Hold on a minute. I think I missed
response and realizes he must have something.” Find someone who can tell
missed something. you what you missed.
 Appendix D 189

Academic Skill: Reading—Decoding

Barriers Strategies
Emotional Reader is discouraged and stops practice. Explore many different combinations
control Reader is triggered emotionally, and all of sound. Read in a funny accent. If the
relevant EFs are suppressed. emotions are really big, take a 5-minute
break to listen to music, go for a walk, or
have a snack. Say, “I just need a break and
then I’ll be okay.” Say, “This is hard work.
I just need a break, but I know I can do
it.”

Flexibility Reader does not quickly access and Don’t be embarrassed to say the word
attempt multiple rules for different out loud in different ways until it sounds
phonemes. right. Print out a chart reminding you of
the different sounds each vowel/vowel
team can make.

Response Reader is overwhelmed by the other Block out other words with paper, a
inhibition words on the page and can’t focus on the ruler, or a hand. When stuck on the same
one word that is being decoded. Student mistake, reset your mouth by making a
repeats a simple error, perhaps saying funny “raspberry” or “lip trill” sound,
“thick” instead of “think,” over and over, by saying “blah de blah de blah,” or by
seeming to be stuck in a rut. shaking out your whole body.

Goal-­directed Reader feels hopeless and quits easily Say, “What strategies have I tried?”
persistence when she can’t decode a word. Put a list of your favorite strategies on a
bookmark, and check it for ideas.

Metacognition Reader is fatigued and accuracy is Notice when you need a break and take
affected. Instead of suspecting fatigue, one. Say, “I’m just getting tired. I need
she gets upset, gets frustrated, and says, “I a quick break.” Hold your place with a
suck at reading!” finger and refresh your eyes by looking
at 10 other things in the room. Move to a
different position in the room or change
chairs.
190 Appendix D

Academic Skill: Reading—Comprehension

Barriers Strategies
Working Reader can’t hold beginning of sentence Read text aloud and touch each word to
memory or paragraph in memory long enough to boost sensory input. Reduce background
process it along with the end of the idea. noise. Reduce visual clutter by making
Struggles to make meaning. use of support tools, e.g., highlighting
ruler to highlight text or cutting a
rectangular shape out of a piece of paper
so only the words you want to read are
visible. When you make a connection or
understand something deeply, write your
thoughts on a sticky note and put them
right in the book.

Sustained Reader decodes letters mechanically Make use of every cue available to you
attention without dedicating full attention to before you even start reading, e.g., book
the whole task of reading. Reader is cover, table of contents, or illustrations, or
distracted by external/internal stimuli, by scanning text, etc. Place index fingers
making it difficult to understand and gain at each end of a line and move eyes across
momentum. the text, to support tracking and ability to
follow punctuation. Make use of support
tools, e.g., highlighting ruler to highlight
text.

Planning, Reader does not notice or benefit from Figure out what kind of text you’re
prioritizing and patterns and structure of sentence, reading before you start—an article, a
organization paragraph, section, or whole text. cartoon, a recipe, a story, a textbook,
etc. Scan text before reading to preview
patterns and organization.

Goal-­directed Reader struggles with vocabulary and Skim for unknown words before you
persistence would rather read books that are below start—jot them down or highlight them
his reading grade level and are easy to and then either look them up or ask
read than to push on through with a more for clarification. Find a favorite online
challenging text. dictionary, keep it on your desktop, and
use it as often as possible. Challenge
yourself to look up at least one word every
day.

Metacognition Reader does not notice and correct Pause regularly to check understanding.
misunderstandings or build connections. After each paragraph use self-talk: “Does
this make sense?” If not, go back and
reread. Find someone to check in with to
make sure you’re on the right track.
 Appendix D 191

Academic Skill: Reading—Fluency

Barriers Strategies
Response Reader focuses on going quickly to the Read as though a little kid is listening or
inhibition exclusion of everything else. as if you’re a YouTube presenter. Read
aloud in a fancy accent. Tap twice at
periods and once at commas. Listen to
a recording of yourself reading too fast,
too slow, and just right. Try reading at a
turtle’s pace.

Working Reader cannot manage the quick back Read the whole text through once before
memory and and forth between reading and scanning reading aloud. Slow down the pace
sustained ahead. Reader doesn’t recall what was just and practice prereading each sentence
attention and read. quietly before actually reading it. Try
flexibility emphasizing several different words
in a sentence. Pause to recall personal
connections to the text.

Emotional Reader is anxious and reluctant to read. Tell your teacher you feel nervous. Ask
control and for a heads up, or time to rehearse before
task initiation having to read aloud. Breathe and remind
yourself that everyone reads differently.

Sustained Reader doesn’t focus on punctuation. Place index fingers at end of each line as
attention Reader does not understand the meaning you go. Follow the text using an audiobook
of the text and is not captivated. while reading at the same time. Use a
highlighting ruler to spotlight text. Pick
up cues from illustrations. Record yourself
reading, critique your skills, and pick out
one thing to work on the next time.

Goal-­directed Reader knows his reading level is low; Alternate between harder and more
persistence he gives up easily or turns to books way comfortable books, either book by book
below his grade level. or day by day. So, if you have 30 minutes
to read, you might read a challenging
book for 15 and a comfortable book for 15.
Keep track of your “pages read.”

Metacognition Reader does not notice making mistakes Use audiobooks or choral reading to get
and plows ahead having said incorrect and a feel for how text sounds. Say, “Huh?”
confusing words. if you think you made a mistake. Keep a
tally of the number of mistakes you notice.
Record yourself and listen to see if you
notice anything you could improve upon.
192 Appendix D

Academic Skill: Writing

Barriers Strategies
Response Writer is having difficulty starting, Use small goals and rewards. Say, “I’m
inhibition and impulsively turns to soothing nervous to begin, but I can handle this.”
preoccupations such as snacking, It doesn’t matter what you write; just get
daydreaming, chatting, tidying, or going started by putting some words on the
online. page.

Working Writer cannot hold ideas in mind long Reread your writing aloud. Use voice-to-
memory enough to craft complete and coherent text software. Do a “brain dump” without
arguments and reasons. editing or organizing.

Emotional Writer is afraid to fail, embarrassed about Write after vigorous exercise. Listen to
control poor writing skills, or anxious about the soothing music while writing. Combine
time it will take to complete the project. writing time with a snack. Write with a
Writer shuts down. partner if that makes it more fun.

Flexibility Writer does not agree with some or all Make two or more different outlines.
of the ideas he is responsible for writing Try writing from different perspectives.
about. Advocate for a topic you care about.

Sustained Writer crafts poorly structured arguments Discuss your connections to the topic.
attention or fails to finish assignment because of Read your work to a partner. List the work
loss of attention. in chunks and check them off.

Task initiation Writer doesn’t shift into starting but Say, “It is hard to start, but once I get
rather remains preoccupied with the going I’ll be fine.” Ask a friend or teacher
project guidelines, finding materials, class to give you a random first line. Make
discussions, or other distractions. a start-up checklist: writing materials,
comfy seating, etc.

Prioritizing and Writer cannot visualize or understand Plan with a mind map or a flowchart.
organization the sequence of ideas and the flow of Take a break and reset; then plan your
arguments. next break and return to work.

Goal-­directed Writer is overwhelmed and exhausted by Use snack or activity breaks. Make a very
persistence the mental effort and stops work without small goal. Say, “I needed a break, but
restarting. now I can get back to work.”

Metacognition Writer is unaware that her writing lacks Find a partner to read your work and ask
continuity and is difficult to read. for three pieces of feedback. Plan to make
three small changes and two big changes.
Keep track of how much time it takes you
to make your first draft, and try to match
the time for your edits.
 Appendix D 193

Academic Skill: Mathematical Calculation

Barriers Strategies
Response Mathematician rushes through work, Get in the habit of doing calculations
inhibition and making a lot of mistakes. twice, coding the double-­checked
attention work with a “DC.” Think aloud to self,
“Where are my mistakes?” When work is
complete, make 10 improvements before
handing it in.

Working Mathematician cannot hold a number in Work with a partner. Speak the problem
memory memory while preforming an operation, aloud while preforming it to involve
causing multiple errors, confusion, and auditory memory. Use larger paper and
exhaustion. write larger numbers. Use larger paper
to allow for more shorthand and jotting
down of midways steps such as “carries.”
Make a sketch or use objects to represent
the problem.

Emotional Mathematician worries about mastery of Advocate for, locate, or retrieve number
control multiplication facts, algorithms, or the facts charts and lists of steps quickly.
speed of calculation. Work with a partner. Start short, daily
math facts practice, making small goals.
Make an achievable goal for the day’s
work and enjoy a feeling of success. Make
a list of all the fact types you already
know, e.g., doubles or doubles +1.

Flexibility Mathematician sticks to favorite Take a walk around the room to see
approaches, rules, or ideas and avoids different ways other students solve
trying new ones. problems. Ask yourself, “What is the
fastest way to do this? What is the
slowest?” Challenge yourself to try one
new approach per assignment—­mark it
with a star.

Planning, Mathematician has difficulty writing Use larger or graph paper and write larger
prioritizing and numbers and equations clearly enough to numbers. Keep a number chart nearby
organization work with. for easy reference. Organize the pace
of writing by using a metronome to set
a steady speed—try to write only one
number per metronome tick.

Metacognition Mathematician is preoccupied by the Visualize: Get in the habit of imagining

mechanics of the arithmetic and forgets silly scenarios for what the numbers and
the meaning of the numbers. She doesn’t arithmetic symbols mean: 105 × 3 is the
notice obvious errors. day your baby sister dumped three boxes
of crackers on the floor. She did it three
times! (She didn’t do it once and then add
three more single crackers.) Also, make a
checklist of common errors and double-­
check for them.
194 Appendix D

Academic Skill: Mathematical Problem Solving

Barriers Strategies
Response Mathematician asks for too much help, Say, “Let’s try a little more before we
inhibition rushes, or copies. Mathematician makes check the answer.” Develop two separate
conclusions about the answer too soon. solutions using two different approaches.
Set a metronome to tick out a calm pace.

Working Mathematician can’t hold all parts of the Highlight important information. Discuss
memory problem in memory long enough to see with a partner. Say, “What do we already
patterns and interrelationships. know? What are we trying to find out?”
Make a sketch or use objects to represent
the problem.

Flexibility Mathematician is stuck on one type of Make several different attempts at the
solution, which may not work. solution. Look for three things to improve
in the solution.

Sustained Mathematician cannot stay focused long Number the different parts of the
attention enough to do thoughtful, complete, and problem. Work with a partner you enjoy.
accurate work. Make a goal and race to meet it. Exercise
before or during the process.

Task initiation Mathematician fears failure or waits for a Draw a picture to show what you’re
and emotional “perfect start” and delays starting work. thinking about the problem. Get started
control in the first minute. Say, “This is not a
perfect start, but it is good enough.” Run
up and down the stairs.

Planning, Mathematician can’t appreciate the order Review the information in the problem,
prioritizing and or sequence of the information given or or your solution idea, across your fingers,
organization can’t construct an appropriate plan for saying, “First . . . second . . . third . . . ”
response. Make a written “to do” list for the
problem.

Goal-­directed Mathematician stalls during longer Work in 5-minute bursts. Change seating
persistence solutions. or position for each new question. Work
with an elbow partner.

Metacognition Mathematician does not double-­check Find one mistake in each of your
thinking or respond to evidence that solutions. Get in the habit of doing
thinking is flawed. calculations twice, coding the double-­
checked work with a “DC.” Double-­check
against your elbow partner.
 Appendix D 195

Academic Skill: Long‑Term Projects

Barriers Strategies
Working Producer feels overwhelmed and confused Keep your plan posted, and look at it
memory by the project. often. Don’t be embarrassed to clarify;
say, “Hang on, I’m confused” and get the
information you need.

Emotional Producer feels stressed about how things Listen to your gut. Write down your
control are going and feels stuck. feelings about the way things are going.
Prompt yourself by writing, “I am upset.
What am I upset about?”

Flexibility Producer’s mind is closed to feedback. He Ask for feedback when you’re least
avoids asking for input. stressed, or on a certain day. Force
yourself to ask three questions about the
feedback.

Sustained Producer loses interest in the work. Figure out what you like about the
attention project: Talk to a friend; do an online
search related to the project to get
inspiration and new ideas.

Task initiation Producer knows what needs to be done Set a 2-minute timer and make a
but doesn’t get started. jump start on something small. Start
overwhelming tasks with a partner.
Make a deadline with a peer. Use stern,
commanding, confident self-talk.

Goal-­directed Producer stops when faced with Creative projects are full of unpracticed
persistence unfamiliar subtasks in the project. skills and unfamiliar tasks—get used to
it! Say, “I can figure this out. Who can I
ask about this? Where can I find this out?
What is the first step?” Keep your courage
up and your blood pumping.

Metacognition Producer avoids certain aspects of the Keep a journal or have a conversation in
project and doesn’t realize she’s doing which you explore your feelings about
it. Producer doesn’t act upon feelings of the project. Do a daily top-to-­bottom
frustration or dissatisfaction. assessment of your project plan, noticing
your feelings about each part. When you
find yourself feeling stressed, depressed,
or frustrated, make a list of five possible
reasons and circle three that you think are
most likely the cause.
196 Appendix D

Academic Skill: Memorization

Barriers Strategies
Task initiation Despite spending a lot of time worrying Put ten 5-minute memorization sessions
and planning about the task of memorization, the time in your calendar, and reward yourself
and prioritizing spent on it is minimal and infrequent. All for completion; gradually lengthen the
and time memorization is left to the last minute. sessions. Bundle your memorizing time
management with a routine or preferred activity,
such as your car/bus ride to school,
walking your dog, standing in a lineup,
or checking a device. Don’t worry about
memorizing at other times.

Sustained Memorizer does not attend to the For each practice session, test to see what
attention memorization task deeply and you have not remembered, and target that
strategically enough—­material may be with extra-­intense practice. Try to link
read over several times without retention. new material to information you already
know. Use a memorizing technique like
using acronyms, mnemonics, or songs.
Research memorization techniques to find
a good fit.

Goal-­directed Memorizer becomes fatigued and bored Work at a standing desk. Make a
persistence while working on memorization. recording of material to be remembered,
and listen to it while walking, running,
jumping on a trampoline, or drawing.
Work on memorization with a fun partner.

Metacognition Elements of the information to be Do 10 minutes of extra study or Internet

memorized are unclear or poorly searching, or ask a teacher/friend about
understood, but the memorizer does not the material you’re meant to memorize.
notice or take action to clarify and ends When you have to memorize, get in the
up trying to memorize something that is habit of asking three clarifying questions
meaningless. before you begin. Say to yourself,
“What don’t I understand about this
information?”
 Appendix D 197

Academic Skill: Computer Coding

Barriers Strategies
Response Coder is too focused on her desired end Before you begin, write down an
inhibition result and rushes or fails to code in small, achievable goal and work toward meeting
reliable steps. that goal in the most effective way
possible.

Working Coder cannot hold a series of logical steps Model the code you have in a flowchart.
memory in mind long enough to understand their As you review your lines of code, speak
relationship and perceive their pattern. them aloud. Work with a partner. Build
Coder does not spend enough time fluency and ease with your coding
working with code and doesn’t achieve language by practicing regularly on fun
fluency with programming languages. and simple projects.

Emotional Coder perceives wrong answers or slow Keep a tally of your successful ideas.
control progress as failure. Take a break, and do something relaxing,
creative, and playful. Tell yourself,
“Coding is playful and imaginative work.”

Flexibility Coder gets stuck on one idea and can’t let Work with a partner and say, “This is fun.
it go in order to explore other options. Let’s try another option.” When you run
into a problem, put yourself in someone
else’s shoes and imagine a different
solution from their point of view. Ask a
partner, “What if we . . . ?”

Sustained Coder attends long enough to discover Use a big whiteboard to work through
attention problems, or detect patterns, but loses problems visually. Work through problems
attention before applying this learning to with a partner or talk to yourself. Take
a useful conclusion. frequent, active breaks. Set a timer, and
work with maximum effort for a specific,
manageable amount of time.

Planning, Coder cannot visualize common or Model the code you have on a large
prioritizing and repeating patterns. Coder can’t easily flowchart. Post your flowchart, and talk it
organization visualize the sequence of steps that link through with a partner.
faulty outcome to faulty code.

Goal-­directed Coder stops when faced with problems or Look for and enjoy each small successful
persistence glitches. step. Make a tally of each successful step
as you make it, and take a short break
after every five steps.
198 Appendix D

21st‑Century Skill: Collaboration (in Writing)

Barriers Strategies
Working Collaborators struggle to balance the Jot down the basics of good ideas. Before
memory demands of keeping their own train of speaking, say, “I have an idea to share
thought while listening effectively to a with you. Do you need a minute of jot-
partner. note time to clear your mind?” and then
double-­check by asking, “Are you ready?”
When your partner is finished sharing an
idea, restate it by saying, “So what you’re
saying is . . . ”

Emotional Collaborators hold back ideas or Use cues, such as “Let me critique
control & questions, or have difficulty changing that . . . ” or “Here’s an unfinished
flexibility their mind or accepting the ideas of idea . . . ” Say, “This is messy, but it will
others. lead us somewhere interesting.” Share at
least five critiques and five risky ideas.
Ask, “Are we working well? How can
we do better?” Build understanding by
asking, “Will you tell me more about
that?”

Sustained Collaborators cannot focus on the work Exercise and eat well prior to and
attention intently enough to be productive and during work. Change volume, proximity,
effective. furniture, clothing, technology, etc. Speak
in an accent. Point to your collaborator
while he or she is speaking. Restate your
collaborator’s ideas.

Planning, The project is disorganized, incomplete, Outline the project on oversized paper.
prioritizing and and overwhelming. Summarize the idea for the project in
organizing three points, then five, and then 10. Make
a 10-point checklist.

Time Collaborators lose track of time or dwell Make a plan for each session of work and
management on one thing. follow it. Finish each session of work by
asking, “How did we do? Did we meet our
objectives?”

Goal-­directed Collaborators give up when faced with Admit “This is frustrating, and I want to
persistence challenges. give up. Should we take a break and then
try again?” Work on a different part of the
project for a while. Ask someone else for a
fresh perspective.

Metacognition Collaborators have different inspiration, Before starting the project, and frequently
knowledge, or plans and don’t realize it. during the process, ask your partner,
“What do you know about this topic?
What are we trying to do here? Where
are we going with this? What is our
intention?”
 Appendix D 199

21st‑Century Skill: Presenting

Barriers Strategies
Response Presenter overresponds to questions or Plan several ways to redirect interrupting
inhibition comments and gets off track. questions or comments. For example, the
presenter might say, “The short answer
is no because x, y, and z, but will you
please write down your question, so we
can address it more fully at the end of the
presentation?”

Working Presenter feels overwhelmed, confused, Do extra practice to make the

memory and and disorganized. presentation more automatic. Test all
emotional technology well before presentation
control starts. Meditate or exercise before the
presentation. Stop the presentation
occasionally to ask for feedback. For
example, say, “Show me with thumbs
up or down if you understand.” Ask an
enthusiastic and positive participant for
positive feedback during and after the
presentation.

Sustained Presenter cannot stay focused for the Presenter should vary the pace of the
attention length of the presentation. presentation, including regular participant
“breakouts” or “turn and talks” to allow
for a recharge.

Task initiation, Presentation was not prepared early Using a detailed calendar, presenter
planning, enough to allow time for practice and should work backward from the date of
prioritizing and refinement. the presentation and schedule ample time
organizing to do writing, practice, and revision. The
presenter must make sure to honor the
date planned for the first work session,
even if the start is small.

Time Presenter loses track of time, and the While planning and practicing the
management presentation or certain sections of the presentation, record and perfect the
presentation are too long or too short. timing of each section. Put the time
allowed for each “slide” or portion of the
presentation right on the materials as a
reminder. Get a friend to give you timing
reminders.

Metacognition Presentation is so stressful that presenter Gather simple “Best part of presentation/
doesn’t want to think about feedback, so Next time, try . . . ” written feedback at
doesn’t improve. the end of your presentation. Ask a trusted
friend to sit down for a casual feedback
conversation. Try to plan five ways to
improve your presentation skills.
200 Appendix D

21st‑Century Skill: Designing to Specifications

Barriers Strategies
Response Designer starts before understanding the Ask 10 questions about the project. Make
inhibition and intended use of the finished product. a quick prototype so you can find the
flexibility weaknesses early in the process. Research
designs similar to yours. Use self-talk such
as “I am overconfident; there must be
aspects of this project I don’t understand
yet” or “I need to keep an open mind.”

Emotional Designer is afraid to seem incapable, gets Schedule time to ask questions or
control frustrated with partners, or feels rushed collaborate. Say, “Collaboration is hard
and shuts down. but necessary for success.” Notice your
signs of frustration and take action
to relax. If you don’t have the time or
materials you need, advocate for them.

Sustained Designer does not pay close-­enough Find a detail-­oriented partner. Take
attention attention to measurements, materials, or regular breaks for exercise, food, and
careful readjustments. water. Alternate back and forth between
the design task and other, different kinds
of tasks, such as planning and tidying.
Work on design in novel surroundings,
such as outside or at different desks or
offices. Speak your thought process aloud.

Task initiation Designer doesn’t start work soon enough Right away, make a 10-point plan for
to have time to test and repair problems. how to complete the project. Include
approximate task completion dates. Work
with a partner on “start day” to make it
more fun and unavoidable. Combine your
first day’s work with a reward.
 Appendix D 201

21st‑Century Skill: Debate

Barriers Strategies
Response Debater responds too early, with ill-­ Build responses to three parts before
inhibition formed ideas or ideas that address only delivering—­a beginning, a middle, and
the first opposing point given. an end. Practice saying, “You said . . . ,”
“but . . . ,” “so. . . . ” Ask, “Are you
finished?” before making a response.

Working Debater cannot hold each part of the Plan small cue words to prompt argument
memory argument in memory long enough to from beginning to end. Have a list of key
express them clearly. ways to juxtapose ideas, such as “only if,”
“but,” “although,” or “therefore.”

Emotional Debater takes arguments personally, Take deep breaths while hearing the
control and feels overwhelmed, and shows unhelpful opposing arguments. Do not look at your
metacognition emotion with voice, body language, and opponent; look at the judge. Make a list of
facial expression. Debater doesn’t notice your biases or emotional “triggers” related
when a line of thinking is not impressing to the topic before you debate. Watch
a judge. the judge’s face to get clues about which
arguments are most effective and which
should be dropped.

Flexibility Debater focuses on own ideas without Divide a jot pad into two sections: one
fully considering opposing ideas. Debater to jot down the ideas of your opponent
holds on to one idea, or one aspect of an and the other to jot your own ideas and
idea, and is not open to being creative responses down. Restate the speaker’s
about other possibilities. point: “So what you’re saying is . . . ”
Practice “flip-­f lopping” your position by
exploring different sides and positions.
Concede small points when you can.

Sustained Debater’s attention dwindles as Restate the speaker’s point. Make jot notes
attention opponent is speaking, so he or she misses or cue words to capture the beginning,
conclusions or final points. Debater middle, and end of opposing arguments.
struggles to make connections and to be Keep track of main ideas across your
creative as the arguments accumulate. fingers, and practice restating a cue word
as you touch each finger. Watch, lean
toward, point to, and nod at the speaker
while they are speaking.

Planning, Debater cannot sequence ideas logically, Practice telling the argument across your
prioritizing and so cannot express a coherent argument. fingers, with guiding transition words
organizing such as “first,” “second,” “third,” and
“finally.” Make a numbered list of cue
words.
 202 Appendix D

21st‑Century Skill: Using Social Media

Barriers Strategies
Response Individual sends undesirable Do three offline “soothing” activities before turning to
inhibition responses without much social media, such as spending time with pets, going for
thought or proofreading. a walk, or talking to a friend. Before posting something
Individual turns too often to questionable, 10 ten minutes, take 10 deep breaths, or
social media for distraction or repeat a personal mantra or set of goals, such as “I am
validation. kind, compassionate, and careful” or “I am a leader and my
words matter.”

Emotional Individual has difficulty When you feel frustrated, upset, or confused by a comment,
control and understanding other people’s ask for clarification before replying or reply offline. Try
flexibility viewpoints and often responds simply to restate the point made by saying, “So what you
unproductively or with a tone mean is . . . ” Look for one thing you agree with. Be twice
that creates conflict. as polite online as you are offline. Write and post knowing
your grandmother or employer will eventually see it.

Sustained Individual is used to the quick Practice meditation to help strengthen and focus your
attention satisfaction of social media and mind. Reduce the time spent on social media. Plan and
cannot sustain attention on schedule time for hobbies that require more sustained
other tasks. attention, such as sports, art, or reading.

Planning, Productive daily activities Designate certain times of the day to engage with social
prioritizing are not planned or scheduled, media or link social media use to the completion of a daily
and and social media is overused chore. For example, social media can be accessed at a
organizing because it fills all the “free” regular time of day as a reward after finishing homework
time. or tidying up. Or experiment with social media “blackout”
times, perhaps going without for 1 or 2 hours.

Time Individual lingers on social Set a timer to limit your use of social media. Start social
management media for long periods of time, media 1 hour before a regular activity, so you cannot extend
avoiding other important tasks. your time frame.

Metacognition Individual neglects other Make a list of the number of online and offline hobbies and
hobbies, relationships, and friends you have. Go a week without any online activity to
work, and does not recognize it. see how life changes. Go offline for a week with a friend
and discuss how it felt.

Planning, Designer dwells on one aspect Make simple drawings or clay models to understand the
prioritizing of the design and doesn’t whole project. Team up with partners who can help render
and understand others. and build prototypes for your idea. Create a series of
organizing sketches of the idea, making three improvements on each
sketch.

Goal-­directed Designer stops imagining and Review and modify the plan regularly. Say, “How could
persistence creating after first good idea. we make this even better?” or “What is missing?” Ask a
partner for a creative walk ‘n chat.

Metacognition Teacher gives vague Support the client’s (teachers’) organization and
instructions, and designers don’t metacognition. Ask for clarification in the form of specific
know exactly what is expected. information, timelines, or examples.
 Appendix D 203

21st‑Century Skill: Building Close Relationships

Barriers Strategies
Response Individual blurts out or acts out in a way Fully explain what you meant when you
inhibition that is not productive. blurted out, even if you’re not quite ready.
Say, “I’m sorry. That doesn’t make sense.
Let me clarify.”

Working Individual is embarrassed or discouraged Say, “I’m so interested, but I missed the
memory by conversation because they get first part. Can you repeat that?” Restate
confused. your friend’s main points, saying, “So, let
me see if I understand this . . . ” Boost
engagement by leaning in, making eye
contact, etc.

Emotional Individual is prone to jealousy, Have several close friends. Explore your
control possessiveness, or feeling hurt by passing feelings with a counselor. Get more
comments. exercise, sleep, and nutrition. Take a
15-minute walk when you feel upset.
Don’t be afraid to say sorry. Check
in with your friend right away if you
suspect a problem. Be a helpful, involved,
considerate friend.

Flexibility Individual cannot see a situation from Watch your friends’ faces carefully to
another’s point of view. Individual doesn’t understand their moods. Have a code
match friend’s moods. with your friends; for example, level 1
means let’s have fun, level 2 means I
need to have a calm talk, level 3 means I
need a very serious talk, level 4 means I
need sympathy, and level 5 means I’m in
trouble. I need your support.

Sustained Individual looks distant, bored, or Think about how friend’s experiences
attention uncaring during long conversations or relate to your own. Ask your friend
activities that are less preferred. questions about their feelings. Boost
your physical engagement by leaning in,
making eye contact, etc. Speak to your
friend in a quiet location. Meet with your
close friends after a vigorous workout so
your energy is high.

Planning and Individual doesn’t plan ahead to see Make the first of every month a
prioritizing close friends, so ends up losing touch or “scheduling” day during which you make
discouraging the friendship. Individual 10 social arrangements. Refer to your
misses meetings, birthdays, or other calendar of dates each morning over
important commitments. breakfast, or during any other regularly
scheduled activity.
204 Appendix D

21st‑Century Skill: Communication—Courageous

or Difficult Conversations
Barriers Strategies
Response Individual addresses interpersonal Wait 3 slow seconds before responding.
inhibition problems by blurting out complaints or Take a long slow breath and make a
criticisms at inopportune times. thoughtful gesture (tapping finger to your
chin, scratching your head, or clasping
your hands) before responding.

Working Individual feels confused and is not able Make notes to follow during the
memory to gather and express their thoughts conversation. Tell the person you’re
clearly, made even worse by the emotional speaking to, “I’m a little nervous and I feel
intensity of the conversation. scattered. Please bear with me . . . ”

Emotional Individual feels overwhelmingly mad, Exercise or meditate, get proper sleep
control sad, or scared by the problem and avoids and nutrition, indulge in an upbeat movie
dealing with it. or music, and practice with a friend. Say,
“I am strong and kind enough to handle
this conversation” or “This conversation is
important to me.”

Flexibility Individual has difficulty understanding On your own or with a friend, list the
another person’s point of view and may reasons the issue may have arisen. Journal
feel the problem arose because of ill will. how the issue makes you and the other
person feel. Say, “Will you tell me about
how you are feeling?”

Planning and Individual cannot sequence the issue Practice telling the issue across your
prioritizing clearly enough to understand what has fingers, sequencing your ideas in order.
happened. Make jot notes to follow during the
conversation.

Goal-­directed Individual perceives a problem to be Plan to have one serious or “courageous”

persistence addressed with a courageous conversation conversation every week or month.
but never gets around to planning a Schedule it by writing it down in your
meeting. calendar. If you don’t have a problem to
address, use the time to express gratitude.

Metacognition Individual doesn’t connect bad feelings Keep a journal in which you explore your
to the problems or people they result feelings. When you find yourself feeling
from. Or individual doesn’t realize they stressed, depressed, or frustrated, have a
can address their problems with specific conversation with someone in which you
action. explore the possible reasons. When you
find yourself feeling stressed, depressed,
or frustrated, make a list of five possible
reasons and circle three that you think are
most likely the cause.
 Appendix D 205

21st‑Century Skill: Putting Your Best Foot Forward—Grooming,

Exercise, and other Self‑Care
Barriers Strategies
Response Even if there is enough time for self- Write morning routine on a list, post it,
inhibition and care, other, more satisfying, relaxing, or and try to follow it in order every day
task initiation pleasurable activities are done during this for 9 days straight. Plan a reward for
time. Individual can’t get out of bed. completing self-care jobs. Start with
a small, manageable routine. Think of
nothing but putting your feet on the floor;
don’t agonize about getting up.

Emotional Individual does not feel good about the Smile at yourself in the mirror. Combine
control and way he looks and feels discouraged. self-care activities related to grooming
flexibility with meditation and deep breathing.
Play encouraging music during morning
routine. Find a part of your personal
appearance that you like and focus on
that. Write an affirmation on the mirror
with whiteboard markers. Don’t do
grooming in front of a mirror.

Task initiation Individual has time, but the task feels Set a small alarm to mark the start of the
tiring or boring or discouraging so she morning routine. Start with the smallest,
doesn’t get started. easiest, or most enjoyable part of the
routine. Combine a favorite morning treat
with the beginning of the routine, such as
a delicious drink, a favorite vitamin, or a
great song.

Planning and Individual doesn’t have the tools or Plan a fun outing with a friend to get the
prioritizing articles needed to properly groom, dress, things you need. You don’t have to spend
and prepare for the day. a lot of money—if you are resourceful you
can equip yourself quite cheaply using
secondhand, thrift, and drugstore finds.

Organizing Not enough time has been allowed in the Add 30 minutes to the morning routine
and time morning routine for self-care. There are with an earlier alarm. Write your morning
management a vast number of small tasks, and doing routine on a list, and post it so it is less
them is confusing and overwhelming. confusing to accomplish.

Goal-­directed Individual starts on a new self-care Don’t think of new self-care routines as
persistence routine or activity but loses interest and lifelong commitments. Instead make a
gives up. 1-month plan, expect to be a little bored
with it when the month is over, and look
forward to making a new plan at that
time.
206 Appendix D

21st‑Century Skill: Sleep

Barriers Strategies
Response The sleeper has great difficulty stopping Make a firm cutoff time for use of devices,
inhibition her reading or activities on a device. and get in the habit of honoring this cutoff
time. Don’t charge your phone or device
in your bedroom. Put your bedside light
on a timer.

Emotional Sleeper is anxious about the day to come Talk over your worries by listening to a
control and stays awake to stall its arrival. bedtime story (online works!), counting
sheep, or listening to music. Read. Write
down three worries and then forget them.
Write down three things you are grateful
for. Look at happy images of yourself or
others.

Task initiation Sleeper delays starting on bedtime Make a firm cutoff time for use of devices,
routine. and get in the habit of honoring this cutoff
time. Put your bedside light on a timer.

Planning, Sleeper doesn’t know how many hours Research sleep requirements for your age
prioritizing of sleep he needs. Bedtime is erratically and calculate the optimal bed time and
and organizing scheduled. Plan for when to go to sleep wake time. Write down everything you
and time does not include “wind down” time. need to do before you go to sleep and allot
management time realistically and generously. Keep
a constant wake-up time using an alarm
clock or a light on a timer. In the winter
months, consider using a “light therapy
box” to reinforce and energize your
wake-up schedule.

Goal-­directed Sleeper has a good plan but doesn’t Cancel activities planned for the evening
persistence execute on the plan regularly. times, if you are overscheduled. Keep a
tally of the number of days you succeed at
your sleep plan. Write up a specific sleep
plan with a specific and achievable goal—­
perhaps you will aim to maintain your
sleep plan from Monday to Wednesday
each week, to start. Discuss your sleep
plan with someone and make a goal
together.

Metacognition Sleeper does not make the connection Make the connection! Ask friends
between moody, foggy, exhausted feelings about how sleep affects their mood and
during the day and poor sleep habits. productivity. Do some reading about the
importance of sleep. Keep a journal in
which you score the productivity of your
days from 1 to 10 and the quality of your
sleep.
 References

Aitken, M., Martinussen, R., Childs, R., & Tannock, R. (2017). Profiles of co-­occurring difficulties identified
through school-­based screening. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(9), 1355–1365.
Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.),
Action control. Berlin: Springer.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,
50, 179–211.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2000). Attitudes and the attitude-­behavior relation: Reasoned and automatic pro-
cesses. European Review of Social Psychology, 11, 1–33.
Andrews, G. R., & Debus, R. L. (1978). Persistence and the causal perception of failure: Modifying cognitive
attributions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 154–166.
Arunkumar, R., Midgley, C., & Urdan, T. (1999). Perceiving high or low home-­school dissonance: Longitu-
dinal effects on adolescent emotional and academic well-being. Journal of Research on Adolescence,
9, 441–466.
Baadte, C., & Kurenbach, F. (2017). The effects of expectancy-­incongruent feedback and self-­affirmation
on task performance of secondary school students. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 32,
113–131.
Baartman, L. K. J., Bastiaens, T. J., Kirschner, P. A., & Van der Vleuten, C. P. M. (2006). The wheel of
competency assessment: Presenting quality criteria for competency assessment programs. Studies in
Educational Evaluation, 32, 153–170.
Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Euwema, M. C. (2005). Job resources buffer the impact of job demands on
burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 170 –180.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-­efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Bandura, A., & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-­efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 88(1), 87–99.
Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. New York:
Guilford Press.

207
208 References

Barthes, R., & Duisit, L. (1975). An introduction to the structural analysis of narrative author(s). New Liter-
ary History, 6(2), 237–272.
Bekle, B. (2004). Knowledge and attitudes about attention-­deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A com-
parison between practicing teachers and undergraduate education students. Journal of Attention Dis-
orders, 7(3), 151–161.
Bennett, N., & Kell, J. (1989). A good start? Four year olds in infant schools. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Berland, L. K., Schwarz, C. V., Krist, C., Kenyon, L., Lo, A. S., & Reiser, B. J. (2016). Epistemologies in
practice: Making scientific practices meaningful for students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,
57(3), 1082–1112.
Bermejo-­Toro, L., Prieto-­Ursúa, M., & Hernández, V. (2016). Towards a model of teacher well-being: Per-
sonal and job resources involved in teacher burnout and engagement. Educational Psychology, 36(3),
481–501.
Bethell, C., Newacheck, P., Hawes, E., & Halfon, N. (2014). Adverse childhood experiences: Assessing the
impact on health and school engagement and the mitigating role of resilience. Health Affairs, 33(12),
2016–2115.
Bialik, M., & Fadel, C. (2015). Skills for the 21st century: What should students learn? Boston, MA: Centre
for Curriculum Redesign.
Bianchi, R., Schonfeld, I. S., & Laurent, E. (2015). Is it time to consider the “Burnout Syndrome” a distinct
illness? Frontiers in Public Health, 3, 158.
Blair, C., & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding
to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Development, 78(2), 647–663.
Brandstatter, V., Lengfelder, A., & Gollwitzer, P. (2001). Implementation intentions and efficient action ini-
tiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 946–960.
Brownlie, F., & King, J. (2011). The importance of “belonging” in a classroom: Learning in safe schools (2nd
ed.). Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers.
Bussing, R., Gary, F., Leon, C., Garvan, C., & Reid, R. (2002). General classroom teachers’ information and
perceptions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Behavioral Disorders, 27(4), 327–339.
Butler, D. L., Schnellert, L., & Perry, N. E. (2016). Developing self-­regulated learners. Toronto, Ontario,
Canada: Pearson.
Carr, M. (2001). Assessment in early childhood settings. London: Sage.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly pre-
dict performance: A 40-year meta-­analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980–1008.
Chang, M. L. (2013). Toward a theoretical model to understand teacher emotions and teacher burnout in
the context of student misbehavior: Appraisal, regulation and coping. Motivation and Emotion, 37,
799–817.
Chapin, M., & Dyck, D. (1976). Persistence in children’s reading behavior as a function of N length and at-
tributional retraining. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 511–515.
Chen, S. S., & Chin, J. (2006). Development of collective efficacy scale for middle school students. Journal
of School Health, 10, 861–862.
Chmielewski, A. K. (2019). The global increase in the socioeconomic achievement gap, 1964 to 2015. Ameri-
can Sociological Review, 84(3), 517–544.
Corbin, C. M., Alamos, P., Lowenstein, A. E., Downer, J. T., & Brown, J. L. (2019). The role of teacher–­
student relationships in predicting teachers’ personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion. Jour-
nal of School Psychology, 77, 1–12.
Corno, L. (1993). The best-laid plans: Modern conceptions of volition and educational research. Educational
Research, 22, 14–22.
Davis, B., & Sumara, D. (2006). Complexity and education: Inquiries into learning, teaching, and research.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
 References 209

Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2018). Executive skills in children and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment
and intervention (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Deci, E., & Ryan, R. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and self-­determination of
behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
DeLong, M., & Winter, D. (2002). Strategies for motivating students. In Learning to teach and teaching to
learn mathematics: Resources for professional development. Washington, DC: Mathematical Associa-
tion of America.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands–­resources model
of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 499 –512.
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.
Diamond, A. (2014). Want to optimize executive functions and academic outcomes? Simple, just nourish the
human spirit. Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology, 37, 205–232.
Diamond, A., & Ling, D. S. (2020). Review of the evidence on, and fundamental questions about, efforts to
improve executive functions, including working memory. In K. Novick, M. F. Bunting, M. R. Dough-
erty, & R. W. Engle (Eds.), Cognitive and working memory training: Perspectives from psychology,
neuroscience, and human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dignath-­van Ewijk, C., Dickhäuser, O., & Büttner, G. (2013). Assessing how teachers enhance self-­regulated
learning: A multiperspective approach. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 12, 338–358.
Dronek, P. J., & Blessing, S. B. (2006). The effect of Einstellung on compositional processes. Paper presented
at the 28th annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-­discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic perfor-
mance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(2), 939–944.
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.
Dweck, C. (2016). Growth mindset doesn’t promise students the world. The Times Educational Supplement,
5158.
Dweck, C. S. (1975). The role of expectations and attributions in the alleviation of learned helplessness.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 674–685.
Elik, N., Wiener, J., & Corkum, P. (2010). Preservice teachers’ open-­minded thinking dispositions, readiness
to learn, and attitudes towards learning and behavioral difficulties in students. European Journal of
Teacher Education, 33(2), 127–146.
Elliott, E. S., & Dweck, C. S. (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement. Journal of Person-
ality and Social Psychology, 54, 5–12.
Elliott, R. (2003). Executive functions and their disorders: Imaging in clinical neuroscience. British Medical
Bulletin, 65(1), 49–59.
Espy, K. A., McDiarmid, M. M., Cwik, M. F., Stalets, M. M., Hamby, A., & Senn, T. E. (2004). The con-
tribution of executive functions to emergent mathematic skills in preschool children. Developmental
Neuropsychology, 26(1), 465–486.
Fadel, C., Bialik, M., & Trilling, B. (2015). Four-­dimensional education: The competencies learners need to
succeed. Boston, MA: The Centre for Curriculum Redesign.
Faith, L. (2018). EFs 2 the Rescue Pedagogy. In P. Dawson & D. Guare (Eds.), Executive skills in children
and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment and intervention (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Farrington, C., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T., Johnson, D., & Beechum, N. (2012).
Teaching adolescents to become learners: The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school per-
formance; A critical literature review. Retrieved from Chicago: https://consortium.uchicago.edu/­
publications/teaching-adolescents-become-learners-role-noncognitive-factors-shaping-school..
Fitzgerald, M., Danaia, L., & McKinnon, D. H. (2019). Barriers inhibiting inquiry-­based science teaching
and potential solutions: Perceptions of positively inclined early adopters. Research in Science Educa-
tion, 49(2), 543–566.
210 References

Fletcher, J. M., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2017). Neuropsychology of learning disabilities: The past and the fu-
ture. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 9–10, 930–940.
Flint, A., Zisook, T., & Fisher, T. E. (2011). Not a one-shot deal: Generative professional development among
experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(8), 1163–1169.
Forster, M., & Masters, G. (1996). Performances: Assessment resource kit. Camberwell, Australia: Australian
Council for Educational Research.
Framework for 21st Century Learning. (2016). Partnership for 21st century learning. Retrieved from www.
p21.org/our-work/p21-framework.
Friedman-­Krauss, A., Raver, C. C., Neuspiel, J., & Kinsel, J. (2014). Child behavior problems, teacher ex-
ecutive functions, and teacher stress in head start classrooms. Early Education Development, 25(5),
681–702.
Fryer, S. L., Tapert, S. F., Mattson, S. N., Paulus, M. P., Spadoni, A. D., & Riley, E. P. (2007). Prenatal
alcohol exposure affects frontal-­striatal response during inhibitory control. Alcoholism, Clinical and
Experimental Research, 3(18), 1415–1424.
Gaier, S. (2015). Understanding why students do what they do: Using attribution theory to help students suc-
ceed academically. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, 31(2), 6–19.
García-­Madruga, J. A., Elosúa, M. R., Gil, L., Gómez-Veiga, I., Vila, J. Ó., Orjales, I., . . . Duque, G. (2013).
Reading comprehension and working memory’s executive processes: An intervention study in primary
school students. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(2), 155–174.
Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional
development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research
Journal, 38(4), 915–945.
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College
Press.
Gilmore, C., & Cragg, L. (2014). Teachers’ understanding of the role of executive functions in mathematics
learning. Mind, Brain, and Education, 8(3), 132–136.
Gioia, G. A., & Isquith, P. K. (2004). Ecological assessment of executive function in traumatic brain injury.
Developmental Neuropsychology, 25, 135–158.
Gollwitzer, P., & Brandstatter, V. (1997). Implementations and effective goal striving. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 73, 186–199.
Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96, 606–633.
Greene, R. W. (2008). Lost at school: Why our kids with behavioral challenges are falling through the cracks
and how we can help them. New York: Scribner.
Guskey, T. R. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and
Practice, 8(3/4), 381–391.
Haddad, F. A., Evie Garcia, Y., Naglieri, J. A., Grimditch, M., McAndrews, A., & Eubanks, J. (2003). Plan-
ning facilitation and reading comprehension: Instructional relevance of the pass theory. Journal of
Psychoeducational Assessment, 21(3), 282–289.
Hadfield, C. (2013). An astronaut’s guide to life on Earth: What going to space taught me about ingenuity,
determination, and being prepared. Toronto: Random House Canada.
Hall, G., & Hord, S. (2001). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes. Needham Heights,
MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Hall, N. C., Hladkyj, S., Perry, R. P., & Ruthig, J. C. (2004). The role of attributional retraining and elabora-
tive learning in college students’ academic development. Journal of Social Psychology, 144, 591–612.
Hall, N. C., Perry, R. P., Goetz, T., Ruthig, J. C., Stupnisky, R. H., & Newall, N. E. (2007). Attributional re-
training and elaborative learning: Improving academic development through writing-­based interven-
tions. Learning and Individual Differences, 17, 280–290.
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Hannesdottir, D. K., Ingvarsdottir, E., & Bjornsson, A. (2017). The OutSMARTers program for children with
 References 211

ADHD: A pilot study on the effects of social skills, self-­regulation, and executive function training.
Journal of Attention Disorders, 21(4), 353–364.
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112.
Haynes, T. L., Ruthig, J. C., Perry, R. P., Stupnisky, R. H., & Hall, N. C. (2006). Reducing the academic risks
of over-­optimism: The longitudinal effects of attributional retraining on cognition and achievement.
Research in Higher Education, 47, 755–779.
Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Hummer, V. L., Dollard, N., Robst, J., & Armstrong, M. I. (2010). Innovations in implementation of trauma-­
informed care practices in youth residential treatment: A curriculum for organizational change. Child
Welfare, 89(2), 79–95.
Ingvarson, L., Meiers, M., & Beavis, A. (2005). Factors affecting the impact of professional development
programs on teachers’ knowledge, practice, student outcomes and efficacy. Educational Policy Analysis
Archives, 13(10), 1–28.
Iseman, J. S., & Naglieri, J. A. (2011). A cognitive strategy instruction to improve math calculation for chil-
dren with ADHD and LD: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(2),
184–195.
Jones, H., & Chronis-­Tuscano, A. (2008). Efficacy of teacher in-­service training for attention-­deficit/hyper-
activity disorder. Psychology in the Schools, 45(10), 918–929.
Jones, M. H., Alexander, J. M., & Estell, D. B. (2010). Homophily among peer members’ perceived self-­
regulated learning. The Journal of Experimental Education, 78(3), 378–394.
Katz, S., & Dack, L. (2013). Intentional Interruption: Breaking Down Learning Barriers to Transform Pro-
fessional Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Kazdin, A. (1980). Acceptability of alternative treatments for deviant child behavior. Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis, 13, 259–273.
Kenworthy, L., Anthony, L. G., Naiman, D. Q., Cannon, L., Wills, M. C., Luong-Tran, C., . . . Wallace, G. L.
(2014). Randomized controlled effectiveness trial of executive function intervention for children on the
autism spectrum. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(4), 374–383.
Kersting, N. B., Givvin, K. B., Sotelo, F. L., & Stigler, J. W. (2010). Teachers’ analyses of classroom video
predict student learning of mathematics: Further explorations of a novel measure of teacher knowledge.
Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 172–181.
Kistner, S., Rakoczy, K., Otto, B., Dignath-­van Ewijk, C., Büttner, G., & Klieme, E. (2010). Promotion of
self-­regulated learning in classrooms: Investigating frequency, quality, and consequences for student
performance. Metacognition and Learning, 5(2), 157–171.
Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2008). Teachers’ occupational well-
being and quality of instruction: The important role of self regulatory patterns Journal of Educational
Psychology, 100(3), 702–715.
Kramarski, B., & Michalsky, T. (2009). Investigating preservice teachers’ professional growth in self-­
regulated learning environments. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 161–175.
Kusché, C. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (1994). The PATHS curriculum: Promoting alternative thinking strate-
gies. Seattle: Developmental Research and Programs.
Lakin, J., & Shannon, D. (2015). The role of treatment acceptability, effectiveness, and understanding in
treatment fidelity: Predicting implementation variation in a middle school science program. Studies in
Educational Evaluation, 47, 28–37.
Lanham, H. J., Leykum, L. K., Taylor, B. S., McCannon, C. J., Lindberg, C., & Lester, R. T. (2013). How
complexity science can inform scale-up and spread in health care: Understanding the role of self-­
organization in variation across local contexts. Social Science & Medicine, 93, 194–202.
Le Fevre, D. (2014). Barriers to implementing pedagogical change: The role of teachers’ perceptions of risk.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 38, 56–64.
212 References

Liljestrand, J., & Hammarberg, A. (2017). The social construction of the competent, self-­governed child
in documentation: Panels in the Swedish preschool. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 18(1),
39–54.
Linde, C. (1993). Life Stories: The Creation of Coherence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Linville, P. W. (1985). Self-­complexity and affective extremity: Don’t put all of your eggs in one cognitive
basket. Social Cognition: Special Issue on Depression, 3, 94–120.
Martel, M. M. (2013). Individual differences in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and as-
sociated executive dysfunction and traits: Sex, ethnicity, and family income. American Journal of Or-
thopsychiatry, 83(2–3), 165–175.
Martinussen, R., Tannock, R., & Chaban, P. (2011). Teachers’ reported use of instructional and behavior
management practices for students with behavior problems: Relationship to role and level of training in
ADHD. Child & Youth Care Forum, 40(3), 193–210.
Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-­based strate-
gies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational
Behavior, 2(2), 99–113.
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397–
422.
McCloskey, G., & Perkins, L. (2013). Essentials of executive functions assessment. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Meltzer, L., Dunstan-­Brewer, J., & Krishnan, K. (2018). Learning differences and executive function: Un-
derstandings and misunderstandings. In L. Meltzer (Ed.), Executive function in education: From the-
ory to practice (2nd ed., pp. 109–141). New York: Guilford Press.
Meltzer, L., Basho, S., Reddy, R., & Kurkul, K. (2015). The role of mentoring in fostering executive function,
effort, and academic self-­concept. International Journal for Research in Learning Disabilities, 2(2),
91–123.
Menec, V. H., Perry, R. P., Struthers, C. W., Schönwetter, D. J., Hechter, F. J., & Eichholz, B. L. (1994). As-
sisting at-risk college students with attributional retraining and effective teaching. Journal of Applied
Social Psychology, 24, 675–701.
Michalsky, T., & Schechter, C. (2013). Preservice teachers’ capacity to teach self-­regulated learning: Inte-
grating learning from problems and learning from successes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 30,
60–73.
Moffitt, T., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R., Harrington, H., . . . Caspi, A. (2011). A gra-
dient of childhood self-­control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693–2698.
Muller, S., Gorrow, T., & Fiala, K. (2011). Considering protective factors as a tool for teacher resiliency.
Education, 131(3), 545–555.
Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., & Hooper, M. (2016). TIMSS 2015 international results in mathemat-
ics. Boston, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.
NASEM. (2018). How people learn II: Learners, contexts, and cultures. Washington, DC: National Acad-
emies Press.
Nash, K., Stevens, S., Greenbaum, R., Weiner, J., Koren, G., & Rovet, J. (2015). Improving executive func-
tioning in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Child Neuropsychology, 21(2), 191–209.
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2004). Children’s emotional development is built into
the architecture of their brains: Working paper No. 2. Retrieved from www.developingchild.net.
Naumann, E. (2004). Love at first sight: The stories and science behind instant attraction. Chicago: Source-
books Casablanca.
 References 213

Nizielski, S., Hallum, S., Schütz, A., & Lopes, P. N. (2013). A note on emotion appraisal and burnout: The
mediating role of antecedent-­focused coping strategies. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,
18(3), 363–369.
OECD. (2009). Chapter 4: Teaching practices, teachers’ beliefs and attitudes. Paris: TALIS Database,
OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2017). PISA 2015 results: Student’s well being (Volume III). Paris: OECD Publishing.
Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2010). Strategies of setting and implementing goals: Mental contrasting
and implementation intentions. In J. E. Maddux & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Social psychological founda-
tions of clinical psychology. New York: Guilford Press.
Ozonoff, S., & Jensen, J. (1999). Brief report: Specific executive function profiles in three neurodevelopmen-
tal disorders. Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 171–177.
Panadero, E., & Jarvela, S. (2015). Socially shared regulation of learning: A review. European Psychologist,
20(3), 190–203.
Patall, E. A. (2013). Constructing motivation through choice, interest, and interestingness. Journal of Edu-
cational Psychology, 105(2), 522–534.
Penuel, W. R., Sun, M. I. N., Frank, K. A., & Gallagher, H. A. (2012). Using social network analysis to
study how collegial interactions can augment teacher learning from external professional development.
American Journal of Education, 119(1), 103–136.
Perry, N. E., Hutchinson, L., & Thauberger, C. (2008). Talking about teaching self-­regulated learning: Scaf-
folding student teachers’ development and use of practices that promote self-­regulated learning. Inter-
national Journal of Educational Research, 47(2), 97–108.
Perry, N. E., Phillips, L., & Hutchinson, L. (2006). Mentoring student teachers to support self-­regulated
learning. The Elementary School Journal, 106(3), 237–254.
Perry, N. E., Yee, N., Mazabel, S., Lisaingo, S., & Maatta, E. (2017). Using self-­regulated learning as a frame-
work for creating inclusive classrooms for ethnically and linguistically diverse learners in Canada. In
N. J. Cabrera & B. Leyendecker (Eds.), Handbook on positive development of minority children and
youth. (pp. 361–377). New York: Springer.
Perry, R. P., Stupnisky, R. H., Hall, N. C., Chipperfield, J. G., & Weiner, B. (2010). Bad starts and better
finishes: Attributional retraining and initial performance in competitive achievement settings. Journal
of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(6), 668–700.
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.
Pintrich, P. R., & Garcia, T. (1991). Student goal orientation and self-­regulated learning in the college class-
room. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement: Goals and
self-­regulatory processes (Vol. 7, pp. 371–402). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Polletta, F., Chen, P. C. B., & Gardner, B. G. (2011). The sociology of storytelling. Annual Review of Sociol-
ogy, 37, 109–130.
Project Zero & Reggio Children. (2011). Making learning visible. Reggio Emilia, Italy: Reggio Children.
Quan-­McGimpsey, S., Kuczynski, L., & Brophy, K. (2013). Tensions between the personal and the profes-
sional in close teacher-­child relationships. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 27, 111–126.
Raines, M. L. (2000). Ethical decision making in nurses: Relationships among moral reasoning, cop-
ing style, and ethics stress. JONA’s Healthcare Law, Ethics and Regulation, 2(1), 29–41. Retrieved
from https://journals.lww.com/jonalaw/Fulltext/2000/02010/Ethical_Decision_Making_in_Nurses__
Relationships.6.aspx.
Rees, P. H., Wohland, P., Norman, P., & Lomax, N. (2017). Population projections by ethnicity: Challenges
and solutions for the United Kingdom. In D. A. Swanson (Ed.), The frontiers of applied demography.
Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Reimers, T. M., Wacker, D. P., & Koeppl, G. (1987). Acceptability of behavioral treatments: A review of the
literature. School Psychology Review, 16, 212–227.
214 References

Rimm-­Kaufman, S., & Sandilos, L. (2015). Improving students’ relationships with teachers to provide essen-
tial supports for learning. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from www.apa.org/educa-
tion/k12/relationships.aspx.
Rimm-­Kaufman, S. E., Fan, X., Chiu, Y. J., & You, W. (2007). The contribution of the responsive classroom
approach on children’s academic achievement: Results from a three year longitudinal study. Journal of
School Psychology, 45(4), 401–421.
Robinson, V., Hohepa, M., & Lloyd, C. (2009). School leadership and student outcomes: Identifying what
works and why. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.
Rodríguez-­Mantilla, J. M., & Fernández-Díaz, M. J. (2017). The effect of interpersonal relationships on
burnout syndrome in Secondary Education teachers. Psichotema, 29(3), 370–377.
Rosenberg, M., & McCullough, B. C. (1981). Mattering: Inferred significance and mental health among
adolescents. Research in Community and Mental Health, 2, 163–182.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2002). An overview of self-­determination theory: An organismic-­dialectical
perspective. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-­determination research. Rochester:
The University of Rochester Press.
Schildkamp, K., Lai, M. K., & Earl, L. (2013). Data-based decision making in education. Dordrecht, The
Netherlands: Springer.
Schulz, M. (2013). Frühpädagogische konstituierung von kindlichen bildungs-­und lernprozessen. Zeitschrift
für Soziologie der Erziehung und Sozialisation, 33(1), 26–41.
Shivers, J., Levenson, C., & Tan, M. (2017). Visual literacy, creativity, and the teaching of argument. Learn-
ing Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 15(1), 67–84.
Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2011). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching pro-
fession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 27, 1029–1038.
Southern Education Foundation. (2015). A new majority: Low income students now a majority in the na-
tion’s public schools. Retrieved from www.southerneducation.org/wp-­content/uploads/2019/02/New-­
Majority-­Update-­Bulletin.pdf.
Spruce, R., & Bol, L. (2015). Teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practice of self-­regulated learning. Metacogni-
tion and Learning, 10(2), 245–277.
Statistics Canada. (2017). Immigration and diversity: Population projections for Canada and its regions,
2011 to 2036. Retrieved from www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/91-551-x/91-551-x2017001-eng.
pdf?st=LOHXEDBV.
Stein, J. A., & Krishnan, K. (2018). Nonverbal learning disabilities and executive function: The challenges of
effective assessment and teaching. In L. Meltzer (Ed.), Executive function in education: From theory to
practice (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Stigler, J. W., & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap. New York: Free Press.
Swanson, H. L. (1990). Influence of metacognitive knowledge and aptitude on problem solving. Journal of
Educational Psychology (82), 306–314.
Swing, E. L., Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C. A., & Walsh, D. A. (2010). Television and video game exposure
and the development of attention problems. Pediatrics, 126(2), 214–221.
Taylor, M. (2014, April 1). Jane Goodall blames “chaotic note taking” for plagiarism controversy. The Guard-
ian.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-­ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.
Torgesen, J. K. (1977). Memorization processes in reading-­disabled children. Journal of Educational Psy-
chology, 69(5), 571–578.
Tough, P. (2016). Helping children succeed: What works and why. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Tunstall, P., & Gipps, C. (1996). Teacher feedback to young children in formative assessment: A typology.
British Educational Research Journal, 22(4), 389–404.
 References 215

Tyler, K. M., Uqdah, A. L., Dillihunt, M. L., Beatty-­Hazelbaker, R., Conner, T., Gadson, N., . . . Stevens, R.
(2008). Cultural discontinuity: Toward a quantitative investigation of a major hypothesis in education.
Educational Researcher, 37(5), 280–297.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). New census bureau report analyzes U.S. population projections. Retrieved
from www.prnewswire.com/news-­releases/new-­census-­bureau-­report-­analyzes-­u s-­population-­
projections-300044527.html.
Usher, E. L., Caihong, R. L., Butz, A. R., & Rojas, J. P. (2018). Perseverant grit and self-­efficacy: Are both
essential for children’s academic success? Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(1), 877–902.
Van Overwalle, F., & de Metsenaere, M. (1990). The effects of attribution-­based intervention and study strat-
egy training on academic achievement in college freshmen. British Journal of Educational Psychology,
60, 299–311.
Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., & Deci, E. L. (2006). Intrinsic versus extrinsic goal contents in self-­determination
theory: Another look at the quality of academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 41(1), 19–31.
Veenman, M. V. J., Van Hout-­Wolters, B. H. A. M., & Afflerbach, P. (2006). Metacognition and learning:
Conceptual and methodological considerations. Metacognition and Learning, 1, 3–14.
Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of professional learning com-
munities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(1), 80–91.
Visu-Petra, L., Cheie, L., Benga, O., & Miclea, M. (2011). Cognitive control goes to school: The impact
of ­executive functions on academic performance. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 11, 240–
244.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Watts, T. W., Gandhi, J., Ibrahim, D. A., Masucci, M. D., & Raver, C. C. (2018). The Chicago School Readi-
ness Project: Examining the long-term impacts of an early childhood intervention. PloS One, 13(7).
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review,
92, 548–573.
Weiner, B. (1995). Judgments of responsibility: A foundation for a theory of social conduct. New York: Guil-
ford Press.
Weiner, B. (2006). Social motivation, justice, and the moral emotions: An attributional approach. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
White, R. A., Kross, E., & Duckworth, A. L. (2015). Spontaneous self-­distancing and adaptive self-­reflection
across adolescence. Child Development, 86(4), 1272–1281.
Wilson, T. D., & Linville, P. W. (1985). Improving the performance of college freshmen with attributional
techniques. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 287–293.
Wimmer, L., Bellingrath, S., & von Stockhausen, L. (2016). Cognitive effects of mindfulness training: Re-
sults of a pilot study based on a theory driven approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1037). Retrieved
from www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01037/full.
Winne, P. H. (1995). Inherent details in self-­regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 30, 173–187.
Winne, P. H. (1996). A metacognitive view of individual differences in self-­regulated learning. Learning and
Individual Differences, 8, 327–353.
Winne, P. H. (1997). Experimenting to bootstrap self-­regulated learning. Journal of Educational Psychol-
ogy, 89, 397–410.
Winne, P. H. (2010). Bootstrapping learner’s self-­regulated learning. Psychological Test and Assessment
Modelling, 52(4), 472–490.
Winne, P. H. (2017). The trajectory of scholarship about self-­regulated learning. Teachers College Record,
119(13), 1–16.
Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2010). Measuring self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M.
Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 532–568). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Wolff, C. E., Jarodzka, H., van den Bogert, N., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (2016). Teacher vision: Expert and
216 References

novice teachers’ perception of problematic classroom management scenes. Instructional Science, 44,
243–265.
Wong, B. Y., Butler, D. L., Ficzere, S. A., & Kuperis, S. (1996). Teaching low achievers and students with
learning disabilities to plan, write, and revise opinion essays. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(2),
197–212.
Yenawine, P. (2013). Visual thinking strategies: Using art to deepen learning across school disciplines. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard.
Yong, Z., & Yue, Y. (2007). Causes for burnout among secondary and elementary school teachers and preven-
tive strategies. Chinese Education and Society, 40(5), 78–85.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-­regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–
70.
 Index

Note. f or t following a page number indicates a figure or a table.

Academic goals. See also Goal setting learning and, 38–41, 39t
summative evaluation and, 104–105, 108–113, 110f, 111f, lesson planning and, 42–44
112f observation and, 67–68
Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 147 “organic and free flowing” context for implementation and,
Acceptance, 25–28, 27f 52–55, 53f, 54f
Accommodations, 142–146 overview, 32–35, 33t–34t, 153–155
Achievement gap, 134–135 professional development (PD) and, 155–157, 159
Activated Learning, 154–155, 157. See also EF literacy; self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t
Learning “stressed class” context for implementation and, 55–58
Administrators, 160, 161 “time strapped” context for implementation and, 48–50,
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), 4f 67–68, 92–93, 93f
Alert program, 163 Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146, 147–148
Anchor charts, 11–12, 13f Behavioral factors, 5–6, 111f, 112f
Anecdotal records, 71, 75. See also Classroom observation Belongingness. See Connection; Relatedness
Assessment. See Classroom observation; Summative BSP journals, 99–100. See also Barriers and Strategies
assessment Protocol (BSP)
Assumptions, 35, 105 Burnout, 8, 148–152
Attention, needs for, 63–65. See also Classroom observation
Attention, sustained. See Sustained attention Challenge, academic, 9f
Authentic learning, 11, 23–25. See also Learning Challenges. See also Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP)
Autonomy, 42–43, 86–87, 86t achievement gap and, 134–135
conversations as a form of summative evaluation and,
Backwash effect, 109 125–127
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP). See also EF literacy; “early days” context for implementation and, 14–15, 15f, 16f
Teaching practices index of EF barriers and strategies, 186–206
BSP journals, 99–100 individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
burnout and, 149–152 multicultural education and, 138–142, 141t
“early days” context for implementation and, 44–48, 46f, overview, 34t
47f, 48f “stressed class” context for implementation and, 25–28, 27f
feedback and, 92–94, 93f, 99–100 summative evaluation and, 112–113
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 50–52, Chicago School Readiness Program, 163
51f, 93–94, 99–100 Choice, 42–43
index of EF barriers and strategies, 186–206 Class collective efficacy, 151–152
individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 144–146 Class discussions, 39t, 40. See also Whole-class teaching

217
218 Index

Classroom observation. See also Summative assessment Daily strategy trackers, 73–75, 74f. See also Classroom
“early days” context for implementation and, 65–67 observation
with an EF lens, 61–63 Data collection, organization, and reporting, 23, 106–108. See
feedback and, 80, 81t also Classroom observation; Summative assessment
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 68–71, Decoding skills, 189
70f, 72f Descriptive feedback, 80, 81–84, 81t, 83f. See also Feedback
need to be seen and appreciated and, 63–65 Developmental factors, 4f
“organic and free flowing” context for implementation and, Differentiated instruction, 146–148
73–75, 74f Discrepancy, 104–105
overview, 59–61 Discussing feedback, 80, 81t, 125–127. See also Feedback
professional development (PD) and, 159
“stressed class” context for implementation and, 75–78, 77t “Early days” context for implementation. See also EF literacy
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 67–68 Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 44–48, 46f, 47f,
Classroom teaching. See Teaching practices 48f
Cognitive dissonance, 156, 162 feedback and, 87–91, 89t, 90f
Cognitive flexibility. See also EF literacy observation and, 65–67
EF Basics Lesson Series, 171 overview, 12, 14–18, 15f, 16f, 17f, 19f
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f summative evaluation and, 113–117
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 EF Basics Lesson Series, 17–18, 166–179
mentor texts for, 181, 183, 185 EF Checker for Students of All Ages checklist, 14–15, 15f
overview, 2t EF comfort zone, 42–44
21st-century learning and, 137t EF literacy. See also Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP);
Cognitive task analysis (CTA), 39t Executive functions (EFs); Teaching practices; individual
Collaboration, 110f, 137t executive functions
Collaboration in writing skills, 198 achievement gap and, 134–135
Collaborative inquiry, 160 authentic and meaningful learning of, 11
Comfort, 9f, 42–44 burnout and, 148–152
Communication skills, 137t, 201, 203–204 contexts for implementing, 12
Community circles, 22–23 “early days” context for, 14–18, 15f, 16f, 17f, 19f
Compassion EF Basics Lesson Series, 166–179
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 35 EF posters and anchor charts for, 11–12, 13f
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 23 in an equitable and multicultural classroom, 138–142, 141t
teaching EF literacy and, 11 “highly structured” context for, 21–23, 22f
Competence including on report cards, 109–113, 111f, 112f
intrinsic motivation and, 86–87, 86t index of EF barriers and strategies, 186–206
overview, 42–43 individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
priming students for learning and, 77t learning outcomes for, 12t
Comprehension skills, 190 list of interventions for, 163–165
Computer coding skills, 197 mentor texts for, 180–185
Confirmation bias, 33t, 35 moving into the mainstream, 29–31, 30f
Connection. See also Relatedness observation and, 59–63
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 38–41, 39t, “organic and free flowing” context for, 23–25
44–45 overview, 10, 153–155
“early days” context for implementation and, 14 professional development (PD) and, 155–162
priming students for learning and, 77t programs for, 10–11
supporting EFs with, 9f “a `stressed’ class” context for, 25–28, 27f
Contexts for implementation. See “Early days” context for summative evaluation and, 108–113, 110f, 111f, 112f
implementation; EF literacy; “Highly structured” “time strapped” context for, 18–21
context for implementation; “Organic and free flowing” 21st-century learning and, 136–138, 137t
context for implementation; “Stressed class” context Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148
for implementation; “Time strapped” context for Effort, 82–84, 83f, 112f
implementation Emotional control. See also EF literacy
Control, 42–43 EF Basics Lesson Series, 170
Conversations with students, 125–127 EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f
Cooperative learning, 39t index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206
Corrective feedback, 80, 81t. See also Feedback mentor texts for, 181, 183, 185
Creativity, 11, 137t overview, 2t
Critical thinking skills, 137t 21st-century learning and, 137t
Cultural factors, 138–142, 141t Emotional hygiene, 149
Curriculum Emotional intelligence, 149–150
EF literacy and, 10–11 Emotional regulation
“highly structured” context for implementation and, Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 45
22–23 “stressed class” context for implementation and, 26
list of interventions for executive functions and, 163–165 Zones of Regulation program and, 22–23
 Index 219

Encouragement, 80. See also Feedback overview, 12, 21–23, 22f

Engagement, 111f summative evaluation and, 120–125, 122f, 124f
Environmental factors, 4f Homework assignments, 18–21
Equity, 138–142, 141t Humanity, 35
Ethnicity, 138–142, 141t
Evaluative feedback, 80, 81–82, 81t. See also Feedback If–then technique, 32
Event sampling, 71. See also Classroom observation Illusory superiority thinking error
Executive function literacy. See EF literacy Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 35
Executive functions (EFs), 1–2, 2t, 3–6, 4f. See also EF overview, 33t, 118
literacy; individual functions Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 147
Exercise, 9f, 205 Implementation, contexts for. See “Early days” context for
External regulation, 146–147 implementation; EF literacy; “Highly structured” context
Extrinsic motivation, 84–85. See also Motivation for implementation; “Organic and free flowing” context for
implementation; “Stressed class” context for implementation;
False growth mindset, 82. See also Growth mindset; Mindsets “Time strapped” context for implementation
Familiarity, 9f Independent work, 110f, 111f
Feedback. See also Summative assessment Individual factors
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 39t, 85–87, 86t, achievement gap and, 134–135
99–100 in an equitable and multicultural classroom, 138–142, 141t
“early days” context for implementation and, 87–91, 89t, 90f executive functions and, 4f
extrinsic motivation, 84–85 individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
growth mindset and, 82–84, 83f need to be seen and appreciated and, 63–65
“highly structured” context for implementation and, self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t
93–100, 94f, 95f, 96f, 99f Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148
intrinsic motivation, 85–87, 86t Individualistic learning, 39t
“organic and free flowing” context for implementation and, Individualized education programs (IEPs), 142–146
100–101 Informal teaching opportunities, 18–21
overview, 79–82, 81t Inhibition, response. See Response inhibition
“stressed class” context for implementation and, 101–103 Initiation of tasks. See Task initiation
from students for teachers, 128–130, 129t, 131f–132f Initiative, 110f
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 91–93, 93f Innovation skills, 136–138, 137t
Flexibility, cognitive. See Cognitive flexibility Instructional approach. See also Teaching practices
Fluency skills, 191 in an equitable and multicultural classroom, 138–142, 141t
Formative assessment, 79 individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
Four-square Frayer model, 21, 22f list of interventions for executive functions and, 163–165
moving EF literacy into the mainstream and, 29–31, 30f
German Marburg Concentration Training, 164 professional development (PD) and, 157–159
Getting-to-know-you activities, 14–15, 15f, 16f, 44 self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t
Goal setting, 34t Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148
“early days” context for implementation and, 116–117 International students, 138–142, 141t
self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t Intervention for executive processes involved in reading
summative evaluation and, 108–113, 110f, 111f, 112f, 116–117 comprehension, 164
Goal-directed persistence. See also EF literacy Interventions. See also Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP);
EF Basics Lesson Series, 177 EF literacy; Teaching practices
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f list of, 163–165
including on report cards, 112f tiered approach to, 30–31, 30f
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 Interviews, 125–127
mentor texts for, 182, 184, 185 Intrinsic motivation, 43, 85–87, 86t. See also Motivation
overview, 2t
21st-century learning and, 137t Job demands–resources model, 151
Group project work, 97–100, 99f. See also Long-term projects Judging feedback, 80, 81t, 84–85. See also Feedback
Growth mindset. See also Mindsets
descriptive feedback and, 82–84, 83f Learning. See also Learning regulation; Self-regulated
“early days” context for implementation and, 113–116 learning (SRL)
overview, 154 achievement gap and, 134–135
summative evaluation and, 113–116 authentic and meaningful learning of EF literacy, 11
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 38–41, 39t
Happiness, 9f in an equitable and multicultural classroom, 138–142, 141t
“Highly structured” context for implementation. See also EF executive functions’ affect on, 3–6
literacy individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 50–52, 51f, 21st-century learning and, 136–138, 137t
93–94, 99–100 Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148
feedback and, 93–100, 94f, 95f, 96f, 99f Learning disabilities, 4f. See also Individualized education
observation and, 68–71, 70f, 72f programs (IEPs)
220 Index

Learning regulation. See also Learning; Self-regulated “Organic and free flowing” context for implementation. See
learning (SRL) also EF literacy
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 40–41 Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 52–55, 53f, 54f
multicultural education and, 140–142, 141t feedback and, 100–101
Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–147 observation and, 73–75, 74f
“Learning Stories” method of assessment, 106–107. See also overview, 12, 23–25
Summative assessment summative evaluation and, 125–127
Lesson planning. See also “Early days” context for Organization. See also EF literacy
implementation; “Highly structured” context for Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 45–46, 46f, 47f
implementation; “Organic and free flowing” context EF Basics Lesson Series, 175
for implementation; “Stressed class” context for EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f
implementation; Teaching practices; “Time strapped” including on report cards, 110f, 112f
context for implementation index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 42–44 mentor texts for, 182, 184
EF Basics Lesson Series, 166–179 overview, 2t
summative evaluation and, 105–106 21st-century learning and, 137t
Listening skills, 188 OutSMARTERs program, 164
Literacy, EF. See EF literacy
Long-term projects, 195 Parents
feedback and, 97–100, 99f “early days” context for implementation and, 18, 19f
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 22–23, summative evaluation and, 106
97–100, 99f “time strapped” context for implementation and, 20
index of EF barriers and strategies, 199–200 Partial growth mindset approach, 114–115. See also Growth
mindset; Mindsets
Mathematical skills, 193–194 PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive),
Meaningful learning, 11, 86–87, 86t. See also Learning 164–165
Memorization skills, 196 PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies), 165
Memory, working. See Working memory Pedagogical change, 114–115
Mental contrasting, 32 Persistence. See Goal-directed persistence
Mentor texts, 180–185 Perspective, 23
Metacognition. See also EF literacy Physical hygiene, 149
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 39t, 48 Planning, 39t
EF Basics Lesson Series, 178 Planning and prioritizing. See also EF literacy
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f EF Basics Lesson Series, 174
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f
mentor texts for, 182–183, 184, 185 index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206
overview, 2t mentor texts for, 182, 184
21st-century learning and, 137t overview, 2t
Mindsets 21st-century learning and, 137t
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 38–41, 39t Posters, 11–12, 13f, 20
descriptive feedback and, 82–84, 83f Practice using EFs, 9f
“early days” context for implementation and, 113–116 Praise, 80, 84–85. See also Feedback
overview, 154 Prediction, 39t
summative evaluation and, 113–116 Presentation skills, 199
Mini-lessons Priming students for learning, 75–78, 77t
EF Basics Lesson Series, 166–179 Principals, 160, 161
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 21–22 Prioritizing. See Planning and prioritizing
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 20 Problem-solving, 39t, 137t
Modeling, 56, 128–130, 129t, 131f–132f Professional development (PD)
Motivation applying, 157–159
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 85–87, 86t format and delivery of, 159–161
extrinsic motivation, 84–85 overview, 155–157, 161–162
overview, 42–43 Projects. See Long-term projects
Multicultural education, 138–142, 141t Protection, 77t
Punishment
Narrative-based assessment, 106–107. See also Summative extrinsic motivation and, 84–85
assessment feedback and, 80, 81t
Noticing and naming feedback, 80, 81t, 90–92, 90f. See also motivation and, 43
Feedback
Nutrition, 9f, 205 Race to action thinking error, 33t, 35
Reflection, 39t. See also Self-reflection activities
Observation, classroom. See Classroom observation Relatedness, 42–43, 86–87, 86t. See also Connection
Openness, 25–28, 27f Relationships, 150, 203. See also Teacher–student relationship
 Index 221

Report cards. See also Summative assessment Social and emotional learning programs, 22–23, 26
overview, 106, 109–113, 111f, 112f Social contagion, 40
self-assessment and, 120–125, 122f, 124f Social media, 202
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 117–120 Socioeconomic disparity, 134–135
Respect, 77t Special needs, students with, 142–146. See also Students
Response inhibition. See also EF literacy Spotlighting, 63
EF Basics Lesson Series, 168 STEM education, 136–138, 137t
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f Stereotype threat, 62–63
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 Story-based assessment, 106–107. See also Summative
mentor texts for, 180–181, 183, 185 assessment
overview, 2t Strategic thinking, 48
21st-century learning and, 137t Strategies. See also Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP)
Responsibility, 110f Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 40–41
Responsive Classroom program, 86 index of EF barriers and strategies, 186–206
Restorative practices, 22–23 overview, 34t
Rewards self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t
extrinsic motivation and, 84–85 summative evaluation and, 113–116
feedback and, 80, 81t Strengths
motivation and, 43 conversations as a form of summative evaluation and,
Routines 125–127
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 32, 44 “early days” context for implementation and, 14–15, 15f, 16f
“highly structured” context for implementation and, 21–23, “stressed class” context for implementation and, 25–28, 27f
22f “Stressed class” context for implementation. See also EF
supporting EFs with, 9f literacy
Rules, 9f Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 55–58
Running records, 69–71, 70f, 72f. See also Classroom feedback and, 101–103
observation observation and, 75–78, 77t
overview, 12, 25–28, 27f
Safety, 25–28, 27f, 77t summative evaluation and, 127–130, 129t, 131f–132f
School performance, 3–6 Stressed students. See Challenges; “Stressed class” context for
Self-advocacy strategy, 46 implementation; Students
Self-assessment. See also Summative assessment Structure
“highly structured” context for implementation and, Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 50–52, 51f
120–125, 122f, 124f “highly structured” context for implementation and, 21–23,
“stressed class” context for implementation and, 127–130, 22f
129t, 131f–132f supporting EFs with, 9f
Self-awareness, 48 Students. See also Teacher–student relationship
Self-care, 205–206 Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 35, 40–41
Self-complexity theory, 10 conversations with as a form of summative evaluation,
Self-confidence, 9f 125–127
Self-determination, 42–44 EF profiles of teachers and students, 3, 4f
Self-efficacy, 111–112, 151–152 executive functions’ affect on performance and, 5–6
Self-judgment, 39t individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146
Self-reflection activities multicultural education and, 138–142, 141t
“early days” context for implementation and, 14–15, 15f, 16f need to be seen and appreciated and, 63–65
“a ‘stressed’ class” context for implementation and, 127–130, self-assessment and, 120–125, 122f, 124f
129t, 131f–132f self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 36f, 38t
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 20 Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148
Self-regulated learning (SRL). See also Learning; Learning Summative assessment. See also Classroom observation;
regulation Feedback
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t, 48 balancing academic and EF goals in, 108–113, 110f, 111f,
multicultural education and, 140–142, 141t 112f
professional development (PD) and, 158–159 “early days” context for implementation and, 113–117
Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–147 feedback and, 79
Self-regulation, 110f, 146–147. See also Self-regulated learning “highly structured” context for implementation and,
(SRL) 120–125, 122f, 124f
Self-talk strategy, 46 importance of, 104–106
“Shout-out” routines, 91–92 “organic and free flowing” context for implementation and,
Skills, 77t 125–127
Sleep, 9f, 206 overview, 106–108
SMART goals, 34t “stressed class” context for implementation and, 127–130,
SMARTs Executive Function and Mentoring intervention, 165 129t, 131f–132f
Social activities, 9f “time strapped” context for implementation and, 117–120
222 Index

Super-innovator perspective, 105 Technology, 136–138, 137t

Supplemental materials, 11 Thinking errors, 32, 33t. See also Barriers and Strategies
Sustained attention. See also EF literacy Protocol (BSP); Teaching practices
EF Basics Lesson Series, 172 Tiers of intervention, 30–31, 30f
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f Time management. See also EF literacy
including on report cards, 112f Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 46, 47f, 48f
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 EF Basics Lesson Series, 176
mentor texts for, 181–182, 183 EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f
overview, 2t including on report cards, 112f
21st-century learning and, 137t mentor texts for, 182, 184
overview, 2t
Task initiation. See also EF literacy “Time strapped” context for implementation. See also EF
EF Basics Lesson Series, 173 literacy
EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 48–50, 67–68,
index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206 92–93, 93f
mentor texts for, 182, 183, 185 feedback and, 91–93, 93f
overview, 2t observation and, 67–68
Teachable moments overview, 12, 18–21
“organic and free flowing” context for implementation and, summative evaluation and, 117–120
23–25 Training teachers. See Professional development (PD);
“time strapped” context for implementation and, 18–21 Teachers
Teacher-created materials, 11–12, 13f Transfer strategies, 39t
Teachers. See also Teacher–student relationship Transition times
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 40–41 “organic and free flowing” context for implementation and,
burnout and, 148–152 24
EF profiles of teachers and students, 3, 4f “time strapped” context for implementation and, 20
executive functions’ affect on performance and, 3–6, 8 Trauma, 4f
feedback from students for, 128–130, 129t, 131f–132f Trust, 25–28, 27f
individualized education programs (IEPs) and, 142–146 Trust me perspective, 105
professional development (PD) and, 155–162 21st-century learning, 136–138, 137t, 199–206
Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 147–148
Teacher–student relationship Understanding, 23
Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 39t Universal Design for learning (UDL), 146–148
burnout and, 150 Unstuck and On Target program, 165
conversations as a form of summative evaluation and, 125–127
Teaching errors. See Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP); Vividness bias, 33t, 35
Thinking errors
Teaching practices. See also Barriers and Strategies Protocol Weaknesses. See Challenges
(BSP); “Early days” context for implementation; EF Whole-class teaching. See also Class discussions; Teaching
literacy; “Highly structured” context for implementation; practices
Instructional approach; Lesson planning; “Organic and Barriers and Strategies Protocol (BSP) and, 40
free flowing” context for implementation; “Stressed EF comfort zone and, 43–44
class” context for implementation; “Time strapped” EF literacy and, 10–11
context for implementation self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 37–38, 38t
barriers and strategies for, 31–35, 33t–34t WOOP app, 32
burnout and, 148–152 Working memory. See also EF literacy
in an equitable and multicultural classroom, 138–142, 141t EF Basics Lesson Series, 169
mentor texts for, 180–185 EF posters and anchor charts for, 13f
moving EF literacy into the mainstream and, 29–31, 30f index of EF barriers and strategies, 188–206
need to be seen and appreciated and, 63–65 mentor texts for, 181, 183
professional development (PD) and, 157–159 overview, 2t
self-regulated learning (SRL) and, 35–38, 36f, 38t 21st-century learning and, 137t
summative evaluation and, 105–106 Writing skills, 192
supporting EFs in, 7–8, 9f
21st-century learning and, 136–138, 137t Zone of proximal development, 43
Universal Design for learning (UDL) and, 146–148 Zones of Regulation program, 22–23, 26