We’ve already covered in many different ways here at Life Skills Advocate that executive functioning skills are critical in navigating academic and work tasks. Because of the value of teaching and mastering these skills, we think it’s important that all professionals who work with neurodivergent students have a strong understanding of each of the EF skills and how to enhance these areas in your classroom.
That’s why we’ve created a comprehensive guide for teachers of neurodivergent teens and young adults. It is designed to demystify executive function and provide you with actionable strategies to enhance these critical skills in your students.
Whether you’re new to the topic or looking to refine your approach, you’ll find valuable insights into assessing these skills, tailoring interventions to meet individual needs, and utilizing tools and technology effectively. We will also explore ways to engage parents and caregivers, ensuring that the development of executive function skills is supported both in and out of the classroom.
From understanding the basics to overcoming the inevitable challenges, this guide aims to equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to make a significant impact on a learner’s executive functioning.
The Importance of Executive Function Skills in Education
Before we dive into classroom tools, let’s first cover what the research says about executive function skills in the context of education. These skills, which include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control, enable students to manage their thoughts, actions, and emotions effectively. Enhancing these skills can lead to substantial improvements in both academic and personal growth, particularly for students with learning differences.
Here’s a quick summary of the HUGE body of research that demonstrates how executive functioning skills support student success. For each area, we link to a previous LSA article that covers these topics with greater detail and shares more resources if you need them.
Impact on Academic Performance
- Enhanced Concentration and Attention: Students with strong executive function skills are better able to focus on tasks, filter distractions, and maintain their attention on lessons and assignments.
- Improved Organization Skills: These skills help students organize their materials, plan out homework assignments, and keep track of deadlines, which are essential for academic success.
- Better Problem-Solving Abilities: Executive functions facilitate cognitive flexibility and working memory, allowing students to see problems from multiple angles and devise more innovative solutions.
Social and Emotional Benefits
- Stronger Emotional Regulation: The ability to manage emotions effectively helps students handle frustration and setbacks, reducing classroom disruptions and enhancing social interactions.
- Enhanced Self-Motivation and Persistence: With strong executive function, students are more likely to set personal goals and persist in achieving them despite difficulties, which is crucial for lifelong success.
- Resilience in Facing Challenges: Students who can manage their time, plan their tasks, and regulate their emotions are better equipped to handle academic and personal challenges, leading to greater resilience.
Fostering these skills in neurodivergent students not only aids in their immediate academic performance but also equips them with vital tools for navigating the complexities of everyday life and future challenges.
The bottom line: The significant benefits to students in multiple areas of their development underscores the critical role that teaching executive function plays in education settings. Educators need to know how to teach and foster these behaviors in their students.
Strategies for Teaching Executive Function Skills To Implement Right Now
Developing executive function skills in students, especially those with learning differences, requires targeted strategies and dedicated effort.
Here, we discuss several approaches that you can implement immediately in your classroom without significant prep or training. These include direct instruction techniques, engaging games and activities, and effective classroom management strategies, all aimed at enhancing EF skills.
A Direct Instruction Technique
One of the best ways to teach EF skills is through direct instruction, often known as the “I do it. We do it. And then you do it” model. Teachers can this way build scaffolding around students who struggle with EF skills, showing and modeling specific components of skills, and then working to expand independence.
To implement, start by explicitly modeling the skill. Demonstrate the specific executive function strategy and how your students can complete them. Show students how to use tools like planners or digital apps to manage their time and tasks. Don’t just provide them with the tool and expect them to automatically begin using it.
Then complete step-by-step breakdowns of complex tasks. Show your students the manageable steps and clearly outline the process you’d like them to take for each EF skill. This approach helps students understand each component and see how they fit together to achieve a goal.
Add in enough repetition and practice opportunities for your learners to make progress. One-time demonstration is often not enough for neurodivergent teens and young adults to “get it” when it comes to EF skills. They need to reinforce skills through repetition and regular practice that helps solidify the strategies and makes them more accessible for students in real-life scenarios.
Games That Enhance Executive Skills
Surprisingly, board games have a rich body of research supporting how they can be an effective approach to enhancing EF skills in learners with ADHD and autism. Games offer a unique, interactive, and non-traditional learning experience that can boost skills and fun in the classroom.
For a list of different EF skills and board games that you can add to your regular classroom instruction and downtime activities for students, check out our complete list: 25 Board Games That Promote Executive Functioning Skills
Classroom Management Strategies to Support Executive Function
Along with the direct instruction of skills and teaching through games, there are also a few simple classroom management strategies that can support your students’ progress on EF skills. These include:
- Outline a Structured Routine: Maintain a consistent routine and clear rules that help reduce uncertainty and allow neurodivergent students to practice executive functions like time management and task initiation in a framework that is predictable and responsive to their unique learning needs.
- Use Visual Aids: Use visual schedules, checklists, and organizers to provide reminders and reduce working memory demands. These aids help students keep track of their tasks and responsibilities.
- Collaborative Learning: Encourage group work where students can share responsibilities and learn from each other’s executive functioning strategies. This not only enhances social skills but also allows them to see different ways of managing tasks.
Assessing Individual Needs For Executive Functioning Skills
Customization is at the heart of effective teaching of EF skills. Before diving into any of the strategies above, it’s essential to assess each of your individual students’ specific strengths and needs thoroughly. Each person is unique, and understanding their skill level, preferences, and challenges is crucial in implementing EF teaching strategies well.
We recommend our free .pdf downloadable Executive Functioning Assessment Workbook to get started. This tool has easy-to-use questionnaires that help you identify which skills are most important to embed into your learner’s routines.
LSA also has developed a free downloadable table of individual EF skills separated by age group, helping you know how skills develop and what skills you can be working on right now for your students.
Tailoring Executive Functioning Interventions for Individual Needs
Using the information from the initial assessment, educators can then design personalized intervention plans that address specific needs while building on current strengths. For instance, a student who struggles with task initiation but has strong problem-solving skills might benefit from structured routines that ease the transition into new tasks. However, tasks can be based on the types of engaging, problem-based learning activities that already boost their motivation and interest to learn.
If a student is particularly interested in a theme like sports or fashion, an EF intervention could be designed around these themed tasks that require planning, goal-setting, and sequential thinking. Create the framework for the tasks, then allow them to use their own particular interests to guide the process in a way they find more compelling. This can also help students see the practical application of these skills in real-world scenarios, further reinforcing their learning and retention.
Finding The Time and Resources for Customized Interventions
As soon as we start suggesting tailored interventions, we know we will hear from teachers and educators, “That’s great. But who has time for all that!?!?”
Certainly, the question, “What teacher has time for that?” highlights a very real challenge for educators right now—the constant pressure on their time and resources does not go unnoticed.
However, we’d like to argue that investing time in developing executive function skills in students, especially those with neurodivergent learning needs, can lead to substantial long-term benefits that ultimately save time and enhance teaching efficacy. Tailoring interventions and using targeted strategies not only help students become more independent and self-regulating but also can also reduce the time you spend managing behaviors and re-explaining tasks.
Additionally, these skills are critical for lifelong learning and adaptability, meaning that the effort put into developing them does more than just ease day-to-day classroom management—it prepares students for future success in all areas of life. Thus, while the initial investment might seem significant, the payoff in terms of classroom efficiency and student outcomes argues strongly for its necessity and value.
Consider raising this question with your school administration or your department. Encourage conversations about how teaching EF skills with individualized interventions can become a priority and how you can be given supportive resources to make progress on the goals.
Collaborating with Parents and Caregivers in Teaching Executive Functions
The success of these tailored interventions often relies on consistent and collaborative efforts involving teachers, parents, and other educational professionals.
The role of parents and caregivers in the development of executive function skills cannot be overstated.
Their involvement is crucial as it extends the learning environment from the classroom to the home, providing a consistent and supportive backdrop for students to practice and apply these skills. To foster this crucial partnership, you should prioritize open, ongoing communication with parents and caregivers about executive functioning skills. Ask yourself now, how many of your parents and caregivers have a clear understanding of what executive functions are and why they’re important?
If that number can be higher, consider implementing one of these strategies:
Effective Communication Strategies for Caregivers
Regular communication through IEP meetings, conferences, newsletters, and digital platforms can keep parents informed about their child’s progress and the EF strategies being employed at school. Ask your parent committee about hosting a workshop or informational session on EF skills. These can be especially beneficial, equipping parents with the knowledge and tools to support the work you’re doing in the classroom in easy ways at home. If attendance is concerning, consider hosting web-based videos or sharing the LSA website links with parents so they can learn more about individual EF skills on their own time.
Joint Goal-Setting Sessions
For students and caregivers who show a particular interest in making progress on EF skills, engaging parents and caregivers in joint goal-setting sessions with their learner can also be a powerful strategy. During these sessions, educators, parents, and the student can come together to set specific, measurable goals related to executive function skills.
This process not only ensures that everyone is on the same page but also makes the goals more personal and meaningful to the student. It provides a clear framework for both school and home efforts, and periodic reviews of these goals can help track progress and make adjustments as needed. This cooperative approach encourages a shared responsibility for the student’s development, promoting a stronger commitment from all parties involved.
At-Home Activities and Resources
Providing parents and caregivers with practical activities that can be done at home is another effective strategy. These might include game night ideas, organizational tasks, or routines that reinforce the executive skills being targeted in school. Additionally, recommending specific apps and online resources can empower parents to integrate technology that supports executive function training outside of school hours.
By working collaboratively, educators and parents can create a cohesive framework that supports the development of executive function skills across multiple environments. This holistic approach not only enhances the student’s learning experience but also promotes greater generalization of these skills to various aspects of life, contributing to overall success and well-being.
TL;DR – (Too Long, Didn’t Read)
Teaching executive function skills to neurodivergent students is a critical component of their overall development and academic success. If you work with unique learners, you need to know the in’s and out’s of including these skills in your classroom.
By understanding the basics of these skills, recognizing their impact on academic and social-emotional development, and implementing tailored teaching strategies, educators can significantly enhance their students’ ability to manage themselves and their tasks effectively.
The integration of direct instruction techniques, engaging games, and classroom management strategies, alongside the crucial collaboration with parents and caregivers, creates a comprehensive approach to nurturing these essential skills.
By investing time in these practices, educators not only improve the immediate learning environment but also support the long-term success and well-being of their students, preparing them for the complexities of life beyond the classroom.
Further Reading
- Executive Functioning Assessment Workbook
- Grand Canyon University – How to Use “I Do – We Do – You Do” in Teaching
- Life Skills Advocate – 25 Board Games That Promote Executive Functioning Skills
- Life Skills Advocate – Building Emotional Control: Strategies & Supports for Diverse Learners
- Life Skills Advocate – Executive Functioning 101: All About Attentional Control
- Life Skills Advocate – Executive Functioning Skills 101: All About Organization
- Life Skills Advocate – Executive Functioning Skills 101: Problem-Solving
- Life Skills Advocate – How Teaching Executive Functioning Skills Can Reduce Challenging Behaviors
- Life Skills Advocate – The Myths Of Motivation: Understanding Teen Motivation