An EF Smart Classroom that supports executive functioning for all students and you know our kids with weaknesses in executive functioning can’t get away without these. They won’t succeed. But all kids can really use these. So we’re talking about taking the time to plan for instruction, plan for repetition, to think carefully about the kind of instruction that we do, so looking at tasks that, for instance, are new and introducing a new task with less demanding content.
If new executive skills are required, which is true for any new routine then we don’t want to also load it up with very high level content. On the other hand, if we’re working with really easy content that might be the time to introduce a new routine, say a lab report or a book report.
We want to make sure that we have those habits and routine well laid out and we also want to make sure that we have a culture in the classroom that is responsive to the need for practice and repetition. So a lot of times the trajectory of development for students with weak executive functions means that we’re going to have to help them with missteps for a very long time.
And that means having a mindset where we don’t first of all treat every assignment as if it’s a test and secondly where we use mistakes to help inform ourselves and the students of what they need to learn next, right? So one of the examples that I often give for parents and teachers is this, sometimes we have kids who have long term assignments. We’ve helped them break it down by task, we have checked to make sure they have the correct things done when through supposed to have them.
We give them a little bit of rope and they hang themselves, right? It’s not done on the day that it’s due and then we yell at them, right? Instead of saying wow, there were 32 steps in this project, you did really well up until 27 as near as I can tell, and I think where you went wrong was that your time estimates were probably a little off and you weren’t ready with this assignment on the day it was due.
You did a great job planning it. Next time what we’re going to work on is more accurate time assessment. Let’s see if you can get this in closer to the due date next time. It is a shame for you to lose points because you don’t have this in on time when you’ve been doing such great work. So let’s work on that for next time.
And then we’re acknowledging all the things the child has done right, all that they’ve struggled with, all the great ways they’ve worked to meet those challenges, but we’re also being clear that we’ve got a little bit more work to do here. So the attitude of the teacher is tremendously important and we could talk about tools and techniques from now until the cows come home and if you don’t have the relationship with the child that encourages them to look to you for help, and where they feel safe, and that it’s okay to make mistakes, then they’re still not going to progress.
So lots of understanding and compassion goes into this but it all comes back down I think to some of the basic tools that we use with any human being that’s struggling. And that is building a relationship with them that allows them to learn with us rather than to run from us.
