Executive Functioning Defined, Beyond Just "Being Organized"

Many people think they’re working on executive functioning, but aren’t ACTUALLY working on executive functioning.

If you have students who have access to planners, visuals, lists, and other organizing tools, but still seem unorganized, this may be the case 
for your students.

Especially if you have students who flat out refuse to use organizers, or just forget to use them. 

Even though people with strong executive functioning skills present on the outside as people who are “organized”, this is just the external \
presentation that happens as a result of the internal cognitive skills that enable them to appear like they have their act together. 

That’s why when we jump right to the obvious tools for students, we’re often leaving a huge gap, which is why students often don’t know how to utilize tools they have at their disposal.

In episode 267 of De Facto Leaders, I elaborate on the definition of executive functioning, because this is the first step in determining how to help our students get to the point of “being organized” (plus many other things, which you’ll realize when you listen). 

In this episode, I mention the Task Execution and Planning Protocol, which gives school clinicians an intervention strategy that takes students from “demand avoidance” and prompt dependence to independence during daily academic and functional tasks. 

You can learn more about the Task Execution and Planning Protocol here:  https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/taskexecution

In this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. 

You can learn more about the program here:  https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.