Comments on: Improving Academic Achievement – Executive Function Could Hold the Secret

By: D MinerHazel

D MinerHazel — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 06:51:53 +0000

I am excited to now that my lifelong challenge has been studied and can be helped! But right now I must help my 15 yr old grandson whose Mom passed and was his executive organizer. He has Auditory Processing Disorder & Above Aver Intell…downfall is in doing written work in timely fashion & remembering to bring things to school and/or to hand in work! HELP New school wants to drop him from Sp Ed & just say he is not doing his part!

By: Toni

Toni — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:21:08 +0000

I recommend a book called No Mind Left Behind – Understanding Executive Functions by Adam Cox. It clearly outlines 8 skills like attention, planning, emotional control etc. etc. and more important, what to do to help your students stay on track. A very child-centered, practical book that helps a lot.

By: N M Green, Resource Specialist

N M Green, Resource Specialist — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:28:05 +0000

Response to Shirley King: First thing your daughter needs to do is to utilize a planner: she needs to keep track of every appointment, assignment, test, upcoming project. Second, she needs to plan and take
seriously time to eat, rest, socialize and put that time in the planner. The planner can be her guide and director through the maze of her new environment. She should also carry with her, in her planner, all the instructors names, numbers, room numbers, map of school. She
needs to begin listing and preparing for papers, months in advance, by doing bibliographies on assigned topics. She needs a working computer, a cell phone and an internet line so that she can touch base with you when she needs to vent.

She can visit the Dean’s office, or go see a counselor which is a very good move for a Freshwoman in a new college. Most important is to take time and be very careful who she pals around with so that she is not distracted even more. She should keep her eye on the best students, and try to join a study group of serious students.

With a cell phone she can punch in all her instructors numbers, and yours. She will be only a phone call away from you when she gets overwhelmed. She needs to self-advocate; drop a course that she finds impossible to fulfill – add an enjoyable course. Listen to students: who are the best teachers? Who to avoid?

Of course she may already be doing this: but the planner is MOST important.

By: Shirley King

Shirley King — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:51:45 +0000

I have a daughter that is a college freshmen, she does not suffer from attention deficiet disorder, most of her educational career has been very successful, however she now attends the University of Pennsylvania, and I think the new enviornment, the work load and the demands of the school have overwhelmend her, can you suggest a way I can get her involved in executive function training while still at this university, or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

By: Monday’s Must-Reads | Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

Monday’s Must-Reads | Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:44:09 +0000

[...] parents of wiggly, fidgety students (who are perhaps experiencing difficulties in school) may find Open Education’s blog post “Improving Academic Achievement – Executive Function Could Ho…VERY informative and helpful. Frankly, so would many teachers! Executive function is defined as [...]

By: Stavros Tripakis

Stavros Tripakis — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:26:21 +0000

This article appears to be moving in the direction I’d like education to move to. Still, I find it sad that we’ve come to the point where we need “expert advice” and “20 years” of research to tell us things that should be common sense: that play is extremely important to the intellectual development of our children; that concentration is extremely important to learning, even more so than just being smart. I wonder how many more years of “serious research” will it take us to “show” other common sense approaches to improve our classrooms, like: making them less boring for the kids, encouraging them to participate and ask questions, making them unafraid of trial and error.

By: Judi Piggott

Judi Piggott — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:12:08 +0000

Yet another ‘two-letter’ way to diagnose and rank kids, I was thinking (probably not using my executive function to do so). Even started to get a bit riled up as I read: Why is it so important for kids to adapt to school, rather than the other way ’round…. BUT then the lightbulb went on.

This is actually SUPPORT for the critical experiential ways that children – that all of us – learn real world skills and how to manage themselves with others. Play, role-playing, all very important stuff. Especially in an increasingly freelance world of learning and earning.

And to think I am making a presentation to a faculty meeting next week to get them to support Community Service-Learning for their undergrad students.

Thanks for giving me a way to ’sneak up on’ them, from an unexpected angle! Ah, the serendipitous results of casually following links from blog to blog…