Self Control
What does self-control mean?
The ability to manage your impulses, emotions, and behavior in appropriate ways.
What does flexibility mean in terms of thinking?
Being able to adapt, change your plans, and adjust to new situations.
What is working memory?
The ability to hold and use information in your mind for a short time while working on a task.
What executive functioning skill is most difficult for you and what is one step you can take to improve?
Any honest response
You have a lot to do this week and are feeling overwhelmed. Tell us 3 things you can do to manage your time (this can be a strategy or something you use to help you).
Calendars, setting reminders, using timers, breaking tasks into smaller pieces, etc.
Name 3 strategies you can use to calm down when angry.
Deep breathing, counting to 10, walking away, listening to music, drawing, etc.
Your teacher cancels your fun activity and replaces it with a test. How can you be flexible about this?
Accept the change, adjust your expectations, ask when the activity will happen, focus on doing well on the test.
Your teacher gives you 4 instructions. What's ONE strategy to help you remember all of them?
Write them down, repeat them back, ask for them in writing, create a mental picture, organize them by steps.
Which executive function skill helps you stick to a goal even when it's boring?
Self-control (managing impulses to do something more fun) or working memory (remembering the goal).
Your friend keeps texting you while you're doing homework. How do you use self-control?
Put phone away, silence notifications, tell friend you'll text later, take a break first then focus.
If you want to interrupt your friend but they're talking, what should you do instead?
Wait for them to finish, raise your hand politely, or wait for a pause in the conversation.
Name 2 strategies to help you adapt when plans change.
Make a new plan, take deep breaths, remind yourself it's temporary, find the positive side.
True or False: Working memory and long-term memory are the same thing.
False — Working memory is temporary (holds info briefly); long-term memory stores info for longer.
What executive functioning skill helps you to stop procrastinating and get things done?
Task initiation!
Your binders have work from first quarter and things you no longer need. How do you reorganize yourself for a fresh start?
Declutter, organize by subjects, make a homework folder so you know what is due, keep study guides to help you for tests
What's one reason it's hard for teens to use self-control?
The brain's prefrontal cortex (decision-making area) is still developing; strong emotions can override impulses.
What's "cognitive rigidity" and why is it a problem?
Getting stuck on one way of thinking and refusing to consider other options; limits problem-solving.
Name 2 ways distractions hurt your working memory.
Distractions interrupt your focus, split your attention, cause you to forget what you were thinking, make it hard to follow steps.
How does mindfulness help your executive functioning skills?
Self-control - helps to control your thoughts and actions
When we are calm and focused on the present moment, we can manage our time better, improve memory, have clearer thoughts to help us organize or getting started on a task.
You forget what your teacher said about the homework. Which skill would have helped you?
Working memory (paying attention, writing it down, repeating it back) or organization (writing assignments down).
Describe a time when YOU used self-control. What was the situation and what did you do?
Student response — Accept any thoughtful, honest answer about managing behavior or emotions.
Give an example of a time flexibility helped you succeed in school or with friends.
Student response — Accept any example showing adaptation (e.g., changed study method, tried new friendship group, adjusted project approach).
Describe a strategy you could use to remember a multi-step assignment without writing it down.
Break it into chunks, visualize each step, repeat it aloud, connect it to something you know, teach it to someone else.
Choose 3 executive functioning skills and explain how they can help you complete a big project.
Working memory: hold instructions; planning: break it into steps; flexibility: adjust when needed; self-control: stay focused and manage frustration.
A friend wants you to skip class, but you have a test. Walk through how you'd use self-control, flexibility, AND working memory to handle this.
Working memory: remember the test; self-control: resist peer pressure; flexibility: explain you could hang out after, suggest an alternative.