EF Skills
____________________ are the brain skills that everyone needs and uses to complete tasks in our daily lives. They are the processes of the brain that allow us to plan, organize, and manage our thoughts and actions.
A. Social Skills
B. Executive Functioning Skills
Executive Functioning Skills
Decide which statement is describing a planning skill and which statement is describing an organization skill.
A: "I bring what I need home every night to complete homework assignments."
B: "Before starting an assignment, I make a roadmap for how I will complete it."
A: Organization
B: Planning
What is working memory?
Working memory refers to how we hold on to and work with information. We use working memory to learn and follow directions.
Name three common distractions for students in the classroom and at home.
-Cell phones
-Social Media
-Television
-Video Games
-Talking to friends during lessons
What are your strongest executive functioning skills?
...
Sometimes when people think of executive functioning skills, they first think of ____________, but executive functioning is a lot more.
Organization
What are two ways planning and organizing can help you?
-Reduces anxiety and stress
-Gives you time for other activities
-Provides practice for positive life skills (not just something you need for school)
-Helps you get started right away
-Allows you to think more clearly
-Gives your more confidence
-Provides a system to rely on
To use time wisely and effectively to accomplish tasks.
A. Sustained Attention
B. Time management
Time management
Name something that could help you stay focused in class.
-taking notes
-making eye contact with the speaker/teacher
-raising your hand
-asking questions
-only talking to classmates when directed by the teacher
What executive functioning skill could the game 'Simon says' help us practice?
Sustained attention
Research has shown that every person has a unique profile of ____________ and ____________.
A. Strengths and Weaknesses
B. Skills and creativity
Strengths and Weaknesses
What important activities (other than daily homework assignments) should be written in your planner?
-plans with family or friends
-long-term homework, projects, tests
-important dates: birthdays, holidays, etc.
-anything you know you need to accomplish (chores, practicing an instrument, etc.)
What is task initiation?
The ability to independently start tasks when needed. It's the process that allows you to just begin something even when you don't want to.
True or false: Sustained attention does not affect my ability to plan, organize, or persevere.
False.
-Plan: make a solid plan for a task since you have focused on what you need to do
-Organize: organize everything that you need in one sitting
-Persevere: work through any challenging task with strong attention skills
As a part of her lesson, Mrs. C plays the 'silent game' and 'freeze dance' with the kindergarteners. What executive functioning skill could she be working to help her students learn?
Inhibition (self-control)
Name two executive functioning skills that you need to complete your homework.
-Planning
-Time Management
-Task Initiation (starting tasks)
-Sustained Attention
-Flexibility (adapting and adjusting)
-Perseverance (determination)
How do planning and flexibility (adjusting and adapting) have to work together?
A. Flexibility is a stronger skill than planning
B. These same skills will be used as adults when working at jobs and/or going to college.
These same skills will be used as adults when working at jobs and/or going to college.
How do the executive function skills flexibility (adjust and adapt) and perseverance (determination) affect one another?
You have to be flexible enough to try new strategies to show perseverance when you don't succeed or get it right the first time.
Your cell phone will not stopping ringing with messages from a group text while you are trying to finish your Social Studies project. What could you do to avoid this distraction?
-put your phone in another room
-turn the volume off
-ask your friends to stop texting you
-turn off notifications for the group chat
If someone reads the alphabet backwards what executive functioning skills are they using?
A. Working Memory
B. Flexibility
C. Inhibition Control (self-control)
Working Memory
How does improving your executive functioning skills also apply to adults?
A. it does not apply to adults.
B. These same skills will be used as adults when working at jobs and/or going to college.
These same skills will be used as adults when working at jobs and/or going to college.
Give the definition for both planning and organization.
Planning: the ability to figure out how to accomplish our goals. It includes analyzing what you need and what steps you'll need to take to complete a task.
Organization: means being able to develop and maintain a system to keep materials and plans orderly.
True or false:
Being aware of what you know and what you don't know. It is being able to understand what you need in order to improve your learning.
True
Identify two strategies for someone with weak sustained attention skills.
-take notes in class
-attend to the teacher
-ask questions
-use a fidget if appropriate
-take brain breaks
Every time Betty finds herself drifting from her Language Arts project she gives herself cues or reminders such as, "What should I be doing right now?" What executive functioning skill is she working to strengthen?
A. Task Initiation
B. Organizing
Task Initiation