Study Skills

Games to Improve Executive Functioning Skills

October 1, 2017 by pathway2success 9 Comments

Kids and young adults need extensive practice in strengthening their executive functioning skills. Executive functions are the processes in our brains that help us accomplish all tasks from beginning to end. We use them when we plan our day, organize our materials, begin a chore, focus on important information, use our time wisely, and work through challenges until we accomplish a goal. The specific skills include: planning, organization, time management, task initiation, working memory, self-control, metacognition, attention, flexibility, and perseverance. While all kids could use extra practice with executive functioning skills, the ones who need it the most are often disorganized, struggle to finish assignments, lose items, have difficulty paying attention over periods of time, and give up on tasks that are difficult. These are the kids who could benefit the most from executive functioning skills instruction and practice.

If you’re looking for an executive functioning review game you can download and use right away, check out this Executive Functioning Challenge! It can be played as a board game with partners and small groups, or as a whole-class challenge. The game includes over 200 executive functioning cards so you can play again and again!

Simply put, executive functions are often critical to the success of kids and young adults. So, it makes sense to make practicing them fun and engaging! Games are a great way to weave executive functioning practice into your routine. You can choose to play a game on a Friday afternoon, after a big test, or as a class reward.

Here are ten games for practicing executive functioning skills:

#1 – BLURT

Skills: self-control, metacognition

How to Play: In this game, the teacher reads a definition of a word and kids have to figure out the word itself. For example, a question might be, “What is a partially dried grape?” When the student answers “raisin”, they win that turn. I like to play “around the world” style. All students will sit at desks or chairs around the room. Select two kids to play against each other and have them stand next to one another. Read the card and whoever “blurts” the answer first, wins and gets to move on to the next person. The idea is that only the kids playing can blurt out, and everyone else must have self-control, even if they know the answer. This game can also be played with your own content area questions too, which is great for a review before a test!

#2 – SCRABBLE

Skills: planning, organization

How to Play: In scrabble, kids use random letters to build words and keep score as they go. You can have students play in small groups and even partner kids together who may need extra support with spelling or language. Planning and organization is required because kids need to build off of each others’ words as the game progresses. As an extension, have kids look up definitions to the words they create or use the word in a sentence before points are scored.

#3 – PICTIONARY

Skills: flexibility, time management

How to Play: This game has students drawing phrases on paper or a whiteboard that others must guess correctly. Kids need to use time management to best draw their phrase before the time is up. This is such a fun game! I even love taking pictures of some of the drawings that are both hilarious and amazing.

#4 – DISTRACTION

Skills: working memory, attention

How to Play: In this card game, kids work on remembering numbers given to them while encountering distractions, including questions they have to answer. It is a great activity to teach about distractions that can throw us off!

#5 – 5 SECOND RULE

Skills: time management, task initiation

How to Play: Kids must name 3 things that fit a given topic. For example, kids might need to name 3 professional basketball teams or 3 pieces of jewelry. The categories differ greatly so kids have to be on their toes. As an accommodation, I sometimes play as a “10 second rule” to give kids enough time to process the question.

#6 – FREEZE

Skills: self-control, attention

How to Play: Freeze is a game where you play music and allow kids to be silly and dance. Then, at any moment, say “Freeze!” and kids need to stand completely still. It takes a lot of self-control to stop dancing to a song you’re into! This can be fun to let kids take the role to freeze the class, too.

#7 – JENGA

Skills: self-control, flexibility, planning

How to Play: In this game, kids pull blocks from a tower carefully. They must plan and be careful so they are not the one who causes the tower to fall over. This is a fun game because everyone likes to see towers get knocked down sometimes!

#8 – BRAINTEASERS

Skills: perseverance, flexibility

How to Play: Brainteasers are drawings and words that have a special meaning that kids must figure out. For example, when “man” is written on top of “board”, it means “man overboard”. These type of brainteasers are a great feat in perseverance and flexibility to figure out. They are great for a morning meeting or “do now” when kids walk in the door to start their brains off strong.

#9 – CHESS

Skills: planning, flexibility, working memory

How to Play: Chess requires kids to learn specific rules for different pieces and then use those skills to take out their opponent. This game requires a tremendous amount of planning, flexibility, and working memory to think through your moves ahead of time. It is also a great option when you need a quiet game.

#10 – SODUKU

Skills: perseverance, working memory

How to Play: Sodoku is a math puzzle game that allows kids to use critical thinking skills. Each grid has the numbers 1-9. Each row and column must add up to 9 separately, so the numbers need to be arranged correctly. Incorporate this activity for kids to work on in small groups or just for a fun challenge.

I have always loved using games to teach and support critical skills in the classroom, so I put together some games for social emotional learning skills! This set consists of five games focusing on executive functioning skills, social problem solving skills, empathy, social language, and more. You can really maximize learning time in your classroom by making “break time” skill-focused, too!

If you find yourself needing lessons and materials for direct instruction of executive functioning skills, consider this Executive Functioning Bundle. It teaches all ten executive functioning skills, study strategies, and SMART goals with enough materials for the entire year. You really cannot teach or practice EF skills enough!

Using Task Cards to Teach Executive Functioning

July 25, 2017 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Executive functioning skills are in everything that we do. They include our ability to have self-control, develop a plan, manage our time, begin an assignment, remember important information, and persevere through a challenging task. Executive functioning skills are definitely academic skills, but they are also life skills. Kids and young adults need plenty of practice and instruction with executive functioning skills to succeed in their daily lives.

Here are five simple ways you can teach executive functioning skills with kids and young adults using task cards:

1. Set up class centers for each executive functioning skill. Allow small groups to walk around and work at the center until time is up. Then, they can move on to the next executive functioning center. This will help kids and young adults develop an appreciation and understanding for each individual executive functioning skill.

2. Group students up to discuss the task cards. Each group can focus on one particular executive functioning skill. Have the group then share out what they learned about the skill. You can choose whether the groups share their thoughts on paper or just aloud to the class as a whole.

3. Allow students to pick a card and random and discuss in a small group. Let the students run the group discussion. Remember that it’s okay if students have different opinions on each card. Let your students talk it out and provide reasons to back up their opinions.

4. Have students independently read a card and respond in their journal on their own. After writing their response, give students time to discuss the card and share their response with a partner. Give students time to go back and reflect upon their response, including identifying if there is anything new they learned from their partner.

5. Use a card each morning as part of a guided class or small group discussion. This can also be part of a morning meeting. Starting the day with a positive intention can help pave the way for a great day.

To get started teaching executive functioning skills with task cards you can make your own or consider these Executive Functioning Task Cards. They are a set of 160 task cards that focus on all areas of executive functioning skills: planning, time management, working memory, self control, flexibility, organization, task initiation, metacognition, attention, and perseverance. A page explaining each skill is also included to make teaching executive functioning skills simple and easy.

The cards can be helpful for a range of professionals, including regular education teachers, guidance counselors, special education teachers, 504 coordinators, tutors, school psychologists, and mentors. These materials can also be used during advisory for middle and high school students.

You really can start teaching executive functioning skills anytime. The best time to start is now so that kids and young adults can learn to use these skills independently for the future.

Using Sticky Notes to Teach Reading Strategies

March 15, 2017 by pathway2success 2 Comments

All grade and age levels need to concretely learn and practice active reading strategies. Just because reading comprehension strategies are more explicitly taught and focused on in primary grades doesn’t mean that middle and high school level teachers shouldn’t be teaching and reinforcing, too! Actually, as the content gets harder (around 5th to 7th grade) it becomes more critical that kids and young adults become stronger at utilizing active reading strategies on their own for continued success.

While there are many ways you can teach and reinforce reading strategies, one of the easiest methods includes think-alouds and sticky notes. It’s really that easy. The teacher should model reading a text aloud (which can be on ANY subject). As the teacher reads, he or she should stop and “think aloud” while using reading strategies. You might stop and say, “This part lets me really picture how water evaporates from the ground and becomes a gas” when reading a text on evaporation. You might stop and question, “I wonder why the Nile was such a valuable land for the early settlers” when exploring a text about early Nile civilizations. Besides just saying your thought, though, stop and actually make a sticky note. Then, add it to your text. Have your students practice the same.

Once your students understand how to use sticky notes while reading a text, have them do the same in partners, groups, and eventually independently. The ultimate goal is that learners are reading and stopping to think about what they are reading. It is helpful to have a foundational understanding of all the specific reading strategies, such as visualizing, making connections, questioning, and so on. This is especially true for struggling readers who need more concrete and explicit instruction. However, it’s more important that teachers expose their students to “stopping, thinking, and writing” than it is to wait until all reading strategies have been taught and mastered.

Some of the best specific reading strategies to teach include: monitoring comprehension, activating prior knowledge, making connections, visualizing, questioning, getting the gist, making inferences, determining importance, and synthesizing. Here is what each of those reading strategies really mean:

Monitoring comprehension is the first and most important strategy. It is teaching yourself to think about what you are reading. You might stop and highlight when parts are interesting or identify when you have no clue what you really read. It’s the most important strategy since it is the basis for all other reading strategies.

Activating prior knowledge means thinking about the topic of a text and considering everything you know about that topic. This is helpful for readers because it helps set the stage in your mind for further learning. Give a set amount of time for students to brainstorm what they known about a topic prior to reading about it. Then, give time for students to share out.

Making connections means relating what is read to things in real life or in other texts or movies. Making connections can be especially helpful when learning challenging science or math topics. Once you can relate a new concept to something else, it becomes much easier to generalize and concretely understand.

Visualizing is using the words in the text to create a picture in your mind. I often tell kids that it is like making a movie in your head using the text itself. This is also one of my favorite strategies to teach because you can use drawing or role playing to show how you visualize a text. A student might write, “I can picture when…” or “I can visualize this part in my head by seeing…”.

Questioning is coming up with questions about a text before, during, and after reading. This can also be a really fun strategy to teach, since it inspires students to engage in research and continued learning. Let students start with some stems such as “I wonder…” and “This part makes me question why…”.

Getting the gist means to put the “gist” or main idea of a passage in just a few words. This is the essential “did I really get that?” strategy, and a great tool for kids to use to make sure they are understanding what they are reading.

Making inferences is finding clues in the text to figure things out that aren’t explicitly stated. While this strategy is important in many texts, it is critical with higher level language and challenging novels. This can also be fun to teach when using news articles. Students might use this strategy starting off with “I can tell…” or “One thing I can infer is…”.

Determining importance is exactly what it sounds like: finding the most important parts in a text. While it sounds simple, it is often more challenging for students to learn. By forcing kids to identify what the three most important parts in a text are, they must really look critically at the text and use higher order thinking skills. Students might write, “I can tell this part is important because…”.

Synthesizing means being able to change your thinking after reading a text. It is putting different texts or media together to have a new understanding on a topic.

So get a few stacks of sticky notes and practice reading strategies in your classroom today! Note that it can be fun to have a variety of different sticky note sizes and colors so that your students can choose their own.

Reading Comprehension Lessons

If you are looking to get started right away, consider for the full reading comprehension lessons guide. It includes lessons for teaching: monitoring comprehension, activating prior knowledge, making connections, visualizing, questioning, getting the gist, making inferences, determining importance, summarizing, and synthesizing.

If you find yourself needing more than lessons, the Reading Comprehension Bundle includes 27 lessons, task cards, posters, journal prompts, a bulletin board, and more!

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How to Progress Monitor Goals and Objectives

January 7, 2017 by pathway2success 2 Comments

As a special education teacher, I work to stay on top of my progress monitoring for the kids on my caseload. Between juggling IEP meetings, parent phone calls and emails, collabing with regular education staff, prepping, and teaching my daily lessons, it gets challenging. This problem is even more difficult at the middle and high school level, when the kids need their valuable resource room time to focus on complex homework assignments and projects they genuinely need help with. So, to solve this problem, I developed a Weekly Goals Worksheet that you can download for free and use right away. The idea is really simple: I give each student one worksheet a week on Friday. I make the worksheets far ahead of time, using their individual goals and objectives from their IEPs (Individualized Education Program). That way, I keep track of data on all goals and objectives for all my students throughout the year.

Here is how I do it:

Get your free Weekly Goals Worksheet

1. I make several copies of the Weekly Goals Worksheet. Download the free Weekly Goals Worksheet if you don’t have it yet! I always keep extra copies on hand. Essentially, you’ll need at least 2 per objective, so the number will depend on your students.

2. I print out my students’ IEPs. I personally love having a paper copy to reference, but you’re welcome to just work from the online document if that works for you. Working on one student at a time, I go through their goals and objectives.

3. On the Weekly Goals Worksheet, I write the first goal and first objective on top of the page. Then, I’ll create 5 sample problems for that specific objective. For example, if the student’s math objective is to add and subtract fractions with common denominators, I would write out 5 different problems on the worksheet. I always make at least two separate Worksheets for the same objective. I make copies of them, too. That way, I can reuse the same worksheets for the student, as needed.

4. I continue this process for each goal and objective. I then place all the worksheets into a student binder and label it “Weekly Goals”. Using simple tab dividers helps you separate the different sections.

5. On any specific day (I choose Fridays), make it a routine for your students to complete a Weekly Goals Worksheet in their data binders. For most students, you can probably assign which page to complete. For students who are more work-avoidant, you can allow them to work on any page of their choice.

For some goals/objectives that are more difficult to measure this way, I’ll ask the student to turn in a piece of work to me. For example, let’s say the objective is to “Answer open-ended text response questions by turning the question around”. I will ask the student for a piece of writing that would require this, such as history textbook questions or reading response questions. I’ll choose the first 5 questions. Then, on the Weekly Goals Worksheet, I use those 5 questions to assess his or her progress on the objective. How many of those questions did the student actually turn the question around? If it was 3/5, the score would be 60%. I staple the student page to the Worksheet (or make a copy if he/she needs it back!).

I will admit this does take some time and work to prep ahead for. However, once you do the work, you are all set to take all the data you need. Best of all, it allows you to be totally prepared with data for all the IEP meetings and parent conferences. Of course, this makes it so much easier to write specific goals and objectives for the next annual review. You can start small by choosing just 2 or 3 students you know you need to collect the most data on. Then, once you get more comfortable, you can grow from there.

If you are a special education teacher needing ideas for more progress monitoring, consider my Special Education Teacher Binder. Materials focus on IEPs and team meetings, progress monitoring of academics and behavior, classroom materials, building a classroom community, planning, lessons, organization, and other forms to make the life of the special education teacher easier. For many forms, there are two different versions so that one is editable for your individual need as an educator.

9 Tips for Motivating Unmotivated Kids

October 22, 2016 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Many kids and young adults struggle with motivation. These are the kids who are slow to start classwork, often don’t turn in homework, and may even refuse to attempt any assignment they view as a challenge. It can be extremely frustrating, especially because these students are often bright and capable in their own way. Here are some strategies you can use within your classrooms to help support their needs while still holding them accountable.

1. Keep your expectations high. Even when kids are struggling with finding motivation, you want to give the message that you expect greatness from them.

2. Give choices. Allowing a choice in an assignment or task gives kids power and helps them feel more in control of what they are accomplishing. Choice can mean choosing between two different worksheets, choosing their own lab group, or choosing whether to write or type an assignment. Consider finding a choice that fits a student’s individual strengths or interests. If a student isn’t motivated to write a research paper on a famous poet, allow them to present about their favorite musical artist. Instead of completing a lab report on cells, have your artistic student draw and label a diagram of a cell. It’s okay to think outside the box with this.

3. Allow accommodations when necessary. Simple accommodations, like a word bank, a calculator, or a word processor can help kids get in a better mindset for finishing a challenging task.

4. Talk to the student. Find out what is behind the lack of motivation to complete work in your class. Perhaps the student struggles with your content area, doesn’t understand the way you give directions, or is having some major issues at home. Talk privately and compassionately with the student and you can find out a lot.

5. Work out a plan. For students really struggling with getting tasks done in your class, try working out some incentives. Find out what the student would like to work towards – extra points on a quiz, a homework pass, or sitting in a special spot in your classroom. Then, make a plan so that your student can work towards earning that incentive. Maybe when he or she finishes homework for an entire week, they earn something special. Not only does this give the student something to work for, but it also helps build your relationship, too.

6. Work through motivation challenges together. Use this Motivation Workbook to teach about motivation, identify motivational challenges, and make a plan for success. Consider trying the Free Motivation Workbook Sampler which includes identifying what motivation is, understanding lack of motivation, strategies for improving motivation, and a motivation journal.

7. Talk to other adults who work with that student. Look for trends. Find out where the students does well and find out how you can replicate that in your class. For example, I worked with a student who did considerably better in his history class than his science class. With some investigating, I was able to notice that the science class lacked the same structure that his history class had. It was a simple thing to replicate once the teachers were made aware. Another important consideration is the time of day that the student is struggling. Is it in the morning when he or she didn’t get enough sleep? Or maybe around lunch time is challenging after being in a less structured social setting? These are just some examples of what you can consider.

8. Talk to parents. When you find yourself not making enough progress with your student, talk to his or her parents. Share what you have tried and see if there is anything at home the child can work for and if parents could talk to the child, too.

9. Keep your cool. It’s easy to get frustrated at kids who lack motivation but remember that they are just kids. There is often a reason why students won’t initiate tasks, even if we don’t know that reason at the moment. Take your time working with the student and show you are proud when you see progress – even just a little means baby steps in the right direction.

Executive Functioning Strategies for the Classroom

October 8, 2016 by pathway2success 4 Comments

Many kids and young adults would benefit academically and socially by improving their executive functioning skills. These skills include: planning, organization, time management, task initation, working memory, metacognition, self-control, sustained attention, flexibility, and perseverance. If you need more background on each of these specific skills, read my post on Executive Functioning Skills Explained.

Teach all executive functioning skills with a no-prep workbook.

Strategies to help support and strengthen executive functioning skills don’t need to be complicated. There are many strategies and activities teachers, paraprofessionals, and counselors can do in the classroom right away. If you want a guide to help you teach all executive functioning skills without any prep, consider my Executive Functioning Advanced Workbook, which includes over 100 pages packed with executive functioning lessons and practice.

Here are some simple ideas for practicing and strengthening executive functioning skills in the classroom that you can start right away:

Planning – People with weaker planning skills may jump into assignments or projects without thinking things through, or may forget to begin tasks when needed. Strategies for those who struggle with planning include making lists, writing short-term goals, and using a calendar or planner. Homework logs can be a huge help. Teachers can also support kids by setting up specific routines such as a daily homework bin, daily homework board, and schedule for the day.

Organization – Those who lack this skills might have disorganized binders/lockers, misplace important assignments, and forget to do assignments entirely. Many kids who struggle with organization need to be taught and shown how to systematically organize their binders and materials. Then, planning for weekly binder checks can help kids stay organized, too. Teachers can help by giving extra time in the beginning and end of class to write down homework, take papers out, and put papers away in the right spot. Organizational checklists can help, too.

Time Management – Kids and adults with weak time management skills might over- or under- estimate the time it takes to complete something, have trouble prioritizing tasks, and ultimately not meet critical deadlines. Strategies for time management include teaching kids to estimate time needed for tasks, setting specific time-based goals, and learning to prioritize the importance of tasks/assignments. One huge help from teachers can be to incorporate mini-deadlines into long-term assignments.

Task Initiation – Those who struggle with task initiation often feel they “can’t” start an assignment, even when they want to. In turn, this leaves many tasks incomplete or never even started. To support kids with this weakness, help them to make a specific list or plan for each assignment. For longer assignments, chunking into smaller ones can make a huge difference.

Working Memory – Kids and adults with weaker working memory often struggle to remember directions when said aloud, complete mental math, and even copy information from one place to another. Tips for working memory are mainly to develop compensatory strategies, such as repeating information back and learning to paraphrase information while reading or listening to a lecture. Teachers can give these kids a copy of clean notes to follow along in class, which will reduce the need to go back and forth while taking notes.

Metacognition – Those who struggle with this skill often have no clue on how they did on a recent test or quiz, or have no idea what material to study right before. One excellent strategy is to learn to self-monitor your own learning. Teaching kids to stop and answer, “What did I just learn?” can allow them to develop an understanding of what they know and what they still need help on. Sticky notes are great for this! After an assessment or unit, it might also be helpful for the teacher to conference with the student to determine what he or she learned, what worked well, and what they need to work on more.

Self-Control – Kids with weak self-control skills might call out in class frequently, make impulsive decisions without thinking, or have anger management problems. These kids need extra support in learning to manage their emotions. You can practice self-control with games. My favorite is to use Blurt. Kids have to practice self-control by not shouting out when it isn’t their turn. This becomes really challenging if a student knows the answer but it’s not their turn. In the classroom, teachers can help by having lots of structure and routines. You can also teach kids and young adults to use I-statements as a positive way to express emotions.

Sustained Attention – When attention skills are weaker, kids and young adults might struggle to pay attention to a class lesson, miss out on directions, or appear to daze off during a working session. One of the shortest but most effective ways to help increase attention is to help kids become aware of their personal distractors and work with them to reduce those distractions. To teach and practice paying attention, you can also play a fun game of Simon Says! It’s a great way to have a brain break serve as practice for focus and attention.

Flexibility – People who lack flexibility skills struggle significantly with change. Changes in the schedule or plans can cause emotional outbursts or an inability to cope. This might include when there is a substitute or if an assembly changes the daily schedule. To help support these kids, it’s helpful to prepare them for changes to the schedule ahead of time. Teaching perspective-taking skills also goes a long way with learning flexibility skills, as kids can learn to understand different points of view and make sense of them. Most of all, encourage these types of kids to try new things and go outside of their comfort zone.

Perseverance – Those who struggle with perseverance often give up on tasks and assignments before they are done. They are the kids who ask for help before trying sufficient strategies on their own, making them usually over-reliant on support or not finishing tasks at all. To strengthen this skill, teachers can teach specific strategies for what to do when a student is stuck. Also, riddles of the day and brainteasers can be a fun challenge to incorporate into your class.

As a next step, you might want to read up on some top games to improve these executive functioning skills. The key is to continue practicing and reinforcing these skills over and over!

Executive Functioning Free Workbook Sampler

If you need a place to start right away, download my free Executive Functioning Workbook Sampler. If you like that, consider the full product, my Executive Functioning Advanced Workbook. With over 100 pages, it includes comprehensive information and practice for every executive functioning skill with no prep for the teacher.

10 Ways to Promote a Growth Mindset

September 10, 2016 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Having a growth mindset means understanding that you can develop your own strengths and weaknesses through hard work, dedication, and grit. By teaching students to have a growth mindset, kids and young adults can better learn to work through challenges and overcome adversity in their lives.

The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset. With a fixed mindset, people believe that you are who you are, and that doesn’t change. It’s the difference between the student who says, “I’m just bad at math” (fixed mindset) and the student who says, “This is going to be challenging, but I’ll work through it and learn it as I go” (growth mindset). By promoting and encouraging a growth mindset, adults can help kids and young adults to step outside their comfort zones, push themselves to their limits, learn from difficulties, and ultimately find success.

Having a fixed mindset often leads to giving up on tasks, feeling poorly about oneself, and avoiding challenges. On the other hand, having a growth mindset encourages students to try new things, embrace challenges, and develop strong confidence.

Here are some ways you can promote a growth mindset with kids and young adults:

1. Teach the difference between a fixed and growth mindset. Give explicit instruction to kids about growth and fixed mindsets, explaining the positives associated with adopting a growth mindset. Focus on teaching how having a growth mindset can really help kids feel better, do better, and succeed.

2. Highlight examples of growth mindset in your classroom. Specifically praise kids when they do something with a growth mindset. You might say, “Last week I heard you say you were not a good artist, but you really worked hard on your collage and it came out very artistically”, or “I saw you sitting with your head down during morning work time for the first minute. I love that you pushed forward and finished your work even though it was challenging for you to get started.” Positive feedback goes a long way when it is specific.

Use these task cards to help kids and young adults learn about growth mindset.

3. Give time for kids to talk about having a growth mindset. Use practice examples, whether they are made up or real life examples from each student’s life. Use Growth Mindset Task Cards to practice a growth mindset in all areas of life: at home, school, during activities, with friends, and within our own belief systems.

4. Encourage risks and highlight that mistakes are learning experiences instead of failures. When a child or young adult does make a mistake, avoid making him or her feel bad about the mistake. Instead, encourage personal growth by asking them to identify what they’ve learned from the challenge.

5. Help kids set short term goals. Find out what goals kids want to accomplish in the next few months or within the year. Focus on one main area, whether it is academic, social, or personal. Help kids set a realistic SMART goal and help them come up with specific strategies for how they can accomplish that goal.

6. Conference with students about their goals and progress. Take time every two weeks to “check in” with kids and their goals. Make it a time to assess how much progress has been made and what the student has learned. You can look at what didn’t work but really focus on what DID work. Use that positive momentum to keep the progress going. Also, recognize that it’s okay if students tweak their goals as they go. Setting regular times to check in with goals really helps kids stay on track and learn that achieving that goal is possible.

7. Discuss people and celebrities who achieved success with a growth mindset. There truly are so many examples in all different areas of life. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team but his mother talked him into not giving up, so he continued to practice and get better. The Beatles were turned down by several record companies because some just didn’t like their sound. Oprah had a boss who told her she wasn’t fit for television. The list goes on and on! You could even use this as a research project in your classroom so that each student can report back about someone who overcame adversity and used a growth mindset to succeed.

8. Give challenging tasks. Brainteasers, riddles, and math problems are an excellent way to push kids to try challenging problems without giving up. When kids want to know the answer, don’t give it right away! Allow for plenty of time to go back and think about the problem. This encourages the idea that sometimes you don’t get all the answers, and you must work through challenges on your own to find out.

9. Use literature that shows examples of perseverance. You can use them within your language arts instruction or just as a read aloud for fun. From short children’s books to longer chapter books, you can find many different texts that promote a growth mindset. Some shorter books include: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires, and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett. One longer selection is Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Biographies also work great to teach growth mindset, as they highlight people who have persevered through serious challenges.

10. Use the word “yet”. When someone says, “I don’t know how to do this”, just add the word “yet”. Constantly reminding this encourages the idea that most things are possible with hard work, persistence, and time.

Helping kids and young adults to develop a growth mindset takes time, but it’s worth it in the end. You can see kid’s perceptions about themselves slowly begin to change from, “I can’t do this” to “How CAN I do this?” and then eventually, “I know I can do this”.

Executive Functioning Skills Explained

August 1, 2016 by pathway2success 2 Comments

Executive functioning skills are getting a lot of attention right now in education. Honestly, it’s not even the amount of attention that they deserve, though. Executive functions are essentially the building blocks for completing all tasks in life (in school and beyond).

If you think of executive functioning, you might just think of a student who has organizational issues: his binder is a mess, he can’t find papers he needs, and forgets homework at home. It’s true that organization is one executive functioning skill, but there are actually many more. Neuropsychologists and educational researchers continue to try and identify the specific executive functioning skills in separate categories so that they can be better understood. In turn, this allows us to teach these skills to young adults while setting up strategies for success in our classrooms. The main executive functioning skills include: planning, organization, time management, task initiation, working memory, metacognition, self-control, sustained attention, flexibility, and perseverance.

What’s even more interesting is how all the skills actually work together to complete tasks. You almost never use an executive functioning skill in isolation. Instead, the skills are woven together to allow tasks to be completed in a complete and coherent way. For example, when you go grocery shopping, you have to plan out which stores you’ll go to and organize with coupons or a sales flyer. Then, you will finally set out for the store (task initiation). You have to think about what items you already have and what you will need (metacognition). You have to use time management to get there at a time that works for you and gives you enough time to shop. While shopping, you will probably use your working memory to figure out prices and best deals, while also using self-control to avoid indulging in foods on the no-list. You may even have to adapt your list when the store doesn’t have a certain item you expected (flexibility). You will most likely keep focused while shopping, so you can get home on time (attention). Finally, even if you are tired of shopping and the lines are horrendously long, you will stick to the task to finish and get the groceries home (perseverance). That is just one small task of how executive functioning skills are used in an everyday life experience.

Now, imagine what it is like for kids and young adults juggling all of these mental skills while: learning new math skills, writing a research paper, getting to classes on time, completing homework assignments, working in small groups, completing science labs, participating in gym class sports, and so much more.

Here is a short summary of each of the executive functioning skills:

Planning is the ability to put together a strategy for attaining a goal. It includes analyzing what you need and what steps you should take to complete task.

Organization is the ability to develop and maintain a system to keep materials and plans orderly. That includes a system for homework, keeping track of assignments/papers, and being organized at home, too.

Time Management means having an accurate understanding of how long it will take to complete tasks and being able to use time effectively to actually finish those tasks on schedule.

Task Initiation is the ability to independently start tasks when needed. It means being able to start something even when you really don’t want to.

Working Memory is the mental process that allows us to hold information in our minds while we are working with it. Examples include computing math problems mentally and remembering information for short periods of time during research or note-taking.

Metacognition means knowing what you know and what you don’t know. It’s a critical skill for assessing your progress on tasks and changing your methods as you go. Metacognition is also the skill that allows you to stop yourself when you are stuck before going ahead too far.

Self-control is the ability regulate yourself, including your thoughts, actions, and emotions. This means being able to manage your anger and wait your turn to share. Not only is this skill critical for academic success, but social success, too.

Sustained Attention is being able to focus on a person or task for a period of time. It includes being able to avoid distractions and shifting your focus when needed.

Flexibility means being able to adapt to new situations and dealing with change. Changes that cause difficulty might include a schedule change or when a plan doesn’t come together for a project.

Perseverance is sticking to a task and not giving up, even when it becomes challenging. Further, it’s being able to use strategies to get through a task, regardless of the roadblocks that pop up along the way.

Any educator can help to teach and support these critical skills, whether a special education teacher, classroom teacher, school counselor, psychologist, or paraprofessional. Parents can benefit from learning about these skills too, especially when it comes to helping manage homework and projects at home. If you’re getting started and are looking for some basic materials, consider my Executive Functioning Lessons and Activities. The ultimate goal is to teach and foster stronger executive functioning skills, so that kids and young adults can do more independently.

If you are looking for the next step up, consider the Executive Functioning Advanced Workbook. It has over 100 student workbook pages that teach and provide practice around the same skills. Best of all, there is no prep for the teacher.

If you’re interested, here are some other executive functioning topics I’ve written about:

If you want a reminder about these skills, be sure to grab this FREE Executive Functioning Poster!

Organizing Task Cards

May 10, 2016 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Task cards are fun, versatile, and really easy for teachers to use in their classrooms. With more than just a couple sets, organization of those task cards can be a pain, though. Here are some fool-proof strategies for keeping your task cards neatly stashed away until they are ready to be used.

Plastic Baggies. Place a stack of task cards into a ziplock plastic bag. Label the outside with a sharpie and you are set to go! You can also hole punch a corner of the bag and add them to a binder to add to similar themed task cards (like with the pencil pouch method). Alternatively, you can place several task card plastic bag sets into one bigger plastic bag to be held all together. Having a variety of plastic bag sizes is helpful for this reason.

Envelopes. Just place the task cards inside the envelope and label it. You can use different sized envelopes depending on the size of your task cards. This is a great way to set out the cards for individual groups. This is pretty quick, cheap, and simple since everyone should have envelopes on hand. Use a clip to hold the envelope shut so you don’t end up with task cards all over the place!

Pencil Pouch to Hold Task Cards

Pencil Pouches. Put a stack of task cards right into a pencil pouch. Then, zip it up and label the outside of the pencil pouch. Best of all, you can put multiple sets of task cards away like this within 1 binder. This is a great way to organize task cards for whole units or months. This is by far my favorite approach, especially if you invest in high-quality pencil pouches that will last over time.

File Folders. Set up a container with file folders. One container can be math and another container is reading. Then, label each file with specific topics you need to teach. Add your task card sets to each category, as needed. Another option is that you can also set the file folders up by the week (week 1, week 2, so on) or the month. Arrange which task cards you’d like to introduce for each week or month of school. This can be helpful if you love incorporating holiday themed materials in your classroom.
File Folders for Organizing Task Cards

Stack-able bins. Choose your size and style of bins that stack together. Label the outside of each bin with the type of task card. This is a great strategy if you plan to store task cards in a cabinet or shelf in your classroom.

For my last blog post on fun and simple ways to use task cards right in your classroom, click here.

How do you organize and manage task cards in your classroom?

How to Use Task Cards

April 5, 2016 by pathway2success 5 Comments

Task cards are an easy, simple, and practical instructional strategy to incorporate into your classroom. There is some prep work and set up required by teachers, but once you have a system in place, it is easy from there on out. Best of all, kids love using task cards. Task cards really do promote student engagement, which helps your class run smoothly while the magic of learning is happening.

First, find task cards on any subject you need to teach. Task cards are a great option for practice with math concepts, reading comprehension skills, science, social studies, and more. You can even find task cards that focus solely on social skills for students with special needs. The options for task cards are really endless. If you can’t find the specific task cards needed for your subject material, you can easily make your own using medium or large sized index cards. To make them look even fancier, you can use colored index cards to help separate different subjects, topics, or skills. Laminate them or copy on stock paper to allow for more durability and use.

Then, plan HOW you will use the task cards within your classroom. There are several different strategies that you could implement or test out. With any strategy, you can choose to have kids write down their responses on paper or share responses orally. Check out these free Task Card Response Sheets that you can use with your students.

Free Task Card Response Sheets

1. Simple Partner Task Cards. Set students up in pairs with a stack of task cards. Students take turns picking a task cards and solving it at the same time. Students can then check if they got the same answer and re-teach each other when someone needs help.

2. Task Card Centers. Set up groups of task cards throughout the classroom. Have students spend a period of time (10 minutes) at each center with their group. Set a timer. When the timer goes off, students move to the next center of task cards.

3. Game Time Task Cards. Let students work in pairs or small groups to play simple games, such as Scrabble, Connect Four, Checkers, Chess, or really any board games you have on hand. Students need to solve a task card and record their answer before taking a turn.

4. Movement Task Cards. Select 5-10 task cards and tape them or hang them up around the room. Have students walk around and complete as many task cards as they can.

5. “Do Now” Morning Work. Leave a pile of task cards at each table first thing in the morning. Have students quietly and independently complete task cards while at their seats.

6. Create Your Own Task Cards. Have students create their own task cards on a specific topic using index cards. Then, have students share their cards with a partner for their partner to solve.

7. Around the World Task Cards. All students should start by sitting at their desks. Choose one student randomly to stand up next to someone else. The teacher (or a student leader) flips a task card and reads it to the two standing students. Whoever answers the task card first gets to move on to the next student and the student who didn’t answer correctly must sit down. The goal is for one student to get enough answers right to go “all around the world” (a.k.a. the classroom).

8. Early Finisher Task Cards. Have sets up task cards in plastic baggies, envelopes, or cups ready for students who finish tests or other assignments early. Students can choose their “extra credit task cards” on their own or be provided a specific set by the teacher.

9. Teach the Class Task Cards. Pass out different task cards to each student. You can differentiate by giving specific task cards to certain students. Give time for kids to complete their task card, then select students to teach their task card to the class.

10. Homework Task Cards. Provide students an extra copy of task cards and send them home for kids to practice on their own, with friends, or with parents.