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A "Menu" of
Ideas: Help Yourself!
The
following information was compiled from a number
of sources, but generally falls into the
category of Executive Functioning.
Simply put, Executive Functioning is the
way we understand our learning needs and how we
go about accomplishing what needs to be done.
The
executive system in our brains helps us to:
During
a typical school day, students need to engage
their executive system quite a bit in order to
stay organized and manage their
responsibilities.
At home, they need to use these skills
each time they tackle a homework assignment,
prepare to begin a project, or study for a
test.
Open
“I Have an Assignment, What Should I Do?”
to find a list of questions that can help
students as they approach an academic task. Feel free to make copies of this checklist and post it near
your child’s work space at home (parents),
keep a copy in your assignment book (students),
or display it next to your posted homework
assignments in your classroom (teachers).
Let us know what you think!
We
have two nationally recognized experts on
Executive Functioning right here in the Capital
Region. If you want more information, contact
Mark Ylvisaker, PhD or Tim Feeney, PhD in the
Communication Disorders Department at the
College of St. Rose in Albany.
To
further our students’ use of self-help
techniques, we are also including a list
of “Self-Management Strategies” which
are particularly helpful in the classroom. Here,
too, feel free to make copies and share with
your students.
Keep us posted if you feel this
information is helpful, or let us know if there
are any particular study strategies you’d like
to know more about.
Thanks!
Susan Rothchild
January, 2003
Tips
Tip #1—The
brain loves emotional experiences. In fact, it
releases “chemical cocktails” with every
positive experience to ensure that you’ll
remember it. A memory associated with
emotionally charged information gets seared into
the brain. Build memories!
Tip #2—The brain
needs to feel safe to learn at its best. Provide
a safe classroom—emotionally, physically, and
intellectually. The brain’s goal is survival.
It functions most effectively in an environment
where it is challenged, yet safe.
Tip #3—Positive
rituals provide an important sense of
predictability and create opportunities for
emotional “state” management. The brain is
hard-wired for expected, experienced situations.
If those experiences do not occur during
specific windows of opportunity, then those
“wires” never get pruned. By organizing
information and experiences for students in ways
that best suit the brain’s natural operational
principles, we feed the brain and increase the
opportunities for learning to occur. |
