ALL KINDS OF MINDS:2 EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING:

(1)

ALL KINDS OF MINDS:2

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING:

(2)

a student you know

•

Maria was seen as

bright/capable in Gr

1-2 though

sometimes slow to

complete work

•

Gr 3- a change to IB

and school move

•

Gr 4- unable to keep

up

•

Frustrated-

described self as

‘just lazy’

•

Psycho-ed

demonstrated high

average skills – no

‘processing’ or

language issues

(3)

EF: Complex cognitive processes that

serve ongoing goal directed behavior

•  Control and coordinate

thoughts and behaviors •  Contextualize intended

actions in light of past

knowledge and experience, current situational cues,

expectations of the future, personally relevant values and purposes

•  Provide a sense of readiness,

agency, flexibility and coherence

(4)

The student with good EF can:

Demonstrate purposeful, goal directed activity

Display an active problem-solving approach

Exert self control

Demonstrate maximal independence

Exhibit reliable and consistent behavior and thinking

Demonstrate positive self efficacy Exhibit an internal locus of control

(5)

MARIA:

”WHERE WE ARE IN TIME AND PLACE”

•

THROUGHOUT

HISTORY

MIGRATIONS HAVE

LED TO

CHALLENGES AND

CHANGE

•

Maria will research

the migration to

Australia of families of

Greek origin.

•  CAPSTONE EXHIBITION INDEPTH COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY INDEPENDENCE RESPONSIBILITY EXPLORING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES •  REALLY?

(6)

Executive Functions include :

BASIC SELF MANAGEMENT:

Manage the Now!

•

STOP

•

GO

•

SHIFT

•

EMOTIONAL

(7)

INITIATE

DEFINITION

•

BEGINNING A TASK

OR ACTIVITY in an

efficient and timely

manner…

•

Maria can do her daily

math sheets but

cannot get going with

her exhibition work.

DYSFUNCTION •  HAS TROUBLE GETTING STARTED ON HOMEWORK OR CHORES •  DOESN’T KNOW WHERE TO START

(8)

INHIBIT

DEFINTION

•

NOT ACTING ON

AN IMPULSE OR

APPROPRIATELY

STOPPING ONE’S

OWN ACTIVITY AT

THE PROPER

TIME.

DYSFUNCTION •  HAS TROUBLE ‘PUTTING ON THE BRAKES’ ON BEHAVIOR, ACTS WITHOUT THINKING •  If you cannot inhibit, you

cannot perform any other EF.

(9)

SHIFT

DEFINTION

•  FREELY MOVING FROM

ONE SITUATION, ACTIVITY OR ASPECT OF A PROBLEM TO ANOTHER AS A SITUATION DEMANDS; BEING FLEXIBLE AS THE TASK REQUIRES

DYSFUNCTION

•  GETS STUCK ON A

TOPIC OR TENDS TO PERSEVERATE •  Maria is distractible

and inflexible. She has wasted a lot of time on one idea that isn’t working- looking at Pizza restaurants.

(10)

EMOTIONAL CONTROL

DEFINTION •  MODULATING/ CONTROLLING ONE’S OWN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE APPROPRIATE TO THE SITUATION OR STRESSOR DYSFUNCTION •  IS TOO EASILY UPSET, EXPLOSIVE; SMALL EVENTS TRIGGER BIG EMOTIONAL RESPONSES •  She refuses to go to school 2 days in a row. She gets upset at her best friend.

(11)

Some Executive

Functions help us

to

MANAGE LATER

PLAN ORGANIZE PRIORITIZE SELF MONITOR WORKING MEMORY

(12)

PLAN

DEFINTION •  ANTICIPATING FUTURE EVENTS; SETTING GOALS and creating a roadmap to reach the goal. Making decisions about what is important to focus on.

DYSFUNCTION

•  STARTS ASSIGNMENTS

AT THE LAST MINUTE; DOES NOT THINK ABOUT POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

•  Maria is not willing to use a

rubric. She has not started the core aspect of her

(13)

ORGANIZE

DEFINTION •  ESTABLISHING OR MAINTAINING SYSTEM TO KEEP TRACK OF INFORMATION OR MATERIALS

•  Maria loses the

information she got from her grandmother about the family home in

Thessalonica. DYSFUNCTION •  HAS A SCATTERED, DISORGANIZED APPROACH TO SOLVING A PROBLEM, IS EASILY OVERWHELMED BY LARGE TASKS OR ASSIGNMENTS

(14)

SELF MONITOR

DEFINTION •  CHECKING ONE’S OWN ACTIONS DURING OR SHORTLY AFTER FINISHING THE TASK OR ACTIVITY TO ASSURE APPROPRIATE ATTAINMENT OF GOAL- revising unsuccessful approaches DYSFUNCTION

•  DOES NOT CHECK

FOR MISTAKES; IS UNAWARE OF OWN BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPACT ON

OTHERS

•  Her classmates are

angry because her part of the exhibition is not ready on time.

(15)

WORKING MEMORY

DEFINTION

•  HOLDING

INFORMATION IN MIND FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPLETING A SPECIFIC AND RELATED TASK

•  She missed the oral

instructions about setting up for the exhibition. DYSFUNCTION •  HAS TROUBLE REMEMBERING MANIPULATING INFORMATION IN MEMORY; LOSES TRACK OF IDEAS AND THINGS

(16)

Students with EF Issues:

•  May or may not have other specific

diagnoses (ADHD, Asperger, Dyslexia, NVLD)

•  Increased in illness or fatigue states, Side

effect of other medication, drugs or ETOH •  Brain injury, neurological, mental disorders,

tics, genetics

•  May be successful with tasks IF/WHEN

there is sufficient support in a given

(17)

MOST DEVELOP EF AT EXPECTED PACE

AGE 2-5:

•

gradual

development

of inhibition,

working

memory,

attention,

planning

Age 6:

•  able to complete organized visual search, capable of simple planning and basic inhibition

Age 8-10:

•

rapid growth

in attention

capacity and

and

accuracy,

cognitive

flexibility

(18)

10-12

•  Can test

hypotheses

•  Can maintain and

shift sets

•  Close to the adult

level of impulse and attention control

12-17

•  Capable of complex

planning and goal setting

•  Flexible problem

solving and self monitoring

•  Able to impose

organizational

frameworks; improved fluency and efficiency •  Growth of mastery

continues into adulthood

(19)

(20)

Why so much talk about EF?

•

Curricular demands reflect societal reliance

on rapid communication, advanced

technology, efficient media and fast access

to vast sources of information

•

Do curricular demands create EF issues in

a population of students that simply is not

developmentally ready for the expectations?

Are we manufacturing a problem?

•

Sleep

(21)

CEFI-Goldstein Barkley Reif

(22)

How are EF Issues Diagnosed:

•

Bright well motivated students can perform

well in an office setting but have EF issues

in real life and the classroom

•

Rating Scales- BRIEF, CEFI, Brown ADD

Scales

•

Neuropsychological testing

•

Process approaches; observe in less

structured settings

•

A student can APPEAR to have

adequate EF skills for tasks that they

are otherwise fluid with…

(23)

Stroop Part 1

•

Say the COLOR of the ink:

GREEN

YELLOW

RED

BLUE

BLACK

RED

BLUE BLACK

(24)

Part 2

•

Say the COLOR of the ink:

•

GREEN

YELLOW

RED

BLUE

BLACK

RED

BLUE

BLACK

(25)

Until development is secure, parents and teachers act as

“surrogate’ frontal lobes for children and teens.

ADOPT AN ACADEMIC MODEL: THIS IS A

SKILLS SET DEFICIT; THE SKILLS NEED TO BE TAUGHT

BEHAVIORAL MODELS GENERALLY DON’T WORK AS SKILLS ARE NOT TAUGHT

(26)

EF- Support for ALL

Universal level: widely

directed as needed

•

Targeted: 10-20%

=may include small

group instruction

•

Intensive: 1-7% of

students= requires

collaboration with

parents, other

teachers, etc.

(27)

3 ways adults can help

Change the ‘environment’ and expectations to reduce the impact

Teach the youngster executive skills

Use incentives to get the youngster to use the skills that are hard for them

(28)

Universal Approaches

Modify Environment

•  Reduce distractions

•  Provide organizing

structures

•  Reduce the social

complexity

•  Change the social

mix

•  Provide supervision

Modify Tasks

•  Make the task shorter

or chunk the work

•  Make the steps more

explicit

•  Create a schedule

•  Build in variety or

choice into how tasks are done

•  Make the task

(29)

Basic Meta-awareness:

POSITIVE EVERYDAY ROUTINE

GOAL: WHAT DO I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH

PLAN: HOW WILL I ACCOMPLISH MY GOAL

PREDICTION: HOW WELL WILL I DO, HOW

MUCH WILL I GET DONE?

DO: TRY MY PLAN BEHAVIORALLY

REVIEW: EVALUATE ITS EFFECTIVENESS

AND GENERATE POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE

SOLUTIONS

(30)

Change the way the teacher

interacts

•

Praise the youngster

for using EF skills

•

Increase supervision

and support

•

Balance between

support and teaching

skills

•

SHOULD/CAN’T/

(31)

3 ways adults can help

Teach executive skills

(32)

TARGETED •  Care with the social

mix

•  Task modification

•  Homework clubs

•  Weekly progress

reports

•  Small group coaching

•  Peer tutoring

•  More explicit routines

•  Home-school

incentives

•  Measure progress and

growth

INTENSIVE

•  Everybody has to work

harder

•  Target behavior is well

defined as are criteria for success

•  Skill is explicitly taught,

modeled, rehearsed regularly

•  Daily check ins at least

•  Visual reminders of

expectations

•  Independent use of the

skill is monitored.

•  Support plans involving

teacher, student, parent coach

(33)

Maria and The Greeks- I-DROPS

•  Problem: poor organization and shifting

•  Goals: schemes for organizing information and

knowing when things are not going right •  Steps:

–  I: identify content needed- main idea, depth,

amount

–  D: do the basic research as per rubric

–  R: relax and revise as needed

–  O: order the information as it comes in…. mind map

color code

–  P: put the information into….. color folders

–  S: solve the ?- do I have what I need, if not what

(34)

Learn While She Does

• 

Create a checklist for each aspect

–

Have Maria tally how often she uses each step

–

Have Maria review the checklist at every step with

the teacher

•

Teacher to observe, prompt, provide

feedback

•

Periodically revisit the strategy

•

Use the same approach for the NEXT several

multistep tasked projects in class and for all

tasks where organization is key

(35)

Classroom Cultures Of Strategy Usage

•

Explicit instruction and modeling in

strategy

•

Students develop own strategy notebooks

•

‘Strategy Share’ discussions

•

Strategy books to be shared among the

class

•

Grade on strategy use and ‘reflection’

•

Motivate by tracking strategy usage

•

Access previous memories of success

–  What did you do the last time?

–  Have you learned a strategy to help you solve this problem?

–  Why not try that strategy again?

(36)

3 ways adults can help

Teach the youngster executive skills

(37)

Incentives

•

Use incentives to

augment instruction.

•

Incentives make both

the effort of learning a

skill and the effort of

performing a task less

aversive.

•

Furthermore, putting an

incentive after a task

teaches delayed

(38)

Motivation/Incentives

•  Simple: –  “Reward” –  Task order –  Short breaks –  Specific praise •  Immediate •  Speaks of value of task •  Acknowledge effort •  Help to reflect on skills learned •  Complex:

–  Start with current level

–  Use innate drive for

control

–  Modify task demands to

match capacity- decrease task demands so

incentive is visible or increase the incentive! –  Provide minimum support

needed for the child to be successful

–  Supervise long enough

to achieve success

(39)

Teenagers

•  Pick your battles.

•  Use natural or logical

consequences.

•  Make access to privileges

contingent on performance •  Be willing to negotiate

•  If something’s

non-negotiable, ask this

question: What will it take for you to go along?

•  Involve others when you can

•  Build in verification.

•  Understand that

everybody has to work harder at something •  Work on positive

communication skills. •  Set goals that are

realistic--sometimes the best you can do is keep them “in the game” until their frontal lobes mature enough for them to take over

(40)

When all else fails?

• 

It’s not

what

you

know;

It’s what

you

show.

(41)

Additional Thoughts

•

Children almost never

choose to be

non-productive.

•

Children with EF

difficulties very often

have parents with EF

difficulties.

•

Address issues of

(42)

(43)

MEMORY, PARTICULARLY

WORKING MEMORY

Difficulties in working memory underlie a wide range of learning disorders.

(44)

What did she just say?

•

The plight of the

memory impaired

child

•

Memory over time

•

Episodic memory

versus semantic

memory

•

Baseball statistics

and other realities

•

Thinking about

(45)

STEP-

BY-

STEP

•

Entering info into short

term memory (STM)

•

Temporarily

maintaining info in

working memory (WM)

•

Consolidating new

knowledge in long term

memory (LTM)

•

Retrieving information

from LTM with

(46)

(47)

Short Term Memory:

•

A small amount of information is held

for a period of seconds and then:

–

Used immediately

–

Held in WM and manipulated

–

Allowed to decay

(48)

Information to be stored in STM

must be:

Information must be

registered

with

sufficient intensity or

depth of processing

to be remembered. Registration must be

highly selective

and ultimately involve

condensing

as the capacity of the STM is

very limited

Attention issues significantly impact the

depth of processing step.

(49)

When there are problems with STM:

•  Inconsistency in direction

following

•  Trouble with immediate

factual recall

•  Difficulty with initial mastery;

know things well once they have it

•  Often little use of strategies

•  Coexisting attention issues

•  Anxiety and memory issues:

vicious cycle

•  Fragmented skills for

summarizing or paraphrasing

•  Marked confusion with

multistep input

•  Very clear modality

(visual/auditory/ motor/ sequential) specificity- can remember one

modality only- you cannot remember what you do not understand

(50)

Strategies for support:

•

Teaching saliency determination- what is

important enough to try to remember?

(increase selectivity)

•

Teaching rehearsal strategies-

subvocalization, visualization, association,

mnemonic devices, chunking,

(increase depth of processing)

•

Teaching paraphrasing (selectivity and

(51)

Working Memory is….

•

The aspect of memory which allows us to

mentally suspend information while using

it or manipulating it

•

The memory needed to carry out the

current task: a mental workspace, jotting

pad or juggler

(52)

Keeping track…..

7

R

1

C

Y

6

T

(53)

Working Memory is …..

Impacted by

•  Overload: Number of

units: chunking or

meaning enhance recall •  Recency and Primacy

•  Background noise

•  Rehearsal for some bits

•  Distraction/attention

shifts

•  Anxiety……..

Not recoverable

•  Once you have lost the

information, unlike stored memory, the information is gone and cannot be retrieved>> you can t think back on what you did..missed learning opportunities

•  Andrew, tell me what it

(54)

Childhood and WM

•

Capacity changes

with time: range in a

given class group

•

Efficacy depends on

memory stores and

processing speed

(3-6-…15)

•

Attention demanding:

inhibition, shifting

•

After age 7/8 most

use verbal to intake

visual

•

Capacity is a

predictor of learning

throughout life: more

so than ST memory

(55)

Children and WM: Gathercole

WM overload in structured learning causes the child to forget crucial

information> they cannot proceed with the learning task> they learn less

(56)

Development of working

memory in ADHD

T es t p er fo rm an ce

(57)

What about WM and ADHD?

•

When your WM lets

you down

–  Can you attend to the

information?

–  Can you reflect on the

information?

–  Can you tune in to the

details of the information?

–  How do you respond

to the information

•

Working memory as

the core cognitive

deficit in ADHD

–  Daydreaming

–  Impulsivity

–  Poor attention to detail

–  Distracted

Teachers often describe the patterns in terms of attention, not memory

(58)

What tasks are hard and why?

•

Any task requiring

mental manipulation

with storage/ retrieval

of information

•

Tasks which require

keeping track of

progress

•

Fluid Reasoning

•

Idea maintenance

•

Task component

maintenance

•

Proximal/distal

planning

•

Short term to long

term memory linkage

•

Limited Mental

(59)

Reading:

Decoding; Accumulating/ comprehending information read “leaky”

Writing:

Poor monitoring Poor sequencing Impoverished ideation

Maths:

Slow acquiring basic skills Poor mental maths

Applications of problem solving algorhythms

Speaking:

Raise hand/forgetting

(60)

Listening:

Poor instruction following: general elements and details “On the wrong page”

Organizing:

Repetition/skipping as place is lost

Might start out fine, then lose focus

Items lost

Socializing:

Shy in larger groups Losing place in

conversations, jumps in

Cumulative loss of chance to practice skills

“Zoning out” when info is lost

(61)

A teacher will hear:

•

I just forgot what I was going to say

•

I can t remember what you told us to do

•

I forget what to do next

•

Can you repeat that?

•

Can you show me again

•

I had a really great idea of what to write,

but then I forgot it

(62)

Classroom Support: to avoid WM overloading Recognize working memory failure

Monitor the child

Evaluate working memory demands Reduce WM load when necessary Repeat important information

Encourage use of memory aids

(63)

strategies

Math

problem solving

Automatize basic facts; until this done use calculator or do not rely on mental maths>> write it down; write out all the steps in problem solving

Being Step Wise

Written and other work done in steps

requires a plan; provide the plan initially and gradually help the child learn to craft it; use the list to check off with

completion; use rough drafts in writing with clear input that spelling or

punctuation are a later step

Writing Jot down or record ideas and topic before beginning; word processor

(64)

Basic Reading Ensure fluent decoding of multisyllabic materials

Active Reading Underline or take notes during reading, then reread these; write comments or asterisk key ideas; many ways to mark what is salient (sticky notes) rather than highlighting;

Modify

complexity

Preteach key ideas and vocabulary; keep tasks more meaningful; visually

(65)

Rehearsing

Information Repeat information to keep it in WM while _{activating other thinking or LTM; teach}

meaningful chunking techniques

Note Taking _{Teach visual as well as sequential strategies}

in staged manner

Modify volume

and rate Use of tape recorder; allow extended time on _{examinations; reduce the volume of work}

expected; keep volume heard reasonable and repeat

Asking for help _{Make it a given and help the child learn to}

identify what they need repeated or re:explained

Ectopic

(66)

(67)

WORKING MEMORY CAN BE

TRAINED……..

EVIDENCED BASED INTENSIVE HOME BASED FOR AGES PRESCHOOL THROUGH ADULTHOOD! www.cogmed.com

(68)

Long Term Memory-

Consolidation

•  The process by which

information is filed in the LTM can take hours or days.

•  Most successful when the

entry of information is

organized to allow for easier recall later. This is

accomplished by systematic

entry.

•  The best consolidating takes

place when information which has been condensed into the STM is elaborated upon for placement in the LTM

.

•  Avoid interruption!

(69)

When consolidation is not complete:

•

There are likely to be patches of full consolidation-

typically episodic in nature, in areas of affinity and

interest- this does not mean that consolidation is

adequate..

•

I knew it last night - the information made it to

STM and AWM, but was not consolidated

•

Over-reliance on rote recall

•

Paired associations may be sketchy-particularly

grapheme-phoneme

•

Impoverished recollections- due to insufficient

(70)

FURTHER EVIDENCE OF DECREASED CONSOLIDATION

•

Steps are left out of processes and

procedures

•

Failure to internalize insights or to acquire

taught rules

•

Ideas are not interesting, impoverished

recall - poor oral participation

•

Slow speed of recall

(71)

LONG TERM MEMORY: GAINING

ACCESS

•  Through association:

presented with one half of the pair you recall the

other

•  Pattern recognition: a

familiar stimuli is

recognized as correct and there is a sense of how to use this information- in word problems, in

(72)

RETRIEVAL = TOTAL RECALL

•

Demands for

speed and

precision are

highest in HS

•

Retrieval versus

recognition- how

do you get to the

mall?

•

Convergent

•

Simultaneous

•

Rapid

•

Cumulative

•

Content or format

specific

•

Automatic?

•

Divergent??

(73)

Key Variables in Quality of Recall

•

Automaticity- information is retrieved

essentially without effort

•

Divergence- overactivation- creativity-

(74)

When there is poor retrieval:

•

Results on recognition based tasks are

far superior

•

Lack of application of learned patterns

to avoid repeated unsuccessful efforts

•

Paucity of complexity or content

•

Fishing and stalling

•

Weak recall of paired

(75)

To Improve Consolidation and Access:

•

Ensure depth of understanding

•

Model elaboration and make elaboration a

goal

•

Rote drill for associated pairs

•

Translate serial chains into diagrams and

diagrams into chains as needed- find/use

the best modality

•

Multisensory instruction

•

Apply rules in the context of games to

(76)

Sleep and Memory

•

Using sleep to

improve memory

•

Vulnerability in

situations of not

enough sleep

•

Does catch up work?

•

Who has sleep issues

and why they have

memory issues as

well.

(77)

FURTHER STRATEGIES

•

Read, practice and review just before sleep

•

Mnemonic devices

•

Selectivity in what needs to be remembered!

•

Alternative assessments- tasks other than tests to

encourage long term learning and sustain

motivation

•

Test taking modifications

–

Open book, open ended, recognition, cloze,

take home-

•

Develop memory meta-awareness

(78)

Modern Challenges:

•

Ex-preemies

•

Very mobile lifestyles

•

Technology

•

Speed

•

Enrichment

•

Expectations- an

OVER commitment to

well roundedness

(79)

A mind at a time: Nicola age 3

Key History/Variations •  Petite ex-preemie (27 weeks) •  Sensitive to environmental change •  Precise, focused

but with slight fine motor impairment •  Slow to warm to

new things

•  Careful socially

Key Interventions

•  Be slow to judge, give her

time

•  Great caution in parental

discussions!

•  Mastery learning approaches

•  Expect erratic patterns of

performance

•  Break tasks down to

components, expose to small changes with positive

reinforcement

•  Be mindful of what can and

cannot change…… and who can and cannot change

(80)

COMMON PROBLEMS: EFFECTIVE METHODS

1.  HOW DOES ENQUIRY

BASED LEARNING

LIBERATE OR CHALLENGE THE ‘UNIQUE LEARNER?’ 2.  WHAT IF ANY ARE THE

DEVELOPMENTAL

PATTERNS THAT AN IB TYPE MODEL OF

LEARNING IS NOT SUITED FOR

(81)

HOW CAN THESE CHILDREN

THRIVE?

• 

TOPICAL INTEREST

• 

TARGET SPECIFIC SKILLS IN SPECIFIC

TASKS

•

PRIORITIZE

•

SUPPORT AT KEY JUNCTIONS

• 

ENSURE THAT CORE SKILLS ARE

AUTOMATIC

•

RECOGNITION OF STRENGTHS

(82)

Adopting an ‘Attuned’ Approach

•

planning

•

Try to ‘split’ a lump–

variations are not

absolute

(83)

Final Thought:

No child chooses to be bad at their own

development.

(84)

To Learn More

•

www.allkindsofminds.org

•

Books by Dr. Melvin Levine

•

Thanks to Dr. Nitin Gogtay, NIMH

We must not see any person as an abstraction.

Instead, we must see in every person

a universe

with its own secrets,

with its own treasures,

with it’s own sources of anguish,

and with some measure of triumph.

ALL KINDS OF MINDS:2 EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING: