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The Harvard School for the Developing Child

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Edutopia Article

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School counselors are "shouldering the tremendous responsibility of helping young people heal from the momentous events of the past year and ongoing traumas," write Justina Schlund and Amanda Fitzgerald for ASCD's In Service blog, and school leaders, they say, should prioritize counselors' wellbeing.

But there's no doubt that the stress of this disrupted school year is impacting all educators, and even under more normal circumstances, teachers are besieged by stressful, taxing conditions like overcrowded classrooms, long hours, crushing workloads that they often tote home, and the expectation that they meet the emotional and physical needs of all of their students.

While many of the larger problems that lead to widespread teacher burnout are not within the power of school leaders to change-class size, for example-others are. If the well-being of teachers is compromised by issues inherent to the school system, then dispensing vague or impractical guidance that places the onus to fix it on teachers is unfair, and won't work. Instead of "make space to restore your balance" or "find time to exercise more," schools need to acknowledge their role in the problem and put in place the structures, practices, and time for self-care, reflection, and general well-being among educators, school staff, and the leaders themselves.

Here are seven ideas on how to get started:

Survey Teachers-And Listen to Them: In an effort to help teachers and staff manage stress this year, school leaders at Arcadia High School, outside of Los Angeles, are developing "unconventional but extremely successful channels of support for not just our teachers but all of our staff-certificated and classified," writes assistant principal Michele Lew.

But the school's leadership team didn't simply "impose what we imagined would serve [the team]." Instead, they checked in with teachers and staff via an online survey focused on wellness-and then they "listened when they told us what they needed." As a result, the school set up a help line where school staff can dial in for "mini check-in therapy sessions." They organized a series of 30-minute lessons on topics teachers identified in the survey as being of interest, such as mindfulness, positive psychology, and self-care strategies. Instead of telling teachers to try yoga, the school hired a local certified yoga instructor to offer staff virtual yoga classes each week, and to lead mindfulness and breathing exercises at the beginning of staff meetings.

Give Teachers an (Actual) Break: Teachers at Fall-Hamilton Elementary, in Nashville, practice a system called " tap-in/tap-out " which allows teachers to call on a colleague in the building via a quick text message to come relieve them from the classroom for a few minutes. It's a way to briefly step out of the classroom environment when things get overwhelming, take a breath, and get back on track. It also reinforces the idea that teachers aren't superheroes or martyrs; that it's important and perfectly OK to ask for help; and that colleagues in the school have each other's backs.

Stop Watching the Clock: Teachers "put in an incredible number of hours early in the morning, late at night, and during the weekend," write Oregon principals Rachael and John George for ASCD's In Service. So try cutting educators some slack when it comes to tracking work hours and time spent in the building (or online), these school leaders say.

If teachers "are getting their work done and are there for students, we should call it even," they write. As long as essential job functions are being fulfilled, "grading can happen in a coffee shop and online inservice training can be done at home in pajamas. It is all OK," they say. "Having that flexibility means the world to teachers, and we all know that they work way more than their contract requires anyway."

Create Shared Agreements: When self-care isn't reflected in the school culture, it falls to teachers to carve out time and resources to support themselves. But "self-care should become part of the school culture rather than a responsibility for individual staff members to seek out on their own," write Schlund and Fitzgerald. They suggest a good place to start is to create shared staff agreements to give teachers a say in setting parameters and norms around things like how staff "interact with and listen to one another," set "realistic boundaries around work," or establish routines "reflecting on their own wellbeing."

Plan for Regular and Informal Check-Ins: Regular quick morning check-ins with teachers-even just a few minutes at the classroom door-signal to teachers that you care enough to carve out time to see how they're feeling and coping with the demands of their classroom and workload. But check-ins don't always require pre-planning; sometimes an informal drop-in means a lot too. "Swing by, look for something positive, and then leave [the teacher] a sticky note on their desk telling them what you saw," writes teacher Kimmie Fink for WeAreTeachers.

Schedule Planning Time for Teachers: As teachers' responsibilities grow, so do their work hours-time that for many teachers crosses over into personal time, eating away at hours they desperately need to decompress and relax.

At Whitsitt Elementary School, in Nashville, principal Justin Uppinghouse developed a schedule that allows teachers regular chunks of time for collaboration and prep while students receive enrichment activities. The schedule also builds PD into the workday, "which ultimately improves our school's instructional capacity, student learning, and culture and climate," Uppinghouse writes. "In essence, my team and I have been intentional about prioritizing 'teacher time' while remaining focused on improving student achievement and building community partnerships."

Model and Support Wellness: Teacher stress levels can be on par with those of emergency room doctors and nurses, writes Katy Farber, a professional development coordinator. It's important for school leaders to set an example of wellness and self-care. "Encourage teachers to take breaks from work and set boundaries-and do so yourself as well," Farber writes. Take a quick walk outside during your work day. Practice not answering emails after 6 p.m. and let teachers know you won't be bugging them with emails-or expecting them to answer emails-on weekends.

Carve out a few minutes from the schoolwide schedule for meditation or quiet time each morning before the school day begins. Intentionally building these few minutes into the schedule, perhaps by lightening teachers' workload elsewhere, takes the burden off teachers and signals that wellness is a priority in the school's culture. And most importantly, "consider who on your staff might be experiencing significant stressors, and make it clear to them that you value their wellness and would like to help them develop a strategy to cope," Farber suggests.

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Schools, Not Teachers, Must Reduce Stress and Burnout-Here's How

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School counselors are "shouldering the tremendous responsibility of helping young people heal from the momentous events of the past year and ongoing traumas," write Justina Schlund and Amanda Fitzgerald for ASCD's In Service blog, and school leaders, they say, should prioritize counselors' wellbeing.

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During the time of COVID

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Interesting Article highlighted

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SEL for Adults A strong social-emotional learning climate for faculty doesn’t just happen.

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Successfully navigating adulthood involves mastering a range of self-management skills, from budgeting and time management to goal setting and emotional regulation. These are not abilities we're born with but instead are learned over time.

Despite their importance, these skills often fall by the wayside in traditional educational settings. Today's fast-paced, ever-evolving world demands more than rote learning; it requires individuals who can self-regulate and manage their lives efficiently and effectively.

This article provides five actionable strategies for teaching self-management skills, aimed at equipping children and young adults with the necessary tools to handle life's ups and downs.

Whether you're a parent, educator, or mentor, the approaches discussed below can help cultivate self-reliance, resilience, and perseverance in those under your guidance.

What is a Self-Management Plan?

Teaching students self-management skills has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on various aspects of their academic experience. It not only enhances their performance and productivity but also helps them stay focused on tasks and reduces instances of problem behavior.

Ideally, self-management strategies for students start before problem behaviors occur. However, they can replace disruptive behaviors with more desirable conduct.

A self-management plan is a set of tools that build and foster independence, self-reliance, and self-motivation. More than an education philosophy, self-management skills are crucial for students to learn.

Self-management plans use SEL character-building proficiencies to lead students toward self-discipline, self-motivation, and independent learning.
Self-management strategies involve:
Goal setting

Students and teachers should cooperate in setting small, reachable goals that the student can work toward. Goals can be anything from "working quietly for 15 minutes" to "turning in homework consistently." By allowing the student to participate in setting their goals, you empower them to take an active role in self-management strategies, as well as self-management interventions.

Behavior monitoring

Self-monitoring, or behavior monitoring, occurs when students observe and record their behaviors, redirecting themselves when necessary.

They practice their self-awareness skills and build a record of their difficulties and successes. Through self-monitoring, students become more aware of where they struggle and where they succeed.

As their self-awareness increases, they gain confidence in their ability to redirect themselves and participate in self-reinforcement activities.

Self-reinforcement

Self-reinforcement is the act of rewarding oneself after completing the desired behavior or meeting a goal. Rewarding positive behavior increases the likelihood your student will repeat that behavior. According to Psychology Today, 85% of people who don't learn self-reinforcement have trouble in other areas, like self-esteem.

Rewards can be a chance to get up and move after completing an assignment, extra computer time, or assigning classroom jobs. Tailor the rewards to the student and the behaviors you want to reinforce with the self-management plan.

Self-evaluation

While students may look forward to the rewards, reflection on the process teaches them the most.

What helped inspire them? What was the most challenging part of the process? Was the reward worth it? What can they do better the next time?

These questions and answers help teachers and students gain confidence in themselves and their skills. They can also identify areas where the teacher and student believe they can improve.

This self-evaluation process also teaches students the power of resilience and perseverance. They learn that failure can happen, but if they keep trying, they can succeed.

Build an Effective Teaching Plan with These 5 Strategies

By inviting your students to take an active part in their education, you empower them to self-manage. Teaching self-management skills to students may seem overwhelming.

Try using these self-management tools in your classroom.

1. Time Management Logs. These logs are a place for students to track and manage their time. The log can span the length of a single assignment, an entire day, or a week, whatever is appropriate. For younger students, the goal of their self-management plan may be to complete a worksheet without interrupting other students. For older students, they may set a goal to gather insight into their working habits and improve them.

2. Checklists and Rubrics. The act of checking boxes on a to-do list can be exciting for students. Each checkmark is a goal completed toward a larger objective. It's important that both student and teacher clearly understand the objective, and that you have manageable steps to get there.

3. Rating Scales. A rating scale allows students to rate how well they accomplished a specific goal. For example, a student sets a goal to complete an assignment within a stated period. The teacher could mark off ten-minute intervals or play a beep tape. When cued, the student records whether they succeeded in focusing on their assignment during that interval. They reward themselves with a star or smiley face if they succeed and leave their record blank if they don't. At the end of the class, students see how many stars or smiles they've earned, allowing them to rate their efforts.

4. Contracts or Agreements. While contracts are ideal for older students, they can be used for young learners as well. Agreements can be a list of rules or ideal behaviors and can be individually-based, team-based, or class-based. Students can then evaluate how well they kept the terms of the agreement at the end of it. Ensure that students get involved in setting the rules or behaviors so they feel more engaged in sticking to

5. Behavior Report Cards. These report cards should have a place for both students and teachers to grade their behavior. Younger students may earn grades on teaching sessions, while older students may be able to handle a grade for the entire day.

How Positive Action Can Help

Positive Action has created a research-based SEL curriculum that focuses on self-management as an underlying objective for all lessons. We also have units that focus on self-management.

To learn more about our programs, you can also reach out to us via chat, email, or call us at (800) 345-2974. You can also join us for a 15-minute webinar.

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Teaching Self-Management Skills: 5 Strategies to Create an Effective Plan

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Successfully navigating adulthood involves mastering a range of self-management skills, from budgeting and time management to goal setting and emotional regulation. These are not abilities we're born with but instead are learned over time.

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Video

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𝟓 Research Proven 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 for Kids | Teach Self Regulation Skills

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5 Incredibly Fun GAMES to Teach Self-Regulation (Self-Control) | Social Emotional Learning

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Self-regulation allows kids to manage their emotions, behavior, and body movement when faced with tough situations.

Self-regulation isn't the same thing as self-control.

Kids with ADHD and sensory processing issues often struggle with self-regulation.

Does your child often act impulsively in an emotional situation? Some kids do that a lot, but after the fact they're able to say what they should have done instead. Some kids regularly get overexcited and have a hard time winding down. Parents and other caregivers may wonder why these children don't just say that they're overwhelmed before having a meltdown.

Here's what you need to know about trouble with self-regulation.

Self-regulation is a different sort of skill. It allows kids to manage their emotions, behavior, and body movement when they're faced with a situation that's tough to handle. And it allows them to do that while still staying focused and paying attention.

How self-regulation works

You can think of self-regulation in terms of how a thermostat works. A thermostat is set to kick on or off to keep a room at a certain desired temperature - a "set point." To do that, it needs to keep track of temperature changes, compare them to the set point, and "know" whether to heat or cool the room to get back to the desired temperature.

When it comes to self-regulation, your child also has a "set point." It's when your child is able to manage emotions and behavior in appropriate ways.

To maintain that level of control, kids need to keep track of changes in their situation or environment. They need to assess how they're feeling and reacting, compared to their set point. And they have to know what adjustments to make in order to get back to that point.

Self-regulation and sensory processing issues

Kids with sensory processing issues have trouble handling information that comes in through one or more of their senses. That includes the five traditional senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. It also includes three lesser-known senses. These are interoception, proprioception, and the vestibular sense.

The source of the problem is the body's nervous system. The nervous system has trouble regulating itself. So when kids are in situations that cause sensory overload, they can't self-regulate. Their emotions and behaviors go unchecked, even when they're aware of the things that are overwhelming them.

Consider this example. Before going to the store, Natalie counts her money and realizes she finally has enough to buy the hot toy all the kids want. When she gets to the store, she's already overexcited.

Self-regulation, ADHD, and executive functioning issues

Kids with ADHD also often struggle with flexible thinking. That means they have trouble shifting gears from one situation to another and coming up with ways to approach it.

Consider the same example of the toy. This time when Natalie gets to the store, the toy she's been saving for is out of stock. The store has reordered it and it will arrive next week.

Despite knowing the toy will be there next week, Natalie has a meltdown because this is not the situation she expected. She's so disappointed it's not available now that she isn't able to keep her emotions under control.

Once she calms down, she's able to think more flexibly. She realizes there are other solutions. She can see that she still has the money and will be able to get the toy later.

Helping your child with self-regulation

No matter what's behind your child's trouble with self-regulation, there are ways you can help. The first step is helping your child recognize when the information coming in is a problem. That could be information coming in through the senses or through internal thoughts.

Here's a breakdown of what self-regulation would require in the toy scenario.

1. Self-awareness: For a child with sensory issues, this means knowing that the crowded toy display may create emotional stress. For a child with ADHD, it means knowing it's possible that plans may need to be adjusted. Talking those things through ahead of time can help. So can teaching your child to tell you when the input is too much.

2. Impulse control: Kids with ADHD may know there are other solutions, but it's still hard to restrain the impulse to get loudly upset. Kids feel more in control of emotions and reactions when they have developed coping skills.

3. Goal-setting: In both cases, it was hard to keep in mind the goal of having the toy. Work on setting and meeting small goals in order to start being able to keep bigger goals in mind.

Sensory overload and trouble with executive function can make it hard for kids to self-regulate.

Self-regulation skills develop gradually, and there are ways to help your child improve.

Working on self-awareness, impulse control, and goal-setting can help your child learn to self-regulate.

About the Author

About the Author

worked as a classroom teacher and as an early intervention specialist for 10 years. She is the author of Amanda Morin The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education. Two of her children have learning differences.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Ellen Braaten, PhD is the director of LEAP at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Trouble with self-regulation: What you need to know

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Self-regulation allows kids to manage their emotions, behavior, and body movement when faced with tough situations. Self-regulation isn't the same thing as self-control. Kids with ADHD and sensory processing issues often struggle with self-regulation. Does your child often act impulsively in an emotional situation?

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7 Big Rocks | Productivity | BigRocks | Time Management | You can design your life | Stephen Covey

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The Harvard School for the Developing Child

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Executive function is a domain of cognitive ability that is comprised of a number of distinct yet related skills, including working memory, abstract planning, sustained attention, and mental flexibility. The executive function system allows for the regulation, control, and management of learning. As such, it is very important for strong academic performance and the development of numerous academic abilities.

Children and adolescents with significant attention problems, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), often have trouble not only with tasks requiring sustained concentration, but also with those requiring other aspects of executive function, including working memory. When first learning to read, a child must focus his or her attention long enough to sequence the order of sounds correctly. The child must hold in mind the sounds of a word just read, as he or she sounds out (or reads) a subsequent word. Similarly, when a student is learning to think about arithmetic concepts, mental flexibility and the correct sequencing of abstract operations are important for understanding calculations and the relations among quantities. Holding information in mind while processing other, related information, is the essence of working memory.

Executive function skills also help a student to keep track of his or her daily life and academic tasks. Good organization and planning are often critical to academic success. Remembering where one placed one's notebook, or whether a textbook was already placed in a backpack, are important working memory and monitoring skills for accomplishing homework and other school projects.

Emotional health has been found to have a big impact on tasks requiring executive function. Significant anxiety, for example, is associated with poorer performance on tasks that require a person to shift his or her attention to relevant information. Depression can also exacerbate poor attention skills, abstract reasoning abilities, and planning skills, especially for those who are already struggling with neurological or other psychiatric disorders. Depression may impair one's ability to be mentally flexible.

If working memory is compromised in a student who is struggling with significant anxiety or depression, then his or her academic performance is likely to suffer. Treating anxiety and depression is therefore important not only for the student's emotional well-being, but also for his or her optimal performance in school.

At the Summit Counseling Center, we provide screening assessments for attention and emotional problems, as well as comprehensive assessments of executive function and other cognitive abilities that can impact school performance. Through these psycho-educational evaluations, we identify how students may achieve their full potential. Please contact psychologist Rebecca L. Marshall, Ph.D., at the Summit Counseling Center (678-893-5300) for more information.

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Executive Function: What is it and why is it important for academic achievement? - The Summit Counseling Center

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Executive function is a domain of cognitive ability that is comprised of a number of distinct yet related skills, including working memory, abstract planning, sustained attention, and mental flexibility. The executive function system allows for the regulation, control, and management of learning.

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During the time of COVID

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Young Children

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Self-Regulation Strategies | Parenting Tips & Advice

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When we give children the self-regulation strategies to stay calm in stressful situations, they are also developing strong habits for staying in control in the future.

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What are executive functioning skills? What are examples of executive function skills? Learn about different executive skills, and the three areas of executive function.

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Steven Covey 7 HabitsBig Rocks Video:  https://youtu.be/fmV0gXpXwDU

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Steven Covey 7 HabitsBig Rocks Video:  https://youtu.be/fmV0gXpXwDU

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Brain Fitness and Executive Function Youth Issue Brief

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Executive Function is Key to Student Achievement

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Executive Function is Key to Student Achievement

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cle in Middle Web

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Executive function is the missing link to student achievement, Nancy Sulla believes. If students haven't developed the brain-based skills to focus, catch and correct errors, identify cause-and-effect relationships, and more, they can't make sense of lessons, no matter how well they're designed. By Nancy Sulla
When my sister and I were young and would misbehave, rarely of course, my father would sit us down to discuss our actions and the consequences of those actions. I remember we used to say, "Just punish us!"

We loathed the lengthy discussions of our wrong-doings. Our friends were either punished or grounded, but not us; we were engaged in discussion. I look back and think of how my father was a natural at teaching us cause-and-effect, seeing multiple sides to a situation, considering future consequences in light of current action, and more of what I now know to be the skills of executive function.

See if you can envision this. You have a 2" nail hammered partway into a piece of wood; your goal is to drive the nail all the way in. Have you got the picture? You start applying pressure with the palm of your hand; but no matter how hard or long you push, the nail does not move. You then step back from the situation and get a hammer. With a few quick strokes of the hammer, the nail moves through the wood to its destination.

You have students who attend class and have some background content but need to master a lot more to achieve at the desired level. You start teaching lessons and purchasing materials that break down the content into seemingly reasonable steps for one to learn. But your students aren't achieving at the desired level.

You then take a step back and shift your focus to building executive function, and students begin achieving at higher levels of content mastery.

Do you see the metaphor here? Do you understand it? If so, you've just demonstrated your strength in executive function. Were you able to create a mental image of the nail-into-board scenario? Were you able to hold on to information while considering other information when you read the second paragraph after reading the first?

Were you able to consider the cause-and-effect relationships of hitting the nail with the palm of a hand versus hitting it with the hammer? Were you able to shift focus from one event to another when you ended the hammer-and-nail paragraph and read the executive function and achievement paragraph?

Were you able to think about multiple concepts simultaneously after reading both and engaging in a comparison? Were you able to focus and concentrate while reading those two paragraphs?

Having those italicized skills made the text accessible to you. If you did not have those skills, you could have read those paragraphs over and over again, to no avail. Trying harder wouldn't have gotten you further down the road of understanding. These are just some of the skills of executive function: a set of skills that help direct the management of information and behavior.

The Internet requires executive function skills

Now consider a possible home scenario. You open a door, pushing it a little too hard; it slams into the wall behind it, punching a hole in the drywall.

You think, "I bet I can learn how to fix this and save the expense of hiring someone." Where will you find out how to accomplish this task? With a quick Web search, you find a how-to sheet of directions with text and pictures; you also find a video of someone demonstrating and explaining the process. Easy!

Well, not so fast. Review the list of executive function skills in Table 1.1 and check off the ones you will need in order to process this information you found, that is, to successfully follow the video or direction sheet and patch the hole.

I checked off about two dozen skills without which the hole will not be patched. You can have a direction sheet on how to spackle a wall, but if you can't shift focus from one event (reading the directions) to another (spackling the wall), those directions will be useless. If you can't persist in a task, you'll soon find a jar of spackle and a spackling knife sitting on the floor while you're off engaging in some other activity, and the hole in the wall remains.

Consider that today, with increased access to the Internet and more people uploading professional and amateur "how to" videos and direction sheets, you can locate information on nearly any topic you wish to pursue. If you search for "subtraction with regrouping," you'll find a wealth of resources. If you search for "light and shade in oil painting," "basketball jump shot," "how to use a gluestick," or "balancing chemical equations," you'll likewise have no lack of resources.

Many of the skills and concepts students need to learn are readily available through a variety of sources on the Internet. This is far different from the accessibility to content that was available just a decade ago. What is important, however, is that you can identify a reliable source, and that requires executive function. Likewise, being able to take in the content information and translate that into learning requires executive function.

So, with all the "physical access" students may have to the Internet in school and at home, only the possession of strong executive function skills will provide them with the "cognitive access" to the content that will lead to learning. Physical access to content through lessons does not equal the cognitive access that leads to learning.

Without the skills of executive function, you cannot access the information needed to transform thinking and produce powerful learning. Executive function is, therefore, the coveted missing link to student achievement."

Schools seeking to improve student achievement tend to invest in textbooks, computer programs, curricular programs, and related professional development on teaching lesson-level content. While an effective lesson and great materials may be necessary to learning, they are not sufficient to ensure learning. They will be to little or no avail with a student who lacks executive function.

The key to unlocking content and ensuring a pathway to long-term memory is through executive function.

What is executive function?

"The executive functions are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one's resources in order to achieve a goal." Executive function "is an umbrella term for the neurologically based skills involving mental control and self-regulation" (Cooper-Kahn, Dietzel, 2008, p. 10). While there is no one universally accepted definition of the term executive function, this one reflects most other definitions.

In my recent book Building Executive Function, I devote a portion of Chapter One to a straightforward explanation of the brain science behind this concept. In particular, I talk about the development of a young learner's brain from the earliest years to adulthood, and how the more executive function skills students encounter, the more the prefrontal cortex grows.

I also examine the brain's "pruning phase" during adolescence - a topic of particular interest to educators in grades 6-12. Understanding how these processes play out is essential to helping students - including students in very stressful life situations - maximize their development of executive function.

Covering all these key points in a brief article would be impossible, but I hope I've intrigued you enough to continue to investigate the relationship between building executive function and achieving student success.

________________
Dr. Nancy Sulla began her career as a teacher, became a programmer and computer analyst, and returned to teaching in the early 1980s, using technology to design student-driven, differentiated learning environments. She is the author of Building Executive Function: The Missing Link to Student Achievement and the upcoming 2nd edition of Watch Nancy's TED-Ed Dive talk about Students Taking Charge. Students Taking Charge in Grades 6-12: Inside the Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom.

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Students Need Executive Function Skills to Succeed

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Executive function is the missing link to student achievement, Nancy Sulla believes. If students haven't developed the brain-based skills to focus, catch and correct errors, identify cause-and-effect relationships, and more, they can't make sense of lessons, no matter how well they're designed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Executive function is a domain of cognitive ability that is comprised of a number of distinct yet related skills, including working memory, abstract planning, sustained attention, and mental flexibility. The executive function system allows for the regulation, control, and management of learning. As such, it is very important for strong academic performance and the development of numerous academic abilities.

Children and adolescents with significant attention problems, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), often have trouble not only with tasks requiring sustained concentration, but also with those requiring other aspects of executive function, including working memory. When first learning to read, a child must focus his or her attention long enough to sequence the order of sounds correctly. The child must hold in mind the sounds of a word just read, as he or she sounds out (or reads) a subsequent word. Similarly, when a student is learning to think about arithmetic concepts, mental flexibility and the correct sequencing of abstract operations are important for understanding calculations and the relations among quantities. Holding information in mind while processing other, related information, is the essence of working memory.

Executive function skills also help a student to keep track of his or her daily life and academic tasks. Good organization and planning are often critical to academic success. Remembering where one placed one's notebook, or whether a textbook was already placed in a backpack, are important working memory and monitoring skills for accomplishing homework and other school projects.

Emotional health has been found to have a big impact on tasks requiring executive function. Significant anxiety, for example, is associated with poorer performance on tasks that require a person to shift his or her attention to relevant information. Depression can also exacerbate poor attention skills, abstract reasoning abilities, and planning skills, especially for those who are already struggling with neurological or other psychiatric disorders. Depression may impair one's ability to be mentally flexible.

If working memory is compromised in a student who is struggling with significant anxiety or depression, then his or her academic performance is likely to suffer. Treating anxiety and depression is therefore important not only for the student's emotional well-being, but also for his or her optimal performance in school.

At the Summit Counseling Center, we provide screening assessments for attention and emotional problems, as well as comprehensive assessments of executive function and other cognitive abilities that can impact school performance. Through these psycho-educational evaluations, we identify how students may achieve their full potential. Please contact psychologist Rebecca L. Marshall, Ph.D., at the Summit Counseling Center (678-893-5300) for more information.

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Executive Function: What is it and why is it important for academic achievement? - The Summit Counseling Center

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Executive function is a domain of cognitive ability that is comprised of a number of distinct yet related skills, including working memory, abstract planning, sustained attention, and mental flexibility. The executive function system allows for the regulation, control, and management of learning.

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The Link between Executive Function and Social and Emotional Learning

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What are executive functioning skills? What are examples of executive function skills? Learn about different executive skills, and the three areas of executive function.

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Emotions Matter Article from Ed Leadership

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Emotions Matter Article from Ed Leadership