Executive Function in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Improving Performance and Enhancing Skills for All Students

Students with strong executive function skills hold the keys to school and social success—from attention and impulse control to time management and organization. Now K–12 teachers have a practical, highly readable guide to enhancing these critical skills for all students, with and without learning disabilities.

Through the author's memorable metaphors, classroom examples, and crystal-clear explanations of brain functioning, teachers will immediately grasp what executive function is and how it affects their students' learning and behavior. Then they'll get the explicit, research-based guidance they need to

• improve executive function skills in specific academic subjects: reading, math, and writing
• choose effective assessment methods to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses in students' executive function
• adapt their instruction and classroom structure to enhance students' executive skills and improve "trouble spots"
• implement an executive function coaching process that helps students plan, organize, and complete their assignments
• develop individual behavior support plans that address underlying executive function challenges

An unparalleled practical resource on one of today's most critical education topics, this sourcebook equips teachers with everything they need to detect and solve their students' executive function challenges. They'll get a wide range of ready-to-use strategies based on best practices, visual aids that make new concepts instantly understandable, and photocopiable forms to help students improve in specific executive function areas.

A perfect resource for effective, affordable professional development, this teacher-friendly guide lays a clear and simple path to stronger executive skills for all students-and lasting academic and social success.

Help students improve in key executive function areas:

• organization
• homework completion
• time management
• note-taking
• study skills
• impulse control
• working memory
• planning skills
• self-regulation
• adaptability
• and more!

Christopher Kaufman, Ph.D.,was a licensed psychologist and Lead Psychologist for the Portland (Maine) Public Schools. He also operated, with his wife Sara, a part-time business, Kaufman Psychological Services, through which he provided workshops for educators and clinicians on a range of brain-based learning topics. Dr. Kaufman was born in New York City; raised on Long Island, New York; and earned his doctoral degree in Educational Psychology (with a specialization in School Psychology) in 1993 from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. His clinical specialties included attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and related executive functioning disorders, learning disabilities, and pediatric anxiety disorders.