Executive Function in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Improving Performance and Enhancing Skills for All Students / Edition 1

by Christopher Kaufman

Overview

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!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598570946
Publisher:	Brookes Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

About the Author vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 Executive Function in a Nutshell: The Core Concepts 1

2 The Development of Executive Skills: Learning to Stop and Think 17

3 The Neurology of Self-Regulation: Executive Function and the Brain 25

4 Beyond Neuropsychological Testing: What Teachers Should Know About the Assessment of Executive Function 43

5 Moving the Frontal Lobe to the Front of the Class: Seven Core Strategies for Helping Students with Executive Function Challenges 79

6 Keeping Words and Meaning in Mind: The Impact of Executive Skill on Reading 95

7 From Brain to Paper: The Executive Foundations of Writing 119

8 Bringing Numbers into Focus: Executive Function and Mathematics 149

9 Surviving the Paper Chase: Organization, Study Skills, and Time Management 173

10 Unfiltered Comments, Unchecked Actions: Executive Dysfunction and Social Learning Difficulties 201

Study Guide 237

References 245

Index 255

Editorial Reviews

"Kaufman demonstrates elegantly how the applications of [executive function] research can improve the educational well-being of children who are having difficulty in educational settings…Takes the sometimes vague and abstract concept of EF and provides practical strategies and solutions."

From the Publisher

"A cleverly crafted, teacher-friendly guide for transforming research on executive functions into classroom practice for reading, writing, and math."

Virginia W. Berninger

"Practical and timely . . . provides systematic coverage of the varied facets of executive functioning and how educators can help their students enhance these abilities to improve social adjustment and academic performance."

University of Arizona - Nancy Mather

"Wonderful! Just what the field needed to ground conceptual understanding of executive function and executive dysfunction . . . truly a research-to-practice book that all teachers can use."

Director of Education, The Summit School, Edgewater, MD - Dr. Joan Mele-McCarthy

"Kaufman demonstrates elegantly how the applications of [executive function] research can improve the educational well-being of children who are having difficulty in educational settings…Takes the sometimes vague and abstract concept of EF and provides practical strategies and solutions."

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology