As I read through the two Dawson and Guare (2010) chapters, I began reflecting on strategies to promote executive skills that I am currently using in my classroom. These chapters provided an overview of what executive skills are, how they are developed, and why they are important. They also provided teachers with a number of strategies and interventions to promote executive skills.
One intervention I use daily in grade one, for all of my students, is a class schedule. We move an arrow down the schedule as we complete tasks and transition to the next class. There is no more asking “when is home time” as they can see the jobs they need to work through before they get to go home. For individual students with poor executive functioning skills, I have created a person schedule on their desk with velcro. Instead of saying “math” their schedule will say “math journal”, “math talk”, “pattern work”. The steps of the overall math class are broken down into steps to help these students stay focused and motivated to complete assignments. I have also taken into consideration things such as where student supplies are placed, where they hand in work, and how we line up to leave the classroom. I don’t remember for sure but I assume these thoughts and routines were not well developed during my first teaching year. I have come a long way in learning about elementary children, their skills, and how I can assist them through their environment. One thing we started doing this year is called the “unicorn horn”. When we are working on a multi-step pencil task, I will get students to put their pencil to their forehead like a unicorn horn so I can see who is done and who is still working on that step. This prevents students from working ahead and allows me to see who may need some assistance. I am grateful for the strategies provided in the article and am proud of the interventions I am already using. It is important to consider how much control and guidance teachers use when acting as the frontal lobe. These executive skills and intervention strategies can work for a whole class and for individual students. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Overview of executive skills. Executive skills in children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 1–11). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Interventions to promote executive skills. Executive skills in children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 49–74). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
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