Layered EducationWhat it looks like
- Knows what to do but does not start
- Loses materials, steps, or track of time
- Starts work, then abandons it halfway
ADHD and Executive Functioning
Executive Functioning Basics
The brain's management skills, and how to support them in any lesson.
Why it happens
Executive functions are the brain's management skills: planning, starting, holding steps in mind, and shifting. They keep developing into the mid-20s, and they can be taught.
Try this tomorrow
- Post the steps as a short visual checklist
- Give one direction at a time, then reveal the next
- Think aloud as you plan a task
If two of you are in the room
Co-teaching pairs can split this between them, and swap who takes which part so both teachers work with every student.
One teacher
Leads the lesson and names each step as it happens.
The other teacher
Checks in as work time starts and points to the checklist instead of repeating directions.
What the research can and cannot tell us
Executive function skills are well documented and keep developing into early adulthood. Evidence is stronger for teaching specific strategies inside real schoolwork than for general brain-training programs.
Resources
7 resources for this topic, drawn from 5 organizations. Everything opens free, and the ones from other organizations open on their own sites.
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Executive Functions, Part 1: Why Some Students Struggle
A free module on what executive functions are and why strategies must be taught explicitly.
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Executive Functions, Part 2: Strategies That Help
Pick one strategy to teach the whole class: graphic organizers, note-taking, time management, or self-regulation.
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Executive Function Activities for Adolescents
Goal-setting, planning, and self-monitoring routines to build into lessons you already teach.
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What Is Executive Function?
A short primer that reframes "won't" as "can't yet." Good to share with a colleague or family.
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Helping Kids Who Struggle With Executive Functions
Seven supports, including checklists and time limits per step, plus advice for teens who resist tools.
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InBrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning
A short overview of executive function as the brain's air traffic control system. Good shared starting point for a co-teaching pair.
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Bolstering Executive Function in Middle and High School Students
Research-backed ways to build executive function with teens and tweens, pitched at middle and high school classrooms. Transcript included.
These resources are shared for professional learning and planning. They are meant to inform your professional judgment, not replace it. Each student's IEP and your district, state and federal requirements always come first. Listing a resource here is not an endorsement by Layered Education. This is educational information only, not legal advice.
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Want help putting this to work?
Facilitated co-planning days give a pair protected time to pick a focal student, choose one thing to try, and plan who does what. The first call is free.