As students move throughout their day, they interact with systems and schedules that make demands on their executive function. The best learning environments integrate executive function strategies in a way that all students can access, whether they have a learning difference or not.
From the school supplies students use and the physical setup of the classroom to how parents are engaged, there are multiple opportunities for creating executive function friendly learning environments.
What does an executive function friendly school look like? That is the topic of Full Pre-Frontal’s podcast, “Pro-EF School Culture.” Host Sucheta Kamath sits down with leaders from the Springer School and Center in Cleveland, Ohio, to discuss how they have integrated executive function throughout the school, serving as a “cultural guiderail” to keep all students on track. (Check out Dr. Meltzer on Full Pre-Frontal here).
Springer is a school where students have identified learning differences, often including executive function challenges. Just entering the classroom and engaging with instruction is a challenge for some of their students, so it was crucial to create executive function friendly classrooms. At Springer, they involved every stakeholder in this process: administrator, teachers, students, and parents.
You can listen to the rest of the podcast here. And come hear Sucheta Kamath speak about “The magic of mentalizing: Applying innovations in Theory of Mind and Social Cognition to create effective interventions for Children with ASD” at this year’s Learning Differences Conference.
- Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director