For almost a year now, teachers and educators across the US (and in seven countries!) have been using the SMARTS executive function strategies with their students. Although SMARTS was designed with middle school and high school students in mind, we have heard from third- and fourth-grade teachers as well as teachers in college learning centers who are using SMARTS. Educators are implementing SMARTS executive function strategies in special education resource rooms, general education science and English classes, homeroom, advisory, independent learning centers, clinical settings, and more. We are overjoyed to see how SMARTS has spread, and we can’t wait to keep building on this growth and working to reach even more students.
In order to support teachers who are new to SMARTS, we are developing a number of professional development options. On April 29th we will be hosting a training right here in Lexington, MA, from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Attendees will get a grounding in executive function and self-aware learning, practicing hands-on activities that demonstrate the important role executive function plays in learning. We will also review a handful of SMARTS strategies, modeling how to adapt them for common academic tasks across content areas. There are a few spots still available, so if you’re interested, please sign up here.
If you’re unable to make this training, stay tuned for future announcements. In early May, we will be releasing a video on the assessment of executive function, and we’ll be announcing our next training dates. If you want us to run a training at your school, we can do that, too. Check out the professional development page to learn more.
Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director