Digital Supply Checklist
With many schools not using some type of virtual/remote learning platform, it is important for students to have their devices in good working order. This strategy will help students with this task.
- Desk Top Computer
- Power Cord
- USB Drive
- Printer
- Power Cord
- Ink Supply Backup for black and color
- Connector cables
- Paper
- Lap Top Computer
- Power Cord
- USB Drive
- Tablet
- Power Cord
Cell Phone - Phone Charger
- Ear Buds or Earphones
- Charger
- Calculators
- Batteries
- Power Cord
- Portable Battery Charger
- Power Pencil Sharpener
- Power Cord
- Stand Alone Timer
- Batteries
- Ebooks
- Log ins and Passwords for devices, programs, and internet
- Lost or Cannot Find: ___________________________________
- Other: ______________________________________________
- Other:_______________________________________________
Take a Breather Strategy
This calming strategy provides a process an elementary or secondary student can follow to calm himself or herself without bringing undue attention to the situation. Often by diverting the student’s attention from the explosive situation to following a process, he or she can get through the situation without saying or doing something regrettable.
The Take a Breather Strategy involves the following sequence of steps:
- Breathe deeply
- Rub my fingers together
- Eyes closed and open back up
- Ask myself how I am doing
- Toes moved up and down
- Hum a song silently
- Eyes closed and open back up
- Repeat until you feel calmer
Taken in part from Strosnider, R. & Sharpe, V. (2019). The executive function guidebook: Strategies to help all students achieve success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 148-149, 201-202, 286.
The Backward Mapping Strategy
This is a planning strategy that can be tailored to the needs of the student. It is important to reinforce each step until your student has success with the method. First, teach the student the process of task analysis. Then, have the student analyze the assignment or project and divide the tasks into phases. The next step is to estimate how much time each phase will take to complete. Students tend to underestimate the amount of needed time, so this step should be monitored. Using a calendar, have the student circle the due date of the project. From the due date, have the student work backwards filling in the task phases. Be sure to have the student include a phase, few days before the due date, that provides time for checking his or her work and making the necessary revisions.
 | Directions for Student…
Hand in the assignment on the due date. |
The Memory Walk Strategy
The Memory Walk is a working memory strategy that can be used with all ages. It is highly engaging, quick to teach and encourages group participation and collaboration. The purpose of the strategy is to draw attention to auditory and visual cues and movement to enhance storing of information and to point out the students’ ability to retrieve information gained on the walk. There are a few steps to follow when teaching this strategy…
- It is important to set the stage with your students in order to prepare them for the purpose of the strategy and how it works. State to the participants that they are going to be taking a walk to look at and hear information about specific items. The goal of the Memory Walk is to be able to recall information about what they have seen and heard. During the Memory Walk, cue the participants or use trigger words to help reinforce what they see or hear. For example, while passing a notable item you might say, “This is something you need to remember.”
- At the conclusion of the Memory Walk, return to the site where the participants were stationed prior to the onset of the walk.
- Once seated, provide time for the participants to individually and silently process what they have seen and heard on the walk.
- Start the Memory Walk review by asking, “What did you see or hear first?” As the participants respond, briefly list and discuss their responses by encouraging an elaboration of detailed information.
- Continue Step 4 until all items on the Memory Walk have been discussed. Then, open the conversation to add other items seen or heard by the participants that were not focused on during the walk. Have the participants elaborate on these ending with a quick review of what they saw and heard.
Memory Walk with teachers, social workers, psychologists and speech language pathologists. Hilo, Hawaii
Time Needed Strategy for Time Management
With the onset of home instruction, your child’s school day usually starts with logging on to a class collaborative site for roll call. This roll call is typically followed with a few short activities with the session usually ending with the teachers’ discussing assignments that need to be completed that day. The completed assignments are then submitted online to the teachers at a designated time. The lack of routine classroom structure, where the teacher manages time and transitions the students from assignment to assignment, is missing leaving the student to manage time on their own in a manner that allows them to complete and submit assignments on time. For many students, time until the work is due sounds like a long time, and they fail to get serious about doing the work until there is insufficient time left. This causes additional stress for the student and parent. Planning how to use that time wisely is vital.
For students to plan for successful, on-time completion of assignments (or of component tasks within assignments) they need to be able estimate and allot sufficient time, which requires having a sense of time and how long it takes them to complete tasks. A sense of time can be taught in several ways, including helping students understand how to estimate the time needed to complete a task. Begin with explicit instruction in the estimation of time needed to complete a task. Most students are familiar with the time needed to watch a favorite television show, so they can comprehend how long 30 minutes or one hour is” (p. 110).
“To help a student with estimating time needed, explain to the student, for instance, that he or she has three short homework assignments, and ask him or her to estimate how long it will take to complete them all. If the student seems unable to predict a length of time, suggest a frame of reference that is familiar, such as 30 minutes (e.g., “the length of one episode of “Sheldon”). Using that frame of reference, have the student estimate how much time each task will take. Add two minutes for a transition break between assignments. Then have the student time him/herself with a stopwatch and record how long each task takes to complete. Add up the actual time it took the student to complete all three tasks plus breaks and review the results with the student. Were the student’s estimates close to the actual time it took to complete the tasks? Have the student continue to estimate the time needed for assignments and periodically review the accuracy of these estimations. Being able to accurately estimate the time it takes to complete various tasks/assignments will help the student plan for completing tasks both in class and at home.
Example for a 30 minute time period – Grades 2 – 6
Assignment 1—Read a page in the assigned text and summarize the main points.
- Estimated Time: 5 minutes.
- Actual time: 6 minutes.
- Break: 2 minutes – At the end of each assignment there is a 2-minute break that will be added to the total time of the assignment.
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Time remaining: 22 minutes
Assignment 2– Complete a page of math problems from notebook.
- Estimated Time: 10 minutes
- Actual Time: 12 minutes
- Break: 2 minutes – At the end of each assignment there is a 2-minute break that will be added to the total time of the assignment.
- Total Time: 14 minutes
- Time remaining: 22 – 14 = 8 minutes
Assignment 3– Complete a one paragraph character sketch
- Estimated Time Planning: 5 minutes
- Estimated Time Writing: 5 minutes
- Actual Time Planning: 5 minutes
- Actual Time Writing: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 11 minutes
- Time Remaining: 8 – 11 = -3 minutes (exceeded time)
In this case, discuss with your student how consistently he or she underestimated the time it would take to answer/respond to the question by a few minutes, and encourage revision of the estimates to come closer to the actual time. Explain that once your student can estimate with accuracy, he or she will be able to schedule in segments so that there will be time to complete all assignments” (pp. 110-111).
Example for a 90 minute time period – Grades 7 – 12
Assignment 1—English
Section 1: Read Day 3 in The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemmingway and using the text, list the difficulties Santiago encounters.
- Estimated Time: 30 minutes.
- Actual time: 25 minutes. (exceeded time)
- Break: 5 minutes – At the end of each section of the assignment there is a 5 -minute break that will be added to the total time of the assignment.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Time remaining: 30 minutes
Section 2: Using the list of difficulties encountered by Santiago, which difficulty, in your opinion, do you feel was the most challenging? Justify your answer with supporting text from the book about Day 3. Step 1- create an outline of your response. Step 2 – Write your response. Step 3 – Proofread and edit your work. Step 4– submit your outline and response online by 3 pm today.
Step 1: Write an outline of the most difficult challenge supported by your opinion.
- Estimated Time: 10 minutes
- Actual Time: 12 minutes (exceeded time)
- Time remaining: 90 – 30 (Day 3 reading) – 12 (outline) = 48 minutes
Step 2: Write your response noting supporting text from the book while using the information on your outline as a guide.
- Estimated Writing Time 20 minutes
- Actual Time Writing: 30 minutes
- Time remaining: 90 – 30 (Day 3 reading) – 12 (outline) – 30 (writing) = 18 minutes
Step 3: Proofread and edit your response.
- Estimated Proofreading and Editing Time: 10 minutes
- Actual Proofreading and Editing Time: 8 minutes
- Time remaining: 90 – 30 (Day 3 reading) – 12 (outline) – 35 (writing) – 8 (proofreading and editing) = 10 minutes
Step 4: Submitting response by 3 pm.
- Logged onto website for submitting assignment at 2:45 pm. Estimated Submitting time: 2 minutes.
- Actual Submitting Time: 7 minutes. There was difficulty with the Internet connection.
- Time remaining: 90 – 30 (Day 3 reading) – 12 (outline) – 35 (writing) – 8 (proofreading and editing) – 7 (submitting) = 3 minutes remaining
In this case, discuss with your student how consistently he or she underestimated the time it would take to answer/respond to the question by a few minutes, and encourage revision of the estimates to come closer to the actual time. Explain that once your student can estimate with accuracy, he or she will be able to schedule in segments so that there will be time to complete all assignments” (pp. 110-111).
The Executive Function Guidebook
Strategies to Help All Students Achieve Success
We are pleased to announce that our book, Strosnider, R. & Sharpe, V. (2019). The Executive Function Guidebook: Strategies to Help All Students Achieve Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, has been chosen to be part of Sage Knowledge. Sage Knowledge is the premier social sciences platform for Sage and CQ Press book, reference, and video content.
Designed with busy teachers in mind, The Executive Function Guidebook introduces a flexible seven-step model that incorporates Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and the use of metacognition. Whether you teach kindergarten, high school, or anything in between, you can make executive function training part of your teaching. As students’ proficiencies improve, you will see their confidence and capability increase, setting the stage for their success in school and in life. Features of the book include:
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