Unleashing Hidden

Superpowers

…of Executive Skills!

Susan M. Wolf, PhDContracted Adult Educator – AZDES/ADE

Educational Psychologist / Consultant

Empowerment Research, LLC

www.EmpowermentResearch.com

2017 ARIZONA CORRECTIONAL EDUCATORS SYMPOSIUM

“SUPERHEROES FOR EDUCATION UNITE”

Outline of Our Journey

• Our goal is to better understand how to unleash the SUPERPOWERS of the Frontal Lobes and use assets to meet challenges!

Locate/describe cortical function

Identify 12 Key Executive Skills

Support assets thru interventions

Increase awareness of BI resources

About The BrainHemispheres

Lobes Functions

Photo courtesy of World Trust Media Network (2015)

???What do you know

about neurons,

neuroanatomy and

information processing?

• Make up of electrical & neurochemical systems

• Neural networks are the results of genetic coding(the architecture) and sensory experiences (the interconnections)

• Neuroplasticity results from dendritic pruning

Neuron Basics

• Concussion results in

changes to the electrical

and chemical function of

the brain

• Moderate/severe injury

usually results in

changes to structure of

neurons in the brain

Neuron Basics

Information Processing Basics

• All information goes to the brain through the sensory systems (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)

• Attention and concentration are the entryway

• Active working memory can be the bottleneck to short- and long-term storage

• Higher-order thinking relies on accurate interpretation of sensory information from and across both hemispheres so that the Executive Skills can manage and control

Two Hemispheres

Going Deeper Structures of the Brain

Match HEALTHY FUNCTIONS of the brain to their appropriate regions

• Divide into pairs

• Use your knowledge to identify and match the structures and functions

• Glue down your pieces when you are confident that you are correct

• Prepare to share feedback

Use BRAIN MAPS as Checklists

• Our goal is to clearly determine:

Strengths and interests

Limitations and challenges

Critical deficits

• Document them equally

>>> Use strengths, abilities and interests

(other superpowers) to help your students rewire their brains

Higher Order Thinking Skill Development

Executive Skills & Their Assessment

• 12 Key Executive Functions for Success

• Executive Skills and Functioning

• What Educators Can Do to help students BUILD THOSE SUPERPOWERS!

Executive Functions – Two Types

• Those that help us to use certain thinking skills to plan and achieve our goals and solve problems

• Planning

• Prioritizing

• Organization

• Time management

• Working memory

• Metacognition

• Those that help us manage behavior so we can achieve our short-term and longer-term goals

• Response inhibition

• Emotional control

• Sustained attention

• Task initiation

• Flexibility

• Goal-directed persistence

Executive Functions – DISCUSSION

• Planning

• Prioritizing

• Organization

• Time management

• Working memory

• Metacognition

• Response inhibition

• Emotional control

• Sustained attention

• Task initiation

• Flexibility

• Goal-directed persistence

Which of these SUPERPOWERS are used in order to

achieve success in academics?

(noted on flip charts around the room)

Understanding Higher-Order Thinking

• If cornerstones of logic and reasoning are disturbed in early childhood, resulting challenges with reasoning, problem-solving, decision making and analytics can become overwhelming.

• As task demands increase, the inability to overcome early deficits can make success difficult.

Understanding Higher-Order Thinking

• These skills assume that basic foundational skills are intact and are accessible during the learning process.

• As task demands increase and are more abstract, students, who were previously successful with concrete strategies and strong memories, may find themselves struggling with these abstract concepts.

Understanding Higher-Order Thinking

• Without direct instruction to link and scaffold concrete knowledge to abstract concepts, solid learning may not occur.

• Over time, the psychological “overlay” of an inability to be successful can become more and more functionally disabling.

Executive Functions Approach

• Focuses on and identifies the student’s assets first

• Identifies and documents challenges and deficits

• Commits to multiple professionals, concerned individualsand you to address specific areas of dysfunction

– Each gathering information from their perspective– Emphasis on assessment in the natural context– Returning to the table to share data and

observations– Validating (triangulation of data) others’ finding

• >>>Jointly brainstorm with your team about possible

interventions to try in the classroom and at home<<<

• Continue to monitor and document, giving feedback to

others – you need to follow-through!

Critical Executive Functions

Initiation - ability to start to begin the

day, a task (or plan activity for a start

later on)

• Lack of initiation (adynamia) can be very

complicated and is often misinterpreted.

What education professionals can

do:

Executive Functions Approach• Metacognition - ability of the student to “think

about their thinking” (fears, false beliefs, faulty logic), the ability to take a “bird’s eye view” of oneself in a situation

• This is core to all problem solving (academic and social) all cognitive therapies and embedded in many academics

• Read a situation and determine if strategy is needed

• Know when to use a strategy

• Know when to STOP using a strategy

What education professionals can do:

Executive Functions Approach

• Self-awareness – ability to read self in a situation or context, ability to determine ones skills, abilities, talents, challenges and deficits

• Can make it difficult for the youth to understand why therapies are necessary and that participation/follow-through are important (and not just someone ‘nagging’ )

What education professionals can do:

Executive Functions Approach

Follow-through – (a combination of sustained attention and goal-directed persistence)

• Critical for compliance with therapies, assignments, medication management

What education professionals can do:

Understanding EFs – Detailed Assessments You May Request

• Attention and Concentration

• Types of Memory

• Language

• Specific ExecutiveSkills

• Interpersonal Capabilities

You want these assessed/observed IN CONTEXT– in the classroom, cafeteria, the unit

Steps to Build SUPERPOWERS

1. Decide on (or identify) the skill to build.

2. Set a goal

3. Establish a routine (procedure) or set of steps to reach the goal

4. Supervise the youth/adult while they try to follow the routine or set of steps (may include reminders, modeling, and feedback)

5. Evaluate the process, figure out where it is working well and what is breaking down –USE ASSETS!

a) Break down to smaller subtasks if not working

b) Ask the student about his/her problem-solving skills

6. Fade adult supervision over time

Executive Functions-Guidelines

Developing Routines for youth/adolescents *

◦ Make them full partners in the design and implementation

of the intervention(s)

◦ Get their input on rewards and challenges

◦ Engage them in troubleshooting to improve strategies

◦ Be willing to negotiate rather than dictate

◦ Use visual cues rather than verbal cues

WARNING:Higher-Order Thinking Skillsin Relation toCollege and Career-Ready Standards

Assumptions within CCRS

• College and Career-Ready Standards have incorporated many higher-order thinking skills across the curriculum and across the age continuum.

• CCRS have created many opportunities for educators to be more creative and diversified in their approaches to teaching and learning.

• CCRS offer options to address the assets and needs of different types of learners and learning styles.

Understanding Higher-Order Thinking

• Many CCRS have embedded within them certain practices that address higher order thinking skills (BLOOM)

• These include:

– Making sense of problems

– Persevering in solving these problems

– Reasoning abstractly

– Reasoning quantitatively

– Constructing viable arguments

• Some educators may not have the resources or experience needed to address deficits in these types of higher-order thinking skills.

Understanding Assumptions within CCRS

• It is imperative that those working with students ensure (assess/monitor) that they have the necessary (age-appropriate) skills and abilities“Are your teaching objectives appropriate / realistic?”

– Evaluate the task(s) and the skills needed

– Review your expectations about success

– Assess students BEFORE engaging in teaching/learning that assumes EF skills exist

– Check in regularly (monitor) performance to determine if the student can utilize EF skills and strategies appropriately in order to complete cognitive task(s) successfully

Resources

Additional Resources

Online Options and Resources

State Agencies

Technical Assistance Centers

Disability Transition Resources

Assessment Resources

Legal Services and Supports

Additional Research (Justice System)

CDC materials related to Concussion

Instructional Strategies

CHECK YOUR

FOLDERS FOR

MORE GOOD

INFORMATION

Contact: Sue Wolf

480-354-9000

DrSueWolf@me.com

• H.E.L.P.S– Hit Your Head?

– E.R.?

– Lost consciousness?

– Physical symptoms?

– Significant sicknesses?

• OSU ID Screener (3 tiers, detailed data)

• Post-Concussive Symptomatology Checklist– Five areas

– Use it as a “check list”

• TBI Checklist

SCREENING TOOLS

• Formal Assessments (if needed)– Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function

(BRIEF, BRIEF-A) • Inhibit• Self-Monitor• Plan/Organize• Shift• Initiate• Task Monitor• Emotional Control• Working Memory• Organization of Materials

– Survey of Teenage Readiness and Neurodevelopmental Status (STRANDS)

– Wisconsin Card Sorting

– Rey Complex Figure Test

• Informal Assessments (CRITICAL!)– Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents

Observe, Observe, Observe!

Assessment TOOLS

• More Resources– Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function

Difficulties (2009) (McCloskey, Perkins, & Van Divner)

– Coaching Students with Executive Skill Deficits (2012) (Dawson & Guare)

– Executive Function in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Improving Performance and Enhancing Skills for All Students (2010) (Kaufman)

– Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents' Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning (2008) (Cooer-Kahn)

– Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential (2009) (Dawson & Guare)

– Where's My Stuff?: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide (2010) (Moss)

ADDITIONAL TOOLS

For More In-depth Information

7-hour One-Day Regional Trainings“Can’t You See Me? The Invisible Disability”Traumatic Brain Injury Training for Professionals Working with Youth and Adults

Fall 2017 - Spring 2018

TBI 100 – Concussions & Return to LearnTBI 101 – Introduction to TBI – (4 Regional sessions specific for Secure Care)TBI 202 – Understanding Behavior after BITBI 303 – Executive Functions & TransitionsTBI 404 – Academic InterventionsTBI 505 – Co-morbidities associated with BI

Registration will be done through ADE websitehttps://ems.azed.gov

Sponsored by:

AZ Department of EducationAZ Governor’s Council on Spinal and Head Injuries

Contact: Dr. Sue Wolf

480.354.9000

DrSueWolf@me.comwww.empowermentresearch.com

Brain Injury

Alliance of AZ602-323-9165

1-888-500-9165

www.biaaz.org

Contact:

Jeanne Anderson (I&R))

Information packets

Library materials

Peer-mentor programs

Support groups

Annual Conference for Survivors and Families

“RAYS OF HOPE --- 2018”

PHOENIX – TUCSON

CHECK THE WEBSITE REGULARLY!

f.k.a. Parent Information Network (PINS)

Contact:

Raising Special Kids (RSK)1-800-237-3007 Kathleen Gray-Mangerson

1-888-877-5910–info Nilda Townsend (bi-lingual)

- Statewide parent information and training

- Bilingual services- DVD lending library- Special Education resource documents- Advocacy Training- Regional Support Teams

Arizona Governor’s

Council on Spinal and

Head Injuries

602-863-0484

www.azheadspine.org

ATarpy@azdes.gov

Leadership

Community Training

Funding for VR & IL

Support to Associations

Sponsor of the Youth with Brain Injury

Transition Pilot Program

• These non-residential, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations are consumer-controlled, community-based organizations that provide programs and services for people with all types of disabilities and their families.

• ABIL -Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (Ability 360)5025 East Washington Street, Phoenix , AZ 85034 1-800-280-2245

www.abil.org

• ASSIST! to IndependenceP.O. Box 4133, Tuba City, AZ 86045 1-888-848-1449

www.assisttoindependence.org

• DIRECT Center for Independence, Inc.1023 N. Tyndall, Tucson, AZ 85719 1-800-342-1853

www.directilc.org

• New Horizons Independent Living Center8085 East Manley Dr., Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 1-800-406-2377

www.newhorizonsilc.org

• S.M.I.L.E. - Services Maximizing Independent Living Empowerment1929 S. Arizona Ave, Suite 12, Yuma, AZ 85364 1-866-239-7645

https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/snap-211/org/1482438.html

Centers for Independent Living

The Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention

Website, fact sheet, online training, and tool kits about

traumatic brain injury at:

http://www.cdc.gov/headsup/schools/index.html

! ~ ! FREE ! ~ !

Get “Heads Up”concussion

information kits for coaches, school

nurses and physicians here.

Unleashing Hidden

Superpowers

…of Executive Skills!

Susan M. Wolf, PhDContracted Adult Educator – AZDES/ADE

Educational Psychologist / Consultant

Empowerment Research, LLC

www.EmpowermentResearch.com

2017 ARIZONA CORRECTIONAL EDUCATORS SYMPOSIUM

“SUPERHEROES FOR EDUCATION UNITE”