Executive Functions Series Lend Me Your Frontal Lobe Session 3 Strategy Sheet How Do I Teach Emotional Control Skills? Environmental Supports Reduce or eliminate triggers. Give student a script to follow. Remove student from problem situation. Use visual cues Model effective strategies for emotional control. Provide external supports Teaching Strategy Teach students to recognize situations or early signs. Provide opportunities to discuss upcoming situations or events that may provoke an emotional outburst. Manage antecedents that appear to produce emotional changes or outbursts. Some situations, peers, or tasks may need to be avoided or limited until students experience more success. Teach coping strategy. Teach calming strategies and help students learn what coping mechanisms work best for them. Teach students to count to 10 before acting. Practice this by counting together aloud before making a decision. Build independence by having students control their own emotions (taking a walk or giving themselves a time out). Rehearse the strategy repeatedly until it is internalized. Teach students a concrete, simple metaphor for measuring anger/other feelings (“thermometer” or Speedometer”) Make sure verbal and written directions are clear and given one at a time. Model “stopping” behavior or take a “time away”. Verbalize your strategies. Provide clear rules and expectations for behavior and predictability/consistency. Process situations that have led to emotional outbursts in a non- threatening setting and manner. Choose a situation when students are relaxed and therefore more receptive to discuss what happened. What might this look like in your classroom? LD/ADHD Initiative Department of Special Education and Student Services, HCPSS

Executive Functions Series: Lend Me Your Frontal Lobe Session 3 Strategy Sheet How Do I Teach Working Memory Skills? Environmental Supports Use memory devices: Agenda books/calendars, notebooks, (to do lists), electronic devices & APS (i-pad, phone). Simplify directions. Create a safe environment. Teaching Strategy Prompt to access past experiences. Generate options and have students choose. Mentally rehearse association between cue and working memory. Provide a written checklist of steps required to complete a task. Practice verbal memory skills: rehearsal (whispering directions), chunking (whittle down two-step instructions to one), or mnemonic devices. Use visual reminders: drawings, photographs, colorful pictures or graphic organizers for sequential tasks, word walls and posters. Game Play: students maintain information in their minds from previous game experiences, use rehearsal strategies (talk to themselves) to navigate new steps, complete multi-step actions and keep in mind sequences and goals. Use short, simple direct instructions, easier for students to recall. Establish eye contact prior to giving essential instructions or new material. Provide a written checklist of steps required to complete a task. Have students repeat or paraphrase what they have heard or understood to check for accuracy and provide an opportunity for rehearsal. Teach self-initiated “comprehension checking” strategies. Encourage students to ask for help from others. Emphasize that it is okay to ask the teacher to repeat instructions. Use visual reminders: drawings, photographs, colorful pictures or graphic organizers for sequential tasks, word walls and posters. Reduce distractions in the environment that can tax or disrupt working memory. What might this look like in your classroom? LD/ADHD Initiative Department of Special Education and Student Services, HCPSS