Executive Functioning with Sara Ward
Practical Strategies to Develop Independent Executive Function Skills
– presented by Sara Ward M.S., CCC/SLP
Learn concrete, ready-to-use strategies to help students manage attention, time, and materials to follow directions, initiate work, and complete tasks. Discover how processing speed—whether slow or fast—impacts cognitive flexibility, problem solving, and a student’s ability to handle novelty. Perfect for teachers, specialists, and parents looking to build students’ independent executive function and self-regulation skills.
Whether your student needs to complete tasks, classwork, or homework, in this practical strategies seminar you will learn concrete tools to help students manage their attention, time, and materials to follow directions, plan, break down, and initiate the steps towards completing and closing out classwork. Help students keep pace to make timely transitions and follow routines. Practical strategies will be given to help with the initiation and work completion. n addition, we’ll examine how processing speed—both slower and faster than average—can affect a student’s ability to think flexibly, solve problems, and tolerate new or unexpected situations. You’ll leave with dozens of ready-to-use strategies to build independent executive function skills and support students in developing greater self-regulation, impulse control, and follow-through.
Our intentions are reflected by what we do in the moment to be prepared to take action or have an outcome at a later time. More often than not, task planning happens in a different space and time from where we execute the plan. Consider this scenario: On Monday the teacher tells the class there will be a test on Friday. The student writes ‘test’ in their agenda and receives a plan/script for how to study: 1. Review Study Guide 2. Make flash cards and mnemonics 3. Memorize terms 4. Have mom or a friend quiz you. However, this does not guarantee the student will either initiate studying or give themselves enough time to study! They ‘intend’ to start studying soon! We agree with Dr. Russell Barkley who describes some of these students as seemingly having an “intention deficit disorder” more often than an “attention deficit disorder”.
How do we go from intention to action? Intentions are, according to Dr Russell Barkley who is a leading expert on ADHD, “the things we are doing to get ready for what lies ahead in time — our goals; our plans; the assignments that we should be working on; the paths that other people have given us that we need to be paying more attention to in order to be ready when that time gets here.” Students with attention challenges can pay attention to what is happening in the moment but struggle to attend to what lies ahead in time and has to be done next in order to get ready for that future. Individuals with executive function(EF) deficits exhibit a delay in the development of this self-regulatory temporal horizon.
The challenge for classroom teachers and special educator is to recognize the symptoms of executive function deficits and know how to help students not merely compensate for, but develop, the necessary independent executive function skills. Executive Function challenges are more prevalent than ever. “This seminar offers an abundance of highly practical strategies! Learn methods to improve a student’s ability to cognitively shift and to be flexible in processing and accessing information. Learn how to use the Get Ready * Do* Done Model to turn the core curriculum and lesson/treatment plans into powerful tools to teach students executive control skills. Fresh approaches to help students develop automaticity for class routines and transitions.
What past seminar attendees had to say about this full day seminar!
“Just a quick note to tell you that not only was the feedback from your presentation to our group exceptional, but staff from many departments are still talking about and USING the practical ideas you gave them (for students and their own kids). The Time Tracker program, the Get Ready-Do-Done(Get Done) and future sketching are being used in many spaces with amazing success. So just wanted to reach out and THANK YOU once again and let you know how helpful your information has been for us.”
“AMAZING – First in-service in 14 years being so practical. Finally, I walked away with so many tools to add to my tool box and no time was wasted on theory!”
I admit. I am a groupie! Ha! This is my 4th time hearing you and yet I still got not just one or two new tricks, but I learned many strategies. I love that you are so generous with sharing worksheets and materials. It really is cutting edge ideas to help my students!”
“Excellent material and content for all educators; applicable to all age groups and a wide range of needs within the populations we serve! All of our teachers from every grade benefitted”
“Love that it was not all theory, but application was the entire focus; plenty of examples that can be applied tomorrow!”
“You took a complex concept and broke it down so that I finally understood what the executive function skills are, how to explain it to families and teachers. More importantly I feel empowered to help my students! I loved learning how to use the content to write IEP goals”
“Attending the annual conference was an unforgettable experience. It was so helpful to learn about executive function and for the first time I really felt like someone understood what my family was going through. Finally, I have real help so I do not feel so afraid. I now know how to help my student really be independent.”
“Often I attend a conference and truthfully do not expect to get much new and expect to hear the same old same old ideas to help students with ADHD. I just need my ceu’s. Wow! Wow!! I learned SOOOO many completely new techniques of what to do to help the middle and high school students I work with! Can’t thank you enough!”
Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP has over 25 years of experience in the treatment of executive dysfunction. She is an internationally recognized expert on executive function and presents seminars on the practical strategies she has developed with her Co-Director, Kristen Jacobsen. Together, they created the 360 Thinking Executive Function Program, which received the Innovative Promising Practices Award from CHADD. Their latest work, The Time Tracker Program—a groundbreaking three-volume book series—has received high acclaim for its innovative approach to shifting students from adult-managed to self-regulated time management. Sarah has presented to over 2,000 public and private schools and organizations across the globe. In recognition of their international impact on executive function skills in education, Sarah and Kristen were named one of the Top 10 Professional Development Providers for 2023 by Education Technology Insights Magazine.