Monthly Meeting Prep - March (Free for All)
Hi there,
Welcome once again to Monthly Meeting Prep - a monthly message with ready-to-use resources on relevant topics for your professional development needs. They might serve as a “PD Moment” at the beginning of a faculty meeting, discussion material for a late start or early release time, or thought-provoking content for leadership meetings.
As a quick reminder, we always try to include the following:
An editable PowerPoint file with pre-loaded prompts or discussion questions
A video that offers a unique perspective and can always be applied in the classroom or improve professional practice
Links to resources to extend the session as needed, including things like:
relevant articles
additional videos
recommended discussion protocols
On to this month’s content …
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March Monthly Meeting Prep
Topic: Executive Function - Behavioral Milestones
Overview: You’ll recall that we took our initial dive into Executive Function (EF) and its importance in the classroom. If you missed it, go back and have a look here.
I received such positive feedback last month that I thought we’d do a three or four-month series on EF. Last month’s newsletter tackled the intro, this month, we’ll look at some EF developmental milestones that will help us better understand our students, and next month we’ll talk about some classroom strategies.
What are EF Behavioral Milestones?
If you missed last month’s brief overview of EF, you can review it here. (Note: Even if you’re not a paid subscriber, you can still access this portion of last month’s newsletter).
This month, we’re looking at the dynamic changes in EF as they relate to different behavioral milestones. Why is this important? Most educators erroneously believe that students are “stuck” by the time they arrive in their classroom. They presume that EF skills are either supported and developed in early childhood, or it’s simply too late.
As we’ll see this week, this couldn’t be further from the truth. To be sure, early childhood is a crucial period in terms of things like cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. But simply because these skills lag at an early developmental stage does not mean that students will remain stagnant. (We’ll discuss how to “catch students up” in greater detail next month).
Indeed, we’ll discuss how EF doesn’t stop developing until early adulthood and how adolescence is a “renaissance” where students can experience dynamic growth.
Below, you’ll see a video from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child that provides a brief overview of the complexity of EF skill development and use from an early age. In today’s slideshow, we’ll review the following stages:
Late Infancy - Children begin exhibiting the first signs of persistence toward accomplishing goals
Late Toddler/Preschool - Children start learning to control responses and hold rules in their working memories
Elementary School Age - Students can exhibit astonishing facility in responding to very complicated expectations in the classroom
These expectations can be much more complex than most educators imagine, which is what we’ll address in this month’s activity
Adolescence - Students begin to navigate social situations that require real-time mental re-assessment in multi-variate, complex scenarios
What’s the goal of this month’s MMP?
Last month, I made the case for the importance of understanding Executive Function. This month, I want to raise awareness about how much our students are already doing regarding EF. Oftentimes, we label students as “deficient” in a particular skill - even if subconsciously - without recognizing how much they’re already doing. The exercises in this month’s presentation will help teachers to identify and categorize some of the ways in which their students already possess and employ complex EF skills.
Realizing that our students are already hard at work on a long continuum is an essential first step in helping them grow. As mentioned, we’ll cover more classroom-specific strategies next month.
How to use this content:
I typically include content and activities that are about 25 minutes in length. You could certainly breeze through the content and keep it to that - there are less than ten slides, and the video is only 5 minutes long.
However, those wanting to dive deeper will find that the slides are more dense than usual, and the presenter’s notes are packed with helpful info. I’ve also included a works cited slide to reference some of the more academic work.
Finally, I’ve created a printable PDF accompanying the partner work in the presentation. Since this month is a bit more time-consuming, the protocol is simplified. Nothing fancier than a think-pair-(document)-share, but I believe you’ll find it effective.
Show the video
Download this PowerPoint file (Note: I highly recommend downloading the file and opening it in PowerPoint rather than Google Slides)
Peruse (including presenter notes)
Download this PDF and print it for use with the “Think-Pair-(Document)-Share” activity on slide nine
Edit as needed
Present away
Resources for extensions:
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard: A Guide to Executive Function
Great site with tons of videos and resources. We’ll probably use some of this content as a basis for future MMP emails, but dive in now if you’re interested.
Like the report mentioned at the beginning of this email, this is a dense paper. If you have the time, however, it’s worth the read. Lots of good data and timelines on how EF develops through early childhood and into adolescence. If you’re a secondary educator, page 9 may be of particular interest.
Executive Function in the Classroom Full Module
If you’ve downloaded the Classroom Management modules I’ve provided to paid subscribers previously, you’re familiar with the size and type of content in our PowerPoint products. This is a module specifically on Executive Function. It’s packed with research (over 20 scholarly references), it’s editable, and it has activities for elementary and secondary classrooms. This isn’t meant to be a sales pitch, but you can download it for 50% off by using code MMPFeb (I know it’s March - we’ve extended the discount) or clicking on this link. The discount will also work for all other modules, including our SEL module.
I hope you enjoy this month’s meeting prep! As always, feel free to respond with any feedback or advice.
Thanks,
Mike