Monthly Meeting Prep - May
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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April Monthly Meeting Prep
Topic: Executive Function - Building Cognitive Flexibility
As you know, we’ve been talking about Executive Function (EF) for the last several months. I won’t make another case for EF skills being among the most essential for student achievement and health. I’ve already done that a couple of times. I also won’t go into the developmental stages of executive function and how they relate to your students, because I’ve covered that previously as well.
In fact, here’s a quick list of links relating to my coverage of the topic thus far. Click and revisit as needed:
February - What is EF and why is it important?
March - The behavioral milestones of EF
You’ll recall that EF is composed of three subskills: inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. We covered inhibitory control last month, we’ll tackle cognitive flexibility(CF) this month, and we’ll round out our monthly meeting preps for the year in June by addressing working memory.
Disclaimer: I said this last month and I’ll say it again. I am not a neurobiologist. I don’t claim to be an expert in this domain. However, I’ve had an ongoing curiosity about CF (and EF in general) for years and have written about it and spoken about it at length. With that said, the research in this field is evolving. As you’re used to hearing, some recent research suggests that many interventions aren’t always effective as they’re made out to be. Such is our ongoing plight in trying to help students in real time with no guarantees of efficacy.
I’ve done no controlled trials, but I’ll make some suggestions here, and I believe they’re good ones. As always, you know your school, students, and community best. Edit as needed to meet your needs.
Overview: When we talk about cognitive flexibility, many educators assume that it’s a synonym for the popular term growth mindset. While the two do overlap, cognitive flexibility is more of a skill than a mindset. And, in research terms, you can address cognitive flexibility by understanding what it looks like when students exhibit this skill and what happens when they struggle with it.
Previously, we’ve defined cognitive flexibility as the following:
Cognitive Flexibility - the ability to move from one idea to the next and to adapt to changes in goals or perspectives
When students are able to employ CF skills, they can easily shift gears between concepts, they can adapt to changes in routines and objectives, and they are able to consider how someone else might approach a problem.
Conversely, when students lack CF, certain behaviors surface that we are all too familiar with in the classroom:
Struggling to change routines
“Black and white” or “rigid” thinking
An inability to apply different tools
Like many skills, we tend not to notice when students are particularly strong in an area, yet we are constantly aware when there is a lagging skill. The good news is, there are many approaches teachers can take to improve CF skills.
What’s the goal of this month’s MMP?
My goal is to provide you with information and resources to define CF with your staff, offer some examples, and prompt some brainstorming on how we can approach our teaching with CF growth in mind.
How to use this content:
Below, I’ve linked a six-minute video on cognitive flexibility that includes a good overview and a few helpful suggestions (even if it does have a very 1995 feel to it). I’ve also linked an article to review with your staff. It sets the stage for some robust brainstorming around ways to make our classrooms CF-friendly. Finally, you can use the PowerPoint file linked below to present the materials during an early release, late start, staff meeting, etc.
Step-by-Step Usage:
Show video below
Download the PowerPoint file below
Link to or print out the article noted below
Peruse (including presenter notes)
Edit as needed
Present away