Monthly Meeting Prep - April
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 …
Prologue: I wanted to give a little context to this month’s MMP. We’ve been talking about Executive Function (EF) for the last three months. I’ve stated before that I don’t think there are any silver bullets in education. We work in a far too nuanced landscape for any one-size-fits-all solutions to anything.
However, EF gets about as close as possible to being pure magic. Or, at least, it’s such an essential ingredient to student success and so seldomly discussed that I wanted to spend a substantial amount of time covering it.
In February, we covered an overview of EF. In March, we discussed some behavioral milestones of EF. This month, we will begin to talk about building some EF skills in the classroom.
Disclosure: I want to state that I am not a formal expert in this domain. (I don’t suppose I would be unless I were a neuroscientist.)
That said, I’ve spent a few hundred hours reading, writing, and speaking about EF in the classroom over the last few years. It’s become a fascination of mine, and I enjoy pursuing it on my own time. I’m a curious adventurer. And I hope that curiosity becomes contagious.
I’ll suggest how we can build EF skills in school buildings. Some experiments have been done in this area, and I’ll cite them where relevant. However, many of these suggestions are simply that. They’re educated guesses. Please make an informed decision based on your professional discretion on what might work for your school community.
And now, on with the show …
April Monthly Meeting Prep
Topic: Executive Function - Building Inhibitory Control
Overview: I’m not going to go into another recap of EF, since we’ve covered that in previous emails (specifically February’s, which you can find here). However, I’ll remind you that researchers breakup EF into three different skills:
Inhibitory Control - The ability to ignore a distraction and control both impulsive and learned responses.
Cognitive Flexibility - The ability to move from one idea to the next and to adapt to changes in goals or perspectives.
Working Memory - The ability to keep and utilize information over a short period of time.
Today, we will examine the first component - inhibitory control (IC). I hope to cover cognitive flexibility and working memory in future emails.
Why I chose this topic:
I’m covering IC because it’s one of the three components and needs to be covered, but it’s also my favorite.
The truth is, no research says one component of EF is better than the other two. That said, one very well-known study looked at the impact of IC, also known as “self-control.”
The longitudinal study examined 1,000 kids born in the same hometown and their life circumstances from birth through age 32. Researchers were able to successfully track more than 90 percent of participants over this long period, making it a very reliable study.
Researchers also accounted for possible contributing factors that could have skewed comparisons, such as IQ, family life, socio-economic status, etc. That means that any positive or negative outcome could not be attributed to these factors, or, if they were, they were accounted for in the statistical analysis. In the study, it’s easy to see how self-control correlates with the results.
The study found that individuals with low self-control at ages 3-11, as adults, were
less happy
had worse health
made significantly less money
had committed more crimes by age 32
So, although there aren’t any corollary studies on working memory or cognitive flexibility, it’s definitely not a stretch to say that inhibitory control is quite possibly the most important factor for long-term health.
What’s the goal of this month’s MMP?
I think we’ve already established that EF is critical. Thankfully, beginning to strengthen these skills is possible. I’ll provide you with some suggested ways to do this, and your staff will have the opportunity to brainstorm how to incorporate some of these approaches in their own rooms.
How to use this content:
Below, I’ve linked to a video from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child describing how adults and children build executive function skills. The video broadly discusses what’s needed to support the development of EF skills.
In the PowerPoint linked below, I’ve outlined several possibilities for activities that can support inhibitory control in the classroom. Again, note that I’m not claiming this will directly build inhibitory control; they are just suggestions.
On the final pages, your staff can continue brainstorming, similar to last month’s activity.
Step-by-Step Usage:
Show video below
Download the PowerPoint file below
Peruse (including presenter notes)
Edit as needed
Present away