Inquiry Blog 3: Practitioner Article Connections-
Literature chart: Complete the literature chart below with at minimum three articles of
your choice.
Key quotes/ideas related to
Specific Ideas for taking
Article citation- APA 6th edition your wondering- include
action in your classroom
page numbers
Wilson, P. D. (2015, April 02). Strategies By wielding these skills
for strengthening the brain's executive and abilities, students
functions. Retrieved February 27, 2017, decide where to focus
from their attention and which
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies- tasks to undertake. (3rd
strengthening-brains-executive-functions- para.)
donna-wilson-marcus-conyers If students have difficulty
completing tasks on their
own, they may not have
executive functioning
skills.
In the same way,
executive functioning
allows us to: 1) activate
awareness, 2) self-
regulate by cueing,
directing, and
coordinating the various
cognitive skills necessary
for moment-to-moment
functioning, 3) establish
goals and make long-
term plans, 4) Maintain a
self-image of being in
charge of our learning
and actions.(para 5)
Cognitive assets,
metacognition, working
memory, and selective
attention.
Incorporating
instruction on executive
functions into content
lessons emphasizes that:
Teach students about
executive functioning.
Guide students in the
direction of taking
charge of their own
learning by teaching
them how to prioritize
their work.
Provide students with
a checklist for their
work with time limits
in the beginning. (like
my CT does).
Use a grid to see how
well students are
performing on
assignments and
whether they are
getting them done in a
timely manner or not.
Teach students to
track their work.
Eventually provide a
blank checklist and
have students fill it
out themselves.
Help those students
who do not have good
executive functioning
by constantly keeping
track of what they are
working on and telling
them when they need
 1) Students are in charge
of their learning. 2)
Honing their use of these
skills and abilities will
improve their
performance in school
and beyond. (para 6)
conductors of their own
brains (para 7)
Classroom Strategies
section (para 8)
1. Introduce the concept
to move on to the next
of executive
assignment.
functions and refer to
Provide project based
these learning tools
explicitly and often assignments for
2. Provide student- students who have
centered finished their
opportunities to put assignments for the
executive functioning day.
to work.
3. Be the prefrontal
cortex for your
class.
4. Catch students using
executive functions
effectively.
5. Clearly state
classroom rules that
support positive and
productive learning
interactions.

For young brains to Have students

retain information, they
MD, Willis, J. (2011, October 05). Three
need to apply it.(para 1)
brain-based teaching strategies to build
Students need to apply
executive function in students. Retrieved
March 06, 2017, from what they are learning in
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-based- order to place it into
teaching-strategies-judy-willis long-term memory.
Students need to connect
their new knowledge to
prior knowledge.
participate in group
discussions during
lessons.
Have students think
back to what they
previously learned
prior to starting a
lesson.
Connect new lessons
 Strategies: with old ones by
1. Provide opportunities reminding student of
to apply learning past concepts.
2. Introduce activities to Assess my students
support developing executive functioning
executive functioning with charts.
3. Model higher- Help students
thinking skills recognize patterns
Provide opportunities to Teach students to
apply learning: problem solve in
o Authentic, everyday situations.
meaningful activities Give students
o Formative feedback of what they
assessments and need to work on.
feedback throughout Give opportunities for
unit/lesson students to practice
o Extensive neural executive functioning.
circuits integrate new Teach students good
info when they are study habits,
a)simultaneously organization, and
activated and b)when priorities.
they recognize Model higher-level
patterns in
thinking skills.
common.(para 3)
o Students use learning
to solve problems
Introduce activities to
support developing
executive function:
o Explicitly teach and
give opportunities to
practice using
executive functions.
o Executive functions:
how to learn, study,
organize, prioritize,
review, and
participate.
o Activities: compare
and contrast,
examples, group
collaboration,
discussions.
 o Summarize,
symbolize, writing
across subjects, make
predictions, solve
problems, analyze.
o Students learn
executive functioning
when the problems
are important to
them.
Model higher thinking
skills:
o Judgement:
promotes a students
ability to monitor the
accuracy of his or her
work, and to analyze
the validity of
information heard or
read. (para 10)
o Prioritizing: helps
students separate low
relevance details
from the main ideas
of a text or topic of
study. (para 11)
o Setting goals,
providing self-
feedback and
monitoring
progress: they
need guidance to
recognize their
incremental progress
they make as they
apply effort towards
their larger goals.
(para 13)
o Prior knowledge
activation and
transfer
opportunities: Plan
activities where
 students can relate
what they know from
past experiences to
their current learning
and tie it to the larger
concept. (para 14)
o Metacognition:
Help them make the
connection that they
can build their
executive function off
long-term goal-
directed behavior
when they choose to
review and revise
their work. (para 16)

Prioritizing has two types Teach students to

of tasks: distinguishing
MD, Willis, J. (2016, March 07).
main ideas from low
Prioritizing: A critical executive function.
relevance ideas and
Retrieved March 6, 2017 from
knowing how to invest
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/prioritizing-
your time.
a-critical-executive-function-judy-willis
Important to build
prioritizing, time
management, and goal-
directed planning skills.
Teach students what
prioritizing is and what
should be prioritized.
Prioritizing relevance:
1. Recognize skills that
they already have.
o Have a class
discussion to
share strategies
for prioritizing.
2. Experience
prioritizing without
fear of being
wrong.
o Have students
find the big idea
prioritize by
explaining what it is
and telling them how I
prioritize lessons
throughout the day.
Explain to students
that they prioritize
every day without
thinking about it.
Have the students
share ways that they
prioritize.
Allow students to
prioritize on their own
and explain that
different people
prioritize things
differently.
Give them examples
and tell them to
prioritize, then explain
how I would prioritize
it.
Give students a
checklist in prioritized
 of a text or photo
3. Prioritize the best.
o Teach students to
prioritize based
on quality.
4. Work with redacted
notes.
o Give students
examples and
outline how to
prioritize
Prioritizing Goals in
Planning
o Prioritizing for
planning is what
order.
guides students to
Allow students to
evaluate the order in
track their prioritizing
which theyll
skills by giving them
approach parts of a
a grid and having
larger task, and which
them track whether
parts should get the
their way of
most time and
prioritizing worked
planning. (para 9)
o Allow students to that day.
prioritize on their
own and find out if
they prioritized
correctly.
o Allow students to
learn from their
prioritizing mistakes.
o Have students keep
track of their
prioritizing progress.
o Make time to teach
students how to
prioritize and for
students to practice.