Mentality 

 

Shifting to a new mentality is vital to EF improvement. We work with students to uncover the reasons why they may desire more control over their self-management. Mentality shifts entail overcoming impulsiveness, anxiety, burn-out, and immobilization. We give students the psychological tools to rebound from setbacks, develop resilience, and act resourcefully in seeking help. 

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This is a soul-searching phase that helps students discover their own idiosyncratic bonds to the goal of academic accomplishment. Students are led to foster and embrace that core sense of purpose.

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    Surroundings

 

EF coaching encourages a student to consider how place affects their competence. This aspect involves clearing a set of sacred study zones, but it also involves deeper reflection on other facets of context: who are the best people—be it teachers, friends or family—to emulate? Which life situations and social settings nourish higher functioning?

 

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    Organizational Skills

 

We teach students how to effectively use planners and reminders. Organization also involves learning how to prioritize assignments and strategize an approach to a mountain of tasks. It involves innovating methods for keeping organized within a single large project, such as an essay. 

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This component is not only about establishing effective systems that work for the particular student but illuminating ways for learners to find and crave satisfaction in the rewards that organization bestows.

 

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    Time Management

 

Time can feel both formless and constrictive for high schoolers struggling with EF. Our time management component helps students rethink their approach to life’s “time budget.” This involves:

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• maintaining sleep hygiene

• creating constructive and clearly delineated breaks

• learning how to estimate the time it will take to complete a task avoiding“time drains” like procrastination, absent or ineffective procedures, and misplaced priorities.

 

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    Task Completion

 

Students may not fully understand the tasks at hand, so learning how to interpret instructions is aalso vital to this domain of EF. Essential skills for consistent task completion include not only the task itself, but analyzing the steps it took to fulfill the task and knowing when it’s finished. We help students recognize and replicate the fundamentals of these processes. 

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The implementation of successful task accomplishment systems also involves teaching students how to create their own rewards systems. Amplifying the good feeling of achievement, rather than viewing it merely as a relief, ensures repetition.

 

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    Working Memory 

 

“Working memory” describes the academic equivalent of patting your head while rubbing your belly at the same time. Students who struggle with working memory find it difficult to stretch their attention span over multiple dimensions of a task simultaneously, such as remembering to annotate a reading passage while reading the passage itself or keeping track of rules for negative numbers while balancing an algebraic equation.

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With a series of exercises and tactics, we help students learn how to perform the juggling act of working memory that is often critical to task completion.

 

 

   

    Accountability

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Ultimately, we lead students to link their core sense of purpose to a drive for self-accountability. Teachers, parents, and tutors are all stakeholders who hold students accountable to their schoolwork, but only when students find the power to hold themselves accountable do they truly thrive in their academic endeavors.