90.5.5.3 An Execu t i v e F un c t i o n i ng p rog ram

f o r h i gh s c hoo l s t uden t s

W i l l i a m C o l e m a n S c h o o l P s y c h o l o g i s t &

L i c e n s e d E d u c a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g i s t

© William Coleman 2012. The 90.5.5.3 program may be duplicated for student use without permission. May not be sold and must be provided at no expense to client, student, or parent using program.

EFFORT AND NOW The two most important concepts in humanity

Effort and Now. Understand these concepts, and you are more likely to have food, shelter, and a car that starts when you want it to. Be unaware of these concepts, and you will have fun “hanging out” with your other unemployed friends, figuring out who is going to ask their mother for money for fries. Effort is the focused energy used to get something done. It is the attitude and behavior that gets things happening in the world. Whether it is making a sandwich or making a computer, it means that there is an end in sight,

and you will make it happen. “Now” is the only time anything ever happens. It’s not a promise to do something, or a hope, or a wish. Now is when work gets done. Getting up off the couch, out of the chair, off of the smartphone, in from the beautiful day—it happens NOW. Effort plus Now equals results, at least in this world. That’s the formula for success in everything you do. Or don’t do, if failure, hunger, and dependency is your goal. This program provides a simple structure, a minimalist structure, for students to get work done. Students who use this program report that

they understand, for the first time, what their job is. That’s nice. Their job isn’t too huge, but it is bigger than they thought. “Ninety minutes a day for homework? What? I didn’t have to do that in 6th grade!” Exactly. Time to grow up and do the work of an adult. Students respect that. This program respects them.

The program introduces the idea of “cloud” and “focus.” The cloud is where we live most of the time. It is a social place where we talk to our friends, listen to music, have fun. It is also the place where drama happens. “Focus” is the place where work gets done. It often means literally focusing on a page in a book, but sometimes it is focusing on a thought or idea. It can be hard work. Going from the cloud to focus can be difficult. So we help out by providing a form that is used every day to help the student ease into the work. That form is called “Daily.” The Executive Functioning term for this process is called “shift” because we have to shift between “out there” to “in here” to get real work done.

If you are a student, or someone helping a student get on-track, start with designing the three “workspaces.” Follow the guidelines for a binder, then a backpack, then a deskspace. Make a bunch of copies of the Daily and Master Work Order forms. They need one Daily form every day (brilliantly named, don’t you think?). They need three or four Master Work Order forms in their binder as they use that to write down all of their assignments. Make several copies of the Work Order self-assessment. This helps teach the student the flow of homework.

DESIGN YOUR THREE WORKSPACES:

BINDER, BACKPACK, AND DESKPACE.

MAKE IT YOUR. THEN GO THROUGH THE

RITUAL OF THE DAILY EXERCISE TO BRING

YOU OUT OF THE CLOUD AND INTO

FOCUS.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING Executive Functioning refers to the behaviors, thought to be controlled predominantly by the prefrontal cortex of the brain, of planning, organizing, monitoring (knowing how well or poorly you are doing at something), shift (changing between tasks, environments, even attitudes), attention (focus), and emotional control.

© William Coleman 2012. The 90.5.5.3 program may be duplicated for student use without permission. May not be sold and must be provided at no expense to client, student, or parent using program.

The more a student engages in homework, the more they are engaged in class. Then they become more able to get working on their homework, which makes them more engaged in class. It’s brilliant, isn’t it?

Please don’t get me wrong. Some homework is mindless repetition. Some teaching is not so exciting. But schools are improving curriculum and teacher training, including technology in everyday learning experiences and closely assessing how well students are learning what they are suppose to learn. But no matter, the teacher teaches, the student learns, and the

student practices in order to learn even more. That’s it. Case closed. It must be done.

If you begin this program in the middle of a semester or school year, you may still receive failing grades for that period if you haven’t been getting work done. But starting now means you are developing your skills as a successful student. Have courage. Start now.

I invite you to read through the entire program, read it again, follow the plan. But most importantly, get to work. Now.

90.5.5.3 In a nutshell

Graduating from high school seems simple, but it may be the hardest thing you have ever had to do. Here is the equation:

I want to graduate from high school +

I will work long and hard enough to get the work done =

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA Desire plus commitment equals success. Easy-peasy. Here is another equation:

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA +

Desire to go to college or job training =

Going to college or job training You see, you get to do college or job training just because you got your diploma.

Here’s the plan: Every day, follow the Daily list Do focused work for 90 minutes every night 5 nights a week with 5 minutes of planning and organizing what you will do Review the Work Order (assignment) Flow Design your 3 workspaces and keep them in perfect order:

o Backpack o Binder o Workspace

Take 5 minute breaks every 30 or 40 minutes (more frequently when you start this), but the 90 minutes is actual work time. There you have it. So here is the BIG picture: 1. Your teachers teach you in class. Be taught. 2. They tell you what to do for homework so that you can practice what they teach you. 3. You do the homework. 4. You pass the class.

90.5.5.3 When you are ready to get the work done.

Daily Why?

The Daily form helps you get from there to here. There is the “cloud.” Not really a cloud, but it’s everything that happens that isn’t focused work. Talking with your friends, listening to music, texting, having fun. That’s in the cloud. It is also the place where drama happens. You know about drama. That’s where it happens. Work isn’t done in the cloud. Writing, reading, thinking, planning, organizing: that is all done in “focus”. It is the place adults go to get things done, and it isn’t always comfortable to get there. But you are an adult, pretty much, and it’s time for you to get serious about getting work done. Imagine what it’s like to start school in your first class in the morning. You go from the big world to having to focus…and many students have a hard time shifting to the work of the first class. Then there is after lunch—after you have been with your friends, had something to eat, made plans. Now you’ve got to work. Not so easy, right? Going through planning and organizing actually helps your brain ease into work. The most successful adults do this without

even knowing that’s what they are doing. But you do…because I just told you. And here is one of the best things about easing into “focus”: You get a break from social/friend/family drama. Every day, go through the Daily form. It is a ritual, and your brain loves rituals. Go through the list. Do each assignment in order. Keep track of your time, and don’t forget short breaks. Short = 5 minutes. Worst thing about this: You have to turn off all communications devices. Multi-tasking (doing more than one thing at a time) doesn’t work. Research says that if you spend 90 minutes on work while multi-tasking, you wasted 75% of your time, meaning it was like working just 22 minutes. You need to do work in “focus,” not the cloud. Best thing about doing this, you get what you want. If what you want is to graduate. If that is not what you want, this isn’t for you. But you wouldn’t have gotten to this point if you weren’t ready. To work.

90.5.5.3 When you are ready to get the work done.

Daily

Backpack emptied. Totally.

All books and binder are in workspace.

Review assignments and projects on Work Order List

Priorit ize (what is due tomorrow first, projects you are working on second) Do first Do second Do third Do fourth

Rearrange books by priority

Decide how long until you take a break

Work.

Date __________________

DESIGN YOUR brain

That’s weird. What? I’ll summarize a HUGE amount of brain research that has been done in the past few years. It will help you. In fact, it could change your life:

You have a fixed mindset Or

You have a growth mindset And

You can change your mindset Again, what? A fixed mindset says that failure sucks every time it happens. A D or an F means you are a loser—always have been, always will be. Give up now, loser. Loser. A growth mindset says that failure is important and that every D or F is important because it tells you that you haven’t worked hard enough…yet. That’s it. Read the next page and you may not feel like such a failure if you can learn from it.

Working hard is more important than being “smart.” Brilliant, high IQ students and adults think they are awesome all the time. No, the people who do the best in life are those who show: Effort. The single most important thing in all of humanity, ever. Effort means you start working (one of the hardest things for many people to do), keep working (again, hard to do), and work until the job is done. In school, it means:

o Start your homework. o Continue working, with breaks. o Don’t stop until you know the material.

When you get a poor grade, people who are most successful say to themselves (after they say, “Crap, I wish that was better”): “What more could I do, what more do I need to learn?” Then they go do what they need to do to do better. Practice doing that. Every time you do something well, or when you come up short. Your results (grades) mean something about your effort, not about whether or not you are good, or smart, or a loser.

DESIGN YOUR BINDER

You have lots of options. You could get a big binder (over 1 ½ inches) with a pocket on the front and put pictures of people you care about. Consider at least one picture of the person who is buying you all of your stuff (food, clothes, this binder) right now. Think about it. Or you could use a simple, black, 1 1/2 inch binder. Get a pocket section to hold your incoming stuff on one side (the stuff your teacher gives you to work on) and your outgoing stuff on the other (the work you are done with). Get a bunch of binder paper, a bunch of the 90.5.5.3 forms. You're done. Oh, one other thing: get an envelope foldery-thing to carry projects, stuff you are suppose to read--the stuff that would mess up your backpack, if it could. Don't let it. To summarize:

o A binder, decorated or not. o A pocket section with a space on each side to hold papers. o Binder paper. o Master Work Orders Sheets. o Daily Sheets. o A separate foldery thing to carry handouts and loose papers.

DESIGN YOUR BACKPACK

It's pretty basic, and it doesn't have to be expensive. If you get to buy a new one, get one that's just big enough. Make it yours by decorating it. Or keep it plain. But the real trick in designing your backpack is keeping it organized. It's easy. Clean it out completely every day. Every day. Take everything out. Do your homework using the Daily form. Put everything back, all cleaned up. Every day.

DESIGN YOUR WORKSPACE

You need your own place to work. The world doesn't owe you much, but you should be able to get your little bit of space to get your work done.

o A sheet of plywood on top of two chairs. o Your place at the dinner table, before and after dinner. o A TV tray. o A Pottery Barn desk in your room. o A space at the dining table while your mother watches

over you. o A desk in your Biology class after school. o The desk your parents got you in 3rd grade.

NOT your bed. NOT the couch in front of the TV. NOT the floor. Decide where it is. Supply it. Know that it is where you will get your business done. Be there.

Workspace Supplies

Light. Chair. Pen, pencil, paper. Figure out where you will have access to the Internet and where you can type and print your papers. Save your work on a memory stick or the web. If you can, get pictures (photos, things you cut out of magazines that you like, drawings…visual things that are special to you) and put them in your workspace. Now that you have found your (work)place in the world, describe it:

W o r k O r d e r P r o c e s s

1   • Write down assignment �

2   • Understand assignment�

3   • Review all work orders �

4   • Begin working �

5   • Check for quality�

6   • Finish ALL work orders �

7   • Turn in work when due �

8   • Record when turned it in�

WORK ORDER Self-Assessment

For 3 days, check off this sheet at the end of each day to tell you where things break down. Then fix it. (In case you were wondering, we call assignments “work orders” because that’s what they call work in the adult world. Since you are almost there, we thought we’d get you use to it.)

Followed class instruction during most of the period. Knew it was about time for teacher to give an assignment or

project. Turned to Work Order page Listened when teacher gave assignment. Write down assignment. Wrote date assignment was given. Wrote date it was due. Understood assignment. Had all necessary information to get work done. Layed out materials on workspace. Reviewed all assignments. Prioritized. Began work. Took short (5 minute) breaks. Returned to work after breaks. Stopped when work was ALL done. Put away all materials where they belong. Returned work when due. Checked off work was done on Work Order page. Wrote down grade when assignment returned

MASTER Work Order LIST

Date Work Order Due In Grade

DESIGN YOUR PARENT

Give this to your mom, dad, guardian, grandparent—whoever buys you food and gives you soap to wash your clothes. Your student has been shown a simple, effective program for getting school work done. It involves work. Almost every night, for 90 minutes. It also involves planning and keeping track of what they are doing and should be doing. Look over the stuff we gave them. It’s pretty simple, right? Please don’t tell them you’ve said all this before. That will be our little secret, okay? Rules for you:

o Turn off the TV while your child is doing homework. o Don’t yell at them. We’ve all tried. It doesn’t work. o Have the entire home do work when your child is doing

homework. o Write something. Read a book. Do a craft project. But no

electronics. o Keep things calm in your home always. If they aren’t, fix it.

Rules for them:

o Limit TV and other electronics during the week to an hour a night max.

o No yelling. o Good effort gets rewarded. Grades? Meh. But hard work

counts! o No continuous engagement with electronics. It kills their

motivation. o You get your work done before you get good stuff. Period.

Turn off the TV while your child is doing their homework. There, I said it. If your student is having difficulty with focusing on their homework, you have to act differently. You have to act like the focus of the entire home is about getting work done. When your student is doing their homework or project, do work that is important to you. That does not include entertainment. Computer, iPad, TV, stereo, talking to your friends…none of that provides a model for work. If you are doing work on the computer, okay, you win. But you could also read, work on a craft project—anything that isn’t a distraction and models work to your child. You are tired at the end of the day. You want a break. You deserve a break. But have your break be a quiet learning activity, or take your break later. You see, this is what you signed up for, right?