Lesson Plan
Executive Functioning Lesson Plan
Students will be able to define executive functioning, identify its key components (e.g., planning, organization, time management), and explain how these skills are vital for academic success and daily life as college freshmen.
Understanding executive functioning helps college freshmen develop self-awareness about their learning and behavior, providing them with tools to manage academic demands, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being. It empowers them to take control of their learning journey.
Audience
Undergraduate Students
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Interactive introduction, direct instruction, guided discussion, and reflective activities.
Materials
Smartboard or projector, Whiteboard or chart paper, Markers, Executive Functioning Slide Deck, Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges, Journal: My Executive Toolkit, and Lesson Script: Executive Functioning Intro
Prep
Teacher Preparation
15 minutes
- Review the Executive Functioning Slide Deck to familiarize yourself with the content.
- Print copies of the Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges (or prepare for digital distribution).
- Prepare to project the Executive Functioning Slide Deck.
- Review the Lesson Script: Executive Functioning Intro to ensure a smooth delivery.
- Ensure all technology (projector, computer) is working correctly.
Step 1
Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges
5 minutes
- Distribute the Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges handout to each student.
2. Instruct students to take 2-3 minutes to individually complete the warm-up, reflecting on situations where they've felt disorganized or struggled with planning.
3. After 3 minutes, ask students to share one observation or challenge from their warm-up with a partner for 1 minute.
4. Bring the class back together and ask a few students to briefly share common themes or interesting insights with the whole class. (Teacher Note: This activity serves as a bridge to introduce executive functioning.)
Step 2
Introduction to Executive Functioning
8 minutes
- Use the Executive Functioning Slide Deck (Slides 1-3) to introduce the concept of executive functioning as the brain's "control center."
2. Explain that these are the mental skills that help us get things done, plan for the future, and manage our behavior.
3. Present the core components of executive functioning: planning, organization, time management, task initiation, working memory, and impulse control.
4. Provide brief, relatable college-specific examples for each component (e.g., planning a research paper, organizing notes, managing a study schedule).
5. Facilitate a brief Q&A session to check for initial understanding.
Step 3
Why Executive Functioning Matters in College
7 minutes
- Transition to the importance of executive functioning in a college setting using the Executive Functioning Slide Deck (Slides 4-5).
2. Discuss how strong executive functioning skills lead to better academic performance, reduced stress, and improved personal well-being.
3. Engage students in a short group discussion (think-pair-share or whole class) about how they think executive functioning skills could help them navigate specific college challenges (e.g., balancing classes and social life, meeting deadlines, avoiding procrastination).
4. Encourage students to share their initial thoughts and experiences.
Step 4
Building Your Executive Toolkit
5 minutes
- Introduce the idea that executive functioning skills can be developed and strengthened (Slide 6 of the Executive Functioning Slide Deck).
2. Briefly touch upon practical strategies: using planners, breaking down large tasks, setting reminders, creating routines.
3. Explain that this is just an introduction, and they will explore more strategies in future sessions or through individual effort.
Step 5
Cool-Down: My Executive Toolkit
5 minutes
- Distribute or display the Journal: My Executive Toolkit prompt.
2. Instruct students to take 3-4 minutes to reflect and write down one executive functioning skill they want to improve and one small step they can take this week to work on it.
3. Collect the journals or allow students to keep them for personal reflection. This serves as an exit ticket and a personal commitment to initial skill development.
Slide Deck
Your Brain's Control Center: Executive Functioning
Ever wonder how you get things done? How you plan your week? Or why sometimes it feels hard to start a task? Let's explore!
Welcome students and introduce the topic. Explain that today we'll be looking at how our brains help us manage our daily tasks and academic lives.
What is Executive Functioning?
Think of it as your brain's 'control center' or 'personal assistant'!
These are the mental skills that help you:
- Plan & Organize
- Manage Time & Tasks
- Stay Focused & Finish What You Start
- Control Impulses & Adapt to Change
They are essential for navigating college life!
Introduce Executive Functioning as the 'CEO of the brain.' Emphasize that these are skills, not personality traits, and can be developed. Use the examples provided in the body or generate your own relatable college examples.
Key Executive Functioning Skills
- Planning: Setting goals and figuring out how to reach them.
- College Example: Outlining a paper, mapping out a study schedule.
- Organization: Keeping track of materials, information, and tasks.
- College Example: Organizing notes, maintaining a tidy workspace.
- Time Management: Estimating time, prioritizing, and meeting deadlines.
- College Example: Allocating time for assignments, studying, social life.
- Task Initiation: Starting tasks without excessive procrastination.
- College Example: Beginning a challenging reading assignment.
- Working Memory: Holding information in your mind to use it.
- College Example: Remembering instructions for a group project.
- Impulse Control: Thinking before acting or speaking.
- College Example: Avoiding distractions like social media during study time.
Break down the core components. Give a brief, student-friendly explanation for each. Connect them to college life. For example, 'Working memory is remembering what your professor just said for your notes.'
Why Does This Matter for College Success?
College isn't just about intelligence; it's about managing your learning!
Strong executive functioning skills help you:
- Manage your workload effectively.
- Meet deadlines consistently.
- Study efficiently and retain information.
- Reduce stress and feel more in control.
- Balance academics, social life, and personal well-being.
Transition to why these skills are particularly important in college. College demands more self-directed learning. Ask students to think about how these skills might directly impact their current college experience.
Real-World College Challenges
Think about your classes, assignments, and daily routines.
- Where do you already use these skills effectively?
- Where might stronger executive functioning skills make a difference for you?
- What's one challenge you face where a better 'control center' could help?
Facilitate a short discussion here. Ask students to share an example of a time they struggled with one of these skills, or how they see these skills applying to a current challenge.
Building Your Executive Toolkit
The good news? Executive functioning skills aren't fixed! You can strengthen them with practice and strategy.
It's like exercising a muscle – the more you work on it, the stronger it gets.
Today was an introduction; we'll continue to explore practical tools and techniques to boost your 'brain's control center'!
Conclude by emphasizing that these are learnable skills. Encourage a growth mindset. Mention that this is just an introduction and there are many strategies to explore. Refer to the upcoming cool-down activity.
Warm Up
Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges
Welcome to college! It's an exciting time, but also one where you're juggling a lot. Sometimes, it feels like our brains are working overtime trying to keep everything straight.
Take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions. There are no right or wrong answers, just your honest thoughts.
1. Describe a recent situation where you felt overwhelmed or disorganized with your academic tasks (e.g., managing assignments, studying for multiple exams, keeping track of readings).
2. Have you ever put off starting an important assignment until the last minute? What made it difficult to get started earlier?
3. In what areas of your daily college life do you find it challenging to plan ahead, stay focused, or manage your time effectively?
Journal
Journal: My Executive Toolkit
Today, we learned about Executive Functioning and how our brain acts as a 'control center' for important skills like planning, organization, and time management. Now it's your turn to reflect on what this means for you.
1. Looking at the different executive functioning skills (planning, organization, time management, task initiation, working memory, impulse control), which one do you feel is your strongest asset right now as a college student? Why?
2. Which executive functioning skill do you believe would be most beneficial for you to improve or develop further to enhance your college success?
3. What is one small, concrete step you can take this week to start improving that skill? (Be specific! For example, if it's 'planning,' you might say 'I will use my planner for all assignments and social events.')
Script
Lesson Script: Your Brain's Control Center
Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges (5 minutes)
Teacher: "Good morning, everyone! Or afternoon! Welcome. Today we're going to dive into something incredibly useful for your college journey, something that impacts how you manage your studies, your time, and even your stress levels. We're going to talk about your brain's 'control center.'"
Teacher: "To start, I've handed out a quick warm-up called Warm-Up: Daily Brain Challenges. Please take about two to three minutes to read through the questions and jot down your honest reflections. There are no right or wrong answers, just what you genuinely feel."
(Allow 2-3 minutes for students to write.)
Teacher: "Alright, now that you've had a moment to think individually, turn to a partner next to you. In the next minute, share just one observation or challenge you wrote down. What's something that resonated with you or felt a bit challenging to manage?"
(Allow 1 minute for quick partner sharing.)
Teacher: "Okay, let's bring it back together. Any common themes or interesting insights anyone would like to briefly share with the whole class? What did you and your partner discuss?"
(Facilitate a brief class share-out. Acknowledge and validate student experiences. Connect their experiences to the idea of managing tasks and planning.)
Introduction to Executive Functioning (8 minutes)
Teacher: "Thank you for sharing! What many of you just described—those moments of feeling overwhelmed, struggling to get started, or trying to juggle multiple responsibilities—these are all deeply connected to something called executive functioning."
(Advance to Executive Functioning Slide Deck - Slide 1 & 2)
Teacher: "Think of executive functioning as your brain's 'control center,' or your 'personal assistant.' These aren't about how smart you are, but about how you manage what you know and what you need to do. They are the mental skills that help you get things done, plan for the future, and manage your behavior effectively."
Teacher: "There are several key executive functioning skills, and they all work together. Let's look at a few crucial ones that are super important for college success."
(Advance to Executive Functioning Slide Deck - Slide 3)
Teacher: "We have:
- Planning: This is about setting goals and figuring out the steps to reach them. For example, when you get a big research paper, planning is about breaking it down into smaller parts: choosing a topic, finding sources, outlining, drafting."
- Organization: Keeping your materials, information, and tasks in order. This might mean organizing your notes, keeping your digital files structured, or maintaining a tidy study space."
- Time Management: Estimating how long tasks will take, prioritizing what needs to be done, and meeting deadlines. This is crucial when you have multiple assignments due in different classes."
- Task Initiation: The ability to start tasks without excessive procrastination. Ever stared at an empty document for an hour? That's where task initiation comes in!
- Working Memory: This is your mental scratchpad – holding information in your mind to use it. Like remembering the steps for a complex math problem or instructions for a group project."
- Impulse Control: Thinking before acting or speaking. In college, this can mean resisting the urge to check social media every five minutes when you should be studying, or thinking through the consequences of a decision."
Teacher: "Any initial questions about these skills? Do any of them sound particularly familiar to your own experiences?"
(Allow a moment for questions or quick comments.)
Why Executive Functioning Matters in College (7 minutes)
Teacher: "So, why are we talking about this in college? Because college isn't just about how intelligent you are; it's profoundly about managing your learning and your life independently. No one is going to remind you about every deadline or tell you exactly how to study for every exam anymore."
(Advance to Executive Functioning Slide Deck - Slide 4)
Teacher: "Strong executive functioning skills are your secret weapon for success. They help you:
- Manage your workload effectively.
- Meet deadlines consistently.
- Study efficiently and retain information.
- Reduce stress and feel more in control.
- And importantly, balance your academics with your social life and personal well-being."
(Advance to Executive Functioning Slide Deck - Slide 5)
Teacher: "Let's do a quick think-pair-share or open discussion. Think about your current classes, assignments, or even just your daily routines. Where do you already use these skills effectively? And more importantly, where do you think stronger executive functioning skills could make a real difference for you in navigating specific college challenges? What's one challenge you face where a better 'control center' could help?"
(Allow 2-3 minutes for discussion, encouraging students to share practical examples.)
Building Your Executive Toolkit (5 minutes)
Teacher: "That was great discussion, thank you. The really good news about executive functioning skills is that they are not fixed. You're not born with a set amount of these skills that you're stuck with. Just like exercising a muscle, you can strengthen these skills with practice, intention, and strategy."
(Advance to Executive Functioning Slide Deck - Slide 6)
Teacher: "Today was just an introduction to understanding what executive functioning is and why it's so important for your success here. In future sessions, or through resources you might seek out, you'll explore practical tools and techniques to boost your 'brain's control center.' Things like using planners effectively, breaking down large tasks, setting reminders, and creating consistent routines can all make a huge difference."
Cool-Down: My Executive Toolkit (5 minutes)
Teacher: "To wrap up our session today, I'd like you to take a few minutes for a personal reflection. I've got a Journal: My Executive Toolkit prompt for you. Think about what we've discussed."
(Distribute or display Journal: My Executive Toolkit.)
Teacher: "On your journal sheet, please write down: one executive functioning skill you want to improve, and one small, concrete step you can take this week to start working on it. Be specific!"
(Allow 3-4 minutes for students to write.)
Teacher: "You can keep these journals for your own reflection, or if you prefer, you can hand them in as you leave. Thank you all for your engagement today. I hope this introduction helps you think differently about how you approach your college journey. Have a great rest of your day!"