What is Executive Function? 5 Challenges ND Teachers Face (and Solutions That Actually Work)

It was almost time for the first period to begin in the school where I worked.

I’d gotten there early enough to start setting up before the first period. 

I went to the door to greet my class. 

You know the one I’d set the room up for?

The one that always listens, smiles, turns while I walked through the room.

The one that was gentle with the instruments? 

Yeah, that one.

Well much to my surprise, that was definitely not the group that was waiting for me. 

That’s because it wasn’t Red Day. 

It was… 

(cue lights)

Orange Day.

(audible gasp)

It was zero minutes left until class started, and I still had the most fragile, newest, most expensive instruments out ready to go.

As in sitting on the floor right for when students walked in.

I cringe just remembering this.

My inconsistent planning skills were once again to blame for this colossal mistake. 

The neurotypical folx may say something like, “That happens to everyone!”

And yeah, okay, that may be partially true. 

Just like it may happen that you leave a light on by accident. 

Or you forget to pickup trash bags next time you go to the store. 

(Who, me? Nah.)

But when you’re nd, especially if you’re a teacher, the fallout is a lot harder.

It creates more extensive damage. 

Much like with the emotional sensitivity many of us possess.

But first, let’s talk about just what are these so-called executive functions.

(Mine should have been fired a while ago… What would you call yours, if not executives?)

Understanding Executive Functions

Sometimes referred to as adulting skills, these are the skills and abilities that help us manage our lives. 

These skills are kind of automatically learned for neurotypical people.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that for people whose brains function in the traditional sense, these brain-based management skills don’t need explicit instruction. 

Or if they do need some teaching, it's easier to learn and act on later.

Children grow up and learn that in order to leave for school on time, they have to go to bed on time. 

By adulthood they may have overslept once or twice.

But their brains let them accurately remember what happened.

They could easily see all the steps that led to the late departure.

So next time, it was fairly simple to make other choices.

To get a more favorable outcome.

They can use that information to accurately predict, without an obscene amount of effort, what will happen.

But for the rest of us neurodiverse types, especially when late-diagnosed, it just doesn’t work like that. 

Executive Functions in Daily Life

Let me break this down for you.

My brain had missed a step (or two, but let's go with one for now).

In my struggle to focus and get everything ready for the day, I had missed a crucial bit of info.

That info was, of course, what day it was.

You see, my school had a six-day rotating schedule.

(Which I am actually not knocking. I really preferred it for a lot of reasons. And perhaps due to my anxiety-ridden checking, I usually didn’t mess this up.)

This meant that there were always two sets of days to be watching:

• The real-time day of the week (e.g., Monday), and
• The sequential day within the rotation

Hence my chagrin at the incorrect color. 

In my case that extra layer was labeled by rotating rainbow colors.

It could have been numbers, or pets, or fruits.

But in our case it was the Rainbow Schedule. 

Sounds kinda silly now that I think about it. 

Anyhoo…

How Do Executive Functions Show Up for Teachers?

So like what is my point? 

I’m getting there, prahmiss.

As you could see in my opening story, my planning was a little off that day.

There were multiple reasons for this, but executive functions were among the most fundamental of them.

Probably most everyone knows that teachers are responsible for lesson planning.

But how many people understand how difficult it is to plan when you have ADHD?

For those of us neurodiverse teachers, a deficit in this skill alone is enough to completely upend someone's day.

Am I right?

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Here are a few of the ways faulty executive functions may impact you as a teacher.

Prioritization

For me, most things tend to feel urgent. 

This makes deciding what to do next tricky.

Should I put out this fire or that one?

A lot of times when I was teaching it came down to taking care of what was immediately in front of me. 

Now that could be calling on the kid with their hand up.

Even though I know what they’re going to tell me. 

And we already talked about this issue at least five times this morning alone.

Or, it could be remembering to grab the pair of claves another teacher needed to borrow.

And putting them by the door so she could grab them when getting her class.

Or so I could remember to give them to her.

Anyway, obviously I will call on the child with their hand up. 

But that means the clave situation may or may not get resolved. 

Time Management

Has someone ever told you, “At least you get off work before 5 pm!” 

Does it make you want to sucker punch them? 

Kidding…kinda. 

This is because using time wisely is such a complicated beast for us. 

If I were to count the number of times I was completely caught up on lesson planning, for example?

I’d be done now because it never happened. 

How about you?

Emotional Regulation

Did you know that managing emotions is an executive function too? 

My ability, using the example from above, to call on the student was affected here. 

If I had gotten enough sleep, exercised, and eaten a solid breakfast, I could have thought through solutions. 

But I didn't, because going to bed on time never got easier despite learning lessons the hard way.

Organization

My teacher desk? Organized piles, right? 

Sound familiar?

But that way I could see where most things were. 

Luckily I didn’t have someone telling me I was doing a crappy job because of that. 

(Just my inner critic, which is another story.)

Planning

Okay so this was the biggie for me, and I imagine is one for you too?

Ironically I probably spend the most time on this.

And am kind of good at, and actually enjoy.

The problem is after spending all that energy, I wouldn't use what I'd created or decided. 

As I continued through my years in the classroom, I was able to find solutions to this. 

Even though I still wished I could plan like the cool kids. 

I could sketch out longterm big picture ideas and generally stay mostly on track with those. 

But I still planned week-to-week. 

Kind of like now as I’m trying to write blog posts. 

I try to batch and get ahead with planning. 

But so far it’s not working, and I still go week-to-week. 

I’m doing my best though. And parts are getting easier.

Why Knowing About Executive Functions Matters

This is not a complete list of possibilities. 

But it’s enough to get you thinking, right?

Because awareness of how executive functions show up for you in the classroom and in your life is an important first step.

For one thing it can start to show you ways you may have been overcompensating. 

Have you been masking your inability to execute and finalize projects?

I know I hid my disorganization pretty well, or at least I thought I did. 

But at what cost?

I did finally completely burn out and need to step away. 

So there’s that. 

Tips and Strategies

As I said, being aware is an important first step. 

But here are some specific things I did to help me when I was teaching. 

Simplify

Instead of trying to hit all 500 state-mandated requirements at once.

I thought about my students and my timetable as a stretched-thin music specialist.

I picked pieces of music I loved and that I knew they would enjoy. 

I worked backwards from there to see where we could line up with the mandates. 

Strengths

Instead of unsuccessfully typing copious plans that I never completely used.

I would make keyword mind maps, Google slides, playlists organized by month.

Having these ready to go meant I could easily pick and choose in the moment.

My ability to improvise was (and is) a strength. 

(Both teaching-wise and musically.)

So setting myself up to be able to do that more worked out well. 

Assign Jobs

Another thing that helped was assigning jobs based on a seating chart.

I got this idea from Elizabeth Caldwell Organized Chaos. 

I had a rotating jobs board.

Students helped remind me when it was time to rotate the cards. 

But it meant I didn’t have to worry about the more repetitive tasks. 

Keeping an eye on the clock? Done. 

Closing the door at the start and end of class? Taken care of. 

Erasing the board? Lining up? There were so many things. 

At at 30 minute classes (minus 10 minutes of transition) in a large school, these were frequent tasks.

This was really a game-changer for me.

Points Games

The other thing that really helped save my sanity was using basic points games. 

I got this idea from another teacher as well. 

But basically a student would set a timer for three minutes. 

I would continue whole group instruction to set up the activity.

If anyone interrupted or talked, I would get a point.

When no one talked, they would get a point. 

At the end of the three minutes, if they had more points than me they got an extra point. 

They LOVED IT. I’m telling you it was legit life-changing. 

It saved my emotional regulation as it helped the students who were straining to hear and participate. 

Game changer. 

Anchor

In somatic experiencing, there is a concept of using an anchor to help regulate oneself.

No, it's not a nautical theme, although if that's what brings you comfort, go for it!

It's the idea of imagining (or looking at a picture or object) something that you feel good about.

If you enjoy nature, looking out of your window at a budding tree may help you feel calm.

Or it could be remembering the feeling of your kid running and jumping into your arms at the end of the day.

Hold onto that feeling and notice how your body responds.

Key Takeaways

To review, executive functions are the skills we all use to manage our lives. 

If you are neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, AuDHD, SPD and more), these abilities are compromised.

It’s important to learn how they show up for you in the classroom (and at home). 

With this awareness comes the ability to pick your course forward.

To use your creativity to make workarounds that serve you. 

And to give you that space to give your inner critic the what-for.