Identifor Executive Function Dashboard

Goals

• Student will improve ability to verbally or graphically restate or illustrate 3 main points of provided information
• Student will improve ability to view all facial and body language being provided by a conversation partner when alerted to do so (“Focus on my eyebrows, my mouth, my forehead and my eyes to read how I am feeling”)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Listen for the three problems the character is having in the story."
• "Which are the most important words to listen for in the speech?"

Daily Implementation

• "The waitress is about to read the specials on the menu to you, pay attention if you may wish to select something not on the regular menu"

Apps and Tools

The Stroop Effect

This classic test in an app form is a game intended to work on the interference between different information coming in (what the words say and the color of the words) your brain receives causes a problem. It involves the use of selective attention and blocking out the interfering information to focus upon the required stimuli.

http://www.365escape.com/Room-Escape-Games.html

Resources and Structured Lessons

A Collection of Quiet Cues, Attention Getters

https://www.teachhub.com/collection-quiet-cues-and-attention-getters

This site provides quick attention getting tricks that are both verbal and nonverbal to help cue that it is time to be alert and focused to incoming information.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to work for 30 minutes or more on given task using a visual timer without taking a break.
• Student will improve ability to continue to work on given task with the verbal prompt “ Keep working on that and doing what you are doing until I tell you to stop”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "This task will take the rest of the afternoon , so you need to keep working until I call you for dinner."
• "This project may take you several hours , are you ready to sit down and spend the time now?"

Daily Implementation

• "You will need to keep blowing the leaves until the entire driveway and stairs are clear and safe"

Apps and Tools

http://www.kimscounselingcorner.com/hyperactivity-2/activities-improve-focus-attention

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero supports kids with sustaining attention and effort throughout tasks with varying lengths of duration. In order to earn a five-star rating, the player must stay focused on the song throughout its duration. A single lapse in focus will result in a missed note, and a lower score.

Dance Dance Revolution

Resources and Structured Lessons

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/helping-students-develop-focusing-skills-maurice-elias

This interactive game, adapted from the Social Decision Making/Social Problem Solving curriculum is designed to support the sustaining of attention

Goals

• Given training in a self regulatory routine and visual cues and fading adult supports, student will accurately predict how effectively he will accomplish a task. For example, he will accurately predict whether or not he will be able to complete a task; predict how many (of something) he can finish; predict his grade on tests; predict how many problems he will be able to complete in a specific time period; etc.
• Given a specific work checking routine, student will identify errors in his work without teacher assistance.
• student’s rating of his performance on a 10-point scale will be within one point of the teacher’s rating.
• Given explicit instruction, visual reminders, and fading adult support, student will successfully distinguish target goals (doing well in school, making a friend, learning to read, graduating from school) from interfering goals (playing video games instead of doing homework)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "You might need to go back and check again if the results are not like you expected."
• "Looking from the outside do you feel like you handled that the best you could have ?"
• "Did you remember to look at the person’s facial expressions to see how they felt about your conversation ?"

Daily Implementation

• "Think about if you did your very best job on your chores today or if you hurried through to get to social media"

Apps and Tools

Sosh

Sōsh™ CONTAINS OVER 60 WELL-DESIGNED SCREENS presenting exercises, strategies, and practical information to work through social situations in a step-by-step manner. And, most importantly, the app encourages you to work on these skills during everyday interactions, when learning is most likely to occur.

Sōsh™ offers a journal, a goals area, a to-do list, and a rating scale to rate anything from your school day to an interaction with a peer. You also get a behavior tracking area, a voice meter, and an interest log. Did we mention you can archive all of this data to review later or share with others via email?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindjet-maps-for-iphone/id440273648?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

http://neurodevelop.com/Evernote

Resources and Structured Lessons

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SELF-CONTROL-Alien-Abductors-An-ADHD-Game-for-Executive-Functioning-2497801

Goals

• Student will improve ability to more accurately gauge the level of their reaction to a situation by rating it on a visual scale compared to other reactions ( the same as when someone hit me, the same as when I left my snack at home)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "This is one of those activities that you will need to keep your frustration in check."
• "What energy level do you think you will need to complete this?"

Daily Implementation

• "When your dad asked you to tell him about what happened with the teacher at school today , do you think you remained calm or overreacted to him asking?"

Apps and Tools

http://neurodevelop.com/Idea_Sketch_App

https://www.rememberthemilk.com

Goals

• Student will improve ability to interpret written language by balancing main ideas and supporting details

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Remember to look at both the negative and positive sides to this issue before you decide."
• "What would estimate the percentage to be of how much you talked in your conversation?"

Daily Implementation

• " I know you would like to go to the dance tonight but make sure you think about how that will affect your early morning at soccer tomorrow"

Apps and Tools

Personal Zen

Use this app to have a balance between the positive and negative in your life and practice shifting focus ,attention, and energy toward good outcomes.When we get anxious or stressed, we pay too much attention to the negatives and have less ability to see the positives in life. These habits of attention reduce our ability to cope effectively with stress and can create a vicious cycle of anxiety. Personal Zen helps to short-circuit these habits and frees you up to develop a more flexible and positive focus.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to self correct by checking math work for accuracy by checking against an estimate, using the reverse operation , using a calculator, and comparing it to knowns
• Student will improve ability to rather than always just saying sorry after a mistake work to repair the problem using supported strategies

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "You made a mistake and now you need to fix it by saying you are sorry and getting back to work."
• "How do you think you could repair this problem and make things okay now ?"

Daily Implementation

• "Your mother seems angry at you this afternoon, can you think about how to fix that before dinner"

Apps and Tools

Photomath - Camera Calculator

Simply point your camera toward a math problem and Photomath will magically show the result with detailed step-by-step instructions.

Photomath provides:

• Camera calculator
• Handwriting recognition (NEW)
• Step-by-step instructions
• Smart calculator

Resources and Structured Lessons

Error Correction Techniques in Reading

http://www.interventioncentral.org/academic-interventions/reading-fluency/error-correction-word-drill-techniques

Goals

• Student will improve ability to recall and name or draw 10 objects in a provided picture after viewing it for 1 minute and withdrawing the visual
• Student will improve ability to hold information by practicing viewing phone numbers and then dialing them

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Keep that idea in the back of your head as we find out more about the main character in the book."
• "What visual image can you use to remember the name of the new teacher you are about to meet?"

Daily Implementation

• "How can you hold onto that phone number as you get ready to dial?"

Apps and Tools

http://neurodevelop.com/Vismory

Resources and Structured Lessons

Distraction

The board game Distraction supports working memory and flexible thinking .Each time a player draws a new card, she has to recite all the previous numbers, plus her new one. If she pulls a Distraction Card, she has to answer a question (“Would you rather kiss a jellyfish or step on a crab?”) before she repeats the number sequence.

Swish

Children with executive functioning deficits often struggle with the heavy working memory demands of mentally rotating the cards and sequentially identifying additional card matches. This game also is particularly helpful for developing an appropriate balance between impulse control and increasing processing speed as the child is trying to be the first to identify a “swish.”-Dr. Hudenko

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51SLDp0QnEL._SX385_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Goals

• Student will improve ability to identify a familiar object or picture given only a partial view of the item
• Student will improve ability to create what a given image would look like from multiple perspectives ( birds eye, front, left side , right side,back )

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Now visualize that object compared to yourself and think about which is taller."
• "As you picture yourself getting ready for the tasks on your calendar today , what step do you think you might have missed in the order ?"

Daily Implementation

• "As we are looking over the menu together and you are holding it so close to your face , what do you think my view of it is ?"

Apps and Tools

Vismory

Improve your memory with a funny and addictive game! Memorize the shape, color, and position of small beautifully crafted 3D objects, then answer challenges by touching the correct case and you win! if the correct answer and you progress toward the next level, make an error and lose part of your progression. Faster is your answer, higher is your score!

Vismor

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cogmed/id594854700?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Resources and Structured Lessons

15 Working Memory Brain Games: Improve executive function in 5 minutes a day! (PDF)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/15-Working-Memory-Brain-Games-Improve-executive-function-in-5-minutes-a-day-1446472

https://goodsensorylearning.com/products/executive-functioning-games-bundle

Goals

• Student will improve ability to chunk information into categories to support memory storage
• Student will improve ability to improve memory storage of new information by linking it to existing knowledge using simile ( An aircraft carrier is shaped like the barge I see traveling in the river)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "You should carefully watch and remember what I am doing because next time you will have to try it on your own."
• "What feeling can you hold onto now that you can use next time you have a challenge and try your hardest?"

Daily Implementation

• "What tool on your phone could be used to remember the large grocery list I am giving you ?"

Apps and Tools

Keeper® - Password Keeper & Manager with Safe & Secure Vault for Files, Photos & Other Documents

For those with challenges in storing important information , Keeper is the world's #1 most downloaded password manager and secure digital vault for protecting and managing your passwords, private documents and other confidential information.Protecting your personal and professional information has never been so fast and easy. Millions of people trust our simple, flexible security platform to keep their credentials, photos and documents secure.

Sticky - Beautiful Notebooks for iPad and iPhone

Beautiful ways to keep reminders, memories, and thoughts store and private before they are forgotten. Makes retrieval easy. Create text with multiple colors and many fonts. ,Save to photos, email, print, and share.. Use voice dictation to write without typing.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Quarto!

Quarto! is played with a board and 16 pieces that each have four different physical attributes: height, shape, color, and indentation or flatness. The object of Quarto! is to line up four pieces that share the same attribute, but that goal is not as simple as it sounds, because you don’t get to choose which piece you play—your opponent does.

Quarto! taxes players’ working memory and attention because there are so many possible configurations of the game pieces. In order to prevent your opponent from winning, you must figure out all the possible winning moves available to your opponent and not give him or her those pieces.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/15-Working-Memory-Brain-Games-Improve-executive-function-in-5-minutes-a-day-1446472

Goals

• Student will improve ability to use mnemonic devices to recall stored information when needed
• Student will improve ability to retrieve needed information by using memory retrieval strategies such as sticky notes, strings on the finger , notes on the mirror

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "To complete that type of problem , you will need to use the same steps you used last time . "
• "How can you retrace your steps to find where you left your completed Math homework ?"

Daily Implementation

• "Can you think back and remember the way you found the correct bus last time "

Apps and Tools

Word Retrieval

Word Retrieval was created by a certified speech and language pathologist for children and adults with word-finding difficulties. Word Retrieval was built around research on remediation of word retrieval difficulties to help children and adults organize their lexicons through activities including confrontational naming, associations, and divergent and convergent naming to improve their abilities to access already known words and increase their retrieval of words.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Word Finder Graphic Organizer

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Word-Finding-Graphic-Organizer-2515528

Use this graphic organizer to teach your students a systematic approach to compensate for "word finding" difficulties. By organizing language into semantic categories, subcategories and members to each subcategory, this organizer will help teach your students a strategy to "zoom in" and "zoom out" to retrieve the words that are on the "tip of their tongue."

Goals

• Student will improve ability to use a visual scale to determine the difficulty of tasks compared to other tasks in the day
• Students will improve ability to size up how difficult involvement in a group task will be by determining “ at the right level for right now” “ just above my comfort zone”, “way to challenging for me right now”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Think about the amount of time and energy it will take to get this done by your deadline."
• "On a scale of 1-5 , how big of a problem do you think this is?"
• "Compared to other tasks you have done, do you think this will be easier, harder, or about the same?"

Apps and Tools

http://www.pm-primer.com/estimate-activity-durations/

Resources and Structured Lessons

Elapsed Time Mountain Strategy

https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/blogs/meghan-everette/migrated-files/elapsedmountain.pdf

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/01/teaching-elapsed-time-strategies-work

Goals

• Student will improve ability to bridge new information to past knowledge given the prompt ” let's look back to the last time this occurred and think about how it turned out”
• Student will improve ability to make predictions about the level of stress events, the possible causes of stress, and needed strategies ( the Comic con convention will be a 4 on a scale of 5, it is very loud and crowded, therefore I will find a quiet and safe place to take a break when overwhelmed)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Before you say something, think about how they might feel about it and how they reacted last time."
• "Knowing what you know about this character from the book, what do you think they might do next?"

Daily Implementation

• "Can you think ahead to how Friday night dances make you feel and develop a gameplan to feel calmer and have fun?"

Apps and Tools

http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/archive/routine.html

Resources and Structured Lessons

Anticipation Graphic Organizer

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/AnticipationGuide.pdf

Goals

• Student will improve ability to determine if a given task will take about 1 minute, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour each time before starting and use a stopwatch to check accuracy
• Student will improve ability to estimate time needed on tasks by keeping a “actual vs. estimated time database chart” and using it as an ongoing reference

Activities

Positive Prompts

• You estimated it would take you 15 minutes more to finish the game, you need to check the timer if this is accurate.
• I feel like you have gone over the 10 minute time limit for your break. Do you agree or disagree?

Daily Implementation

• " Think about planning out how long it will take you to get to work with a stop for gas, food, and allowing time for traffic"

Apps and Tools

Elapsed Time Mountain Strategy

https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/blogs/meghan-everette/migrated-files/elapsedmountain.pdf

This visual graphic organizer exercise is a great strategy and support for estimating time needed for a task developing a sense of elapsed time. hand. Mountains are an hour, hills are five-minute increments, and rocks are one-minute increments. Using a timeline encourages the making visual representation of their thinking.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Wikihow- How to Develop Your Sense of Time

http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-Your-Sense-of-Time

Day to day real life exercises to help develop your internal clock and better make time estimations . Practice making timing guesses in such daily activities as showering, cooking , and reading the chapter of a book. Then compare this guess to reality and keep records. With daily practice embedded in meaningful tasks , estimation skills will improve .

Goals

• Student will improve ability to examine things in more detail given the following prompts: “What do I see? , What does it remind me of ?, What more do I need to find out?”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "You need to carefully evaluate the credibility of the source of information."
• “What three pieces of evidence does the writer give you on the personality of the main character? “

Daily Implementation

• “ Have you remembered to look at both sides of the story with your friends that are in a fight before you take sides?”

Apps and Tools

The First 38 Photo Comparison Game

http://www.aetv.com/shows/the-first-48/exclusives/photo-comparison-game

Compare and contrast photos in this detective game using your keen eye for detail by analyzing the provided crime scene evidence

The Trace Murder Mystery Game

Analyze evidence and solve the criminal case. Play detective and lead the investigation into an intriguing case, exploring crime scenes and searching for clues. Find forensic evidence and study fingerprints to piece together the proof of what really happened.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Socratic Questions

http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/probsolv/strategy/cthinking.htm

This method of asking questions to expand critical thinking and can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we don't know, to follow out logical implications of thought.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to rate tasks objectively on a scale from 1-3 using a rubric with given task requirements and dimensions
• Student will improve ability to use Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast similarities and differences in academic, social, and emotional contexts

Goals

• Student will improve ability to complete a visual brainstorming graphic organizer to generate at least 3 ideas of solutions to a given problem
• Given training in and visual reminders of, self regulatory scripts student will manage unexpected events and violations of routine without disrupting classroom activities
• Student will use a structured recipe or routine for generating new ideas, or brainstorming to respond successfully to open ended assignments
• When faced with changes and/or transitions in activities or environments, student will initiate the new activity after {decreasing number of supports}
• Given concrete training, visual supports and fading adult cuing, student will appropriately label flexible and stuck behaviors in himself
• Given training and practice with the concept of compromise, and in the presence of visual supports, student will accept and generate compromise solutions to conflicts when working cooperatively with others

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Lets come up with two more possible solutions before you decide on the best answer."
• "How many ideas do you think the group can come up with to solve the problem?"

Daily Implementation

• "How can you do more brainstorming around this to come up with some additional ideas of how to convince your mom the reasons you should go to a week night concert?"

Apps and Tools

MindMeister (mind mapping)

Cloud-based mind mapping helps generate and creative ideas in a quickly visualized format, fosters collaboration and communication, provides structure to vast amounts of information, shows relationships between topics, and enables you to see the big picture at a glance. Mental triggers are designed to help your brain comprehend and store concepts more easily . Because you mostly use keywords, images and short phrases in mind maps, you can jot down thoughts a lot faster than usual. This free flow of ideas will help you brainstorm creative writing assignments and solve brainteasers.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/indecision/id458265246?mt=8

Resources and Structured Lessons

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Executive-Function-Skill-Fun-1210950

Goals

• Student will improve ability to when given a Venn Diagram , compare and contrast how two things or ideas are similar or different in attributes
• Student will improve ability to improve memory by working to create an (visual ) association between two bits of information ( for the plane that we need to catch at 2 P.M., we can imagine the plane in our mind, and notice that it has 2 wings. Two wings, 2 P.M)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• “Think about if your friend's reaction is similar to what she has said to you in the past.”
• “Can you think back to another day when this same problem happened and what might have been the similiar about it? “

Apps and Tools

http://www.virtualspeechcenter.com/App/verbal_reasoning_app

Resources and Structured Lessons

Human Brain Cloud

Human Brain Cloud is a very simple massively multiplayer word association game.

The idea is, given a random word, a player types the first thing that comes to mind. For instance, given the word "forest", a common word players submit might be the word "tree", and this would result in a very strong directed association between "forest" and "tree".

Goals

• Student will improve ability to develop a system of vertical or horizontal organization for their desk with support, take a picture of what it looks organized, and maintain the system using the visual prompt
• Student will improve ability to organize personal space and storage areas by working backwards from visuals of what it looks like when fully organized

Activities

Positive Prompts

• “Let us organize your school binder by colored folders for each class. “
• “What system can you use to outline your essay before you begin to write it?”

Daily Implementation

• “ It feels like you are becoming overwhelmed with the clutter in your room. Maybe you can think of system where everything has a place and a label.”

Apps and Tools

Evernote

Have you ever gone on a frantic search for an important note or to-do list that you left lying around? With Evernote, you’ll never lose track of your notes again. This app will organize and sync them across your devices, and incorporate photos and audio notes so you don’t have to write everything down.

See a recipe in a library book that you’d like to try at home? Take a photo of it and save it for later. Suddenly remember that you need to take the dog to the vet? Record a voice reminder so you won’t forget to make the appointment.

Evernote lets you organize all your documents by tags, so you can easily search for them when you need them. You can also share your notes with friends and family via Facebook and Twitter.

Resources and Structured Lessons

The board game Animal Logic supports planning, organizing , and prioritizing. In this animal-theme game, lions, hippos, giraffes and camels need to cross the bridge over the river. The trick is, they can only go in a certain order. Players have to solve the pattern puzzle to help them get to the other side. There are five levels of difficulty in this sequencing challenge.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to when given a complex task, student name will organize the task on paper, including the materials needed, the steps to accomplish the task, and a time frame
• Student will improve ability to plan ahead by asking themselves "what if" questions for various possibilities, imagine possible outcomes, possible courses of events that could result

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Let's make a plan to find your way to the correct classroom on your new schedule."
• “What is your step by step plan to get the Algebra problem solved for X?”

Daily Implementation

• “How do you think your date will feel if you don't plan to meet at the determined time at the movie theatre? “

Apps and Tools

Maybe you’ve dropped the ball on a project or regularly forget things you need. You may struggle with breaking things down into steps or figuring out which task needs to be done first. These are signs that you need to work on your planning skills. But if you play Minecraft, you practice planning a lot. You may not realize this, but Minecraft and planning go hand-in-hand.

One of the things Minecraft players love most about the game is that it lets you do pretty much whatever you want. There are not particular goals or quests, nor is there anything that you need to accomplish. However, when it comes time to build something, mine for materials, or survive a night full of lurking predators, planning is how you’ll get it done.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/towers-of-hanoink!/id452142295?mt=8

Resources and Structured Lessons

The board game No Stress Chess supports planning and prioritizing; organization; task initiation; impulse control, and flexible thinking,No Stress Chess teaches kids to play it. A player draws a card that tells her which piece to move. Then it’s up to her to choose where the piece should go. Over time, kids develop the logic skills and confidence to execute moves without the cards. Instructions are included for three levels of beginner’s play.

The board game Quiddler supports organization, planning and prioritizing and flexible thinking. Imagine a spelling game that doesn’t reward players for creating the “hardest” words possible! (Sorry, Scrabble.) In Quiddler, players try to use all their letter cards to spell short words. As the game progresses, players get more cards, so they can create multiple short words or single longer words.

Quoridor

Switching between a defensive and offensive mindset, and that flexibility is the key to winning Quoridor. The object of the game is to navigate through “corridors” that your opponent creates in order to advance to the opposite side of the board. With each move, a player either moves his or her token or places a piece of barrier that will foil the opponent. Dr. Hudenko explains the challenges inherent in Quoridor play:

To emerge victorious, children must learn to carefully observe the opponent’s strategy and thoughtfully plan an effective offense and defense. This game is a good executive functioning challenge because each player is allowed only 10 barriers—which necessitates judicious planning and problem solving to outwit an opponent.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to make a choice given 3 possibilities
• Student will improve ability to make difficult choices by using a visual “The Decision Making Wheel” before executing a choice

Activities

Positive Prompts

• “It is time to make a decision. Lets narrow it down to the top two choices and then you must pick.”
• “Based on the choices given, what looks like it will be the best option for you to choose now?”

Daily Implementation

• “ You have weighed all of your options for what college would be best for you , now based on the information and your feelings it is time to pick which one you will go to.”

Apps and Tools

Choicemap

Choicemap simplifies the decision making process. It’s useful for something as simple as finding a place to eat or as important as choosing a career path. . The app provides ready made decks for such decisions as career paths, colleges, and relationship . For each decision, you list all of the possible choices. Then, you list all of the factors that go into the decision and you weigh those factors by priority. Each possibility is then ranked from your own inputted priorities and ratings, which ultimately presents the “best fit choice” for that decision.

inDecision

inDecision simplifies choices through the use of pros and cons. Using an easy and intuitive interface, you enter factors and rate their importance. When you’re finished, watch your pros and cons come to life! You can email your results, save them for later viewing, or go back and refine your inputs.

The beauty of inDecision resides in its ability to visually display the factors of any choice, instead of having them float around unorganized in your mind.

Decision Buddy

The Decision Buddy Decision Maker app is able to help with group decision making, is less about grading the different options and more about choosing between outcomes .You can enter in the names of several people, and the app, after being passed around the group, will provide the final decision. The app offers templates or you can enter your own. Once you’ve entered the title of your decision and the criteria that could influence it, you tap your way through options, and the app will tell you which outcome to choose.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Teacher Guide to Choices® Explore

Decision Making Guide

https://access.bridges.com/usa/en_US/choices/pro/content/lessons/decisionmakingguide/dmg_usa_teachers.pdf

Designed as a complete teaching unit on decision making in the classroom, this guide provides many adaptable activities for both home and school. Fun , interactive, and meaningful activities support responsible decision making. Multiple components and considerations of the process are targeted such as identifying choices, determining what is best for you, considering others, considering the future, thinking about implications , and finally making a choice and executing it.

Decision Making Wheel

https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/thinking_wisely_-_decision_making_wheel_0.pdf

This graphic organizer along with guiding goals and questions assists by visually mapping out the decision making process. Each spoke of a decision wheel prompts the process with questions to consider such as what is the problem, what are the choices, what are the possible outcomes, what values and feelings of self and others should be under consideration , is help needed, and what was the final determination and outcome.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to prioritize by determining what characteristics of the task requirement they should prioritize by ( difficulty level, time required, due date )
• Student will improve ability to assign an order of importance to tasks by developing an “Avoid at All Costs List”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• “You will need to do assignment that is due tomorrow first and make that your number one priority. “
• “What task on your to do list needs to get done first and is most important?”

Daily Implementation

• “ You have 3 different invitations this weekend from friends and family and you will have to determine which is most important for you to attend.”

Apps and Tools

Which Thing First ?

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/which-thing-first/id416983558?mt=8

Which Thing First? (WTF?) is a super-simple way of working out your priorities, letting you discover the most effective order of doing things.

But how do you know which Thing to Get Done first?

'Which Thing First?' helps you work it out by asking a series of questions, forcing you to consider each task against each other.

https://www.any.do/anydo/

Resources and Structured Lessons

http://profitt.gatech.edu/drupal/sites/default/files/curriculum/Soft%20Skills%20Track/Soft%20Skills%20Module%2007%20Prioritization/Soft%20Skills%20Module%207%20Prioritization.pdf

http://www.time-management-success.com/support-files/lesson5-thetimematrix.pdf

• What do you think is the most important thing you have to do right now?
• In order of importance what is 1st , 2nd, and 3rd?

Goals

• Student will improve ability to prepare for challenging tasks by completing 15 minutes of energizing activities prior to starting the task .
• Student will improve ability to demonstrate engagement in motivating activity by body orientation to task, cognitive responses, and emotional investment shown by expressions of pleasure.

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "I can see that you are having high energy so you should take a body break."
• "What can you do to give your body and brain the energy to get this done?"

Daily Implementation

• "Which chore do you think your body has the energy for now this afternoon ?"

Apps and Tools

The Pomodoro method breaks work down into 25-minute chunks (“pomodoros”), for which you set a timer. Work in short sharp bursts followed by short breaks, to be most effective.After each 25-minute chunk, a three to five minute break is taken, followed by another pomodoro. After the fourth pomodoro, a 15-30 minute chunk is taken. Know when your next break is with the always on top mini timer.

After each 25-minute chunk, a three to five minute break is taken, followed by another pomodoro. After the fourth pomodoro, a 15-30 minute chunk is taken. Know when your next break is with the always on top mini timer.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Anchors Away! Energy Transformation For Kids

When energy is scattered, out of control, and “all over the place,” it is very hard for kids to calm down. Here are some grounding techniques that can help you and your child re-center, re-focus, and calm the body for focused attention, becoming present and “grounded” in the moment.

Re energize with quick 1-2 minute activities that take virtually no preparation and no extra materials to perform. They also challenge your brain. Energizing Brain Breaks help you to cross the midline of your body which helps both sides of your brain engage. Examples include pen flipping, eye exercises, and hand games.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to start a task after being prompted with the first step
• Student will improve ability to start and complete routine tasks by planning them each day on a calendar app.

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Start talking about your idea now."
• "You will need to think about the first step in getting started now. What can you do now to begin?"

Daily Implementation

• "You should plan to get in the car and start driving to work at or before 8AM."

Apps and Tools

Conversation Shaker

Conversation Shaker provides interesting topics/icebreakers based on different situations. Shake the iPhone to see the next conversation starter. Great for providing support for initiating a variety of topics of conversations with different audiences.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Snake Oil - Role playing board game supporting task initiation; flexible thinking; and organization. With each round, a different Snake Oil player draws a “customer” card. It tells them what character they are—rock star, clown, doctor, etc. The other players draw cards with words that they can combine to make up zany products, like a “Rubber Fish” to sell to that character. Kids have to figure out what the product might do, how to pitch it well, and how their characters might respond. It’s a fun way to get them thinking on their feet.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to state what NOT to do in a given situation and what TO DO before determining actions and verbalizations
• Student will improve ability to use a visual to determine “What I should say aloud” and “What I should only say in my head” before determining what they should say in a given situation
• Student will improve ability to state the social rule ( raise hand before calling out ) prior to asking questions or sharing thoughts
• Student will improve ability to say and think “I can do what I am supposed to do rather than what I want to do”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• You will need to think about solutions to make things right rather than becoming stuck on the problem itself.
• When you have something important on your mind what can you say to yourself slow down and wait?

Daily Implementation

• "When you are on your date tonight, remember to think about the balance of time in who is talking and is it give and take"

Apps and Tools

A therapy-specific app that can be used to practice appropriate inhibition during conversation. Intentionally controversial conversation-stimulating pictures are used to guide and support through topics from immigration to domestic violence to racism! It’s great for role-playing how to inhibit thoughts/actions appropriately when someone says or does something unfavorable.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Jenga game supports inhibition self-monitoring; and flexible thinking; This classic build-and-topple game requires players to ask the same challenging questions. “What will happen if I remove this block from this tower? Will this whole structure wobble if I take away this one? How will pulling it out quickly affect the stack?” Jenga requires players to be aware and in control of their actions

Goals

• Student will improve ability to clean up a task when given a visual prompt such as a stop sign or a timer
• Student will improve ability to use

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "In order to get along with the group , you will need to stop talking about that topic now."
• "I know you wish to continue what you are doing. What plan can you make with yourself to go back to it a bit later?"

Daily Implementation

• "Remember to read the signs from your friends such as their facial expressions, when you have talked enough about ______ and need to stop"

Goals

• Student will improve ability to go back to the last step of a given task when prompted with a visual reminder of the step both before and immediately following a break
• Student will improve ability to

Goals

• Student will improve ability to to think of 2 or more possible ways to solve the same problem
• Student will improve ability to adjust behavior to the situation by stating shifting contextual rules such as “I follow different rules when I am at the library versus the park”

Activities

Positive Prompts

• I know changes in your schedule are hard for you but I think once you let me help you get started you will feel more comfortable.
• Please think back to the last time you did this in the same way and how it worked out. What different ways can you think about this to solve the problem?

Daily Implementation

• "Prepare yourself for a work schedule this week that may be different hours than you were used to last week and tell yourself you can handle change"

Apps and Tools

Mirta the Super Fly Lite - Brainy Fables

By Next Stage

Part of the Brainy Fables series, this fun story is a contemporary fable with life skills for today's children. Great to share with the little ones and talk about the importance of thinking outside the box and flexible thinking

Resources and Structured Lessons

The board game Mindtrap supports flexible thinking. Each card encourages players to think critically about a puzzling question. For instance: “Q: Bob went for a walk without bringing his raincoat or hat or umbrella. How did his hair not get wet?” The answer? “It wasn’t raining.”

http://www.autisminspiration.com/public/169.cfm

Flexible Thinking vs Rock Thinking

A group situational role play game to encourage flexibility in social thinking.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to shift between a given body task , a brain task , and a social task in a half hour period
• Student will improve ability to practice shifting processes by highlighting type of thinking needed on a given task ( given a math page highlight the addition, multiplication, and division problems different colors)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Shift your feelings to thinking you had one bad moment in the day but it is over and now you can feel positive"
• "When you are feelings really stuck envision your body moving on to the next step"

Daily Implementation

• "Think about how much longer you can spend on your passions before you need to shift your brain to your obligations for the day"

You seem to be getting a bit stuck on this . g6

Apps and Tools

30/30

Set up a list of tasks to accomplish and a length of time to complete them. The timer will tell you when to move on and shift to the next task for those that get stuck on one activity. You can incorporate break times into tasks with this app. It's a great way to break up a long day as tasks. The visual component is so important and will help kids "see" when they need to work faster or when it's almost break time.

Visual Routine

This visual scheduler allows you to add customized text and pictures for various routines. For those who perseverate on certain desired activities the app is used throughout the day as a reminder to shift focus and initiate tasks. This helps decrease anxiety, increases their ability to shift tasks as needed, and increases memory of current task.

Resources and Structured Lessons

Fluxx

The latest and greatest version of the card game with ever changing rules! It starts out simple: draw one card and play one card – but New Rule cards quickly make things chaotic.

Even the object of the game will often change as you play, as players swap out one Goal card for another. Can you achieve World Peace before someone changes the goal to Bread and Chocolate? Ever changing goals and rules require focus and provide great practice in shifting thinking quickly.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to accurately sense how long a minute is without looking at a clock to within 15 seconds
• Student will improve ability to develop their sense of time by putting events on a visual timeline of past, present, and future

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "The timer will let you know when there are 10 minutes left and it is time to start cleaning up."
• "What tools do you think might be effective in reminding you how much time is left to complete today’s Science test?"

Daily Implementation

• "How early do you think you should get to the movie in order to buy a ticket, get snacks, and find a seat before the movie starts?"

Apps and Tools

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/30-30/id505863977?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rescuetime.android&hl=en

Resources and Structured Lessons

This document contains the TIME SENSE EXERCISE©, a tool developed to support the development of a “time sense.” It utilizes a graphic tool that records and examines the gaps in starting time, predictions, estimations , and actual time elapsed

http://thrivewithadd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/time_sense_exercise_tool.pdf

Goals

• Student will improve ability to determine when they need to hurry if running late and walk at a faster pace than normal
• Student will improve ability to advocate with an instructor or conversation partner if the pace is moving too fast or too slow.

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "The information you need to look at will only be shown for a short amount of time so you will need to focus on it then."
• "Do you think you are working slowly enough to get this done to the best of your ability?"

Daily Implementation

• "In order to make the schedule train , do you think you are walking too fast or too slowly?"

Apps and Tools

Time Timer

Time TIMER® for iPhone is the original timer designed to “show” the passage of time through the use of its signature red disk that disappears as time elapses. A visual depiction of “time remaining” is ideal for anyone who wants to measure and manage time more effectively at work, school and home.

Time Timer is a productivity app that can help kids (or adults) focus on timed tasks as well as manage transitions and waiting. The customizable timers act as clear, colorful visuals to help kids represent such concepts as having a limited amount of time to complete a task or needing to wait for a certain amount of time. It will assist in determining how they should speed up or slow down the pace on tasks.

Best Sand Timer

This digitized hourglass can be used to time anything for up to 60 minutes. It's like having a nice looking visual indicator of how much time is left on your task.

Timer visualizes time to kids and lets them feel the time. Without reading or even knowing the numbers one can look at the visualized time flow, feel it and understand how long to wait or whether to hurry up.

* STAY NOTIFIED

It lets you set the alarm sound that will play when the timer is finished. You can choose from 16 unique alarm sounds, melodies and loops. You’ll be notified when your time is up even if you’re using another app or your device is locked. It can also repeat the sound alarm (up to 3 times) at the given interval if it was missed/snoozed.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to use a sequencing app to map out the steps of a routine and follow the visuals independently in the proper order
• Student will improve ability to use transition words to support sequencing of multiple step directions ( First, next ,then ,and finally)

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Now is the time you will need to use your planning tool to look at all of the steps in order."
• "What should happen first, then next, and what is the final step?"

Daily Implementation

• "Are you remembering to follow the installation directions for your new video game in the given order?"

Apps and Tools

StepByStep Sequencing for Kids and Adults - Freemium Version By Soar Therapy, LLC

StepByStep is a therapeutic and educational tool which helps assess and improve the sequencing skills of everyday tasks for kids and adults .Step By Step uses fun and clearly-illustrated sequences of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), and Transfers.Sequences range from 3-10 steps, and are appropriate for users of all ages and skill-levels.Challenge, sharpen, and increase the sequencing, problem-solving, and storytelling skills

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/first-then-visual-schedule/id355527801?mt=8&uo=4

Resources and Structured Lessons

Set card game

The goal of Set is,to be the first player to create a set of three cards similar in either number, symbol, shading, or color. Though simple in design, this game requires immense executive functioning skill to search through cards , use sequencing , and hold in working memory the specific features that are required for a successful card match.

Goals

• Student will improve ability to complete the steps of a motivating , routine task such as microwaving lunch every day , in the same order
• Student will improve ability to use a rubric to complete each step of a project completely before moving on

Activities

Positive Prompts

• "Now is the time to use the plan we put into place if this problem happened again ."
• "It is a great idea that you have. What one more step do you need to do to make it happen?"

Daily Implementation

• "I saw you texting to your friends the great idea of meeting up over the weekend at the new Star Wars movie. How do you think you can make that happen?"

Apps and Tools

The Legend of Zelda

Fantasy based game that is goal orientated and supports follow through and persistence .