WEBVTT 00:00:00.430 --> 00:00:03.250 Hello everyone and welcome back to What in the 00:00:03.250 --> 00:00:06.990 World is Dyscalculia? This podcast is all about 00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:09.789 the math -related specific learning disorder, 00:00:10.390 --> 00:00:13.589 dyscalculia, and I'm your host, Dr. Honora Wall. 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:16.949 The podcast is sponsored by Educalc Learning, 00:00:17.129 --> 00:00:20.210 and you can learn more about dyscalculia and 00:00:20.210 --> 00:00:23.649 how we can help support students and adults and 00:00:23.649 --> 00:00:27.879 teachers at EducalcLearning .com. You can also 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.739 visit the Dyscalculia Training and Research 00:00:30.739 --> 00:00:37.020 Institute. That website is thedtri .org. And 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:39.100 that's where you can find information on how 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:44.240 we support school districts, larger area education 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.240 agencies, or state departments of education through 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:51.020 our nonprofit services. Okay, so today in the 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:54.939 podcast, we're going to focus on something adjacent. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.579 to dyscalculia, we're going to talk about executive 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.359 function. You might be wondering, why are we 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:04.140 talking about executive function in a podcast 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:07.780 about dyscalculia? Well, there's a lot of crossover, 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:11.920 sometimes even complete comorbidity. And what 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:16.060 I mean by that is we can see students with dyscalculia 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:18.900 who sometimes struggle with executive function 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:22.700 issues. We can also see people who have executive 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:27.319 function issues who seem to have dyscalculia 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.060 because their math struggles are so severe and 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:33.659 sometimes we get a neuropsych evaluation that 00:01:33.659 --> 00:01:37.980 shows comorbidity a person definitely has both 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:41.739 according to that full battery of tests. So we're 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:44.219 going to talk about executive function because 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:47.099 the more we know the more we can support our 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:51.579 students and in some cases our children or ourselves. 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:54.739 So I'm going to bring you some information that 00:01:54.739 --> 00:01:59.040 came from a great research article published 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:03.480 in 2015 by Diamond and Ling, if you want to look 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:07.260 it up. It was published in Developmental Cognitive 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:11.360 Neuroscience, which is a journal that pretty 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.819 clearly focuses a lot on neuroscience. So that's 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:19.740 where this lens comes from. Neuroscience is the 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:24.310 field that first started researching dyscalculia 00:02:24.310 --> 00:02:28.430 in the 1930s. Then it really bled over into psychology 00:02:28.430 --> 00:02:32.530 and now is picking up more steam in educational 00:02:32.530 --> 00:02:39.110 research. Same trajectory as dyslexia, but dyslexia 00:02:39.110 --> 00:02:43.110 got really popular really fast, whereas we are 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:47.509 still picking up and gaining traction. So this 00:02:47.509 --> 00:02:50.990 article was about executive function and it was 00:02:50.990 --> 00:02:53.719 a meta study which means the authors looked at 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.300 a whole bunch of published research and summarized 00:02:57.300 --> 00:03:02.900 and disseminated their findings. In this article, 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:08.860 there were 84 different studies included. So 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:11.020 the researchers, Diamond and Ling, went through 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.819 all 84 studies, gathered all the information 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:17.460 they could, and put together some of the sort 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:21.139 of best practices, if you will, and some of the 00:03:21.129 --> 00:03:25.750 misconceptions around executive function. So 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:28.750 here are the main things we need to know about 00:03:28.750 --> 00:03:31.969 executive function before we get started. What 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:36.530 is it? It's a big trending keyword these days 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:38.949 executive function and there's all sorts of people 00:03:38.949 --> 00:03:42.030 claiming they can help increase executive function 00:03:42.030 --> 00:03:44.469 skills and that something as teachers were told 00:03:44.469 --> 00:03:48.129 to work on in the classroom to help our students 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:51.969 with and you know it's not not all that easy 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:55.110 and as teachers we certainly have plenty enough 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:58.189 on our plates already so I'm always wary of anything 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:01.849 else new that teachers are supposed to be doing 00:04:01.849 --> 00:04:06.370 because we've got plenty going on luckily a lot 00:04:06.370 --> 00:04:09.030 of the things that help are going to be things 00:04:09.030 --> 00:04:12.270 that you're probably already doing we just want 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:14.990 to tweak the way you're applying these skills 00:04:14.990 --> 00:04:18.740 a little bit or give you some ideas of what to 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:22.899 put in the classroom and also help you manage 00:04:22.899 --> 00:04:28.040 the expectation of what your help is going to 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.500 lead to for your students. So here's what executive 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:37.439 function is. It lives in your prefrontal cortex, 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.160 kind of the forehead -ish part of the brain. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:44.670 It is not fully developed. for anyone until we're 00:04:44.670 --> 00:04:47.910 in our mid -twenties some people are even saying 00:04:47.910 --> 00:04:51.670 early thirties so it's something that we we build 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:56.490 and develop over time and executive function 00:04:56.490 --> 00:05:00.759 has three components I'm getting all of this 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:03.199 right from the article, so you can go to that 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:06.220 original source and see exactly what I'm saying 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:08.680 and delve more into what the authors had to say. 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:12.019 But the three parts for executive function, inhibitory 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:16.519 control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.120 Those are the three components of executive function. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:23.740 So what in the world do they mean? Inhibitory 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:29.800 control, basically that's our ability to resist 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:34.480 distractions. I wish I had a little more skill 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:41.439 in that area. So you're inhibiting reacting to 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:47.000 stimuli, basically. And if you can control this 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.860 area of your life, then you're really good at 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:52.279 saying, oh, this is a great TV show, but right 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.420 now I'm finishing the dishes. I'm going to get 00:05:54.420 --> 00:05:57.819 this done before I move on to that other activity. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:02.879 and if you have poor inhibitory control then 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.420 you're probably washing the dishes and watching 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:09.699 the TV show and folding the laundry and only 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.120 half of any of those things are getting done 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:16.060 before you decide you have a great creative idea 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:19.319 and you want to go for a walk. So you can clearly 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.240 see how inhibitory control is a part of ADHD 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:26.959 as well. The second part of Executive function 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:31.980 is working memory, which is key to most anything 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:35.600 we do. And students with dyscalculia could have 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:40.879 high, medium, or low scores on working memory 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.160 in their neuropsych evaluation. So if you're 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.079 reading one of those evaluations, you want to 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.259 look at the percentile rank for working memory 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:54.860 and see where the student lands. As in anything 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:58.660 in life, stronger working memory is going to 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:01.480 make your life easier. And working memory is 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:06.199 not just our short -term memory, that quick information 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:08.399 that comes in and we hold it for a little bit 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:12.319 before we decide what moves into long -term memory. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:17.000 Working memory is a little more involved than 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.480 that. It's the information that we're holding 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:24.480 and also our ability to manipulate that information 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.519 while we're holding it. So let's say I'm cooking 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:32.459 a new recipe and I'm reading the ingredients 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:37.459 list and I'm holding in my head in the short 00:07:37.459 --> 00:07:41.139 -term memory I need paprika, I need salt, I need 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:45.100 pepper, I need garlic, and my working memory 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:48.079 is also thinking about what's in my cupboard. 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:51.740 Do I have any paprika? did i pick up pepper the 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:54.660 last time i got it at the store can i get those 00:07:54.660 --> 00:07:57.000 things out and put them on the counter have i 00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:59.879 defrosted the chicken do i need to make this 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:02.639 dish tomorrow night because the next ingredient 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.300 is apricot jelly and i'm going through a mental 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:09.019 scan of the fridge and i don't think i have any 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:12.480 of that so i'm manipulating my plan i'm thinking 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.379 about where i might have some apricot jelly or 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:17.699 a different substitution that would allow me 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:21.399 to make the recipe but not exactly with the same 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:24.220 ingredients but something similar so i'm manipulating 00:08:24.220 --> 00:08:28.779 all of that information while i'm holding it 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:31.660 in my mind i might be doing that while i'm walking 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:33.940 around the kitchen or getting out the pan i'm 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:36.379 going to bake in so that's where it's involved 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:39.899 in memory i'm not constantly reading the ingredients 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:42.360 while i'm looking in the cupboard or while i'm 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:44.539 looking in the fridge holding it in that working 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:49.759 memory So the manipulation, the thinking about 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.139 what's in your working memory is an important 00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:56.480 piece. The third component, cognitive flexibility. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:03.500 Can we adjust our thinking based on the demands 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:08.659 of the situation? Are we flexible or are we more 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:12.080 rigid in our thinking? Something should be done 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.480 this way so it has to be done that way and if 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:19.759 not we have a problem. That's pretty rigid. Compare 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.120 that to, well, something needs to happen this 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.539 way. I don't have all of those things. I can 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:27.980 do something slightly different, or I can get 00:09:27.980 --> 00:09:31.919 to my goal in a different way, or I can pause 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.000 for a minute, think of some other options. That's 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.100 flexible. So cognitive flexibility being able 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:42.350 to adjust to the situation. And you can see how 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.529 that's important to a math class because one 00:09:45.529 --> 00:09:48.049 of the things we want students to have is the 00:09:48.049 --> 00:09:50.710 flexibility to look at a math problem and think 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:55.210 of all the different ways they could approach 00:09:55.210 --> 00:09:59.649 that problem. How might they solve it? What skills 00:09:59.649 --> 00:10:01.830 do they need? What steps do they need to follow? 00:10:02.009 --> 00:10:04.830 Is there a formula? Is there prior knowledge 00:10:04.830 --> 00:10:07.110 involved? Can they? estimate what the answer 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:10.289 might be and therefore check their work as they're 00:10:10.289 --> 00:10:14.669 going through. All of that flexibility is a big 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:17.690 part of mathematical thinking. Alright, so when 00:10:17.690 --> 00:10:20.710 we put the three together, inhibitory control, 00:10:21.149 --> 00:10:23.590 strong working memory, cognitive flexibility, 00:10:24.190 --> 00:10:28.750 then this leads us to our executive function 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:32.149 skills, reasoning, problem solving, and planning, 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:37.659 which you can Clearly see, if you are strong 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:39.860 at reasoning, problem solving, and planning, 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:42.679 your life is going to go much more smoothly in 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:48.139 general from birth to end than it would for a 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:51.720 person who struggles in those areas. A lot of 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.799 our students struggle with executive function 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:58.919 skills, and it shows up in that lack of planning, 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:03.639 a lack of follow through, that distraction, not 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:06.710 quite getting things done. in a timely fashion, 00:11:06.889 --> 00:11:10.970 the way it needs to be done, finishing the homework, 00:11:11.149 --> 00:11:13.470 remembering you even had homework, actually putting 00:11:13.470 --> 00:11:16.009 the finished homework into a book bag, getting 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:19.090 it out and giving it back to the teacher. That's 00:11:19.090 --> 00:11:22.269 where we usually focus on executive function 00:11:22.269 --> 00:11:26.490 in the classroom. So then, now that we know what 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:32.009 it is, what do we do about it? And again, because 00:11:32.009 --> 00:11:35.440 it's trending, How do we look at some of the 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.700 popular models and programs and services and 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:43.519 choose something that's actually effective? So 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.759 here's what the researchers Diamond and Ling 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:52.059 summarized in the article from the 84 studies 00:11:52.059 --> 00:11:55.539 they looked at. And I'm going to give you the 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:58.679 highlights, the key points, kind of a broad overview. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.580 and you can go to Google Scholar or anywhere 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:06.799 else where you can find scholarly research and 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.940 dive deep into the article if you'd like to know 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.759 more. Okay, so here are the highlights. Number 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.539 one, executive function can be improved. We can 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:22.000 increase a person's executive function skills 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.879 and their ability to reason problem -solving 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:31.480 and plan. However, we don't really know how much 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.700 improvement we can expect for any given student 00:12:34.700 --> 00:12:39.139 for any given program and we don't know how long 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:43.039 those improvements are going to last. This is 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.620 not something that we go through short intervention 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.580 and suddenly we come out the other side and our 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:53.440 executive function skills are perfect for the 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.259 rest of our lives. That's not what happens. The 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:59.000 amount of improvement depends on a lot of different 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:03.279 factors. They talk about a few in the research 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.580 article itself, but that part is pretty complex. 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:12.519 And the ability to maintain progress. That can 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.580 depend on quite a few factors, but the biggest 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:19.000 one it comes down to is continued practice of 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:23.490 those skills. So again, it's not that... fourth 00:13:23.490 --> 00:13:27.450 grade we do a great program about improving executive 00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:30.110 function or in seventh grade we have that one 00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:32.590 teacher who's really that's what they're doing 00:13:32.590 --> 00:13:35.889 in their weekly executive function boot camp 00:13:35.889 --> 00:13:40.190 and now everything is fixed no no no this is 00:13:40.190 --> 00:13:43.850 long -term work and continued practice very much 00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:47.409 the same way as any kind of physical exercise 00:13:47.409 --> 00:13:50.940 that you do If you're working out regularly, 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:52.860 you're going to have some great health benefits. 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.659 And most of those will continue. You'll stay 00:13:57.659 --> 00:14:01.980 in pretty good shape. If you suddenly stop your 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:05.700 physical activity, guess what's also going to 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:08.840 stop? Your improvement in your physical abilities. 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:12.419 And then over time, it's going to erode. Your 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:15.500 physical health can decline. So if you want to 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:19.809 maintain good physical health, you need to maintain 00:14:19.809 --> 00:14:23.070 some sort of physical activity. And if you want 00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:26.929 to maintain good executive function skills, you 00:14:26.929 --> 00:14:31.049 need to maintain the program. Of course, that's 00:14:31.049 --> 00:14:34.049 going to be really difficult if one of your issues 00:14:34.049 --> 00:14:39.169 is consistency, which is very common among people 00:14:39.169 --> 00:14:41.809 who struggle with executive function or have 00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:46.879 ADD, ADHD, consistency. can just be a nightmare 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:51.919 problem. So we can make improvements. It's not 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:56.419 going to be a be all end all cure and it's not 00:14:56.419 --> 00:14:59.500 a one time intervention and then we're done. 00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:07.000 Number two, wide transfer or far transfer does 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:10.419 not really occur even under the best executive 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:13.940 function improvement programs. And what does 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:16.990 that mean? That means that if I am practicing 00:15:16.990 --> 00:15:21.750 improving my executive function in one area, 00:15:21.809 --> 00:15:26.309 let's say writing down homework every day in 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:29.870 the planner, my intervention piece is going to 00:15:29.870 --> 00:15:31.870 be the teachers coming over at the end of the 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:34.889 day walking around the desks, stopping at mine 00:15:34.889 --> 00:15:37.929 and saying, okay, Honora, we need to write this 00:15:37.929 --> 00:15:40.129 homework down. I'm going to stand here with you 00:15:40.129 --> 00:15:41.850 while you get it. It's right there on the board. 00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:44.279 Can you see from here? All right, the first one 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.279 is that math. Write it down. Great. You've also 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.259 got some reading. Let's get that in there. Great. 00:15:52.299 --> 00:15:54.279 And you've got that history project. Now that's 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:59.019 due Friday. I would do at least three pages of 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:01.159 that today so that you're ready for the Friday. 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:04.919 Okay, great. And then the teacher moves on. We 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:08.649 do that over time. Hopefully the intervention 00:16:08.649 --> 00:16:11.450 is such and it's working and helping that the 00:16:11.450 --> 00:16:14.049 teacher walking over to my desk triggers me to 00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:16.870 start writing what's on the board or to ask questions 00:16:16.870 --> 00:16:21.730 about what's on the board Hopefully after a period 00:16:21.730 --> 00:16:24.029 of time, which would be different for every person 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:27.200 The teacher comes around to my desk. I've already 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.639 got it written down. That's great. I'm showing 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:32.639 improvement in that particular executive function 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.980 piece of writing down my information so I can 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:39.379 plan my homework for the afternoon or my project 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:44.500 for this week. That skill does not automatically 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:47.960 transfer to me actually doing the homework or 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:51.879 to me turning the homework in. It does not transfer 00:16:52.110 --> 00:16:55.169 to me actually completing the history project 00:16:55.169 --> 00:16:59.669 or completing it by Friday or turning it in. 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:03.470 So we can have improvement, but it doesn't automatically 00:17:03.470 --> 00:17:05.829 transfer to everything else. We're going to have 00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:11.230 to work on those pieces as well. For teachers, 00:17:11.789 --> 00:17:14.529 a lot of that can be fixed if you have students 00:17:14.529 --> 00:17:17.569 work on projects in class or in school time. 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:21.170 So we are not even giving them the opportunity 00:17:21.369 --> 00:17:23.470 to forget when they get home. They already got 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:26.450 it done and they can work on longer projects 00:17:26.450 --> 00:17:30.650 the last 15 or 20 minutes of class two or three 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:33.269 days a week over the period of a month building 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:38.329 up to. Another strategy a lot of teachers will 00:17:38.329 --> 00:17:42.250 use is to assign smaller parts of a project and 00:17:42.250 --> 00:17:44.990 then over time those smaller parts can be put 00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:49.309 together into a complete project. But again that 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:52.390 skill on, let's say we're doing that on a long 00:17:52.390 --> 00:17:56.109 -term project, that will not automatically translate 00:17:56.109 --> 00:18:00.289 into the executive function of planning what 00:18:00.289 --> 00:18:03.230 I need to pack in the bag for next week as far 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:07.369 as my battery -charged calculator, my sharpened 00:18:07.369 --> 00:18:09.990 pencils, my highlighters. I'm not doing that 00:18:09.990 --> 00:18:13.049 kind of planning just because I planned for a 00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:18.809 project. So the transfer is an issue. Number 00:18:18.809 --> 00:18:21.289 three, and I thought this one was really interesting, 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:25.609 shout out to the SEL people who are listening. 00:18:26.329 --> 00:18:30.950 We know from scientific research that stress, 00:18:31.990 --> 00:18:36.759 sadness, loneliness, and lack of sleep. all have 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.259 negative impacts on executive function skills. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.740 Now that one is huge when we think about how 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:46.059 many people are suffering from anxiety disorders, 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:49.400 depressive disorders, trauma backgrounds, how 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.259 many people are suffering from feeling lonely 00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:57.220 or cut off from peers, our reliance on technology 00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:02.450 which erodes human connection. And the amount 00:19:02.450 --> 00:19:05.190 of stress and especially lack of sleep so many 00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:08.410 of our students are experiencing, not only the 00:19:08.410 --> 00:19:11.769 high schoolers, but our over -scheduled, over 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:15.990 -extended children as young as elementary. So 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:19.349 when kids are in way too many sports, way too 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:22.289 many clubs, pushing all the time, expected to 00:19:22.289 --> 00:19:25.150 get really great grades, they're doing tutoring 00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:28.269 outside of school. They're constantly on the 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:33.589 go. There's no time for the brain to relax, to 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:41.329 be creative, to reflect on planning, to reflect 00:19:41.329 --> 00:19:45.329 on problem solving, which does not come under 00:19:45.329 --> 00:19:47.710 stress. It comes from periods of reflection and 00:19:47.710 --> 00:19:50.650 quiet. The more we put that onto children, the 00:19:50.650 --> 00:19:55.210 more we are impacting their executive function 00:19:55.210 --> 00:20:00.700 skills. in a bad way. So if we really want to 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:04.960 improve executive function overall, we've got 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.680 to make sure people are having some happy experiences 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.019 in their life, that they're getting a lot of 00:20:10.019 --> 00:20:15.220 rest. The sleep rest and the downtime rest of 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:20.000 just not being under stress and not feeling disconnected. 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:24.619 So that's an important one for parents really 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:27.289 to keep in mind. as teachers there's only so 00:20:27.289 --> 00:20:30.309 much of that we can impact because we see our 00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:32.710 students for a small amount of time compared 00:20:32.710 --> 00:20:35.549 to the rest of their their whole life but any 00:20:35.549 --> 00:20:39.069 thing we can do to make our classrooms a safe 00:20:39.069 --> 00:20:44.009 stress -free happy place the more we're benefiting 00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:49.769 our students number five really struck out to 00:20:49.769 --> 00:20:53.349 me they examined a lot of studies that focused 00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:57.259 on physical exercise, some kind of being active 00:20:57.259 --> 00:20:59.859 and what impact that might have on executive 00:20:59.859 --> 00:21:03.039 function skills. So they looked at a lot of different 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.339 sports, a lot of different activities a student 00:21:07.339 --> 00:21:11.880 might be in, cardio, aerobics, all sorts of things. 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:16.200 And while they do make some things better because 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.059 being physically active can reduce stress and 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:22.599 help you meet other people and connect and reduce 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:28.619 loneliness, that is a minor benefit. However, 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:32.960 physical activity alone is not tied to improving 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:38.339 executive function skills unless it's yoga or 00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:42.259 taekwondo. The studies where students were put 00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:47.859 into yoga practices or taekwondo practices, those 00:21:47.859 --> 00:21:50.579 children increased executive function skills. 00:21:51.130 --> 00:21:54.569 And here's the the asterisk to all of it. Whatever 00:21:54.569 --> 00:21:57.769 you're doing, you have to be really happy about 00:21:57.769 --> 00:22:02.250 doing it. Physical activity that brings you joy 00:22:02.250 --> 00:22:06.529 will help increase your executive function skills, 00:22:06.529 --> 00:22:10.930 especially if it's yoga or taekwondo. If you're 00:22:10.930 --> 00:22:13.069 not liking what you're doing and you're forcing 00:22:13.069 --> 00:22:15.410 yourself or you've been forced into a program 00:22:15.410 --> 00:22:17.650 and you hate it, you're not going to get any 00:22:17.650 --> 00:22:21.660 benefit. So there's some interesting future research 00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:26.960 on that one for sure. But yoga and taekwondo 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.980 definitely help increase executive function skills 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.619 in most people who do it, as long as they like 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:38.160 doing it. Okay, and number one, two, three, four, 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.819 five, and the last big highlight of this article, 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:45.940 improving executive function challenges means 00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:49.269 that the person has to be a little bit outside 00:22:49.269 --> 00:22:51.210 of their comfort zone. They have to be a little 00:22:51.210 --> 00:22:55.250 bit challenged. Not left alone. More like Vygotsky's 00:22:55.250 --> 00:22:57.809 zone of proximal development combined with a 00:22:57.809 --> 00:23:00.869 more knowledgeable other. Someone who can help 00:23:00.869 --> 00:23:04.509 kind of challenge and push a person outside of 00:23:04.509 --> 00:23:07.029 their comfort zone. It's not just practicing 00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:13.829 the skills. That practice alone does not improve 00:23:14.389 --> 00:23:16.609 executive function skills. There's got to be 00:23:16.609 --> 00:23:19.529 a little bit of a challenge in there. If I go 00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:22.710 back to my example of the teacher walking around 00:23:22.710 --> 00:23:26.190 the room checking everybody's planner, the push 00:23:26.190 --> 00:23:29.660 might be after I've Checked a few times and helped 00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:32.660 students stood next to them make them write it 00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:35.079 down word We're not leaving the room until we've 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:37.279 made sure together that this is complete, but 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.359 I'm doing it with the student I'm not leaving 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.599 them out in the cold. They know we're doing it 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:44.019 together I'm reading a few things off the board 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:46.180 to make sure they can see it. I made sure they 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:49.119 got it written down They did the writing we're 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:53.240 a team in this effort then over time I'm gonna 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:55.940 use a little bit of scaffolding and I'm gonna 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.940 prompt everyone. Okay, we're all getting our 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:02.039 homework in the planner. I'm about to walk around 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:04.660 the room. Here's what you're writing down. This 00:24:04.660 --> 00:24:06.859 for math, this for English, this for history. 00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:11.019 Then I start doing my walk. I might need to stop 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:13.660 at a student's desk and say, all right, you got 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:17.880 the math. We got two more. And now I'm not reading 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:19.980 from the board because I already gave them the 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:21.940 prompt. I'm pushing them to do it a little more 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:26.809 on their own. After a little bit of time, I scaffold 00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:30.109 again and I say okay we're getting the homework 00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:33.930 in the planner it's on the board when you're 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:36.049 done bring your planner up to me and then you 00:24:36.049 --> 00:24:39.349 can pack up your bag to leave now I'm putting 00:24:39.349 --> 00:24:41.970 that onus on the student they still have to come 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.009 to me and show me it's an end -of -day activity 00:24:45.009 --> 00:24:47.410 then they get to wrap up their stuff and go home 00:24:47.410 --> 00:24:50.970 I can either keep an eye on who's been up to 00:24:50.970 --> 00:24:52.990 the desk or if it's a very large class maybe 00:24:52.990 --> 00:24:55.720 I'm just putting little dots next to initials 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:58.880 on a list, something to track to make sure I've 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:01.839 seen everyone and they've shown me their work, 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.839 but I've really put it onto them. Now if I know 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:09.299 students are struggling with this skill, then 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:13.279 after a long break or after a certain period 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.839 of time, if I notice this is falling off, I'm 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.700 going to go back to the beginning where I stand 00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:20.519 at the desk and I talk them through it. I'm going 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:22.480 to let them know that we're not just letting 00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:25.029 go with this skill. We're going to keep working 00:25:25.029 --> 00:25:26.930 on it over time and I'm going to go back through 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:29.049 the scaffolding and keep challenging them again. 00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:34.089 Now, of course, this is a very simplistic strategy 00:25:34.089 --> 00:25:37.670 and simplistic intervention, but it's something 00:25:37.670 --> 00:25:41.609 pretty easy to implement in any classroom. And 00:25:41.609 --> 00:25:43.150 parents, if you're listening and you want to 00:25:43.150 --> 00:25:45.890 do this at home, the way you're going to do it, 00:25:46.009 --> 00:25:47.549 it's not going to be that you're going to say, 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:50.859 You have to do the dishes after dinner and then 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.579 it never comes up again. It's that after dinner 00:25:53.579 --> 00:25:57.759 first. I'm gonna say Let's get the kitchen cleaned 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:01.559 up. You are in charge of the dishes. I'm in charge 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:03.339 of wiping down the counters and now we're in 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:05.740 the kitchen together We're doing it together. 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.500 I might stand in the kitchen say I can't start 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:11.759 until you start Let's bring those dishes in here 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.019 and we're getting that done together and then 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:19.720 over time I'm going to step away from what I'm 00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:21.299 doing in the kitchen, make sure they're getting 00:26:21.299 --> 00:26:22.859 the dishes done. I'm going to give them some 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:25.779 other reminders. I'm not going to say you're 00:26:25.779 --> 00:26:28.299 doing the dishes and then leave the room. I'm 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:31.599 still going to be actively a part of that process 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.400 until they're getting it done. If they want to 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.019 move on to another activity, I'm going to say 00:26:36.019 --> 00:26:39.980 let me check those dishes first. Then when we 00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:43.220 know that it's totally wrapped up, then you can 00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:45.960 go on to something else. So I can still use the 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.960 scaffolding at home. But I want it to be a team 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:51.960 effort. I don't want it to be a punishing activity, 00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:55.720 and I want a scaffold slowly checking in over 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:59.039 time to make sure things are done. That way I'm 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:04.000 really helping the child close the loop of starting 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.400 an activity and finishing it to completion, going 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:12.339 back to that inhibitory control. So pretty basic. 00:27:12.670 --> 00:27:15.269 intervention model but it is something you can 00:27:15.269 --> 00:27:18.269 do. So to wrap up our executive function talk 00:27:18.269 --> 00:27:22.490 for today. Executive function skills can be improved 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:27.380 in different amounts for different people. It's 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:29.980 got to be targeted interventions. They have to 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:31.700 feel like you're in there with them. You need 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:34.940 to challenge them a little bit, not too hard 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:37.039 of a challenge, in a way that they can handle. 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:39.859 And you're using those scaffolding skills to 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:42.279 put the work back onto them and let them take 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:45.900 control of it. And we need to remember that once 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:49.200 the skill is learned, it is not stuck there forever. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:53.619 We want to keep checking in over time. because 00:27:53.619 --> 00:27:55.859 the executive function skills constantly need 00:27:55.859 --> 00:28:00.660 to be worked so that they maintain whatever improvement 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:04.200 we've got. And our three parts of executive function, 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:07.339 inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive 00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:12.259 flexibility. We need to train children on these 00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:15.420 skills, help them practice, and help them develop 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:17.519 it over time. And when we do, we're going to 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.859 see better reasoning, problem solving, and planning. 00:28:21.069 --> 00:28:23.869 Those are the skills that we're hoping to improve 00:28:23.869 --> 00:28:29.750 over time. Okay, so that wraps up the things 00:28:29.750 --> 00:28:32.730 I found most interesting from the article by 00:28:32.730 --> 00:28:36.609 Diamond and Ling published in 2015. And I'd love 00:28:36.609 --> 00:28:39.569 to know your thoughts and comments. What's working 00:28:39.569 --> 00:28:42.529 for your students? What's working for your children? 00:28:42.670 --> 00:28:46.009 What questions do you still have about executive 00:28:46.009 --> 00:28:49.430 function and the interplay between that and dyscalculia? 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:53.900 there's quite a lot uh hopefully it was pretty 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:56.500 clear to you in the podcast but if you still 00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:58.680 have questions please reach out you can find 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:03.519 me on the social medias i'm on tiktok instagram 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.299 youtube we have a teacher support group on facebook 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:10.440 that's almost 2 000 members strong very excited 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:15.019 about that and you can learn more at the what 00:29:15.019 --> 00:29:18.599 in the world is dyscalculia podcast and email 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:26.160 me I'd love to have some of your feedback and 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:29.940 answer your questions about the math learning 00:29:29.940 --> 00:29:33.839 disorder dyscalculia. Thanks for listening. We'll 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:34.599 talk again soon.