Time Management for Students - Executive Functioning Training
Often called the “conductor of the brain,” executive functioning is what allows us to coordinate thoughts, manage emotions, and turn intentions into actions. It helps students focus attention, plan ahead, organize materials, regulate behavior, and make meaningful connections between what they learn and what they already know.
When these skills are weak, learners may struggle with starting tasks, managing time, following directions, or completing assignments. Strengthening executive functioning gives them the tools they need to thrive—both in school and in life.
Dr. Erica Warren’s Executive Functioning Collection brings together an exceptional selection of multisensory games, workbooks, and cognitive training activities designed to develop attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, time management, and emotional regulation.
These resources are perfect for educational therapists, teachers, parents, and coaches who want to make skill-building fun, accessible, and effective. Through creative, research-based exercises, students learn to focus their attention, organize ideas, control impulses, and approach challenges with confidence.
Whether you’re supporting a student with ADHD, executive dysfunction, or simply helping a learner enhance their mental organization, this collection provides engaging, evidence-informed tools that transform everyday practice into empowering growth.
What are Executive Functioning Skills?
Executive functioning skills help us to coordinate the brain. Much like a conductor, executive functioning collects information we receive from our senses, prior knowledge and helps us to process and make meaning of the world around us. Executive functioning also helps us to manage emotions, maintain motivation, and organize information. I often like to think of it as the Grand Central Station of the brain.https://www.learningspecialistcourses.com/courses/teaching-EF-and-study-strategies
What are Some Common Executive Functioning Symptoms?
- trouble maintaining an agenda or planner
- leaving projects to the last minute
- forgetting papers and needed materials
- trouble estimating how long it takes to complete tasks
- difficulty initiating homework independently
- problems sustaining attention
- difficulty keeping track of possessions
- trouble following multistep directions.
- difficulty transitioning from task to task
- problems keeping appointments
- trouble maintaining a tidy and organized bedroom or book-bag
How Can Students Develop Attentional Skills?
Attention is a piece of executive functioning, and students can learn to develop this skill through mindfulness lessons and activities, the development of visualization skills and by learning how to manage one's inner voice.