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Research & Training Blog : Executive Function

Welcome to the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) blog — the mission of this blog is to provide an avenue of communication between LCIRT and educators/professionals interested in the latest research, resources, and news related to learning differences.
The infamous confusion corner street sign in Winnipeg. The sign shows four arrows crossing one another, each points to a different road.

Using a consistent format and structure for course materials

In a traditional classroom, we have the luxury of answering clarifying questions and reminding students of the sequence of tasks, and we can provide lots of visual and verbal cues to help students stay organized and on-task. In an online environment, we don’t have the same opportunities to support students in the moment, so it’s incumbent on us to be intentional and consistent in how we present learning materials to them. Otherwise we risk creating unnecessary confusion and frustration; in other words: we can’t change the weather, or lighten traffic, but we can make sure the streets are well lit and there are signs to guide their way.

Green highway sign that reads

Mindset and connectedness: keys to the good life for adolescents

In my time as a high school teacher, I worked with my fair share of teenagers who engaged in … challenging behavior. But the students that concerned me the most were those who did not have at least one trusting, positive relationship with some adult in school. In these scenarios, my fear stemmed from how little we know about the emotional state of our students at such a vulnerable part of their development. It was too easy to miss signs of& serious distress and even easier to miss crucial opportunities to help them expand their abilities or sense of possibilities. Their classwork and their grades could maybe tell us what, or if, they were learning; but we had few answers to the most essential question: how are they handling the critical challenges of adolescence? That so many of us have a story about a teacher (or some other caring adult) who played a critical role in guiding us through adolescence is a testament to the power and importance of the connections we should strive to make with our students.

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