Category Archives: Executive Functioning

Supports to Improve Executive Functioning

Using a Digital Calendar to Maintain a To-Do List

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Digital calendars can be used to create a to-do list and prompt reminders. Putting appointments and due dates on a calendar is what it was made for! Using a calendar as a to-do list and for reminders provides one convenient location for keeping track of everything that needs to be done. Use the following handy tips to get started:

  • Set up to-do items and plan out stages of projects by marking events as an  “All Day Event”. This puts it on your calendar on a date you want it “due” without a specific time slot.
  • Have a big project? Breaking it down into smaller chunks makes it more manageable. “Due dates” can be set for each smaller chunk of the project so that you work on it all along instead of cramming everything into the day before!
  • Set notifications to remind you at a certain date and time which can help you remember that the event is coming up.
  • Set up a repeating appointment or event, such as setting a consistent weekly reminder to take the trash out on a specific morning.
  • Events can be set with a visual reminder, such as an emoji specific to the event, like using a waste basket 🗑️ for the reminder to take out the trash. 
  • Whole calendars and/or specific events can be shared with others. Parents and/or educators can work with a student to help them learn what types of actions should be events, what reminders might be necessary, and when those should be scheduled on the calendar. 

Use the following guides based on the digital calendar you are using:

Getting Started With Google Calendar

Get Started with the Outlook Calendar

Color Coding and Adding Emojis to Google Drive Folders for Organization

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The human brain 🧠 can recognize images in a matter of milliseconds, according to research at MIT. This information can be useful in helping students (and adults!) in quickly finding information by color and emojis in Google Drive. For example, science folders could be in green and social science folders could be in blue. An emoji of a microscope 🔬 could be added to the file name of the science folder and a globe 🌎 to the file name of the social science folder. Have an important file about organization? Add a file cabinet 🗄️ to it! These colors and pictures can help trigger memory in the blink of an eye 👀 when trying to locate files plus they add an element of fun! These strategies can help students organize their information in a way that they can quickly access later without the need to rely on text. Check out this video from Specialized Instructional Facilitator – Assistive Technology Jean Garrett to learn how to color code and add an emoji from emojipedia.org.

Google Keep Voice Notes

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Have an idea on the go? Don’t want to forget a task you just thought of? No time to type it all out? NO problem! Use the Voice Note feature in Google Keep! Voice notes taken on your phone are great, but then they just sit in an audio file, on your phone, until you put it to use or type it out somewhere else. Why not have Google Keep do that for you? With the Google Keep iOS app, you can record voice notes on the go and it will put that recording into a sticky note on your virtual wall. What is even better, is that it will translate your audio note into text, in the same “sticky” note!  Prefer to jot down notes, but not type? You can also write out a note with your finger or stylus. Google Keep will put that into text as well. Then you can color code, move around, label, and search for your notes like usual. No more forgotten ideas!

Google Keep Voice Note

Voice Note in Google Keep

Voice Note Google Keep

Voice Note Listening in Google Keep

Keeping Things Organized Using Symbaloo

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Keeping track of resources, supports, and information is a learned skill. One strategy to help educators and students stay organized is to display everything in a visually appealing, easy to access, grid view where each item is represented by a symbol much like how applications are displayed on the home screen of contemporary smartphones. The layout of LCPS Go is another example. Symbaloo is an online organizational tool that provides another opportunity to organize and display information in a similar and familiar grid view with associated symbols. Parental consent is currently required for student use. The following are a few resources to help you learn how to get started:

Sketchnoting

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Sketchnoting is a form of notetaking where the person taking notes draws an image. The visualization is meant to tie concepts together and can be made using a combination of text and pictures. The active process of creating the sketch note along with the visual representation of the concepts helps the learner make connections and remember the content. Beyond paper and pencil, any tool that provides a drawing feature could be used to create a sketchnote including but not limited to the following:

Check out this video from educator and author Carrie Baughcum describing sketchnoting.


 

 

Setting Up An Online Calendar Over The Summer

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Learners can use their LCPS Google accounts to create and manage multiple calendars using Google Calendar. Screenshot of Getting Started with Google CalendarGoogle Calendar has color coding, collaboration, and reminder features to help individuals never miss another event. Different views allow the learner to see a schedule for the day, week, month, or even more customized options. At first, learners might need guidance about what types of events should go on the calendar. Over time, using the calendar becomes habitual and part of one’s daily routine. The Google Workplace Center has a step-by-step guide to learn how to use and manage Google Calendar.

Summer is the perfect time to practice adding items to the calendar such as sporting events, family outings, scheduled chores, and more. This way when the school year kicks into gear learners can begin to add events related to academic learning.

 

Keeping Track of Found Resources

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The school year may be over but the learning never stops! Learning happens anytime, anywhere! When learners are doing their own independent research on the web they need a way to keep the resources they find. The Google Keep Chrome extension allows learners to save a link to a web resource (website, video, audio file, PDF, etc) directly into Google Keep. Users can add labels, colors, and text to the note to help with organization. Users can then access the web resource again from their curated list kept in Google Keep. Learners can use this method for keeping track of important materials they discover over the summer and beyond! The following video tutorial from Anne Arundel County Public Schools can help you learn how to save web resources into Google Keep.

Keeping Track With Google Keep

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Technology can help educators and learners get and stay organized. Google Keep is both a desktop and mobile note taking application that works similarly to sticky notes which allows the user to add information in text, image, and audio formats. Once information is placed on a virtual sticky note, that note is placed on a giant virtual wall. Individuals can use the Search feature to filter notes placed on the wall. Notes can be labeled and organized into categories. Notes can even be organized by color. Each note can also be turned into a to do list which keeps track of what has been accomplished once it is completed. 

Google Keep also allows users to create reminders which link to the same user’s Google Calendar to help keep track of scheduled events. Notes made in Google Keep can also be pulled into Google Docs. Students (and educators!) can use Google Keep to keep track of everything! Check out this video tutorial to learn more.

Screenshot of Google Keep with labels on the left, a to do list, and examples of notes.

Screenshot of Google Keep with labels on the left, a to do list, and examples of notes.