The Missing Link to Help Them Think: Connecting Executive Function and SEL Skills to Boost Student Achievement

What if you could help your students who are struggling academically simply by teaching them executive function skills?

If you're a teacher, chances are you're familiar with the student who never finishes homework, the one who always interrupts, the one who can't seem to pay attention during lessons. Too often, we assume these characteristics are innate or chalk them up to lack of discipline, when in fact they are executive function issues that teachers can easily address— and even help to reverse— with a little guidance.

In The Missing Link to Help Them Think, veteran educator and bestselling author Marilee Sprenger imparts that guidance with a wealth of practical, research-based classroom strategies teachers can use to develop six core areas of executive function skills (EFS): impulse inhibition; working memory; attention and focus; cognitive flexibility; self-monitoring; and planning, organization, prioritization, and time management. In addition, Sprenger

• Explains how executive function skills bridge the gap between social-emotional learning and academics and how to develop both skill sets at the same time.
• Discusses the research on and neurological origins of different executive functions.
• Provides practical, easily implemented self-assessment tools that teachers and students can use to evaluate their strengths and needs related to executive functioning.

All students can improve their executive function skills and succeed in the classroom. With strategies and examples across grade levels and relevant to all subject areas, this thought-provoking book gives you the resources necessary to support them in this journey.