Role of Counselors in Developing Students’ Executive and Study Skills

1. Role of Counselors in Developing Students’ Executive and Study Skills By: RollyCenizaRemitar Asian Psychological Services & Assessment Corp.

2. Some people wonder… What do school counselors DO?

3. How School Counselors Spend their Time • Individual Counseling • Group Counseling • Consulting & Collaborating w/Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Students, other Counselors • Build Relationships • Crisis Situations • Conflict Mediation • Classroom guidance • Parent Education • Referrals

4. Our Children Today • So what is different from when you were a child? • What has changed in the way they behave and how you had to behave? • How is their child world so different from our childhood world?

5. TO ALL FOLKS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950's, 60' s, 70's and early 80's • Some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne but just a comadrona and drank coconut wine while they carried us.

6. While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicines, ate sweet delicacies and didn't worry about diabetes.

7. Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, at kung minsan itali lang ang kumot at ginagawang duyan… at tayo ay nauntog

8. We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (sako sa harina ng General Milling with faded picture ang mga gamit), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads, and no breaks and yet we were able to manage everything.

9. As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats no airconditioning & no seat belts. Kasama natin ang mga baboy at manok sa bus ngunit hindi naman tayo na swine o bird flu

10. Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a treat. Ngayon ibang mga bata hindi pa nakakita ng totoong kalabaw…sa google lang

11. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT bottled mineral water sa Nature Spring or Viva, or Absolute Mineral water. Sometimes we drank from the wells

12. We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this.

13. We ate rice , lumang kanin na may asin at mantika ng baboy, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank softdrinks with real sugar in it (No diet coke or Pepsi Max), but we weren't sick or overweight

14. We were always outside playing.We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the moon light came on.Syatong, Luksong tinik, o chines garter, hanap palaka o kaka at iba pa

15. No one was able to reach us all day ( hindi pa uso ang cellphone). And yes, we were O.K.

16. Ang mga lumang kahoy o kawayan lalagyan ng gulong yari sa lumang tsinelas…basta gugulong, masaya na kahit nahuhulog tayo sa mga kanal.

17. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters, facebook, twitters.. ........ ...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!

18. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit pre ? Ngunit kung kalaban natin…sisigawan lang ng Buti nga!

19. We played marbles (jolen) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate Pan Bahug-bahug & Bagumbayan (recycled bread man diay to kay wala mahalin!) We were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.

20. We had to live with homemade guns • We made up games with sticks ( syatong ), and cans ( Bato-Lata )and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman nabubulag noon

21. Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala pa yang mga childhood depression ug damaged self esteem ek-ek lang yan. Ang magalit. Talo!.

22. Nanonood lang ang mga magulang noon sa mga liga ng basketball o ibang mga laro, hindi makipag-away. That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO's, Engineers, Teachers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

23. Factors that Hinder Brain Development 2 1 4 5 3

24. ‘Children today are more confident and self assured’ Implications: • The ‘now’ generation – instant gratification • They are more confident and expect more freedom • More outgoing and challenging • They can be more demanding and materialistic • Their range of choices is amazing

25. ‘Today’s children are exposed from varying backgrounds’ Implications: • Boundaries set may vary greatly • Parents often spend less time with their children • Varying family care circumstances

26. ‘The children of today have a lot choices Implications: • They want to be encouraged to have opinions • They expect individual attention • They thrive on variety and action in their activites • They expect to have interaction, to have their say • Want to choose a certain activity

27. ‘No longer the generation “gap” – rather the generation “lap” ’ Implications: • They are ‘digital natives’ we are the ‘digital immigrants’ • They are used to IT, computers and ‘hi tech’ equipment (e.g. flat screens, power points, web design, web cams, i-pods, play stations, mobiles, tablets, blackberries, PDAs, online blogs, U Tube etc) • Exposed to a huge amount of learning content • To an extent control their own learning contexts

28. Our ‘knowledge of children’s learning needs has changed’ Implications: • Thinking skills ‘are in’ - memorization ‘is out’ • They learn in small chunks or bites • Many of them even know about their preferred learning style! (auditory, visual, tactile/kinesthetic etc) • Have high expectations of what they can and will achieve • Increasing numbers have short attention spans

29. EXECUTIVE SKILLS • High level cognitive function that help us regulate our behavior • Skills that provide for intentional, goal directed, problem solving action • Allow us to plan and organize our activities, sustain attention, and persists to complete a task

30. Executive Skills 1. Planning/Priotizing The ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or to complete a task. It also involves being able to make decisions about what is important to focus and what is not.

31. Executive Skills PLANNING / PRIORITIZING Specific Problems Behaviors • Does not know where to start on assignment/ project • Cannot develop a timeline for long term projects • Does not think ahead about possible problems • Difficulty breaking work into smaller parts • Inability to prioritize what is important or urgent • Starts assignments/ projects at the last minute

32. Tips... Let the students... • Reflect (pulling of thoughts) • Recording • Action planning • Executing • evaluating

33. Executive Skills 2 .ORGANIZATION The ability to arrange or place things according to a system

34. Executive Skills ORGANIZATION Specific Problem Behaviors • Loses/ misplaces things • Unable to keep track of belongings • Unable to keep bag clean and organized • Unable to keep room neat, desk tidy • Unable to keep notebooks, papers organized • Unable to keep belongings neat and in appropriate location

35. Tips... • Work with parents • Daily planner • Notebook organization • Clean up time • Clean work area policy

36. Executive Skills 3. TIME MANAGEMENT The capacity to estimate how much time one has, how to allocate it, and how to stay within time limits and deadlines. It also involves a sense that time is important

37. Executive Skills TIME MANAGEMENT Specific Problems Behaviors • Unable to finish work on time • Unable to follow a timeline • Difficulty estimating how long it will take to finish a task • Wasting time on irrelevant activities e.g. TV, video

38. Tips... • Actively maintaining a homework assignment pad or, preferably, a daily planner. • Setting aside the same time each day for homework and planning. • Writing a homework schedule that allows for time segments dedicated to each subject. • Building in a “catch-up” day for difficult subjects. • Identifying rest periods and earned time for relaxation.

39. Executive Skills 4. WORKING MEMORY The ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks. It incorporates the ability to draw on past learning or experience to apply to the situation at hand or to project problem-solving strategies into the future.

40. Executive Skills WORKING MEMORY Specific Problem Behaviors • Difficulty memorizing • Difficulty following multi-step directions • Losing things • Unable to write down assignments • Forgetful with directions • Difficulty remembering instructional sequences

41. Tips... A. Give Directions in Multiple Formats B. Teach Students to Over-learn Material C. Teach Students to Use Visual Images and Other Memory Strategies D. Give Teacher-Prepared Handouts Prior to Class Lectures E. Teach Students to Be Active Readers F. Write Down Steps in Math Problems G. Provide Retrieval Practice for Students H. Help Students Develop Cues When Storing Information

42. Executive Skills 5. METACOGNITION The ability to stand back and take a bird’s eye view of oneself in a situation. It is the ability to observe how you problem solve. It also includes self- monitoring and self-evaluating skills e.g. how am I doing? How did I do

43. Executive Skills METACOGNITION Specific Problems Behaviors • knowing what to study/ how to study • Failing to check work • Forgets to catch mistakes • Unable to solve problem on his own. • Unable to recognize that he has a problem • Does not even know what he does not know

44. Tips.... • Connecting new information to former knowledge. • Selecting thinking strategies deliberately. • Planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. (Dirkes, 1985)

45. Executive Skills 6. RESPONSE INHIBITION The capacity to think before you act. The ability to resist the urge to say so or do something allow us the time to evaluate a situation and how our behavior might impact it.

46. Executive Skills RESPONSE INHIBITION Specific Behavior Problems • Say things without thinking (verbal impulsivity) • Acting impulsively • Provoking fights • Interrupts others • Difficulty waiting turns • Spending money impulsively • Hanging out kids who gets into trouble • Accident proneness

47. Executive Skills 7. SELF- REGULATION OF AFFECT The ability to manage emotions in order to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior.

48. Executive Skills SELF-REGULATION OF AFFECT Specific Problem Behaviors • Becomes easily upset • Throws temper tantrums • Easily frustrated when mistakes are made • Small events trigger big emotional response • Easily overwhelmed by large tasks

49. Executive Skills 8. TASKS INITIATION The ability to begin a task without undue procrastination in a timely fashion.

50. Executive Skills TASK INITIATION Specific Problems Behaviors • Trouble getting started on his own • Needs cues to start work • Puts off long term projects