In terms of the makeup of our brains, the frontal lobes (pre-frontal cortex) are the ‘executives in charge’ and can be compared to the leaders or supervisors of a business or organisation – without good leadership, the organisation becomes unstructured and inefficient. Effective executive functioning coaching takes place when pupils are helped to understand themselves better. This means that the parent tries to stop being the teenager’s pre-frontal cortex (i.e. The executive in charge of the organisation, organising and problem solving everything on behalf of the teenager), and gradually withdraws their scaffolding, so that the teenager learns how to manage their own EF skills. The Thinking linked EFs: 7. Time management Time management is actually composed of other executive skills – task initiation, sustained attention and planning – as well as ‘time estimation’. Many teenagers have trouble with time management because they have trouble with estimating how long something will take. The most frequent difficulty is underestimating how long something will take and therefore not allowing enough time to complete it. Sometimes, conversely however pupils will overestimate how long something will take and this can then make the task seem overwhelming, and so it becomes difficult to start it. Time estimation can be improved through practice, so a good habit to get in to is estimating how long you think a task will take and then comparing it to how long it actually does take. Tracking your estimations helps to improve your concept of time.
What you might see in a student who has poor time management skills is:
• Difficulty estimating how long a task will take – due to: o Overestimating how long it will take to do a task (therefore never getting started) o Underestimating how long it will take to do a task (therefor running out of time) • Being chronically late getting ready for school / obligations / appointments • Difficulty juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities because they are not managing their time properly • A lack of a sense of urgency / not appreciating that deadlines are important • Relying on a deadline as an activator and motivator (and leaving things to the last minute in order to feel motivated by a very short deadline, to complete things)
Ideas about how to help with Time Management difficulties: • Try to encourage your teenager to stick to a routine, particularly for studying, but also for sleep and other daily routines • Encourage your teenager to make a commitment with you to follow a schedule. You may put this on the fridge or other obvious place as a reminder. You may also need (initially) to give your teenager reminders, when the time comes to do something. • Encourage your teenager to set alarms or use apps or programs on phones etc. to help them get started on time. • Create checklists and to-do lists with your that include start times and an estimate of how long it will take. Add up how long the tasks will take and delete some for another time / day if the list is not realistic. Managing Time-management self-check form Item • I have trouble sticking to a timeline • I often have problems estimating how long it will take to finish something (school based tasks / prep) • I put off studying / not studying at all
Not a problem
Notes
• I ‘waste’ time (e.g. hanging out with friends, playing computer games, social media, TV) • I put off doing prep at night and rush to get it done before class • I am slow to get ready for things (school, appointments etc.)
Pupil self-help strategies: Good time management allows you to manage the different demands of what you want to do, what you need to do, and what others ask you to do.
• •
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Tips Use a planner to make daily plans Estimate how long a task will last – and then check to see if you were right Break work / prep down into short time segments Other strategies:
• • • • •
Self-talk How much time do you have? Are you on track? What you need to do comes before what you want to do Honestly, how long will it really take? Your own idea:
Pomodoro is an app that can help with breaking tasks into segments, there are others available too.
Weekly Planner Week A / B P1
9.05
P2
10.00
P3
11.20
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
P4a
12.15
P4b
13.20
P5
14.10
P6
15.05
Fill in your timetable and colour your zoom lessons yellow
ZOOM LESSON
Tasks to be accomplished this week: (add the firefly tasks you have been set, and when they are due)
KESW@Home End of term planner Monday November
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
25th
27th
28th
29th
26th
30th
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
XMAS BREAK
XMAS BREAK
• Please feel free to email me (marsdenz@kesw.org) if you would like me to do any 1:1 input with your son/daughter to help them get back on track with any of these skills.
Kind regards, Zoe Marsden Head of Learning Support and SENCO - King Edward's Witley