What an amazing session on working memory. I find that thinking about executive functioning more in terms of skills than something that exists in the brain to be a very hopeful and useful idea. Although executive functions are controlled by the frontal lobe and these functions may not be a strength, everyone can work on and learn the skills. A very helpful way to think about it!
Question–so if you use two elements in a classroom– telling students something and having a visual representation of the information, is there a danger of distracting the students? Does it depend on the quality/simplicity of the visual (if it’s a really complex diagram do you risk losing the people who might understand the verbal element better because they’re trying to decode the diagram)? Or will students quickly self-select and use what works better for them?
In regards to Working memory- no wonder my 5 year old can’t get ready for baseball practice on his own…! This topic seems like it would apply to Kids development just as much as it would be for instructional settings.
I will definitely be more sympathetic to my 7 y.o. when I tell her to brush her teeth and hair, feed the rat, and put pj’s on and she disappears for ten minutes and I find in her room reading a book with unbrushed teeth and a hungry rat!