Smart but Scattered Kids

Executive Skills Coaching for Elementary and Secondary Age Levels

Coaching is a strategy designed to help under-achieving students be more successful in school and reach the career goals they set for themselves. By working with a coach, students learn how to manage time and tasks, avoid distractions and temptations, and develop good study habits. Coaching is neither tutoring nor counseling, but it is a collaborative process in which students, with guidance and support from a coach, set and pursue goals that are important to them and hone the executive skills they need to achieve those goals.

Through the use of didactic presentations, assigned readings, audio tapes, practice exercises, group discussions, homework assignments, and “hands-on” experience, this seminar will provide in-depth training in the coaching process, including

1. How to gather background information using checklists and interviews in order to understand students’ executive skills profiles and to assist in goal-setting.
2. How to help student set meaningful, measurable goals that are designed to improve executive skills in the context of school performance or behavior.
3. How to conduct coaching sessions to help students use effective strategies designed to enable them to meet their goals.
4. How to work with parents so that, when appropriate, they can support students between coaching sessions.
5. How to measure goal attainment and create clear, simple visuals that depict progress toward goal attainment.

The format for the seminar will be a “hybrid” model that combines self-study with monthly on-line Zoom sessions. Course materials will be made available early in the summer and the Zoom sessions will begin in September. All participants in this seminar must have a student whom they can coach for the duration of the seminar. The Zoom sessions will be video-recorded and made available to participants unable to attend the sessions. The focus of the Zoom sessions will be to review homework assignments and share coaching experiences with ample opportunity for participants to learn from each other as well as the presenters.

NOTE: Coaching elementary aged students differs somewhat from coaching secondary and post-secondary students and participants can select which strand they want to pursue. Homework assignments will be somewhat different depending on whether participants choose the elementary or the secondary strand. Participants who want to complete both the elementary and the secondary level training will have to complete homework assignments for both strands and coach at least one student from each age group.