Monday, July 9th, 2012

Last night I viewed a webinar on Executive Functioning.  I discovered that executive functioning has to do mostly with the frontal lobe of our brain.  The frontal lobe would affect such functions as behavior regulation, time management, sets of processes, and self management.  The analogy for the frontal lobe that was used in the webinar was the conductor of an orchestra or the CEO of the brain.  A dysfunction of the frontal lobe would be a drunk conductor or if the CEO had left the building.  Executive functioning dysfunction would affect 100% of people who have ADHD, ODD, CD, and ASD.  In the school setting, the teacher is often the surrogate frontal lobe, meaning the teacher is providing the scaffolding for the students.  Executive Functioning is interwoven into the processes of reading, writing, and math.

Executive functioning can be further broken down into THINKING and DOING.  The thinking items being:  planning, working memory, time management, organization, and metacognition.  Some of the apps that could assist with these functions include:  Tools for Students, Round to it, Take a Chill, Sound Curtain, Timers, Worksystem, Wait Strip, ireward, Book Creator, ibook creator, SOSH, Shredder, Sock Puppets, and Pictello.  The app I chose to explore was Pictello.

Pictello is an app that is somewhat similar to a power point.  It could be used to create social stories that could be used by an individual or the whole class.  This app would be especially useful for those students who are diagnosed ASD.  When I think of whole class application I am thinking of those primary students for who school is a completely new experience.  Actual pictures of places around the school could be imported and stories could include:  What happens during a fire drill, How do I get to music class, What happens during lunch, My teacher is absent, and the list could go on and on.  Students could view these on an LCD or individuals could review these stories in preparation for the upcoming event.