From Long-term Assignments to Project Based Learning: Executive Function Strategies for Essays, Papers, and Projects (oh my!)

Course Description

Tuesday, February 15, 2022, 4:00-6:00 PM EST

Projects, essays, papers, and other long-term assignments are popular ways to engage students in deeper learning; however, many students struggle to complete these assignments to their teachers’ expectations. Between time management and organizing notes to reading comprehension and successful editing, the executive function demands of projects can easily overwhelm students (and their teachers). In this presentation, we will explore how to embed executive function strategies into long-term assignments in a way  students complete projects successfully while teaching them executive function strategies they can use when the assignment is over.

Michael Greschler, M.Ed., SMARTS Director

Michael Greschler, M.Ed. is the Director of the SMARTS program for ResearchILD.  Over the past 7 years, he has worked to develop and grow the SMARTS program, collaborating with teachers and administrators in schools and leading a nationwide pilot of SMARTS Online in its first year. Since ResearchILD launched SMARTS in the fall of 2015, Michael has supported close to 2,000 SMARTS educators around the world, helping them to bring the power of executive function strategies into the classroom. In addition, Michael is on the conference committee for the Learning Differences Conference. As an educational specialist at the Institute for Learning and Development, Michael uses executive function strategy instruction to support teenagers and young adults.

Elizabeth Ross, M.A., SMARTS Media Manager

Elizabeth Ross, M.A. has had the privilege of teaching the SMARTS curriculum in multiple schools and in helping to transition SMARTS to an online format. Currently, she specializes in social media management, online training and professional development, and producing unique videos for the purpose of education and training. Elizabeth completed her Master’s Degree in Education at Emerson College in Boston.