Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function

Send us a textRarely in a curriculum while learning, we ask children where they feel their emotions in their own bodies and whether those feeling change as their emotions change. Children who feel safe to tackle challenges, assured that they have the skills they need and are comfortable to seek help when needed, do well in school and life. Though in its early stage, research in contemplative studies and mindfulness practices is beginning to show a promising impact of such training on children’s emotional regulation and self-control.On this episode school psychologist, Debra A. Krodman-Collins, Ph.D., NSCP, RYT, co-author of S.T.O.P. and Relax; a yoga-based curriculum, will discuss how to use yoga-based self-calming techniques for school-aged children to conquer their primitive lizard brain with the wizardry of executive function. With focused and intentional effort to connect mind and body, one can master the mechanism that governs Executive Function.About Debra A. Krodman-Collins, Ph.D., NSCP, RYTDebra Krodman-Collins is a Florida licensed psychologist, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and Registered Yoga Teacher. Prior to her 30 years with Florida’s Broward County Schools, Dr. Collins served in Bermuda with the Child Development Project, Ministry of Education, and Education Planning Team. She taught psychology as an adjunct professor at Bermuda College and at Broward College. Dr. Collins’ work includes diagnostic evaluation of children’s learning and behavior, interventions to promote students’ progress, and trainings for psychologists, teachers, counselors and parents. She is co-author of S.T.O.P. and Relax.  This yoga-based curriculum equips teachers or therapists to use visual cues and physical exercises to teach self-calming to children with developmental disabilities such as autism.  The forthcoming book Stories of School Yoga: Narratives from the Field, expected from SUNY Press in September 2019, includes a chapter discussing her work. Most recently Dr. Collins has focused on training students and staff to support self-regulation of attention, emotions, and behavior.   Dr. Collins has conducted workshops for national and international conferences, including the Autism Society of America, Learning & the Brain, the Young Child Expo & Conference, and the International Conference on Autism, Intellectual Disability & Developmental Disabilities.Websiteswww.stopandrelax.netwww.stopandrelaxyoga.comBookS.T.O.P. and Relax – Your Special Needs Yoga ToolboxHelpful ResourcesBook: Yoga Therapy for Children with Autism and Special Needs, by Louise Goldberg, 2013Book: The Incredible 5-Point Scale, by Kari Dunn Buron, 2012Book: Stories of School Yoga: Narratives from the Field, edited by Dr. Andrea Hyde, 2019Article: Mindful Based Kindness CurriculumAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTSupport the show

Send us a textOther than air, what is invisible, omnipresent, affects every single human being and yet is taken for granted? The answer is the cultural norms. They are the unspoken rules of social behaviors and shared conventions that everyone is expected follow, but may be doing so without really connecting it to the WHY.On this episode, our guest, distinguished university professor and professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, Michele Gelfand, Ph.D., discusses the concept of looser or tighter cultures and how our deep cultural programming shapes our views and informs our implicit understanding of what’s permissible in public versus private settings. In order to achieve goals we aspire, we need strong Executive Function and self-regulation skills that allow us to activate versus inhibit certain decisions and actions. However, without the true understanding of the social or cultural context or the understanding of social conventions, one might fail to comply because of having failed to code-switch.About Dr. Michele GelfandMichele Gelfand is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture and its multilevel consequences. Her work has been published in outlets such as Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Psychological Science, Nature Scientific Reports, Nature Human behavior, PLOS 1, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Research in Organizational Behavior, Annual Review of Psychology, American Psychologist, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, among others.Gelfand is the founding co-editor of the Advances in Culture and Psychology annual series and Frontiers of Culture and Psychology series (with CY Chiu and Ying-Yi Hong, Oxford University Press). She is the Past President of the International Association for Conflict Management, Past Division Chair of the Conflict Division of the Academy of Management, Past Treasurer of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, and co-founder of the Society for the Study of Cultural Evolution. She received the 2016 Diener award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the 2017 Outstanding International Psychologist Award from the APA, the 2019 Outstanding Cultural Psychology Award from SPSP, the 2109 Science-Practitioner award from SIOP, and the Annaliese Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which was given to 7 scientists worldwide for outstanding contributions in their fields. Her work that was published in Science was honored with the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.Websitewww.michelegelfand.comWiki Page – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_J._GelfandBookRule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the WorldAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designedSupport the show

Send us a textOne shouldn’t be discouraged by the fact that learning is full of struggles as these struggles are inherent to the process of gathering facts, acquiring new knowledge, and gaining vivid insights. However, the struggles that go beyond a certain threshold built into learning should be examined and responded to. On this episode, author, life-long learner, and experienced educator, Kathleen Kryza, discusses the relationship between student struggles and the incorporation of brain-based differentiated instruction and cooperative learning to elevate the learner experience.About Kathleen KryzaKathleen Kryza is a life-long learner, an experienced educator and an outstanding presenter/coach/consultant. Kathleen is passionate, informed and committed to bringing the best educational practices to educators and parents so that they can help ALL children succeed.Kathleen is co-author of “Transformative Teaching: Changing Classroom Culturally, Emotionally and Academically.” (Solution Tree Press, Oct. 2015). She is also the co-author of Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom, Inspiring Learners Press (2011) and the Corwin Press books, Inspiring Secondary Learners (2007), Inspiring Elementary Learners, (2008,) Differentiating in the Real Classroom (2009), Winning Strategies for Test Taking (2009).  Kathleen is featured in the video, Differentiating Instruction in the Intermediate Grades, Bureau of Education and Research (BER), 2008.Kathleen has a Masters Degree in Special Education, and a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education.  She has also done extensive training over the years with giants in the field on topics such as differentiated instruction, brain-based learning, cooperative learning, co-teaching, coaching, and content literacy. She has presented for school districts locally, nationally, and internationally for over 30 years on various educational and motivational topics.Websitewww.kathleenkryza.comBooksTransformative Teaching: Changing Classroom Culturally, Emotionally and Academically(Solution Tree Press, Oct. 2015)Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom, Inspiring Learners Press (2011)Inspiring Secondary Learners (Corwin, 2007)Inspiring Elementary Learners (Corwin, 2009)Winning Strategies for Test Taking (Corwin, 2009)About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textLife is complicated and we all are doing the best we can to manage its inherently challenging nature and predictably unpredictable flow. Developmental disorders like ADHD, and mental disorders like anxiety and depression, further exaggerate this uncertainty and creates a permanent state of flux.On this episode, our guest, Dr. Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician and an author of multiple books, talks about best ways to understand ADHD and augment care through the lens of mindfulness. Such approach allows children and parents with ADHD to see things as they are; just with more clarity. ADHD and Executive Dysfunction are synonymous entities and the management approach leads to greater success if it is rooted in compassion and human wisdom. There cannot be a better guide to survival than that!About Mark Bertin, M.D.Dr. Bertin is a developmental pediatrician and author of How Children Thrive, Mindful Parenting for ADHD and The Family ADHD Solution, which integrate mindfulness into the rest of evidence-based pediatric care.  He is a contributing author for the book Teaching Mindfulness Skills to Kids and Teens.  Dr. Bertin is on faculty at New York Medical College and the Windward Teacher Training Institute, and on the advisory boards for the non-profits Common Sense Media and Reach Out and Read.  He is a regular contributor to Mindful Magazine, and his blog is available through Mindful.org and Psychology Today.  For more information, please visit his website at www.developmentaldoctor.com.Helpful Linkshttps://www.developmentaldoctor.com/how-children-thrive/https://www.developmentaldoctor.com/books-mindful-parenting-adhd/https://www.developmentaldoctor.com/the-family-adhd-solution/About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textYou might be great at problem solving but the true test of executive function proficiency is not just helping someone get their car out of a ditch, but applying those same skills and principles to help yourself and get your own car out of a ditch. The process of self-directed learning is gradual and insidious where the individual gathers knowledge through experiential learning and subconsciously assimilates and integrates ideas to bounce back.In this big-picture episode, Sucheta discusses how parents can guide children to develop the self-directed thinking, which has a self-help component to it, so that they can survive everyday roadblocks, set-backs and disappointments and “MacGyver” through everyday problems.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textLearning is magical but not every teacher is a magician! Astronaut Scott Kelly celebrated for his curiosity for space missions, struggled to find his footing in the midst of “dull and boring” high school years. More than ever before, distracted, disengaged, and disillusioned kids finding themselves stuck in the ever widening gap between a ”ready to learn” mindset and a “ready to be inspired” mindset.On this episode, Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and a former classroom teacher, shares her passion that integrates neuroscience research regarding learning and the brain to galvanize the educators to let the glitter spill all over their classroom floor. By reintegrating effective and practical ideas into teaching, Dr. Willis believes every teacher can sprinkle magic dust that unleashes one’s inner zeal for discovery.About Judy Willis, M.D.Dr. Judy Willis combined her 15 years as a board-certified practicing neurologist with ten subsequent years as a classroom teacher to become a leading authority in the neuroscience of learning. Dr. Willis has written nine books and more than 100 articles about applying neuroscience research to classroom teaching strategies. She is on the adjunct faculty of the Williams College.Dr. Willis travels nationally and internationally giving presentations, workshops, and consulting while continuing to write books and staff expert blogs for NBC News Education Nation, Edutopia, Psychology Today, and The Guardian. In 2011 she was selected by Edutopia as a “Big Thinkers on Education.”Website:www.RADTeach.comBooksUpgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets NeuroscienceUnlock Teen Brainpower: 20 Keys to Boosting Attention, Memory, and EfficiencyResearch-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom TeacherLearning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get ResultsThe Neuroscience of Learning: Principles and Applications for EducatorsHow Your Child Learns Best: Brain-Friendly Strategies You Can Use to Ignite Your Child’s Learning and Increase School SuccessTeaching the Brain to Read: Strategies for Improving Fluency, Vocabulary, and ComprehensionBrain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion ClassroomInspiring Middle School Minds: Gifted, Creative, & ChallengingAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExSupport the show

Send us a textWhen learning, why is it that people often use the most exactly ill-fitted strategies or fail to appreciate the ones that do work? An educator who assumes the role of parting knowledge without much attention to imparting the wisdom of learning HOW to learn is churning our unenlightened students who could never take charge of their learning and self-knowledge.On this episode, Professor Mark McDaniel returns to discuss the idea of gaining more durable knowledge through effort, problem solving, and rehearsal. Tune in to find out why such processes create life-long effective learning.About Mark McDaniel, Ph.D.Mark McDaniel is a Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Co-Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education.  He received his Ph.D. from University of Colorado in 1980. His research is in the general area of human learning and memory, with an emphasis on prospective memory, encoding and retrieval processes in episodic memory and applications to educational contexts. His educationally relevant research includes a series of studies on elaborative study techniques and enhancing learning through testing (repeated retrieval), with much of this latter work being conducted in actual college and middle school classrooms. This research was sponsored by the Institute of Educational Sciences and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.McDaniel has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition and as President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association and of Division 3 of the American Psychological Association. He has published over 275 journal articles, book chapters, and edited books  on  human learning and memory, and is the co-author with Peter Brown and Henry Roediger of the recent book:  Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning  (Harvard University Press, 2014).BooksMemory Fitness (2004)Prospective Memory (2007)Make It Stick (2014)About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textThe charm of entering college camouflages the real invitation to become responsible for yourself by figuring out what you want while taking care of the mundane, yet obligatory tasks of daily student life. The dread of “adulting” is further muddled by having to navigate the world with the unseen layers of executive function challenges that compromise attention, new learning, slower thinking, and goal management, pushing away the dream of joining the workforce and transitioning into successfully adult life.On this episode, Mary R.T. Kennedy, Ph.D., Professor and Chair at the Communication Sciences and Disorders at Chapman University, discusses the special challenges and the proposed road to recovery for college students after a traumatic brain injury.About Mary Kennedy, Ph.D.Mary R.T. Kennedy, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is Professor and Chair, Communication Sciences and Disorders at Chapman University, Orange, CA. She is a certified speech-language pathologist and is a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Dr. Kennedy has extensive clinical and research experience working with individuals with cognitive impairments after traumatic brain injury, specifically executive functions, metacognition and self-regulation. Her work to translate scientific evidence into practice has helped practitioners engage in evidence-based practice (EBP). In recent years, her work has focused on how best to support college students with brain injury. In 2017, she authored a book for rehabilitation professionals and educators titled, Coaching College Students with Executive Function Problems, by Guilford Publishing.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWe have all done it; followed the GPS blindly and reached the international terminal instead of the domestic one or forgotten to turn off the car lights, leaving them on overnight. The only solution is to pay attention to attention and see how to get it under our conscious control.On this episode, Courtney Stevens, PhD, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Willamette University in Portland discusses selective attention and the bearing it has on learning, thinking, and behavior throughout your lifespan. Attention is a gateway to information processing and it’s vital that a connection be made transparent between attention, thinking, and Executive Function.About Dr. Courtney StevensCourtney Stevens, PhD, is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Willamette University. She is an expert in the development and plasticity of the human brain, including the role of stress and early socioeconomic adversity on neural systems. In the course of her research, Stevens has partnered with preschool, K-12, and college programs to study factors that influence students’ academic success and emotional well-being. In one line of research, she has contributed to the development and evaluation of a program to support families with preschool children living in poverty, including adaptations for different cultural contexts. Her research has been funded by the NSF and NIH. Dr. Stevens has been recognized with national awards for excellence in teaching and neuroscience outreach. She has presented her research nationally and internationally, to academic, policy, and community audiences. Dr. Stevens completed her undergraduate degree at Reed College and her master’s and doctorate at the University of Oregon.Website:Cognitive Neuroscience Lab – Willamette University, Department of PsychologyArticles:Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status preschoolersAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWell-built Executive Function lends itself to thoughtful decision making and on-point problem solving, advantageous to meeting personal goals. However, the shifting nature of cognitive resources warrants keen attention to making crafty adjustments to our daily schedules to actualize the best results. William James was onto something when he wrote, “The great thing, then, in all education, is to make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and to guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to us, as we should guard against the plague.”On this episode, we talk with Daniel Pink, the author of six provocative books including his latest book When that challenges the perception that all times of day are created equal. He offers the valuable science behind the world changing idea of “timing”, which if taken seriously can offer insights into an optimally functioning self.About Daniel PinkDaniel H. Pink is the author of six provocative books — including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, which has spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list and has been named a best book of 2018 by Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads, and several more outlets. His other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 39 languages. He lives in Washington, DC with his family.Books:When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect TimingAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show