Teaching Executive Functioning Skills at the Secondary Level

Do your students leave a mess of papers in their wake? Do deadlines seem to sneak up on your learners, despite countless reminders? Do you see students struggling to start tasks…or struggling to finish them? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, you might have some executive functioning skill gaps in your classroom.

Never fear — we’re here to help! As experienced special education teachers, we could talk about executive function alllll day long. For now, though, we’ll keep it short, sweet, and strategic. Here are some ready-to-use methods to teach executive functioning skills in your classroom!

Wait…What Are Executive Functioning Skills, Anyway?

Executive functioning is a big umbrella term that covers a wide range of cognitive processes that help us get things done, from task initiation and organization to prioritization, time management, and self-monitoring. Basically, they’re the “how” skills behind every “what” we ask students to do.

While special educators often target these skills directly through individualized goals, they’re just as vital for general education students. After all, the ability to manage time, set goals, stay organized, and follow through on commitments is what sets students up for long-term academic and career success. The good news? You can build these skills right into your classroom routines and instruction! Read on to learn how.

Model, Don’t Just Tell

Students learn executive functioning best when they can see what it looks like in action. Try modeling organizational and planning strategies during your lessons:

Use visible checklists or agenda slides to break big projects into manageable chunks.
Demonstrate how you prioritize tasks by explaining your thought process aloud.
Show students how you use a calendar or digital planner to stay on top of deadlines.

You can even make modeling interactive! Have students help you schedule a class period, chunk a long-term project, or estimate how long different parts of an assignment will take. These mini moments of metacognition make abstract skills concrete and memorable.

Teach the Skills Explicitly

While executive functioning may seem natural for some, it is a learned skill for many. So, take time to explicitly teach it! Here are some ideas to get you started.

Task initiation: Have students practice breaking an assignment into the first three steps they’d need to start.
Time management: Use timers or countdowns to help students develop time awareness during activities.
Organization: Build short “reset” routines at the end of class where students tidy their workspace or organize their digital files.

You can even turn this into a quick mini-lesson series. Try using an “executive functioning menu” or choice board where students select one skill to practice for the week. Encourage them to track how it helps them (our FREE goal tracker is perfect for this!). Students can build these skills while reflecting and taking ownership of their growth.

Seize Teachable Moments

Sometimes, the best opportunities to build executive functioning come organically. When students forget a deadline, lose track of materials, or overestimate how much time they have, resist the urge to simply fix it. Instead, use it as a teachable moment:

Ask reflective questions like, “What could help you remember next time?” or “What’s a system that might prevent this from happening again?”
Celebrate small wins when students demonstrate progress. Reinforcement goes a long way!

These quick conversations normalize mistakes and help students recognize that executive functioning skills are a work in progress for everyone (adults included).

Final Thoughts

Teaching executive functioning at the secondary level doesn’t require a separate program or endless extra prep. With intentional modeling, explicit instruction, and everyday routines, you can seamlessly embed these vital skills into your classroom. The payoff? More focused, organized, and empowered learners…and fewer frantic “Wait, that was due today?!” moments for you.

As a token of our thanks for reading this far, we’re giving away teaching tools! Send us an email with the subject line “EXEC SKILLS” to be entered to win a resource of your choice (under $5) from our store! We’re rooting for you!