10 Thinking Skill Activities to Enhance Executive Function: Improving Academic Task Completion at Home and in the Classroom

Presented by Lynne Kenney, Psy.D.

Thursday, September 15, 2016 – Saturday, October 15, 2016  |  Webinar

Date & Location

We’re back to school and soon children will be bringing home loads of homework. For many children, academic tasks such as worksheets, projects and homework feel overwhelming in class and at home. In our NEW book, 70 Play Activities for Better Thinking, Self-regulation, Learning and Behavior (2016), we have over 40 executive function skill activities for children that teachers, parents and clinicians can implement to improve children’s sequencing, initiation, execution, task management, attention and memory skills. In this webinar we will go over 10 executive function activities related to academic task and homework completion. We will review the underlying cognitive science as well as explore the “how-to’s” so that you have 10 new activities in your tool box right away.
As a teacher, educator or clinician you wish to apply the most current cognitive science to learning in your classroom, but with all of your responsibilities you may not have time to seek out journal articles and research. Having just curated over 300 articles to review for the new book, 70 Play Activities for Better Thinking, Self-regulation, Learning and Behavior (2016), Dr. Kenney will provide you with key research findings relevant to your everyday work in this webinar. She transforms the research into practical activities and worksheets you can use to help your clients and students practice and learn key executive function skills – the ones that apply most to academic task completion, homework and project planning.

Online Course Format

• 90-Minute Session
• Non-Interactive

• CEUs – This session has not been pre-approved for CEUs. After a brief quiz, you shall receive a certificate of completion for your records. Contact your association in order to apply for CEUs for this event. Jack Hirose and Associates does not guarantee this event will meet CEU requirements.

• Please be advised, participants who register on October 13, 14, or 15 will be given 5 days from your registration date to complete the course

Video Clips:

Who Should Attend

Education and Clinical Professionals: All education and mental health or healthcare professionals who work with children or youth including, but not limited to K–12 Classroom Teachers, School Counsellors, Learning Assistance/Resource Teachers, School Administrators, School Paraprofessionals including Special Education Assistants, Classroom Assistants and Childcare Workers • All other professionals who support behavioural challenges and complex learning needs including but not limited to: Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, Clinical Counsellors, Family Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Addiction Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Probation Officers and Community Police Officers.

Agenda

This webinar provides you with research-based activities you can use right away. Help your students and clients become empowered thinkers with:

• The Love Notes from Musical Thinking – To improve pacing and memory
• Slow Mo and Quick Rick – To teach encoding and retrieval
• Why We Move To Think – Maximizing encoding and retrieval with motor movement
• Let Me Think About That – To reduce overwhelm
• What’s In It For Me – To improve motivation
• The “Cognitive Conversation” empowering kids to be cognitive scientists
• My Attention Engine – To improve attention skills
• Process Speed Front Loading Worksheet – To teach previewing and planning
• The HOPPER Homework Planning Sheet – To maximize homework approach, initiation and execution
• Put A Bow On It – To teach sequencing and task completion

Learning Objectives

1. Learn the cognitive science behind learning and memory in a practical, activity-based manner.
2. Become a “Cognitive Detective” to better see what executive functions might be road blocks to a specific student’s achievement.
3. Learn how to have “Cognitive Conversations” with students to help them move from feeling distressed about their learning to feeling like empowered thinkers.
4. Fill your tool-box with 10 activities that will immediately transform your students’ learning.

Higher functioning cognitive skills such as organization, planning, previewing, inhibition and attention are essential for successful social, academic and interpersonal development. These are skills that some children are born with, but many are not. The great news! We can teach these skill sets to children with engaging activities that empower them to be better learners. Join us to enhance children’s thinking skills to reduce stress and improve achievement.

Your Presenter

Lynne Kenney, Psy.D.

Lynne Kenney, Psy.D., is the nation’s leading pediatric psychologist in the development of classroom cognitive-physical activity programs for students in grades K-8. Dr. Kenney develops curriculum, programming, and activities to improve children’s cognition through coordinative cognitive-motor movement, executive function skill-building strategies, and social-emotional learning.

Dr. Kenney’s most recent educational program is CogniMoves® a universal Tier I MTSS cognitive-motor movement program, co-developed with Benjamin S. Bunney, MD, Former Chairman Department of Psychiatry at Yale University. CogniMoves® is designed to strengthen executive function skills in K-3 students.

Dr. Kenney is a pediatric psychologist on the Language & Cognition Team at Wellington-Alexander Center for the Treatment of Dyslexia, Scottsdale, Arizona. She has advanced fellowship training in forensic psychology and developmental pediatric psychology from Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Harbor-UCLA/UCLA Medical School. As an international educator, researcher, and author, Dr. Kenney is dedicated to improving the trajectory of children’s learning, particularly in high-need, under-resourced communities.

Dr. Kenney’s books include Brain Primers, 2020 (Kuczala & Kenney); 70 Play Activities for Better Thinking, Self-Regulation, Learning and Behavior (Kenney & Comizio, 2016);  the Social-Emotional Literacy program, Bloom Your Room™; Musical Thinking™; and Bloom: 50 things to say, think and do with anxious, angry and over-the-top-kids (Kenney & Young, 2015). My Attention Engine: An executive function skill activity book for teachers, parents, and children is slated for 2023.

Since 1985, Dr. Kenney has worked as an educator in community service with national organizations including the Neurological Health Foundation, Head Start, Understood.org, HandsOn Phoenix, SparkPE, the First Nations in Canada, and Points of Light (Generation On) Dr. Kenney values working with Title I Schools.

Testimonials

“Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills. I loved the ‘hands on’ activities and plan to use them in my kindergarten class.”
– Sylvie Seguin | Ottawa, ON | May 11, 2016

“Lynne is a fantastic facilitator. I appreciate all the resources and examples she provided. This was an extremely enjoyable and educational workshop.”
– Stephanie Mulhall | London, ON | May 9, 2016

“Speaker was upbeat, clear, engaging, easy to listen to, and easy to stay engaged. Very real and genuine and very accommodating.”
– Oakville, ON | May 10, 2016

“Extremely competent speaker. She knows the material”
– Sylvie Seguin | Ottawa, ON | May 11, 2016

“Lynne was/is a wealth of knowledge and was able to keep the room engaged for the duration of the days. Lot’s of great info. Looking forward to visiting her Facebook page.”
– Oakville, ON | May 10, 2016

“Wonderful workshop, loved everything about it. Really good speaker. Easy to understand and really knowledgeable.”
– Giselle North | London, ON | May 9, 2016

“I appreciate the conversation about sleep, nutrition, etc. Very resourceful instructor…I’d like to sit and speak with Lynne; she’s so interesting and informative.”
– Nicole | London, ON | May 9, 2016

“Lynne Kenney is a delightful presenter. Warm and engaging, with an infectious giggle. She presented the material in a memorable and entertaining manner!”

– 2014 Alberta Conference on Children and Adolescents | Edmonton, AB | November 3 & 4, 2014

“I appreciated Lynne Kenney’s session as she incorporated movement, sharing and collaboration into the presentation.”

– 2014 Alberta Conference on Children and Adolescents | Edmonton, AB | November 3 & 4, 2014

“Lynne Kenney gets five stars – humour, action and real modelling!”
– 2014 Alberta Conference on Children and Adolescents | Edmonton, AB | November 3 & 4, 2014

Registration & Fees