Organization Archives

Executive Function and ADHD

Today's post comes from a good friend and colleague, Megan Barnett. Megan recently formed her own executive function coaching company, The Learning Collective, here in Austin, Texas. She is one of the best resources for understanding executive functioning, and I'm happy to have her insight today. What is Executive Function Coaching and is it right for my child? Guest Post by Megan Barnett After an initial diagnosis, it can feel overwhelming when trying to figure out what the best course of action is to support your child with ADHD. It's common to see the recommendation “work with an Executive Function [...]

By Adam Creasy|January 24th, 2023|Academic Mentoring, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Organization, Study Skills|0 Comments

What are Executive Function Skills?

When I formed EdPsyched in 2008, my main area of focus was providing executive function support to students diagnosed with learning differences. Although the concept of “executive function” has been around since the 1970s, it was still a relatively unfamiliar idea to most families (and clinicians) as recently as the 2000s. Today, the term “executive function” is well-known and, in all honesty, somewhat of a catchy buzzword or phrase when discussing child development. But what exactly is executive functioning, and how does one obtain it? The History In 1973, Karl Pribram coined the term “executive function” to refer to frontal [...]

By Adam Creasy|October 17th, 2022|ADHD, Evaluation, Organization, Social Emotional Learning|0 Comments

The Transition to Online Learning

Like just about everyone else in the United States (and most parts of the world), I’m currently on lockdown in my house. I’m hopeful we can get back to normal in the not-too-distant future, but until then, I’m learning to adapt to this new reality. The outbreak of COVID-19 has presented some unique challenges for all of us, and I’m hopeful that you and your family are doing ok during this time. On March 23 our school made the transition to online learning for at least 2 weeks. That 2-week period was eventually extended to 3 weeks, and recently we [...]

By Adam Creasy|April 3rd, 2020|Academic Mentoring, Academics, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Organization, Social Emotional Learning|0 Comments

How to Set Achievable Goals

Although New Year’s is in our rearview mirror and we are well into 2020, many of us are still working on our New Year’s resolutions. For some this may be to lose weight. For others it may be to get finances in order. But for many students, the goal this time of year is to bring grades up, get into college, or score high on the SAT or ACT. Before achieving a goal, however, it is important to understand how to set yourself up for success. It is no coincidence that many New Year’s resolutions taper off in February and [...]

By Adam Creasy|February 3rd, 2020|Academics, ACT, Austin Tutoring, Organization, SAT|0 Comments

Test Taking Tips for Final Exams

Only 2 weeks of school to go! But before we dismiss for the winter break, many students must endure and conquer fall final exams. While final exams are essentially non-existent for elementary students, many middle-school and almost all high-school students must prepare for these major exams. But preparing is only half the battle. How can a student effectively take the exam once the preparation is over? Here are my top test taking tips for final exams. Make sure you have the correct exam. This may seem obvious, but I’ve seen students discover they have been taking the wrong final exam [...]

By Adam Creasy|December 10th, 2018|Academics, Organization, Study Skills|0 Comments

The Most Important Skill for Academic Success Is…

Many of us are familiar with various learning differences such as dyslexia and dysgraphia and how they can make school very difficult for students. And even more of us are aware of the challenge ADHD presents for students in every-day life, particularly with paying attention and sustaining effort. Despite the amount of attention these diagnoses receive, there is an even more important cognitive process that can impact your child’s life: Executive Function. Let’s take a look at what this process is and how it affects your student’s performance both in and out of school. What is Executive Function? Executive function [...]

By Adam Creasy|November 20th, 2016|Academic Mentoring, Academics, Accommodations, Learning Disabilities, Organization|0 Comments

10 Steps To Ace Final Exams

How to Ace Final Exams For most students final exams are right around the corner. While most of us think of finals as the most stressful part of the school year, I like to think of it as the best opportunity of the school year. Typically final exams represent anywhere from 15-25% of your total grade for the semester. That means you can significantly increase your final grade with a strong performance on your final exam. So how can you ensure success on these test? Let’s look at some strategies to help you ace your finals. 1. Keep it in [...]

By Adam Creasy|December 4th, 2015|Academics, Organization, Study Skills, Tutoring|0 Comments

Does My Child have a Learning Disability?

Does My Child Have a Learning Disability? Although the term “learning disability” sounds quite scary, the reality is that millions of students in America are diagnosed with some form of it. Sometimes even the best student in school has a diagnosed learning disability. So how do you know if your child has one? First we must understand exactly what a learning disability is. It can be summed up as: A significant difference between a student’s expected achievement level and his actual performance. So what does that mean? Let’s look at the different types of learning disabilities. Common Types of Learning [...]

By Adam Creasy|April 29th, 2015|Learning Disabilities, Organization, Reading Comprehension, Study Skills|0 Comments

5 Steps for Final Exam Prep

5 Steps to Prepare for Final Exams December has arrived and that means cold weather, winter break and for most students, final exams. Even though exams are still a couple of weeks away, it’s never too early to start planning. The following steps will help you get organized and maximize your efficiency. 1. Consolidate Papers Hopefully you have gotten into the habit of cleaning out your backpack, throwing away unnecessary papers and filing important ones. If not, now is the time to tackle that mess. Start by putting all you papers into one pile. Then separate them by subject, putting [...]

By Adam Creasy|December 1st, 2014|Academic Mentoring, ADHD, Austin Tutoring, Learning Disabilities, Organization, Study Skills|0 Comments

5 Steps to an Organized Backpack

5 Steps to an Organized Backpack Is your child’s backpack a mess? Have you ever asked him to pull out his homework only to have him pull out a handful of crumpled papers? If so, your child may need a backpack overhaul. Messy backpacks are usually a sign of a larger organizational problem. While fixing the backpack won’t solve all organizational issues, it can help your child begin to see and understand the necessity of effective organization. Follow these steps to clean up and maintain a good backpack. Step 1: Size the backpack A good backpack should be an appropriate [...]

By Adam Creasy|September 21st, 2014|Organization, Study Skills|0 Comments