We are an interdisciplinary group of like-minded teachers, each with 20+ years experience serving the needs of students in a variety of academic settings. As teachers in a small alternative high school in one of the largest school districts in the nation, we serve students who, for a variety of reasons, were not successful at their neighborhood school. We are these students' second, third, or sometimes fourth high school. In short, we primarily serve the disenfranchised, generally unsuccessful, and reluctant learner. For these reasons, among others, we are committed to not only teaching our students about the world but how to navigate it more effectively.
In, 2009, inspired by the desire to help struggling students who were clearly capable of performing at grade level, we began learning about executive functioning. Students typically labeled as unmotivated, unruly, impulsive, etc. could all be more accurately described as having executive functioning skill deficits. These unmotivated, unruly, and impulsive individuals became students having difficulty with task initiation, emotional control, and response inhibition. We learned to shift our instructional mindset from assuming students had behavioral issues or a motivational deficit with regard to school towards assuming students have a deficit in their executive functioning skillset. These skills are necessary for success in the classroom and beyond, so we set out to develop a series of lessons, a style of instruction, and a classroom culture that focused on executive functioning.
Since those early days we have developed a more comprehensive approach to building our students into resilient learners. This not only includes our original lessons on executive functioning skills but the additional lessons you see on Social Emotional Learning and Thinking Errors. The goal of our work remains the same as it was over ten years ago, to provide capable but struggling students with the tools they need to successfully navigate the classroom and their life beyond.
We are excited to share these lessons with other educators and encourage you to contact us with any questions or comments about our materials. If we can be of assistance as you implement these instructional strategies please don't hesitate to ask us for help. We welcome your comments and feedback as well. We hope that our lessons help both you and your students. If you have found any of the content on this site beneficial, please consider making a donation to the Mountain View High School Foundation scholarship fund. ALL assistance is appreciated and EVERY donation helps us send our students on to their next level of education.