STUDY TOOLS IN THE

MIDDLE SCHOOL
CLASSROOM

Meet the Instructor

Who am I?
Why am I here?
Who are you?

5 min

Say Hello To your Neighbor

What do you hope to learn from

this professional development?

Group Share Out

Course Objectives
I can identify struggles that students

with learning struggles face when

studying course material

I can identify study tools to use with

students in order to enhance their study

skills

Rate your knowledge of the objectives according to

this scale

Why are providing study tools relevant in general

education classes?
The number of
Between 1990 and
students receiving
2008, the number of
special education
students with
services is 6.4 million,
learning disabilities
or about 13 percent
who received
of all public school
instruction primarily
students
in general education
classrooms increased
166%
IRIS Module

National Center for

Education Statistics

Why Do Our Learning Disabled Students

Struggle?
The lack of organization skills especially when

attending multiple different classes with

different assignments in each

There is a large amount of information

presented through textbooks

This is a huge struggle for our kids who
already struggle in reading

Why Do Our Learning Disabled Students

Struggle?
Our Learning Disabled students struggle with
processing information
retaining and recalling information
Organizing materials and managing time
Selecting, monitoring, and using effective

learning and study strategies

Many teachers chalk these kids up to being just

lazy
These are executive functioning skills

What are Executive Functioning Skills?

The

executive functions are a set of processes that

all have to do with managing oneself and one's
resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella
term for the neurologically-based skills involving
mental control and self-regulation.
-LD Online
Take a closer look
Read: What is Executive Functioning by Joyce CooperKahn and Laurie Dietzel of LD Online
http://www.ldonline.org/article/29122/

What are your thoughts?

How can the lack of executive functioning

skills effect someone's life?

How could it effect our students in school?

Can you picture a student that you have had

with a lack of these skills?

Group share out

Article Takeaways
Executive functions can be diverse
Not having strong executive functioning

skills can be very problematic in school

and life in general

The lack of executive functioning skills

are far beyond just being lazy

Self Regulation Skills

Some Students with Learning disabilities also

show a lack of self regulation skills

What is self regulation?

Self-regulation is the ability to monitor and

control our own behavior, emotions, or

thoughts, altering them in accordance with the
demands of the situation.
-education.com

A Closer Look at Self Regulation

and Why it Matters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTbAFmOdImY
Take notes on this video and be ready to share your

takeaways

Whole Group Share Out

What were some of your major takeaways from the

video?

How does the video change your thoughts on the study

skills of your students?

Talk these questions over with your group

Whole group share out

Major Video Takeaways

It is not that our students are completely

unable to self regulate

Children spend so much energy on everyday
classroom expectations that they have very
little left to self regulate
There is never such a thing as a bad, lazy, or
stupid kid
Self regulation can be obtained by students
through a release of the tension.

Thats a Wrap
Students with learning disabilities are quite

often labeled as lazy

This is far from the case

These students suffer from a lack of

executive functioning skills

Self regulation skills

Coming up Study tools and strategies to

help the struggling students in your class

Resources
Study Skills Strategies (Part 1): Foundations for

Effectively Teaching Study Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved

April 23, 2016, from
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ss1/chall
enge/#
content

The Condition of Education - Participation in

Education - Elementary/Secondary Enrollment Children and Youth with Disabilities - Indicator May
(2015). (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2016, from
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgg.asp

Resources
Cooper-Kahn, J., & Dietzel, L. (n.d.). What Is

Executive Functioning? Retrieved April 23, 2016,

from http://www.ldonline.org/article/29122/

Education.com definition of self regulation