In this episode, Julie and Ginger invite Jen Alexander and Jennifer Dickey into the studio. They have come to talk about executive function skills and working memory. You may recognize Jen Alexander, as she has been in the studio several times. She is an educator, national certified counselor, school based registered play therapist and a leader in the movement to build trauma-sensitive schools. Jen is the author of Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Your Guide to Creating Safe, Supportive Learning Environments for All Students.

Jennifer Dickey’s passion is in designing academic and effective support for divergent learners. She is the founder of Lotus Cognitive Solutions Groups, which provides coaching for children and adults with ADHD and Dyslexia. She is a classroom teacher, a gifted and talented specialist, an academic language specialist, and a full-time college professor.

Together, they have developed a new guide to help educators, entitled Supporting Students’ Executive Function Skill in the Trauma-Sensitive Classroom: Focusing in on working memory. The guide has 8 colorful panels with practical advice broken into bite sized chunks. It explains how to recognize working memories challenges and how to shift your paradigm from “Why aren’t you doing your work?” to “What is difficult about this work?”

Listen in to learn exactly what working memory is and why it is critical to school success.