Making Thinking Visible: Strategies for Student Success

I listened to a continuing education course recently on the topic of executive functioning in the student population. When discussing interventions and strategies, something that one of the presenters said really stood out to me- “Make your thinking visible.” This is such an important strategy that is incredibly helpful for students (or anyone) with organization, time management, self-monitoring, working memory, planning, or attention challenges. Making thinking visible for students provides direct instruction, clearly defines expectations, uses common language, and fosters metacognitive skills (metacognition means “thinking about your thinking” which is an essential piece of the executive functioning puzzle). Below are a few tangible ways to make thinking visible that are genuinely beneficial for all students, not just those with executive dysfunction! 

  1. Visual checklists/routines- students know what is expected and they don’t have to actively try to recall each step of the list since they have a visual of words and/or pictures. Routines can also help with initiation, staying on task and remembering what to do next in sequence. 
  2. Standardized rubrics for assignments- bonus if it is consistent across multiple teachers or multiple subjects. Consistency and organization of assignment components is key and provides clear guidelines. It is helpful if rubrics are thorough yet not overly complex. 
  3. Graphic/visual organizers- this is optimal for gathering ideas and organizing/categorizing them in a meaningful way and again reinforces consistency. 
  4. Metacognitive reflections- a great way to do this is for students to make predictions prior to completing an assignment, then complete a self-reflection afterwards with what actually happened and what they learned. Or students may reflect on what went well, what didn’t go well, and what they would do differently next time. 

Sources:

Executive Functioning: Beyond the Basics for School SLPs 

https://www.speechpathology.com/slp-ceus/course/executive-functioning-beyond-the-basics-10765

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Bethany Emanuel,

M.Ed., CCC-SLP

I’m an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist passionate about providing care that is client-centered and empowering clients to meet their goals. I have been an SLP for over 11 years and have worked in a variety of settings such as skilled nursing, private practice, and most recently at a nationally-ranked rehabilitation hospital. I obtained my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech pathology from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). I see adolescents & adults with acquired brain injuries or diagnoses such as TBI/traumatic brain injury, concussion, stroke, or multiple sclerosis and also provide executive function coaching services to teens & adults with ADHD. My area of expertise is in cognitive communication disorders and I treat areas such as memory, attention, executive functioning, expressive and receptive language, swallowing, voice, and speech production.

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