Presented by Dr. Mary Ann Wolf, Director of Digital Learning Programs, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation; Lauren Acree, Personalized Learning and Policy Lead, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation; and Alex Dreier, Instructional Design Lead, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
Sponsored by The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation

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Executive function skills are what we use in order to get things done. Often referred to as the brain’s “air traffic controller,” they allow us to set a goal, create a plan, stay focused, and make adjustments until we’ve reached the goal. Not surprisingly, these skills are critical to the success of our students. In this edWebinar, deepen your understanding of executive function skills and how you can help your students learn and apply them to meet their goals. Learn how these skills are taught differently based upon the age of the student, and see how these differences have manifested themselves in elementary and secondary classrooms.

Viewers will also be introduced to a free suite of learning opportunities from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation that can help teachers and their students build their understanding of executive function skills. Viewers will be shown both examples and exemplars from teachers and students who have engaged in a massive open online course for teachers, a blended course for students, and/or micro-credentials that each serve to deepen a participant’s understanding of executive function skills and their impact on student learning.

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to K-12 teachers, school and district leaders, and coaches.

About the Presenters

Dr. Mary Ann Wolf is the director of the Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative at the Friday Institute. She began her education career as a fifth grade teacher and has worked with national, state, district, and school leaders and policy makers across the country to build capacity for personalized and digital learning. Mary Ann and her team lead job-embedded, ongoing professional learning opportunities for school and district leaders, coaches, and teachers striving to utilize innovative strategies and organizational change to improve student learning in their schools in North Carolina, across the country, and internationally. She and her team also led the development of the Learning Differences and Students LEAD courses to support all learners. She recently co-wrote Leading Personalized and Digital Learning: A Framework for Implementing School Change through Harvard Education Press.

Lauren Acree is the policy and personalized learning lead at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. In this role she leads the Learning Differences and Micro-credentialing programs and the research and evaluation of professional learning programs for the Professional Learning and Leadership Collaborative. Prior to working at the Friday Institute, she worked as a special education teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a teacher coach for Teach for America at their summer institute. Lauren earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia and her Master of Public Policy from Duke University.

Alex Dreier is the instructional design lead at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation (FI). As part of this role, he has managed the FI’s MOOC-for-Educators initiative, which has provided free, high quality online learning opportunities to over 35,000 educators from all 50 states and more than 140 countries. He has also played a key role in the FI’s Learning Differences initiative, helping to design courses for students, teachers, and post-secondary educators. He has also developed and assessed micro-credentials across a range of topics, and has led the development of modules around working memory, motivation, and executive function. Prior to joining the FI, Alex managed the online course catalog for EdTech Leaders Online, a project at Education Development Center (Waltham, MA) that built the capacity of organizations to create and deliver their own customized online learning programs. He holds an Ed.M. in educational technology from Harvard University.

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The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation: Advancing education through innovation in digital-age teaching, learning and leadership, we bring together students, teachers, researchers, policy-makers, educational professionals and other community members to foster collaborations in improving education. We conduct research, develop educational resources, provide professional development programs for educators, advocate to improve teaching and learning, and help inform policy-making.