During my first-year teaching in Charleston County, I met a junior I’ll call Claire (pseudonym). Claire was the kind of student who lit up the room—bright, funny, and driven to succeed. Yet like many students with ADHD, her brilliance often collided with challenges in organization, study skills, and procrastination. Research consistently shows that while students with ADHD often demonstrate above-average creativity and problem-solving, they are also more likely to struggle with executive functioning skills like task initiation, planning, and time management (Barkley, 2020; Meltzer, 2018).
At first, Claire kept me at a distance. Her previous teacher had built a strong relationship, and when she suddenly had me as her Academic Seminar instructor, she adopted a wait-and-see approach. Honestly, I felt I had to prove myself—not only as a teacher, but as someone who could make a meaningful difference in her life.
One story stands out. I had prepared physical planners for every student. Claire politely pushed back, insisting she already had her own system through a phone app. My instinct was to require her to use the paper planner I had created. But then I remembered my own frustration when adults dismissed the systems I trusted. Instead of forcing compliance, I told her: “You know yourself better than anyone else. I’m going to trust you on this one.”
That moment of trust shifted everything. By giving her autonomy, I helped her build ownership over her learning—something research confirms is essential in developing self-regulated learners (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011). Instead of feeling controlled, she felt respected. That small act of letting go became the bridge that allowed us to work together.
Through targeted instruction, weekly progress monitoring, and explicit strategies for test preparation, Claire began to grow. Her confidence rose, and more importantly, she learned to advocate for herself. She initiated conversations with her general education teachers without my prompting, a hallmark of developing independence and executive functioning maturity (Dawson & Guare, 2018).
The results spoke for themselves. She thrived in Advanced Placement English, writing at a college level while still in high school. She challenged herself with chemistry, a course that required sustained attention and problem-solving, and succeeded. By senior year, her support was scaled back to just one Academic Seminar period per week. I still remember her excitement after making a game-changing interception during the Powder-puff game—rushing to tell me because she knew I would celebrate it with her.
After graduation, Claire studied overseas as a foreign exchange student and is now thriving in college. She balances coursework, cheerleading, and extracurriculars, demonstrating the exact kind of resilience and adaptability that strong executive functioning skills can unlock.
Stories like Claire’s remind us of a critical truth: executive functioning struggles are not permanent roadblocks. With practice, strategies, and support, students can build systems that empower them to thrive academically and socially.
I share stories like these in my book Teaching Academic Seminar with Purpose. This work is dedicated to showing educators how intentional instruction in executive functioning, organization, and self-advocacy transforms students from dependent learners into resilient, independent young adults ready for the challenges of college and beyond.
References
Barkley, R. A. (2020). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2018). Executive skills in children and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment and intervention (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Meltzer, L. (2018). Executive function in education: From theory to practice (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Wydra, R. M. (2025). Teaching Academic Seminar with Purpose. AdvocateEd Publishing.
Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2011). Handbook of self-regulation of learning and performance. Routledge.
