Achievement Group- Executive Functioning Skill Building
Oak Tree’s Achievement Group is an 8-week course that focuses on skill-building for improved confidence, communication, and responsibility within the context of executive functioning skill-building. Sessions include small tailored groups, focused on building skills to help with academic and social-emotional achievements. Here is what they will receive from this group: Weekly sessions, using the workbook The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and an option to include 1:1 sessions to enhance skills as needed.
Students will focus on:
Developing healthy habits; bringing awareness to what health looks like for them. Discussing emotional, physical, community, spiritual health. Importance of sleep, physical movement, nutrition, and connection to others. Understanding how this impacts academic achievements and executive functioning needs.
Learning about executive functioning: What are your strengths and needs?
Understanding how they learn and what their needs are
Increasing self-awareness
Communication skills & advocacy within peer and adult groups
8 week program:
Week 1- Program orientation, meet and greet, and overview of Executive Functioning Skills.
During the first week, students will meet others in the program, find out where their strengths/challenges are in terms of achievements, and receive an overview of what EF is.
What are paradigms and principles? How do they link in with your value system?
Week 2- The roles of parents, teachers, tutors, friends.
During week two, students will learn to leverage their relationships with others. We will explore what it means to build and maintain trust. How these important people can play a role in your success. Interdependence vs. Independence.
Name and tame your feelings. We will discuss how feelings are fleeting and are not facts. This will be a thread woven throughout the series.
Week 3- Setting Goals!
During week three, students will learn to set small and achievable goals. They will learn about proactive vs reactive behaviors. How to stay the course and deal with changes when it is grey and winding.
They will practice setting 1-2 small and attainable goals before weeks 4 and 5.
Week 4 & 5- Sir Resiliency and Stress Busters
During week four/five, students will learn how to control their destiny. They will craft their personal mission statement and choose 3 areas to focus on during the camp. The goal is to begin to take the students out of the passenger seat and into the driver's seat. We will focus and hone into being active and recognizing when we are passive. Each student will create concrete and manageable goals that tie to executive functioning needs. Students will be challenged to explore deficits and lean into their strengths. They will learn about stress; how it manifests, when it takes over, how to regulate their emotions.
Week 6- Dealing with the Procrastination Beast
In week six, students will learn about procrastination. They will understand how to recognize when it is inhibiting their ability to make progress. Students will practice practical skills for pushing themselves despite the desire for procrastination. This is a lifelong skill that is essential to long-term success.
Week 7- Seek to be Understood- Learn how to advocate for yourself!
In week seven, students will learn how to tune in and truly listen. They will discover how to identify and harness their feelings for positive change. This is an important component of advocacy.
Week 8- Find your voice and accountability-buddies
Synergize! Sharpen your tools! Now is the time to take action with support. Remember you cannot do everything on your own. Find out what accountability means and how to use it to meet your goals.
How will you be accountable for yourself? How can others help hold you accountable? What does this look like and how to create a balance? Students will work on identifying who and what they need in order to break unsuccessful habits and establish more effective habits. We will review the campers goals and discuss how to achieve and maintain them.