October 9, 2025 • 22 mins
Nearly 1 in 10 children are diagnosed with ADHD, yet most educators receive no formal training in supporting executive function deficits. This gap creates challenges for teachers, frustration for parents, and academic struggles for students who are often mislabeled as unmotivated or lazy.
In this episode, Dr. Lisa Hassler speaks with Ann Dolin M.Ed., founder of Educational Connections and author of "Homework Made Simple," about the critical role of executive function in student success and practical strategies for supporting ADHD learners.
Topics Covered:
- Executive function skills and their impact on academic performance
- Distinguishing between motivation deficits and executive function challenges
- The cycle of negative feedback and declining student confidence
- Evidence-based classroom accommodations and visual organization techniques
- Homework modification strategies that maintain academic rigor
- Metacognitive questioning approaches that promote student agency
- Appropriate integration of AI tools in learning
- When to implement executive function coaching versus subject-specific tutoring
About Our Guest:
Ann Dolin, M.Ed., has 30+ years of experience in education. She founded Educational Connections 27 years ago and is the author of "Homework Made Simple" and "Getting Past Procrastination." Her work focuses on executive function coaching and academic support for students with ADHD and learning differences.
Resources: Educational Connections: ectutoring.com
💡 This episode is CPD accredited! Educators can now earn Continuing Professional Development (CPD) minutes by listening. To claim your certificate:
- Listen to the full episode
- Visit https://thecpd.group/podcast
- Enter code 800146 to check in and download your certificate
Listen. Learn. Earn.
Great News! The Brighter Side of Education is now CPD Accredited!
Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.
Head to the show notes to find if this episode is CPD eligible and details on how to claim your CPD certification!
Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.
If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share, email me at lisa@drlisahassler.com or visit www.drlisahassler.com. Subscribe, tell a friend, and consider becoming a supporter by clicking the link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2048018/support.
The music in this podcast was written and performed by Brandon Picciolini of the Lonesome Family Band. Visit and follow him on Instagram.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (00:00):
What if the root of many classroom struggles
wasn't about effort but aboutexecutive function?
Join me explore why studentswith ADHD often struggle despite
their best intentions and waysyou can help support them.
Welcome to the brighter side ofeducation, research,
(00:26):
innovation, and resources.
I'm your host, Dr.
Lisa Hassler, here to enlightenand brighten the classrooms in
America through focusedconversation on important topics
in education.
In each episode, I discussproblems we as teachers and
parents are facing and whatpeople are doing in their
communities to fix it.
What are the variables?
And how can we duplicate it tomaximize student outcomes?
(00:48):
Today's topic hits close tohome for me as a parent, and I
suspect I'm not alone.
With nearly one in ten childrendiagnosed with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder,or ADHD, many of us have
experienced firsthand the tearsand frustration over nightly
homework, frequent classroomreminders, and the ongoing
effort to keep our childrenfocused and organized.
(01:10):
Often at the heart of thesechallenges are deficits in
executive functioning skills,our brain's built-in task
manager.
When executive skills such asplanning, organization, impulse
control, and attentionmanagement fall behind, it
results in missed deadlines,wandering attention, and
diminished self-confidence,which together create ripple
effects across all areas of achild's life.
(01:31):
But innovative and promisingsolutions are emerging to help
kids thrive.
Experts increasingly emphasizethe effectiveness of targeted
executive function coaching,personalized classroom support
plans, and creative teachingapproaches specifically tailored
for learners with ADHD.
Visual organization techniques,structured flexibility in
(01:52):
assignments, and customizedindividual interventions are
already making measurableimprovements in students'
academic performance, behavior,and overall self-esteem.
Adding further optimism byresearchers at UCLA is the
pediatric device ETNS.
ETNS uses a low-levelelectrical stimulation to the
brain's trigeminal nerve duringsleep and has shown reductions
(02:16):
in ADHD symptoms without the useof drugs.
To discuss this further, we'rejoined by Ann Dolan, an educator
and author with over 30 yearsexperience transforming
educational experiences forstudents with ADHD and executive
function challenges.
As the founder of EducationalConnections and author of the
books Homework Made Simple andGetting Past Procrastination,
(02:37):
Anne offers practical effectivestrategies to empower educators
and families.
Welcome, Anne.
We are thrilled to have you.
Well, thanks so much for havingme.
Yeah.
And can you briefly share thestory behind your company
Educational Connections?
Ann Dolin (02:49):
Sure.
Well, um I started out as apublic school teacher and I
loved it.
I taught both fourth and sixthgrade.
But it was actually when I wasteaching fourth grade that one
of the parents asked me to tutortheir child.
And so I drove to her home andrealized, oh my gosh, this is
really fun.
I love this.
So I started tutoring more andmore kids.
And over time I realized thatwas my calling in life, working
(03:12):
with students one-to-one.
And so eventually I ended upquitting my classroom teaching
job and starting my company,educational connections.
Really, at that point, I had ababy.
And I thought I just tutor oneor two kids at my dining room
table.
But within a year, I got sobusy.
I was tutoring homeschoolersduring the day, older kids at
night, all day Saturday, partday Sunday.
(03:34):
And I realized, okay, maybethere's something more to this.
Maybe I could actually hiresome other folks to work for me
and tutor kids with me side byside.
And that's what I did.
26 years the company's beentogether?
Yes, actually 27 years thisMarch.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (03:50):
Well, congratulations.
That's quite an achievement.
I have tutored myself as well.
It really takes a specialdedication to be flexible and to
be working with students andall types of different levels
when it comes to subject matteron top of grade level.
When it comes to ADHD, what aresome of the biggest struggles
that you see in schools today?
And why do you believe thatthese challenges persist?
Ann Dolin (04:11):
Well, one of the biggest struggles is that the
education system assumes thatone size fits all in reality.
And many kids, you know, aren'tsitting in a classroom isn't
ideal for them.
And they struggle with some ofthe basic things like, okay,
what do I have that I have to dofor homework?
When does that do?
How do I keep track of it?
And so when you have a hardtime with those, we call them
(04:33):
executive function skills, letalone, you know, sitting down
and getting the work done,turning it on time, it kind of
makes it look like you don'tcare about school, or maybe
you're unmotivated.
Perhaps even you're lazy.
And that's actually not it atall.
It's just that you'restruggling with, you know, these
executive function skills andnot it isn't a disorder of
(04:54):
motivation.
So we automatically assume thatin students and we kind of
write them off in some cases.
And so I think, you know, whenkids struggle in those areas,
which many students do, theykind of are dismissed early on
instead of given a chance.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (05:10):
Yeah, I I would agree with that.
On both sides, uh, the coinwhen it comes to being a parent
and as a teacher, I've had thosestudents in my classroom.
And it can be frustrating whenyou don't understand how to get
them motivated and to be doingthings and you're going, What
could what else could I bedoing?
Like I'm I'm tap dancing almostup here almost, right?
But then on the flip side, as aparent, I would have teachers
(05:31):
coming to me.
I have my son and daughter bothwith ADHD.
They just didn't care.
And then you'd hear a totallydifferent side when you're
talking about like, why weren'tyou doing your journal today?
When I realized how differentthat is, every time that I would
have a child in my class thatpossibly having ADHD or some
executive functioning deficits,my mind would always go to how
(05:51):
would I want my son's teacher,my daughter's teacher to look at
that child?
Being able to place that lensreally helped me as a teacher.
I knew that their parents wouldwant that for their child, just
like I wanted it for my childsitting in the classroom.
Ann Dolin (06:05):
Students are lucky, Lisa, to have you in that
capacity because a lot ofteachers, they just don't
understand what's going on andthey haven't had that experience
as a parent.
I know when I was starting outas a young teacher, I didn't
really know what I was dealingwith.
And when kids would kind of beapathetic in the classroom or
they would just not seem to bepaying attention or have all
(06:26):
this overdue work, I mistakenlysaw it as a character flaw
because I didn't know anybetter.
And it wasn't until I startedworking with more and more kids
and I realized, wait, this isn'tspecific to the student.
This is a bigger issue thataffects a lot of kids.
How could I be looking at thisdifferently?
And um, until you have thatdifferent perspective, it is
(06:48):
hard as a teacher.
And to your point, teachersdon't get a lot of training.
They actually get no trainingin ADHD.
Or, you know, even if you don'thave the diagnosis, a student
has poor executive functionskills, they're not quite sure
how to deal with it.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (07:02):
No, they they don't.
We get the cliff notes to it.
You know, it's like you theseare the things that you're going
to have and you're going tohave to write up these plans.
And so here are some thingsthat you can do.
And of course, you know, I'mnot sure how they're being
trained now, but it's differentthan going to being a specialist
when you're thinking a specialed teacher.
Much more in-depth training andknowledge in that area than the
general ed teacher has.
(07:23):
And so it does become a littlebit different.
That's when you really areleaning into those special ed
teachers saying, what is it thatI could be doing differently?
If you're lucky enough to havethem, I was private schools and
we did not have them.
And so then you really try toget resourceful.
And so with my own childrengoing through it, I had some
resources that, you know, otherteachers may not have had.
So I was able to dig into thattoolbox that really helped me.
(07:46):
Now you talked about executivefunction skills, and so those
are different, but many studentswith ADHD also have some
decline in their executivefunctioning skills.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat exactly are executive
functioning skills and explainlike how deficits in those areas
can specifically impactacademic performance?
Ann Dolin (08:07):
Sure.
Executive function skills arekind of like the brain CEO or
the brain's manager.
It's similar to what I saidearlier.
It has to do with your abilityto say, I've got all these
things to do.
What should I do first, second,or third?
And once you've identified thatpriority, your brain's
executive function says, Oh, youhave to do this essay.
(08:28):
All right, let's figure outwhat might I do first?
How can I start this out?
How long do you think this willtake?
And then it's your ability tofocus long enough to get it
done, especially in the face ofdistractions, or when you don't
want to do that essay.
Those are all executivefunction skills.
And so it's easy to see whenkids are off topic or you know,
(08:49):
they're really, really stuck.
It looks like, oh, they justdon't want to do that essay.
But really, it's the brain'sinability to prioritize, to
focus, and to see somethingthrough to fruition.
And we're seeing it more andmore.
The advent of technology and somany kids on social media, I
would argue it gets kids used tothis concept of immediate
(09:10):
gratification.
So when something feels hard,it's more difficult for them to
sustain their focus and see itthrough than ever before.
So our kids, you know, may cometo the table with weaknesses
already.
And I say it's exacerbatedbecause of everything hitting
them from other every angle whenit comes to technology.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (09:31):
Right.
It's almost training theirbrain to not wait for that
gratification, to have lesspatience or less willingness to
work harder longer for somereward because their brain is
being trained to get it fasterfor easier ways.
It makes it harder in theclassroom.
It makes it much more difficultfor these kids.
(09:53):
They have these feelings thatthey're a bad student, that
school isn't for them, but theydon't do good in that.
Even though they try theirhardest, and they really do,
they label themselves with it,they internalize it because
they're hearing it from allaround them that what they're
doing isn't up to par.
And I feel like that's reallyhard to deal with as a parent,
as a teacher.
(10:13):
What can we do to help thesekids change their mindset and be
able to support them andrebuild that confidence?
Ann Dolin (10:20):
Yeah, that's really common.
And in fact, I call it the doomloop, you know, where you get a
bad grade and then you getfeedback from teachers like, oh,
just try harder or your parent,just focus more.
You can do this.
You're just as smart as yoursister.
Kids hear those messages a lotand they don't always help.
In fact, they often backfire,and kids think, okay, I'm just
(10:40):
really not capable, and they putin less effort.
And when you put in lesseffort, you know, you get a bad
grade again and the whole cyclestarts over.
And so I think it's importantto intervene early.
And when you see that yourchild is struggling to kind of
do um a triage in a way, likewhat is causing this?
Is it that it's specific to asubject like math?
(11:02):
For example, math is the classthat kids report they struggle
with the most, they dislike themost.
And in math, one skill buildsupon another.
And so if you have a shakyfoundation, everything else is
going to be hard for you.
And so you can see as a parent,is it really math?
Then you need a tutor.
You need somebody else toexplain the subject better to
(11:23):
your child.
But if it's not that and it'skind of a pervasive thing across
the uh across all subjects, andyou're looking at more of an
executive function issue, thenyou want to intervene in a
different way.
Oftentimes, kids need that torecover their confidence.
They're not going to do it ontheir own.
And I know this sounds like alittle cliche, like kids should
(11:47):
try harder.
They should put in more effort.
But when you are in that doomloop and you feel terrible about
yourself, it's very, very hardto dig yourself out of it,
whether it's a subject orexecutive function.
So you need to find a coach oranother adult or somebody else
that can help that studentfigure out a different system to
triage their assignments, learnprioritization skills, and
(12:08):
better focus and completionskills.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (12:11):
Yeah.
And so what are some effectivestrategies that you recommend
teachers use in the classroom tobe able to support those
executive functioning skills?
And are there any newinnovative approaches that
you've been seeing recently?
Ann Dolin (12:24):
Yeah, I mean, first, when a student walks into a
classroom, having a sense ofwhat is going to happen in this
classroom today in this periodis really helpful.
It helps the brain anchor,okay, I'm going to do this next.
So anytime the teacher can say,hey, everybody, we're going to,
um, this is our objective.
We're going to work on this,and this is the activity we're
(12:45):
going to do together.
And then I'm going to help youget started on your homework.
And then at the end, and thisis your homework.
And it's not just in theportal, but it's where everybody
can see it.
Those types of things wherethere's a visual coupled with an
auditorial prompt, and youknow, you're doing it together.
That always helps kids.
When kids know what to expect,they're definitely better off.
(13:07):
There was a special on 60Minutes on Comigo, and it was
really fabulous about howteachers are using AI in the
classroom kind of as like anindividual tutor in a way.
And I thought it was brilliant.
So a lot of teachers arebringing in AI to help kids when
they can't get to 30 kids intheir classroom.
And they're doing thingsdifferently to help students
(13:30):
become more engaged.
But at home, you can helpstudents by your child by
saying, okay, tell me about whatyou have going on tonight.
So you don't want to ask thequestion, do you have homework?
That's not really helpful.
But you might say, What areyour priorities tonight?
If you could get one thing donethat would make you feel great,
what is that one thing?
So you kind of want to helpyour child fire up their own
(13:52):
executive function skills tostart to prioritize.
All right, let me open up mylaptop, let me see what I have,
and let me create this littlelist for myself.
That's often the first step.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (14:02):
Okay.
And then what about homework?
What else can parents be doingjust to help with homework or to
help manage and make thosenights less stressful?
I know those were always myworst when they came home and it
would take hours.
And what kind of suggestionswould you have for parents that
maybe are facing similarsituations?
Ann Dolin (14:24):
Now, if you feel like your child is toiling over
homework for endless hours,there's a disconnect between
what the student is given forhomework and their ability to
complete it without a ton ofparental oversight.
And so I would absolutely goback to the teacher and say, and
use these words, I've noticed,not like you're giving too much
homework, but instead, I noticedthat it's taken Jimmy an hour
(14:46):
and a half to complete this mathhomework.
Is that about how long itshould take?
And you know the teacher isgonna say, that's not how long
it should take, and say, youknow, what do you think I should
do?
Could this be reduced?
Could he do every other probleminstead?
And so having some type of anagreement with the teacher to
reduce the assignments is agreat idea.
Sometimes, however, um, it'snot that it's that the work is
(15:10):
appropriate.
It's just that the child ishaving a hard time with focus.
And in that case, you may wantto chunk it.
And instead of saying, like, doall this math homework, you
know what, just do the firstfive problems and take a break.
Or just let's fold the paper inhalf and only do the top half.
So anytime it can be brokendown or there's a break, or even
(15:32):
setting a timer can be really,really helpful.
And depending on the age, youdon't want to set the timer for
too long.
It might be 10 minutes, butnever more than 25.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (15:41):
Excellent.
Yeah.
Those are similar to what Iended up going to.
This was prior to us findingout what was going on.
So we would definitely go tothe teacher and go, I'm losing
my mind.
We need some help.
What have you got?
And then then we ultimatelytested, but that did not come
until fourth grade.
Yeah, fourth grade summer.
So it was it was a long year,long few years prior to that
(16:02):
until we knew what we werereally dealing with.
So it's good to know.
So chunking it, folding it,timer, definitely all is good
stuff.
What kind of practicalapproaches can parents implement
at home to support executivefunction skills like time
management, organization, andtask initiation without
micromanaging their children?
Ann Dolin (16:20):
Yeah, that is really key, Lisa.
You know, you don't want to bethe homework police, but you
don't want to be completelyhands-off.
You have to kind of find thatmiddle ground.
And so I kind of mentioned thisearlier, but asking your child,
okay, tell me what are yourpriorities today?
And I would recommend doingthat before they go off to a
practice.
You know, if they're going tosoccer practice at five o'clock,
(16:42):
even if they don't have alltheir homework done, but they
just have a sense of theirpriority list before they leave,
that's key because when theyget back, it's so much easier to
start than starting fresh.
We also can understand thatkids often need a break right
after school, giving them foryounger kids, giving them some
type of downtime withoutsomething that's super highly
(17:05):
engaging, like maybe no videogames during that downtime, but
perhaps TV is okay.
It makes it a little bit easierfor them to get started when
they need to get started.
But for older kids, reallyhaving that start time is more
important than the end time,which is where we often focus
because homework is taking solong.
So we'll say to our highschooler, like, you need to be
(17:27):
done with homework by nineo'clock or 10 o'clock.
And when they don't start until8:30, it's problematic.
So, really encouraging them,you know, what might be a good
time to start?
What are you thinking?
When have you felt that you'rethe most focused?
And instead of telling themwhat to do, asking them these
powerful questions to lead themto self-discovery.
(17:49):
When kids own their ownthinking, we call this
metacognition, when they canthink about their thinking, when
they can think about how theylearn best, it's much more
powerful than telling them whatto do.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (18:02):
Yeah, it's empowering them.
Like I have a little bit moreownership of it.
So are there any emergingtrends or tools in ADHD and
executive functioning supportthat you're particularly
optimistic about for the futureof education?
Ann Dolin (18:17):
Yeah, I think the biggest one, which has everybody
talking, is the role of AI.
And initially when ChatGPT andother AIs came out, we saw in my
practice we we work with kidson a daily basis, helping them
with all the executive functionskills when it comes to
academics.
And it used to be like even acouple of years ago, parents
would call our office lookingfor help and they would often
(18:39):
say, My child has poor studyskills.
They do their homework, butthey're not doing well on tests.
And that's indeed what it was.
They didn't quite know how tostudy.
Now we're seeing that the issueisn't always that kids aren't
studying well, but when theydon't understand something,
they're automatically going touh an app like Math Wave, for
(19:00):
example, which it used to bethey took a picture of the
problem and it told them theanswer.
Now they take a picture of theproblem and it tells them every
last step.
So when they do their homework,it looks like they know all the
steps.
And then they go to take thetest and they're doing very
poorly.
So there's this even biggerdisconnect between, well, I'm
doing the homework, but I'mgetting terrible test grades.
(19:22):
And so the new thing that we'refinding is that kids don't know
how to use AI.
But once you show them, hey,you don't want to go to this
right away, try the problemfirst.
And then when you're superstuck, go to it.
But it's just these littleshifts.
Instead of write this essay forme and copying and pasting, if
(19:42):
you were my teacher, Mrs.
Smith, and you upload theessay, how would you tell me to
improve this essay?
And so those are better ways ofusing AI, but kids don't always
know how to do it.
And so teaching them that canmake a huge difference.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (19:57):
You've got books on this as well for
homework help for parents.
That comes along withscripting, along with another
book that talks about ways tohelp with procrastination in
children.
And so more great reads forparents to be able to dive into.
How would audience members beable to get a hold of you or
your company best?
Ann Dolin (20:17):
Sure.
Our website is ectutoring.comfor educational connections.
And that's really the best wayto learn about what we do.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:25):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, and it was a pleasure
talking with you.
Thank you, Lisa.
You too.
Supporting students with ADHDand executive function deficit
starts with understanding theirunique needs and responding with
practical strategies.
Together, we can createlearning environments at school
and at home where these studentsare equipped to thrive.
(20:46):
If you have a story aboutwhat's working in your schools
that you'd like to share, youcan email me at Lisa at
drisaarhassler.com or visit mywebsite at
www.drlisaarhassler.com and sendme a message.
If you like this podcast,subscribe and tell a friend.
The more people that know, thebigger impact it will have.
And if you find value to thecontent in this podcast,
(21:08):
consider becoming a supporter byclicking on the supporter link
in the show notes.
It is the mission of thispodcast to shine light on the
good in education so that itspreads, affecting positive
change.
So let's keep working togetherto find solutions that focus on
our children's success.
What if the root of many classroom struggles
wasn't about effort but aboutexecutive function?
Join me explore why studentswith ADHD often struggle despite
their best intentions and waysyou can help support them.
Welcome to the brighter side ofeducation, research,
(00:26):
innovation, and resources.
I'm your host, Dr.
Lisa Hassler, here to enlightenand brighten the classrooms in
America through focusedconversation on important topics
in education.
In each episode, I discussproblems we as teachers and
parents are facing and whatpeople are doing in their
communities to fix it.
What are the variables?
And how can we duplicate it tomaximize student outcomes?
(00:48):
Today's topic hits close tohome for me as a parent, and I
suspect I'm not alone.
With nearly one in ten childrendiagnosed with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder,or ADHD, many of us have
experienced firsthand the tearsand frustration over nightly
homework, frequent classroomreminders, and the ongoing
effort to keep our childrenfocused and organized.
(01:10):
Often at the heart of thesechallenges are deficits in
executive functioning skills,our brain's built-in task
manager.
When executive skills such asplanning, organization, impulse
control, and attentionmanagement fall behind, it
results in missed deadlines,wandering attention, and
diminished self-confidence,which together create ripple
effects across all areas of achild's life.
(01:31):
But innovative and promisingsolutions are emerging to help
kids thrive.
Experts increasingly emphasizethe effectiveness of targeted
executive function coaching,personalized classroom support
plans, and creative teachingapproaches specifically tailored
for learners with ADHD.
Visual organization techniques,structured flexibility in
(01:52):
assignments, and customizedindividual interventions are
already making measurableimprovements in students'
academic performance, behavior,and overall self-esteem.
Adding further optimism byresearchers at UCLA is the
pediatric device ETNS.
ETNS uses a low-levelelectrical stimulation to the
brain's trigeminal nerve duringsleep and has shown reductions
(02:16):
in ADHD symptoms without the useof drugs.
To discuss this further, we'rejoined by Ann Dolan, an educator
and author with over 30 yearsexperience transforming
educational experiences forstudents with ADHD and executive
function challenges.
As the founder of EducationalConnections and author of the
books Homework Made Simple andGetting Past Procrastination,
(02:37):
Anne offers practical effectivestrategies to empower educators
and families.
Welcome, Anne.
We are thrilled to have you.
Well, thanks so much for havingme.
Yeah.
And can you briefly share thestory behind your company
Educational Connections?
Ann Dolin (02:49):
Sure.
Well, um I started out as apublic school teacher and I
loved it.
I taught both fourth and sixthgrade.
But it was actually when I wasteaching fourth grade that one
of the parents asked me to tutortheir child.
And so I drove to her home andrealized, oh my gosh, this is
really fun.
I love this.
So I started tutoring more andmore kids.
And over time I realized thatwas my calling in life, working
(03:12):
with students one-to-one.
And so eventually I ended upquitting my classroom teaching
job and starting my company,educational connections.
Really, at that point, I had ababy.
And I thought I just tutor oneor two kids at my dining room
table.
But within a year, I got sobusy.
I was tutoring homeschoolersduring the day, older kids at
night, all day Saturday, partday Sunday.
(03:34):
And I realized, okay, maybethere's something more to this.
Maybe I could actually hiresome other folks to work for me
and tutor kids with me side byside.
And that's what I did.
26 years the company's beentogether?
Yes, actually 27 years thisMarch.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (03:50):
Well, congratulations.
That's quite an achievement.
I have tutored myself as well.
It really takes a specialdedication to be flexible and to
be working with students andall types of different levels
when it comes to subject matteron top of grade level.
When it comes to ADHD, what aresome of the biggest struggles
that you see in schools today?
And why do you believe thatthese challenges persist?
Ann Dolin (04:11):
Well, one of the biggest struggles is that the
education system assumes thatone size fits all in reality.
And many kids, you know, aren'tsitting in a classroom isn't
ideal for them.
And they struggle with some ofthe basic things like, okay,
what do I have that I have to dofor homework?
When does that do?
How do I keep track of it?
And so when you have a hardtime with those, we call them
(04:33):
executive function skills, letalone, you know, sitting down
and getting the work done,turning it on time, it kind of
makes it look like you don'tcare about school, or maybe
you're unmotivated.
Perhaps even you're lazy.
And that's actually not it atall.
It's just that you'restruggling with, you know, these
executive function skills andnot it isn't a disorder of
(04:54):
motivation.
So we automatically assume thatin students and we kind of
write them off in some cases.
And so I think, you know, whenkids struggle in those areas,
which many students do, theykind of are dismissed early on
instead of given a chance.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (05:10):
Yeah, I I would agree with that.
On both sides, uh, the coinwhen it comes to being a parent
and as a teacher, I've had thosestudents in my classroom.
And it can be frustrating whenyou don't understand how to get
them motivated and to be doingthings and you're going, What
could what else could I bedoing?
Like I'm I'm tap dancing almostup here almost, right?
But then on the flip side, as aparent, I would have teachers
(05:31):
coming to me.
I have my son and daughter bothwith ADHD.
They just didn't care.
And then you'd hear a totallydifferent side when you're
talking about like, why weren'tyou doing your journal today?
When I realized how differentthat is, every time that I would
have a child in my class thatpossibly having ADHD or some
executive functioning deficits,my mind would always go to how
(05:51):
would I want my son's teacher,my daughter's teacher to look at
that child?
Being able to place that lensreally helped me as a teacher.
I knew that their parents wouldwant that for their child, just
like I wanted it for my childsitting in the classroom.
Ann Dolin (06:05):
Students are lucky, Lisa, to have you in that
capacity because a lot ofteachers, they just don't
understand what's going on andthey haven't had that experience
as a parent.
I know when I was starting outas a young teacher, I didn't
really know what I was dealingwith.
And when kids would kind of beapathetic in the classroom or
they would just not seem to bepaying attention or have all
(06:26):
this overdue work, I mistakenlysaw it as a character flaw
because I didn't know anybetter.
And it wasn't until I startedworking with more and more kids
and I realized, wait, this isn'tspecific to the student.
This is a bigger issue thataffects a lot of kids.
How could I be looking at thisdifferently?
And um, until you have thatdifferent perspective, it is
(06:48):
hard as a teacher.
And to your point, teachersdon't get a lot of training.
They actually get no trainingin ADHD.
Or, you know, even if you don'thave the diagnosis, a student
has poor executive functionskills, they're not quite sure
how to deal with it.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (07:02):
No, they they don't.
We get the cliff notes to it.
You know, it's like you theseare the things that you're going
to have and you're going tohave to write up these plans.
And so here are some thingsthat you can do.
And of course, you know, I'mnot sure how they're being
trained now, but it's differentthan going to being a specialist
when you're thinking a specialed teacher.
Much more in-depth training andknowledge in that area than the
general ed teacher has.
(07:23):
And so it does become a littlebit different.
That's when you really areleaning into those special ed
teachers saying, what is it thatI could be doing differently?
If you're lucky enough to havethem, I was private schools and
we did not have them.
And so then you really try toget resourceful.
And so with my own childrengoing through it, I had some
resources that, you know, otherteachers may not have had.
So I was able to dig into thattoolbox that really helped me.
(07:46):
Now you talked about executivefunction skills, and so those
are different, but many studentswith ADHD also have some
decline in their executivefunctioning skills.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat exactly are executive
functioning skills and explainlike how deficits in those areas
can specifically impactacademic performance?
Ann Dolin (08:07):
Sure.
Executive function skills arekind of like the brain CEO or
the brain's manager.
It's similar to what I saidearlier.
It has to do with your abilityto say, I've got all these
things to do.
What should I do first, second,or third?
And once you've identified thatpriority, your brain's
executive function says, Oh, youhave to do this essay.
(08:28):
All right, let's figure outwhat might I do first?
How can I start this out?
How long do you think this willtake?
And then it's your ability tofocus long enough to get it
done, especially in the face ofdistractions, or when you don't
want to do that essay.
Those are all executivefunction skills.
And so it's easy to see whenkids are off topic or you know,
(08:49):
they're really, really stuck.
It looks like, oh, they justdon't want to do that essay.
But really, it's the brain'sinability to prioritize, to
focus, and to see somethingthrough to fruition.
And we're seeing it more andmore.
The advent of technology and somany kids on social media, I
would argue it gets kids used tothis concept of immediate
(09:10):
gratification.
So when something feels hard,it's more difficult for them to
sustain their focus and see itthrough than ever before.
So our kids, you know, may cometo the table with weaknesses
already.
And I say it's exacerbatedbecause of everything hitting
them from other every angle whenit comes to technology.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (09:31):
Right.
It's almost training theirbrain to not wait for that
gratification, to have lesspatience or less willingness to
work harder longer for somereward because their brain is
being trained to get it fasterfor easier ways.
It makes it harder in theclassroom.
It makes it much more difficultfor these kids.
(09:53):
They have these feelings thatthey're a bad student, that
school isn't for them, but theydon't do good in that.
Even though they try theirhardest, and they really do,
they label themselves with it,they internalize it because
they're hearing it from allaround them that what they're
doing isn't up to par.
And I feel like that's reallyhard to deal with as a parent,
as a teacher.
(10:13):
What can we do to help thesekids change their mindset and be
able to support them andrebuild that confidence?
Ann Dolin (10:20):
Yeah, that's really common.
And in fact, I call it the doomloop, you know, where you get a
bad grade and then you getfeedback from teachers like, oh,
just try harder or your parent,just focus more.
You can do this.
You're just as smart as yoursister.
Kids hear those messages a lotand they don't always help.
In fact, they often backfire,and kids think, okay, I'm just
(10:40):
really not capable, and they putin less effort.
And when you put in lesseffort, you know, you get a bad
grade again and the whole cyclestarts over.
And so I think it's importantto intervene early.
And when you see that yourchild is struggling to kind of
do um a triage in a way, likewhat is causing this?
Is it that it's specific to asubject like math?
(11:02):
For example, math is the classthat kids report they struggle
with the most, they dislike themost.
And in math, one skill buildsupon another.
And so if you have a shakyfoundation, everything else is
going to be hard for you.
And so you can see as a parent,is it really math?
Then you need a tutor.
You need somebody else toexplain the subject better to
(11:23):
your child.
But if it's not that and it'skind of a pervasive thing across
the uh across all subjects, andyou're looking at more of an
executive function issue, thenyou want to intervene in a
different way.
Oftentimes, kids need that torecover their confidence.
They're not going to do it ontheir own.
And I know this sounds like alittle cliche, like kids should
(11:47):
try harder.
They should put in more effort.
But when you are in that doomloop and you feel terrible about
yourself, it's very, very hardto dig yourself out of it,
whether it's a subject orexecutive function.
So you need to find a coach oranother adult or somebody else
that can help that studentfigure out a different system to
triage their assignments, learnprioritization skills, and
(12:08):
better focus and completionskills.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (12:11):
Yeah.
And so what are some effectivestrategies that you recommend
teachers use in the classroom tobe able to support those
executive functioning skills?
And are there any newinnovative approaches that
you've been seeing recently?
Ann Dolin (12:24):
Yeah, I mean, first, when a student walks into a
classroom, having a sense ofwhat is going to happen in this
classroom today in this periodis really helpful.
It helps the brain anchor,okay, I'm going to do this next.
So anytime the teacher can say,hey, everybody, we're going to,
um, this is our objective.
We're going to work on this,and this is the activity we're
(12:45):
going to do together.
And then I'm going to help youget started on your homework.
And then at the end, and thisis your homework.
And it's not just in theportal, but it's where everybody
can see it.
Those types of things wherethere's a visual coupled with an
auditorial prompt, and youknow, you're doing it together.
That always helps kids.
When kids know what to expect,they're definitely better off.
(13:07):
There was a special on 60Minutes on Comigo, and it was
really fabulous about howteachers are using AI in the
classroom kind of as like anindividual tutor in a way.
And I thought it was brilliant.
So a lot of teachers arebringing in AI to help kids when
they can't get to 30 kids intheir classroom.
And they're doing thingsdifferently to help students
(13:30):
become more engaged.
But at home, you can helpstudents by your child by
saying, okay, tell me about whatyou have going on tonight.
So you don't want to ask thequestion, do you have homework?
That's not really helpful.
But you might say, What areyour priorities tonight?
If you could get one thing donethat would make you feel great,
what is that one thing?
So you kind of want to helpyour child fire up their own
(13:52):
executive function skills tostart to prioritize.
All right, let me open up mylaptop, let me see what I have,
and let me create this littlelist for myself.
That's often the first step.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (14:02):
Okay.
And then what about homework?
What else can parents be doingjust to help with homework or to
help manage and make thosenights less stressful?
I know those were always myworst when they came home and it
would take hours.
And what kind of suggestionswould you have for parents that
maybe are facing similarsituations?
Ann Dolin (14:24):
Now, if you feel like your child is toiling over
homework for endless hours,there's a disconnect between
what the student is given forhomework and their ability to
complete it without a ton ofparental oversight.
And so I would absolutely goback to the teacher and say, and
use these words, I've noticed,not like you're giving too much
homework, but instead, I noticedthat it's taken Jimmy an hour
(14:46):
and a half to complete this mathhomework.
Is that about how long itshould take?
And you know the teacher isgonna say, that's not how long
it should take, and say, youknow, what do you think I should
do?
Could this be reduced?
Could he do every other probleminstead?
And so having some type of anagreement with the teacher to
reduce the assignments is agreat idea.
Sometimes, however, um, it'snot that it's that the work is
(15:10):
appropriate.
It's just that the child ishaving a hard time with focus.
And in that case, you may wantto chunk it.
And instead of saying, like, doall this math homework, you
know what, just do the firstfive problems and take a break.
Or just let's fold the paper inhalf and only do the top half.
So anytime it can be brokendown or there's a break, or even
(15:32):
setting a timer can be really,really helpful.
And depending on the age, youdon't want to set the timer for
too long.
It might be 10 minutes, butnever more than 25.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (15:41):
Excellent.
Yeah.
Those are similar to what Iended up going to.
This was prior to us findingout what was going on.
So we would definitely go tothe teacher and go, I'm losing
my mind.
We need some help.
What have you got?
And then then we ultimatelytested, but that did not come
until fourth grade.
Yeah, fourth grade summer.
So it was it was a long year,long few years prior to that
(16:02):
until we knew what we werereally dealing with.
So it's good to know.
So chunking it, folding it,timer, definitely all is good
stuff.
What kind of practicalapproaches can parents implement
at home to support executivefunction skills like time
management, organization, andtask initiation without
micromanaging their children?
Ann Dolin (16:20):
Yeah, that is really key, Lisa.
You know, you don't want to bethe homework police, but you
don't want to be completelyhands-off.
You have to kind of find thatmiddle ground.
And so I kind of mentioned thisearlier, but asking your child,
okay, tell me what are yourpriorities today?
And I would recommend doingthat before they go off to a
practice.
You know, if they're going tosoccer practice at five o'clock,
(16:42):
even if they don't have alltheir homework done, but they
just have a sense of theirpriority list before they leave,
that's key because when theyget back, it's so much easier to
start than starting fresh.
We also can understand thatkids often need a break right
after school, giving them foryounger kids, giving them some
type of downtime withoutsomething that's super highly
(17:05):
engaging, like maybe no videogames during that downtime, but
perhaps TV is okay.
It makes it a little bit easierfor them to get started when
they need to get started.
But for older kids, reallyhaving that start time is more
important than the end time,which is where we often focus
because homework is taking solong.
So we'll say to our highschooler, like, you need to be
(17:27):
done with homework by nineo'clock or 10 o'clock.
And when they don't start until8:30, it's problematic.
So, really encouraging them,you know, what might be a good
time to start?
What are you thinking?
When have you felt that you'rethe most focused?
And instead of telling themwhat to do, asking them these
powerful questions to lead themto self-discovery.
(17:49):
When kids own their ownthinking, we call this
metacognition, when they canthink about their thinking, when
they can think about how theylearn best, it's much more
powerful than telling them whatto do.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (18:02):
Yeah, it's empowering them.
Like I have a little bit moreownership of it.
So are there any emergingtrends or tools in ADHD and
executive functioning supportthat you're particularly
optimistic about for the futureof education?
Ann Dolin (18:17):
Yeah, I think the biggest one, which has everybody
talking, is the role of AI.
And initially when ChatGPT andother AIs came out, we saw in my
practice we we work with kidson a daily basis, helping them
with all the executive functionskills when it comes to
academics.
And it used to be like even acouple of years ago, parents
would call our office lookingfor help and they would often
(18:39):
say, My child has poor studyskills.
They do their homework, butthey're not doing well on tests.
And that's indeed what it was.
They didn't quite know how tostudy.
Now we're seeing that the issueisn't always that kids aren't
studying well, but when theydon't understand something,
they're automatically going touh an app like Math Wave, for
(19:00):
example, which it used to bethey took a picture of the
problem and it told them theanswer.
Now they take a picture of theproblem and it tells them every
last step.
So when they do their homework,it looks like they know all the
steps.
And then they go to take thetest and they're doing very
poorly.
So there's this even biggerdisconnect between, well, I'm
doing the homework, but I'mgetting terrible test grades.
(19:22):
And so the new thing that we'refinding is that kids don't know
how to use AI.
But once you show them, hey,you don't want to go to this
right away, try the problemfirst.
And then when you're superstuck, go to it.
But it's just these littleshifts.
Instead of write this essay forme and copying and pasting, if
(19:42):
you were my teacher, Mrs.
Smith, and you upload theessay, how would you tell me to
improve this essay?
And so those are better ways ofusing AI, but kids don't always
know how to do it.
And so teaching them that canmake a huge difference.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (19:57):
You've got books on this as well for
homework help for parents.
That comes along withscripting, along with another
book that talks about ways tohelp with procrastination in
children.
And so more great reads forparents to be able to dive into.
How would audience members beable to get a hold of you or
your company best?
Ann Dolin (20:17):
Sure.
Our website is ectutoring.comfor educational connections.
And that's really the best wayto learn about what we do.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:25):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, and it was a pleasure
talking with you.
Thank you, Lisa.
You too.
Supporting students with ADHDand executive function deficit
starts with understanding theirunique needs and responding with
practical strategies.
Together, we can createlearning environments at school
and at home where these studentsare equipped to thrive.
(20:46):
If you have a story aboutwhat's working in your schools
that you'd like to share, youcan email me at Lisa at
drisaarhassler.com or visit mywebsite at
www.drlisaarhassler.com and sendme a message.
If you like this podcast,subscribe and tell a friend.
The more people that know, thebigger impact it will have.
And if you find value to thecontent in this podcast,
(21:08):
consider becoming a supporter byclicking on the supporter link
in the show notes.
It is the mission of thispodcast to shine light on the
good in education so that itspreads, affecting positive
change.
So let's keep working togetherto find solutions that focus on
our children's success.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.