Executive Function for Teachers with Carrie Bonnet

A student can understand the assignment and still have no idea how to get themselves started. Carrie Bonnett is back on Complicated Kids, and this time we are talking about executive function in the classroom. Carrie is an executive function coach and veteran teacher, and she has a wonderfully simple definition of executive function: the brain skills that help us get important things done. That includes organization and time management, of course, but also planning, getting started, staying focused, regulating emotions, getting back on track after a distraction, finishing, and remembering where the finished thing is supposed to go. In other words, "Go do your work" is asking a brain to do A LOT. Carrie shares the story of a teacher who suddenly realized that a student sitting through independent work without starting might not be choosing not to work. Getting started is a skill. The student may understand the assignment and still be stuck on the first step, how to organize the page, how long the task will take, or any number of things we cannot see from across the classroom. Carrie offers one of my favorite questions from this conversation: What if this is a skill thing and not a will thing? That little shift creates room for curiosity. Maybe the student needs the task broken into a smaller chunk. Maybe they need help identifying the first step. Maybe there is a routine we assumed they knew but never actually taught. And routines are a big part of this conversation. Carrie points out that brains like structure, consistency, and predictability. Teaching students how to begin independent work or what to do when they get stuck is not wasted classroom time. It is teaching the skills that make the rest of the work possible. We also get into the language adults use around executive function. Instead of turning a struggle into an identity, Carrie encourages talking about brains: "My brain needs support with working memory," rather than "I'm terrible at this." I LOVE this. Kids need to understand how their brains work if we want them to choose useful strategies, advocate for themselves, and develop a healthy sense of who they are. And yes, somehow laundry makes an appearance, because I currently have clean, folded laundry sitting in a basket on my bedroom floor and apparently that makes an excellent executive function teaching tool. Adults have unfinished tasks too. Maybe giving ourselves a little grace for that can help us bring more curiosity to the kids in front of us. Key Takeaways Executive function includes the brain skills that help us start, organize, plan, focus on, regulate ourselves through, and finish important tasks. A student who is not starting an assignment may understand the work but still need support with task initiation. Independent work requires many executive function skills at once, including understanding directions, starting, sustaining attention, recovering from distractions, finishing, and turning work in. Asking "What if this is a skill thing and not a will thing?" can help adults move from assumptions to curiosity. Breaking a task into a smaller first step can make getting started more accessible for a student who feels stuck. Classroom routines support executive function because structure, consistency, and predictability reduce how much students have to figure out in the moment. Skills such as task initiation should not automatically be treated as things students already know simply because of their age or grade. Brain-based language can separate a skill difficulty from a student's identity and create a more useful starting point for support. Helping students understand their own executive function profiles can make it easier for them to choose strategies and advocate for what they need. Adults struggle with executive function too, and acknowledging our own imperfect brains can normalize those differences for students. About Carrie Bonnett Carrie Bonnett is a veteran teacher, lifelong list-maker, and executive function coach based in Bend, Oregon. She works with students and families around the country using a practical, no-shame, brain-first approach that empowers students to thrive, helps parents and teachers better support them, and gives adults tools to stay on top of all that life requires. In addition to coaching, Carrie creates digital resources, including her signature course Get the Brain on Board and a series of No-Shame Guides for Parents, and provides brain-based workshops and trainings for parents, teachers, and other professionals. She is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Portland, where she supports early-career teachers. About Your Host, Gabriele Nicolet I'm Gabriele Nicolet, toddler whisperer, speech therapist, parenting life coach, and host of Complicated Kids. Each week, I share practical, relationship-based strategies for raising kids with big feelings, big needs, and beautifully different brains. My goal is to help families move from surviving to thriving by building connection, confidence, and clarity at home. 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