Keeping up with the pace, load, and challenge of learning requires emotional and self-management skills – best described as Executive Function. However, when these skills are either delayed, under-developed, or absent it is easy to question the child’s motivations and intentions. The truth of the matter is that some kids simply need more support, scaffolding, and a greater appreciation for their differences.  On this episode, counselor, author, Washington Post contributor, and freelance writer, Phyllis Fagell, discusses how Executive function skills are the skills that help build check-and-balance systems and backup methods that help students stay on top of their own work. When adults involved in helping and guiding children focus on becoming a non-anxious presence, the children themselves are likely to understand how to stay calm, which in turn can help them focus and feel relaxed enough to learn.  About Phyllis Fagell Phyllis is the school counselor at Sheridan School in Washington, DC, a therapist who works with kids and families in private practice, and an author and journalist. She's the author of “Middle School Matters” and a frequent contributor to the Washington Post. She also freelances for publications including Psychology Today, Working Mother, U.S. News & World Report and Your Teen, and her ideas have been shared in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker and NPR. Phyllis lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband and three children. Website: www.phyllisfagell.comBook: Middle School Matters About Host, Sucheta Kamath Sucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence. Support the show (https://mailchi.mp/7c848462e96f/full-prefrontal-sign-up)