Executive Skill #1 Initiation

Initiation or Task Initiation is pretty much defined exactly how it sounds, which is the ability to start a task. Teachers (and parents) can often see the lack of this skill as the student sitting after directions being given and no movement or change in behavior is noted (which for teenagers in the middle of something could just be because they don’t want to do what you’re asking them to do). There needs to be an understanding that children’s brains today are not the brains of previous generations even those of ten years ago. I remember hearing about a study that was conducted back in 2016 that giving toddlers iphones and the way their brains processed it was the equivalent of giving them crack cocaine which was quite a statement and quite a conclusion to reach back then. 2016 is almost 10 years ago now and teaching teenagers today compared to ten years ago is a stark difference. Task Initiation in particular is a skill that is in deficit because students are often not even aware of what task they are required to perform, and when they are aware they don’t know where to start. This is even more apparent with writing tasks. AI is coming and it’s not going away so blaming all the problems on Chat GPT is shortsighted and also doesn’t take into consideration all the other factors that are contributing. Most adults do not know how to take initiative and is perhaps why this is a quality concentrated in good leaders. So how do you work with a student who has difficulty initiating tasks? The first step is teaching them how to break down the process. Anything process orientated is thinking orientated which means they have to use their brains and can’t offload it to something external. The lack of initiating is also rooted in anxiety which has consistently been on the rise with adolescents for years. In the future I might include a further reading section for each topic. For now, I want to start with the basics and can do a deep dive in the future when the basics are mastered. This is an example of scaffolding. It’s understanding that I can't write an essay without first knowing the topic and requirements. I can’t solve an algebra problem without first knowing the concepts and how to work through the steps. Baby steps are always how you start. You focus on getting really good at one part of the process and then you build off of that. I often ask students who seem to be sitting and waiting what they think they should be doing at the moment (sometimes the responses can be hilarious) and this will jar them out of inaction. Other times the response is “I don’t know” which I always emphasize with my students one key understanding. That is a question not a statement because you always know something and that’s your starting point. The use of questions throughout every part of a process is helpful and needed. Is it repetitive? You bet, but eventually they internalize your voice asking what to do next and they start doing it on their own without prompting. The anxiety component is that the school system teaches in a way that makes it seem like they always have to have the answers and when they don’t there’s something wrong with them. No one knows everything. That quality is omniscience, and I haven’t met anyone who knows everything (and for the religious that is a trait only God has and pretty sure he’s not walking among us). I have had a student refer to me as their human Chat GPT lately which annoys me and results in a conversation about trusting people’s word without confirming from other sources. The bottom line is to encourage questions and instead of quickly answering them to ask them questions that might help get them going in the direction they need to move. This is called the Socratic Method and is the oldest teaching method that I know of at the moment. It’s also incredibly effective if you want to create independent thinkers. The other key component with task initiation is to set an expectation that I should not have to ask every time to get you started which of course is the part that takes the longest to build. The best thing that parents (and educators) can do is not immediately take over and do things for them. And because we are all human and time can be an issue with this, having the grace to realize that the amount of patience that is required to do this effectively every single time is superhuman. So pick your battles and be patient with the amount of time it takes them to learn this skill. It’s often times the last one to develop.