A comprehensive six-part executive functioning curriculum for high schoolers covering materials management, time management, study strategies, goal setting, decision making, and learning strengths. Grounded in cognitive science and evidence-based practices, each unit delivers two 30-minute modular lessons with teacher scripts, presentation slides, and student workbooks.
Turn off phone notifications for games and shopping apps Move all loose files on your desktop into your 4 class folders Bookmark your top 4 school websites on your browser Put your phone on "Do Not Disturb" during study time
✍️ My Action Commitment
What is one digital habit you will start tonight to keep your computer clean and easy to use?
Unit 1 Reflection & Exit Daily Routine
The Nightly 3-Minute Routine
Set yourself up to win before tomorrow morning even begins:
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1. Pack Night Before
Check agenda, pack finished homework in front pocket.
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2. Charge Device
Plug laptop and phone in designated charging spot.
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3. Place at the Door
Zero search panic in the morning. Grab and go.
“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” — Benjamin Franklin
The Eisenhower Matrix & 25-Minute Single-Task Focus Sprints (Cirillo, 2006)
⚡ Phase 1 (00–05 min) | The "Tyranny of the Urgent" Hook Teacher Move & Script
What You Do: Project Slide 3 (The 4 Quadrants). Ask: "Who has ever spent 2 hours answering text messages and cleaning their room while their history project due tomorrow sat untouched?"
Say Word-for-Word: "There is a massive difference between what is urgent and what is important. Urgent things scream for your attention—phone dings, last-minute emergencies. Important things build your future—studying 3 days early, sleeping 8 hours, drafting college essays. If you don't schedule Quadrant 2, urgent trivia will eat your life."
What You Do: Have students open their school portal/agenda and sort at least 2 real items into each of the 4 quadrants in their Unit 2 Workbook (Page 2).
Say Word-for-Word: "Look at your actual assignments for this week. Q1 is emergencies due tomorrow. Q2 is long-term high value. Q3 is interruptions you can batch. Q4 is mindless scrolling you must eliminate. Write at least two real items in each box right now."
What You Do: Teach the 25-min single-task rule. Guide students to plan 3 concrete sprint blocks for tonight. Reveal the UT Austin phone research (Slide 5).
Say Word-for-Word: "Cognitive scientists proved that having your phone on your desk—even facedown and turned off—drains 20% of your working memory because your subconscious is constantly fighting the urge to check it. During your 25-minute sprints tonight, put your phone in another room. You will finish your work in half the time."
What You Do: Partners swap workbooks and confirm that Sprint 1 has a single, concrete target task assigned. Students sign the bottom commitment box.
🛠️ In-the-Moment Teacher Troubleshooting:
Student objection: "I need my phone for music / calculator." Teacher response: "Use a computer browser playlist or physical calculator during sprints to prevent notification triggers."
Student objection: "25 minutes isn't enough time." Teacher response: "That's why we stack sprints! Complete 25m, take 5m water break, then start Sprint 2."
2 Part B: Today's 3-Sprint Focus Plan (25m Work + 5m Break)
Directions: Instead of working for 3 hours straight with your phone buzzing, do 25 minutes of single-task focus, then take a 5-minute break.
Sprint 1 (25m)
Exact Assignment to Work On:
Phone State Airplane Mode
Sprint 2 (25m)
Exact Assignment to Work On:
Phone State In Backpack
Sprint 3 (25m)
Exact Assignment to Work On:
5-Min Reward Walk / Snack
⚡ My Focus Sprint Pledge
When will you do your 25-minute deep focus sprint tonight? Where will your phone be placed?
100% Focus
Zero temptation. Homework gets finished in record time.
⚡ Challenge: Put your phone in another room for your 25-minute focus sprint tonight.
Unit 2 Reflection Action Commitment
Your Time Mastery Toolkit
Three rules to own your day instead of letting your day own you:
1. Multiply by 1.5 Add a 50% buffer to every assignment estimate.
2. Protect Box 2 Block 30 minutes of non-urgent deep work every day.
3. 25-Minute Sprints Single-task focus + 5-minute break with phone out of sight.
“Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.” — Peter F. Drucker
What You Do: Project Slide 4 (Forgetting Curve). Show how 70% of information vanishes within 24 hours without spaced review.
Say Word-for-Word: "Cramming 5 hours the night before a test is like eating a week of food in one meal. You might stay awake, but 80% is gone by Friday. When you space your review—Day 1, Day 3, and Day 7—each 10-minute session resets the forgetting curve, making the knowledge permanent."
🗓️ Phase 2 (05–15 min) | The 7-Day Spaced Retrieval Schedule Calendar Studio
What You Do: Guide students to Part A of Unit 3 Workbook (Page 2). Have them map out micro-retrieval dates for their next real test or quiz.
Say Word-for-Word: "Pick an upcoming exam. Instead of scheduling a 3-hour cram session the night before, schedule 15 minutes on Day 1, 15 minutes on Day 3, and 15 minutes on Day 7. Write down what active retrieval exercise you will do on each date."
🎨 Phase 3 (15–25 min) | Dual Coding: Text to Visuals Visual Synthesis Lab
What You Do: Project Slide 5. Have students take a dense paragraph of notes from history, science, or English and convert it into a labeled diagram, flowchart, or cycle.
Say Word-for-Word: "Allan Paivio’s Dual Coding theory proves that storing information as both words and visual diagrams doubles retention speed. In Part B of your workbook, take a text concept and draw a visual flowchart or concept web."
What You Do: Partners review each other's dual-coded diagram to verify that key relationships and arrows are clear and accurate.
🛠️ In-the-Moment Teacher Troubleshooting:
Student objection: "I'm not an artist; I can't draw." Teacher response: "Dual coding isn't art. Boxes, circles, and directional arrows connecting concepts are all it takes to trigger visual memory."
Student objection: "Flashcards take too long to make." Teacher response: "Only make flashcards for what you missed in red ink during your blurting lab."
1. Key Word Bullet Points:
2. Visual Diagram / Flowchart (Draw Here):
🚀 My Study Strategy Commitment
Which old habit (rereading, highlighting, cramming) will you trade for active recall self-quizzing this week?
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Cycle Loops
Best for cause-and-effect loops, water cycles, and economy systems.
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Concept Maps
Best for English book themes, history characters, and big ideas.
Studio Activity: Convert your hardest textbook paragraph into a visual diagram.
Unit 3 Reflection Study Smarter
The Brain Hacks Playbook
Stop studying longer. Start studying with leverage:
1. Active Self-Quizzing Test yourself before looking at notes (Blurting & Feynman teaching).
2. Spaced Review Distribute review across 1, 3, and 7 days instead of cramming.
3. Words + Pictures Translate complex text paragraphs into visual flowcharts.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” — Richard Feynman
🔗 Phase 1 (00–05 min) | The Habit Stacking Formula Hook Teacher Move & Script
What You Do: Project Slide 4. Ask: "Who brushed their teeth or poured a glass of water today without needing motivation?" (Explain neural anchors).
Say Word-for-Word: "You don't need more willpower; you need a stronger anchor. You already perform dozens of automatic habits every day without thinking. When you attach a new academic habit onto an existing automatic anchor—'After I sit down with my snack at 4 PM, I will immediately open my homework agenda'—you piggyback on established brain wiring."
What You Do: Direct students to Unit 4 Workbook (Page 2). Have them write 3 stacked habit recipes for Academic, Organization, and Sleep routines.
Say Word-for-Word: "Use the formula: After [Current Automatic Anchor], I will immediately [New 2-Minute Habit]. Make sure the new habit takes less than 2 minutes to start. If it takes longer, shrink it down."
What You Do: Project Slide 5. Show how Shawn Achor’s 20-second rule works: decrease friction for good habits (<20s to start) and increase friction for bad habits (>20s to access).
Say Word-for-Word: "Humans naturally follow the path of least resistance. If your textbook is open on your desk, you will study. If your phone is in your hand, you will scroll. In Part B, engineer one change to reduce friction for homework and one change to increase friction for phone distraction."
What You Do: Have students share their 14-day tracked habit with their partner. Both sign off on the accountability pledge.
🛠️ In-the-Moment Teacher Troubleshooting:
Student objection: "What if I miss a day on my streak?" Teacher response: "The Golden Rule is: Never miss twice. One missed day is an accident; two missed days is the start of a new bad habit."
Student objection: "My stacked habit feels too small to matter." Teacher response: "Small habits compound. 1% better every day equals 37x better over a school year."
D13[ ]
D14[ ]
🎯 My 14-Day Target Habit
State your exact stacked habit to track for the next 14 days:
Unit 4 Reflection Daily Momentum
Don't Break the Chain
Track your 2-minute stacked habit for 14 consecutive days:
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7
D8
D9
D10
D11
D12
D13
D14
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” — James Clear
What You Do: Project Slide 4. Ask: "Why do we make our worst decisions (snacking, scrolling, skipping homework) late at night rather than at 9 AM?"
Say Word-for-Word: "The average human makes 35,000 decisions every single day. Every choice—what to wear, what to eat, which message to reply to—drains your executive energy battery. By 4 PM, your brain is in decision fatigue. Elite performers eliminate micro-decisions by automating morning and evening routines."
What You Do: Direct students to Unit 5 Workbook (Page 2). Have them automate 3 areas: Outfit selection, breakfast routine, and homework start sequence.
Say Word-for-Word: "Steve Jobs wore the exact same black turtleneck every day so he never wasted brain energy deciding what to wear. Fill in Part A: how will you automate your clothes, breakfast, and homework order so you never have to debate them again?"
What You Do: Project Slide 5. Teach Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's 90-second chemical wave formula (R.A.I.N.: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Non-Identify). Run a 90-second breathing simulation.
Say Word-for-Word: "Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor proved that the biochemical rush of an urge lasts exactly 90 seconds in your bloodstream. If you can create a 90-second pause without clicking or reacting, the physiological wave crests and fades. You take back control."
What You Do: Students write their late-night technology tripwire rule and sign off in their workbook before departing.
🛠️ In-the-Moment Teacher Troubleshooting:
Student objection: "90 seconds feels like forever when I want to check my phone." Teacher response: "That discomfort is just dopamine withdrawal. Watch the classroom clock count 90 seconds down—it passes faster than you think."
Student objection: "I like having choices in the morning." Teacher response: "Keep choices for creative projects where they matter; automate the mundane logistics."
10:00 PM
🧠 My Impulse Control Pledge
How will you practice the 90-second pause the next time you feel distracted while studying?
3
Watch Clock
Watch the second hand for 90 seconds.
4
Choose
"I had an urge, but I am in control."
Surfing the 90-second wave lets the chemical urge dissipate naturally.
Unit 5 Reflection Choice Master
The Choice Architecture Code
Own your decisions before emotions own you:
1. 10/10/10 Test Separate 10-minute discomfort from 10-month success.
2. Automate Small Choices Save willpower by standardizing morning and study setups.
3. 90-Second Wave Pause for 90 seconds when distraction strikes.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” — Viktor Frankl
✉️ Phase 1 (00–05 min) | The "Helpless vs Proactive" Email Hook Teacher Move & Script
What You Do: Project Slide 4. Contrast a late-night panic email ("I don't get it, help") with a professional 3-part advocacy email.
Say Word-for-Word: "Teachers want to help you, but they cannot read your mind. When you email a teacher saying 'I don't understand anything,' they don't know where to start. Today, we teach the 3-step professional script: 1) What I understand so far; 2) The exact step where I hit a wall; 3) Two times I can meet for 3 minutes."
What You Do: Direct students to Unit 6 Workbook (Page 2). Have them write an actual draft email to one of their current high school teachers regarding an upcoming project or confusing topic.
Say Word-for-Word: "Fill out Part A of your workbook. Write out the subject line, your effort statement, your specific obstacle, and your meeting request. This template will serve you all the way through high school and college."
📜 Phase 3 (15–25 min) | The Personal Learning Charter Synthesis Capstoning Lab
What You Do: Project Slide 5. Guide students to synthesize their key takeaways across all 6 units: Materials, Time, Study, Goals, Decisions, and Learning Strengths.
Say Word-for-Word: "Complete your Executive Functioning Learning Charter in Part B. Write down your non-negotiable daily launchpad, your 25-minute focus sprint block, your blurting strategy, and your stacked habit anchor. Then sign it with your peer."
🎓 Phase 4 (25–30 min) | Peer Charter Signing & Final Debrief Graduation
What You Do: Project Slide 6 (You Have The Skills). Have partners countersign each other's charters. Celebrate student progress across the 6-unit sequence.
🛠️ In-the-Moment Teacher Troubleshooting:
Student objection: "What if my teacher doesn't reply to my email?" Teacher response: "Approach them politely before or after class: 'Hi Mr./Ms. X, I sent a quick email about step 3; do you have 2 minutes after class today?'"
Student objection: "Will I really use all these tools?" Teacher response: "You don't need all 20 tools every day. Even mastering 2 or 3 of these systems will put you in the top 5% of high school students."
3. Study Strategy:
My 3-minute blurting self-quiz and 7-day spaced review plan is: _________________________
4. Habit Anchor:
After I ________________________, I will immediately ________________________.
