A Letter to Teachers about Their "Troublemaker"

May 1

Students with learning disabilities often struggle with executive functioning. Keep reading to learn about what this looks like in the classroom and how we can understand it!

That “One” Student Might Not Be Trying to Cause Trouble
(And what you can do to support them)

As the school year winds down, there’s always at least one student who still feels like a daily challenge. You know the one, constantly calling out, losing their materials, reacting strongly to feedback or redirection.

It’s easy to see these behaviors as disrespectful. But what if they’re really a sign of something else?

What you’re seeing may be executive functioning challenges—not defiance.

What is Executive Functioning (EF)?

Executive functioning refers to the brain-based skills that help us plan, focus, regulate emotions, and manage tasks. These include:

Emotional regulation
Working memory
Attention
Task initiation
Planning and organization
Self-monitoring

Most of us use these skills without even thinking about them, but many students don’t yet have them fully developed. For some learners, especially those with learning differences like dyslexia or ADHD, these skills may not come naturally or implicitly.

Why This Matters for Struggling Learners

Imagine being asked to follow a set of multi-step directions… while you’re still trying to decode every word on the page. That’s the reality for many students with dyslexia or other reading difficulties.

While peers are absorbing routines, organizing materials, or learning classroom norms implicitly, students with learning challenges are often using all of their cognitive resources just to keep up with the content. That doesn’t leave much brainpower for executive functioning.

So when a student blurts out, shuts down, or loses their work, what you’re really seeing is communication.

They’re not trying to be difficult. They’re struggling to meet expectations with the skills they currently have.

What You Can Do

The good news? EF skills can be taught, modeled, and scaffolded, just like academic skills.

And when we explicitly teach things like planning, emotional regulation, or task initiation, we don’t just help one student, we create a classroom culture where all learners can thrive.