Professional Development

Professional Development Opportunities

*All necessary materials to show proof of Professional Development Hours will be provided.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS: More Than Just Attention!

This is Tera’s most sought-after professional development experience.

Executive function is the self-regulatory system that drives learning. When it is underdeveloped, every aspect of academic and social performance is affected. Yet the most foundational executive function skills are often the most overlooked and misunderstood.

This full-day training focuses on the roots of the executive function system, the core processes that shape attention, perception, working memory, and inhibition, and their direct relationship to child development and academic learning.

Participants will gain a clear understanding of how executive function develops, how breakdowns present in the classroom and therapy settings, and how to intervene with precision. Tera introduces her SEFF framework for assessment and intervention, along with practical techniques including reflexive questioning, structured planning, internalization of meaning, and self-evaluation.

Attendees leave with a stronger lens, shared language, and immediately applicable tools to support executive function at its foundation.

LEARNER OUTCOMES 

1. The participants will be able to communicate the role that executive function plays in the learning process.

2. The participants will be able to describe different techniques for supporting and improving executive function in children.

3. The participants will be able to incorporate new activities into their classrooms, therapy sessions or homes.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND ITS ROLE IN LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Executive function plays a critical role in the overall learning process as the all-encompassing regulatory system of cognition. Deficits in executive function impact all aspects of learning, including reading development. In this presentation, attendees will learn about the integrated nature of cognition, executive function skills such as inhibition, self-monitoring and working memory, their role in the literacy process, and ways to support executive function in struggling readers.

LEARNER OUTCOMES

1. The participants will be able to communicate the role that executive function plays in the learning process.

2. The participants will be able to identify the cognitive processing areas involved in literacy development.

3. The participants will be able to describe different techniques for supporting and improving executive function in struggling readers.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER: An Integrated Approach to Assessment and Intervention

Tera Sumpter's Cognitive Processing Model for Academic Learning provides a structure for assessment and treatment of various childhood learning needs. A variety of cognitive processes are involved in learning including speech development, phonological processing, visual imagery processing for symbols, visual imagery processing for concepts, receptive and expressive language, and executive functions. All of these cognitive components are required for children to develop literacy skills, reading comprehension, content application, organizational and attention abilities, and reasoning skills for academic success. Weakness in one or all of these cognitive processing areas can greatly impact a student's ability to learn and succeed academically. It is imperative that professionals use a comprehensive and integrative cognitive model to assess and treat students so that a complete profile is revealed. Cognitive processes do not function in isolation. They are all related, and therefore should be evaluated and treated in the same manner.

This model of Cognitive Processing for Academic Learning provides an integrated and comprehensive framework for assessment and treatment. It assists the therapist in identifying the root of a student's learning difficulty, where the breakdown in processing is occurring, which aspects of development are impacting each other, and a child’s areas of strength. This model guides the therapist or educator in developing a treatment plan that is individual to each child.

LEARNER OUTCOMES 

1. The participants will be able to explain the different subsystems of the Cognitive Processing Model for Academic Learning and how they are integrated for learning.

2. The participants will be able to determine the cognitive processing systems involved in the literacy network.

3. The participants will be able to communicate the role that executive function plays in the learning process.

4. The participants will be able to describe different treatment techniques for various language and literacy-based needs.

Interested in Booking Tera to Speak to Your Group or Organization?

Tera is available for professional development presentations, informational seminars, parent consultations, etc.

Contact Tera’s team to learn more about the professional presentations and workshops she offers on her Cognitive Processing Model for Academic Learning, Literacy and Executive Functions.