Higher Order Executive Functions and the Hidden Curriculum of the Classroom

Why do some students seem perfectly capable but still fall apart on long-term projects, multi-step assignments, and choice boards? In this third episode of VIBE Edu's executive functioning series, Mitch Weathers walks the crew through higher order executive functions — the skills of reasoning, planning, and problem solving that begin to emerge around grades 3–5 — and what it looks like when teachers unknowingly assume students already have them.The conversation gets practical fast, with Kim Gameroz sharing real classroom stories of fourth grade teachers who redesigned assignments around what they were actually assessing, and Mitch connecting it all to the concept of making the implicit explicit — breaking down choice boards, long-term projects, and note-taking strategies into the visible steps students need before they can work independently. Josh Stamper opens up about his own experience as a student who looked like a procrastinator but was really just a kid with no roadmap, and the crew tackles the "they won't have these supports later" pushback head-on with a simple but powerful argument: if you know dehydration is coming, you don't stop drinking water today.Mitch Weather's New Book: https://amzn.to/4bAnVjw***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/