Hey team,

Today we learn from Dr. Tara Williams, a tenured chemistry professor and founder of Innovative Collegiate Consultants> We talk about why the transition from K–12 to college is so challenging—especially for neurodivergent students (with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or dyspraxia) and anyone struggling with executive functioning.

We dig into how technology and AI can both help and hinder attention, memory, and critical thinking, and why analog tools like handwriting and paper planners still matter. Tara shares common college stress points like navigating accommodations, self-advocacy, managing unstructured time, and building community through study groups and body doubling. We also explore how parents and educators can scaffold support without becoming a student’s external executive function, and Tara highlights a student success story involving a major change, accommodations, and a visual Post-it system. I learned a lot from my brilliant colleague, and I think you will, too!

All my love,

Sarah

Our show:

01:39 From Chem To Coaching

04:12 Invisible Skills And Life Stages

06:36 Tech Overload And AI

12:06 College Transition Struggles

15:26 Community And Body Doubling

18:16 Tips For Professors

21:47 Support Without Enabling

28:02 Student Success Story

30:45 Analog Systems And Grace

33:03 Where To Find Tara

About Tara: Dr. Tara Williams is the founder of Innovative Collegiate Consultants and a tenured chemistry professor at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. With a PhD in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Sussex, she has spent over twenty years teaching and more than a decade supporting neurodivergent students as they transition from K–12 to college. Her team specializes in executive functioning coaching and academic support grounded in Universal Design principles to help students build confidence and self-advocacy. Dr. Williams is currently publishing a book about her educational journey and her work with neurodivergent college students, set for release in July 2026.

Website: https://innovativecollegiateconsultants.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-williams-phd/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iccedservices#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/your_innovative_consultants

Connect with me!

My book is out in the wild, and it's changing lives! Order Growing Executive Function at ⁠Solution Tree ⁠or on ⁠Amazon⁠.

I'm also training educators and organizations across this beautiful globe, and we're finding improving executive function is game-changing! If that sounds like what your school or organization needs, ⁠reach out⁠! Sarah at sarahkesty.com.

Hey team!

Meet my friend Chris Mukibi, a Southern California high school chemistry and AVID teacher, and generally awesome human. We dive into the neuroscience of classroom behavior and the art that is managing humans. We discuss regulation and dysregulation, why shared language helps prevent behavior issues, and how reframing behavior as a message is more useful than labeling kids as “jerks” (or worse).

Chris helps us understand the link between increased anxiety and dysregulation and the broader societal stressors like internet-driven information overload, rapid technological change, and unpredictability. You'll learn practical executive-function supports—predictable routines, visuals, calendars, sticky notes, and checklists—to externalize working memory and reduce cognitive load at school and at home. You'll love his approachable wisdom and humor!

All my love,

Sarah

About Chris: Chris Mukiibi is a high school chemistry and AVID teacher in Southern California and the founder of BrightStar Education. He's the author of The Learning Compass and the creator of Behavior By Design, a coaching framework that has trained hundreds of educators to manage classroom behavior through the nervous system rather than through control. His core idea is simple: behavior is downstream, emotional state is upstream, and a student stuck in stress or survival can't access focus, planning, or self-regulation, no matter how good the strategy is. He still teaches every day, which means everything he shares was tested in a real classroom that week.

⁠Instagram⁠ instagram.com/mrmukiibi

Email: chris@chrismukiibi.com

The show:

01:59 Sleep and Self Regulation

02:49 Language Behind Behavior

04:12 Kids These Days Debate

05:51 Internet and Rapid Change

07:40 Uncertainty and Stress State

10:35 Tame Jungle vs Prepare Kids

13:32 Zone of Proximal Growth

15:11 Carlos and Real Wins

18:09 Growth Mindset and EF Tools

19:12 Working Memory Nerd Out

20:36 Offload Your Memory

21:58 Sticky Notes and Lists

23:15 To Do Lists for Anxiety

24:28 Predictability for Presence

25:24 Classroom Routines Framework

27:28 Expectations Reduce Anxiety

29:43 Visual Scaffolds for Change

33:06 Capacity Over Knowing Better

34:35 Regulate First Then Teach

36:11 Calming Cues for Adults

38:00 Where to Find Chris

38:51 Wrap Up and Thanks

Connect with Sarah!

My book is out in the wild, and it's changing lives! Order Growing Executive Function at ⁠Solution Tree ⁠or on ⁠Amazon⁠.

I'm also training educators and organizations across this beautiful globe, and we're finding improving executive function is game-changing! If that sounds like what your school or organization needs, ⁠reach out⁠! Sarah at sarahkesty.com.

Hey, team,

Mitch Weathers is an educator, author, and speaker who loves executive function almost as much as I do :) On the show, he'll tell us the easy ways he's created to help teachers create systems to support students' executive function. The predictability, skill review, and routines are easily translated to home life, too!

In the show we mention:

Organized binder

Mitch's Books, Executive Functions for Every Classroom

Adelle Diamond's key research on executive functions

John Hattie's Visible Learning

Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset

Cheers to a great school year, team! All my love,

Sarah

And...My book is out in the wild, and it's changing lives! Order Growing Executive Function at ⁠Solution Tree ⁠or on ⁠Amazon⁠.

I'm also training educators and organizations across this beautiful globe, and we're finding improving executive function is game-changing! If that sounds like what your school or organization needs, ⁠reach out⁠! Sarah at sarahkesty.com.