Empower Struggling Students to Turn it Around in a Baffling System

Hi, my name is Seth Perler, and I help struggling students turn things around in a system that often feels baffling.

It’s a system that wasn’t designed to meet the needs of complex, outside-the-box students. It wasn’t designed to support unconventional thinkers and learners. And I get that, because I was a student like that—and I was also a teacher.

So what I’m going to do here is explain how this site can help you.

Who this site is for

The people who read my blog are typically parents. I also have teachers and therapists who follow me. And I have students as well.

The people my site is designed to help are struggling students—kids who are often very misunderstood.

These students are often perceived as lazy, or as not trying their best. They’re often told things like, “You have so much potential—you could do so much with your life if you would just pull it together.”

But the truth is, and you probably already know this, these students are amazing.

They tend to be very right-brain thinkers. They are often creative, big-picture thinkers with tremendous talent, strengths, and gifts. They often have strong interests and passions.

But their gifts are often not measured in school. Their grades do not reflect what they are actually capable of.

The truth is also this: they do have tremendous potential—if it’s harnessed in the right way. And they need the right kind of support.

Often, the things that are being done for them are simply not working.

What these students struggle with

Many of these students struggle with:

• Grades

• Homework

• Tests

• Studying (or they don’t know how to study at all)

• Planners (they often dislike or don’t use them)

• Organization (backpacks, papers, materials)

• Time management and perception of time

• Conflicts or mismatches with teachers

• Feeling overwhelmed

• Procrastination and avoidance

• Denial or avoidance of responsibilities

• Unrealistic expectations of what it takes to complete tasks

• Attention to detail

• Starting tasks and following through

They often become overwhelmed, and things pile up. Then they procrastinate, resist, avoid, and get stuck in cycles that are hard to break.

The core issue: executive function

Fortunately, there are solutions.

All of these students have one thing in common, and this realization was a major breakthrough for me.

It’s a big concept—but it’s one thing:

Executive function.

If you don’t know what executive function is, don’t worry—my site explains it in detail.

But in short, all of the struggles I mentioned are connected to executive function in one way or another.

Executive function is the brain’s ability to execute tasks—especially tasks you don’t want to do, or tasks you are resisting.

It takes executive function to complete any task, but school struggles often come down to this question:

How do we help a human being do what needs to be done when they don’t feel like doing it?

That’s what much of my work focuses on.

My approach

The solutions I offer are not cookie-cutter.

These are outside-the-box thinkers and unconventional learners. They do not do well with one-size-fits-all approaches.

I like many helpful tools out there—tutoring, pull-out programs, and other supports—but these students often need a different approach.

They need to be seen as learners with real, legitimate, different needs—not as lazy kids who aren’t trying or just need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”

How this site can help you

If this resonates with you, you can sign up on my site.

When you do, I’ll send you my Student Success Toolkit, which is a mini course made up of five specific videos. It breaks down five practical things you can do this week to help a student—whether you’re a parent, teacher, or student yourself.

These are actionable strategies that I actually use in my coaching practice.

Every week, I also send out a new blog post by email. You can check it out if it’s relevant, or skip it if it’s not.

Everything I share is focused on real, practical solutions that actually work for outside-the-box learners.

I hope you’re having an awesome day, and I’ll see you soon.

Take care.