🤪 How to Manage School Portal Madness, Executive Function

Hey, what’s up, parents? It’s me, Seth from sethperler.com. I wear a lot of hats in the executive function world, and in this video I’m going to talk about a massive problem.

What happens is that our students—starting around fourth or fifth grade and continuing into college—have to deal with so many different portals. Within those portals, there are tons of details to track. We want students to be building their executive function skills and learning as much as they can, but instead they spend a huge amount of time just navigating these systems.

It can be daunting, confusing, and overwhelming—and it causes real problems.

Today, I’m going to walk you through this. First, I’ll describe the problem so you can better understand it and work with it. Then, I’ll share a few strategies to help deal with it.

Let me start with five problems related to this issue.

The first problem is that different teachers use different portals. Imagine a seventh grader with six teachers—math, science, social studies, and so on. Some teachers might use the school district’s portal, others might use their own website, and others might use tools like Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, or something else.

So right away, not everyone is on the same page. That’s fine if there’s a clear system—but usually, there isn’t.

The second problem is that teachers update things at different times. Some teachers are very consistent—they post assignments and grades right away. Others update randomly, once in a while, or once a week. This makes it confusing for students and parents to know when to check each portal.

So now we have two issues: which portal to check, and when to check it.

The third problem is the lack of clear details. Some teachers don’t provide enough information. They might expect students to figure it out or “listen better in class,” but the reality is that these portals are tools meant to make things easier.

Many teachers don’t consider the user experience—what it’s actually like for students and parents trying to find information. Questions like: What do you do if something is late? What if it’s missing? Can you get another copy? How long should the assignment be? When is it due?

These details are often hard to find.

The fourth problem is finding out things too late. Sometimes a teacher doesn’t update grades regularly, and then suddenly—right before the end of the semester—they enter everything at once. That’s when you discover your child is failing, even though things seemed fine before.

The fifth problem is the overall overwhelm. This process can take a huge amount of time and energy. We want students focused on learning, not spending 20–30 minutes every night just trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do.

That’s the problem.

Now, what should you do about it?

First, email the teachers. Ask questions. Any frustration you have is really a question that needs an answer.

If you don’t know how your child is supposed to turn something in, ask. If you want to know whether they can submit a digital copy, ask. If you’re unsure when assignments are posted or when grades are updated, ask.

If you need more details about assignments, or something seems unclear or unreasonable—ask.

And when you email them, you can also say: “Can you start posting this information regularly so we don’t have to keep asking?”

If a teacher is rigid and refuses to provide clarity, then keep asking. Your child is there to learn, and you need the information to support them.

Second, make what’s easy hard and what’s hard easy.

What I mean is this: it’s easy for students to find things they enjoy—games, apps, entertainment. But sometimes they can’t even find their school portal login.

I’ve worked with students in October who don’t know their passwords.

So create a system. One option is to use the bookmarks bar (for example, in Google Chrome). Set up all the relevant links there.

Another option is to create a simple document—like a Google Doc—with all the links, usernames, and passwords in one place. You can also add notes like, “Check this class on Fridays because the teacher updates then.”

The goal is to make access easy and centralized.

You can also bookmark important pages within portals, like syllabi or specific assignment pages.

At the same time, make distracting things harder to access. And ultimately, we want students to take ownership of this process—but sometimes we have to scaffold it first.

Third, do a weekly “Sunday Night Overhaul” (SNO).

During this time, do a deep dive into all the portals. Check grades, missing assignments, incomplete work, upcoming tasks—everything.

I don’t care what day you do it, but at least once a week, students should go through everything with a fine-tooth comb. Make sure nothing is missed and that they fully understand where they stand.

Yes, sometimes these systems are confusing, and you should absolutely advocate for better clarity from teachers. But regardless, students need to build the skill of navigating these systems.

Because that’s what this is—executive function. These are skills to build, not just a matter of “trying harder” or “caring more.”

Anyway, my name is Seth Perler. You can find me at sethperler.com, and I also host the Executive Function Summit at executivefunctionsummit.com.

If you like what I’m doing, give this a thumbs up, leave a comment, and subscribe—it really helps the channel. I’d also love to hear from you: what are some frustrations you’ve had with these portals, and what has helped you manage them?

I want to wish you peace in your heart, joy, and—most importantly—connection with your child and the people you care about.

Have a fantastic day. I’ll see you next week.