Any advice for teaching ADHD/ ADD students?
ldutter asked:
Hi teachers, I just found out this week that I have two new students coming in next year with ADHD and ADD. I teach a multi-grade classroom (5th and 6th grades) in a small private school. I must follow a strict schedule to get the subject matter taught to both grades every day. The students have time every day to get their “seatwork” done …. writing, spelling list, etc… while I am teaching the other grade. The parents of these new students seem to think there will be no problems — one is on medication — I don’t know what to think. One is coming from another school, one is coming from home school. What is important for me to know? Where is the best place for them to sit in the classroom? How do I find a course or class on this, that I can take this summer to learn about this? I have no training nor experience with ADHD, and right now I feel overwhelmed. Thanks for any advice you have.
Hi teachers, I just found out this week that I have two new students coming in next year with ADHD and ADD. I teach a multi-grade classroom (5th and 6th grades) in a small private school. I must follow a strict schedule to get the subject matter taught to both grades every day. The students have time every day to get their “seatwork” done …. writing, spelling list, etc… while I am teaching the other grade. The parents of these new students seem to think there will be no problems — one is on medication — I don’t know what to think. One is coming from another school, one is coming from home school. What is important for me to know? Where is the best place for them to sit in the classroom? How do I find a course or class on this, that I can take this summer to learn about this? I have no training nor experience with ADHD, and right now I feel overwhelmed. Thanks for any advice you have.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Im not a teacher but..;/.
from the doctor they can give you pills w/ no bad side affects!!!!
My bro use to have it then
after taking the pills he doesnt have to take them anymore
now he is normal
nothat ppl with ADHA arent
October 9th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
OK - firstly - treat any kid with disabiliy the sme re: rules etc as all other kids. special treatmen will be resented by all the clas, inc. adhd kids.
second, read up on adhd - understand that it is to do with energy and requirements of attention. So - prvide attention at the beginning of the lesson - “Hi James - would you be kind enough to hnd out the books for me please?” “Karen could you…”
A task allows them to be instantly involved, appreciated and at the same time alows YOU to assess their mood, energy levels and attitude.
Sit any pupil you have concerns about at the front of the class - you can monitor them more, get them out should any incient arise and they have the class behind them so n distractions from them or available to them…
dependant on age of student, talk to student - one o my dhd kids from last shcool knew his symptoms, his meication and effects. he explaed it to me and asked that he could leave room when he felt a little hyper - we glossed over to rest of clas by him getting some paper from another class - basically i left a stack of paper in a certain area for him to get. parents can give info too - though reat with caution - some may not be happy with ‘dealing ‘ with ‘condition’ some may be more than willing to help.
best thing to do is take a deep breath and see how one lesson goes - chances are you won’t notice. just treat like any other kid ultimately, though awareness of how it might hinder later on is always good…
best of luck
October 11th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
i am not a teacher but i hope i can help you…
i am a parent of an ADHD child..the teacher and myself find that my son learns and pays attention a lot better when he is right in the front of the class..children with ADHD are distracted very,very easily…its best to sit them up front so they have your complete attention..i find that also if they were to be “punished” and you move them to the back they will distract everyone else, due to the lack of attention that they have from you..my son’s teacher uses a lot of eye contact with hI’m as well to make sure she has his attention..
as far as the courses go. im unsure..but you do need patience with them because they are easily distracted…i hope i helped!!……good luck…
October 12th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
I am a teacher AND I have ADD.
So first, read both students files until you know them inside and out, that will give you more of a feel for who they are.
Also find out what their learning style is (this is something you can do with all your students) so that you can better teach all your students and make sure they are getting everything they can out of what you are teaching. So some students are very visual, some are hands on, kinestic, likes the lectures etc. I had a biology teacher in HS that gave us a questionairre to see what style we preferred and then taught in all the styles when possible and I took more of his class than any other.
Whether the student has ADD or not, you will always have a topic that just bores kids to death, that just happens (for me it was English) so teach the topic in a way that you can relate to the students so they can get the full meaning behind it. Make sense?
Also with me, b/c of the ADD, I had to make lists. So some teachers growing up would have somewhere in the room or on the chalk board a list of what we were doing that day, and what the assignment was, pages we read. I also had to write it down in my calendar so I would remember. But the lists also helped me to stay on track. I couldn’t deal with a class that was very laid back, I needed a class that was very structured for me. But I also needed something that would keep my attn.
Now, I can spend time on things longer than I used to, but in school I could only focus on one thing for so long. So say I’d do math for 20 min, than English, then a break, and then I’d go back to math.
Each child is different, that is something you will have to figure out is what works best for each student-not just the ones with ADD. Remember to treat all your students the same, don’t be extra nice to the students with ADD/ADHD, b/c that’s not fair to everyone else. Everyone can learn and do anything. Some of us just do it differently.
October 14th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Hi, you can get very helpful tips on classroom management as regards to handling ADHD children in school from this site:
October 16th, 2006 at 12:12 am
My first suggestion would be to look beyond the hyperactive trait. This isn’t always always noticably present. For that matter, look beyond the student’s tendency to drift. As someone with ADD, I slipped all the way through school and college without it even being noted. My difficulties….I could read a paragraph from a book, and not be able to tell you what I just read. I could have a complete understanding of the process to do a math problem, but could not utilize that process. Usually, I was accused of being lazy, or uninterested. I’m pushing 40, and hold a little bitterness about the matter. For the most part, I believe I went unnoticed due to the visible lack of the hyperactive trait.
I would sit them anywhere in the class. Certainly give them the same assignments as anyone else and grade them accordingly. Be tolerant if they drift. More than likely, I bet neither one turns out to be a disturbance (based on the assumption that they are obviously aware the problem exists, and at least one has pursued the medication route.)
They are probably very intelligent. Maybe above average. I feel the best way to teach someone with ADD is to keep them busy. I call them microdeadlines. People with ADD can multitask like you wouldn’t believe. When I went to college, I studied journalism. I had to write several stories a night, and meet deadline after deadline. Easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Others without ADD, complained everystep of the way about the constant pressure of deadlines.
Chances are these students are more fatigued than they let on. Between the coping skills they develop, plus the additional energy it takes to try and keep up, we tend to wear down maybe a little faster than other students. Typically, it seems we aren’t very test wise, either. Be on the lookout for their coping skills. Minimalizing. Preferring tasks that are components of a bigger goal, rather than taking on large tasks. The ability to multi-task. The preference to think in more clearly defined terms, rather than peicing together puzzles or problem solving.
Again, I would ask you to be tolerant, while not letting it slide beyond the parameters of conduct in the class. They’ll probably still have to deal with this in the adult world when they’re trying to make a living.
October 18th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
People have given you a lot of good advice. As a teacher who is ADD herself, I have a couple other suggestions. These are good with all kids, not just ADD ones.
I had an ADHD student who absolutely could not sit still until I brought in my yoga ball from home and had him sit on it. Having to constantly adjust himself to stay upright focused his energies so that he could pay attention in class.
Giving students a lot of opportunities for getting up and moving around, or working with a a partner. I recently attended a lecture on the brain, and the speaker said that students can sit for about 10 minutes and focus on one task, after that they lose focus and it becomes pointless. That might mean that you work some sort of game into their activities, or it might be as simple as a group stretch. They can go back to the activity afterwards, but remember to keep moving them around.
ADD kids tend to be bright, and if they are interested in something, they can focus for surprisingly long periods of time. If they are bored though…..
Organization is a big issue. These are the kids who do the home work and then lose it, or who forget the book at school, so you need to have a plan in place with the parents. An assignment book that both you and the parents sign off on? An extra set of textbooks at home so that they cannot forget to bring them?
Ask the kids what they need. I think it is really important to make kids think about their own learning. It might be important for a kid to have his stuff organized a certain way, or he might work better with headphones on. Sometimes what we consider to be a minor distraction can be overwhelming for an ADD kid. Static from a radio or television can literally reduce me to tears while another person might not even notice it, so if you have a noisy air conditioner or something, you need to see if it is going to distract the students.
There are a lot of good books out there on the subject of ADD and ADHD, good luck.