discipline

LD RULES!

POOP

I have lost my temper too and am ever ashamed when I do and like you, always apologize.

Also like you, I find I lose my temper in those moments when I feel helpless in the moment. I get better at not losing my temper with each passing year ( or maybe I’m just mellowing out as I get older) but each year I have the same goal - to NOT lose my temper at all this year…

And then I go and do it again. LD or not, we have to maintain a certain order in the classroom or chaos will reign. I try to maintain that order through good lesson planning. I ignore minor issues - an ADD student looking round the room isn’t something I see as a problem. Indeed, stretching the neck and glacing round can help some ADD students to get themselves back on track. Only robots can sit still for long periods of time - most of us who are human need a little movement.

Be sure you’re being realistic about your students. I think it simply isn’t realistic to expect young bodies to sit still class after class for the length of a school day. I think it becomes less realistic to expect that of them when their classes are ultra boring. I try to have my classes be not boring. I try to plan activities that are inviting of attention and intriging - even fun. I find in such an atmosphere all students, LD or not, focus better, sit longer (even if not still) and pay attention more. We all pay more attention when the lesson and the instruction holds our attention.

I wish I had some suggestions for how not to lose one’s temper. Counting to 10 never worked for me.

Good luck.

School is hard for most kids, not just kids with attention problems and dyslexia. Sitting still during classes that don’t particularly interest you is hard for anyone.

And, then there’s the whole learning style issue: school is built for auditory learners who can sit still. I’m not ADD but I find it hard to sit through lectures (and wonder how people can sit through mine!).

All of that said, when it comes to behavioral issues, if you don’t give kids with learning issues the same kind of feedback as other kids, how will they learn to correct their behavior?

Also, by treating them too differently and too gently, you may give them the impression that their LD excuses their innability to be civil.

If there’s one thing that my LD students cried out for it was consistency and firmness. They wanted me (I’m an LD adult and I also have my own issues as a teacher) to be firm, consistent, and not treat them any differently than any of the other kids.

I readily admit that I was not a great K-12 teacher and am just an OK university teacher (I’m a content guy and I’m not great with behavioral issues). My wife, however, is a great teacher and I’ve learned many of these things from her.

You don’t want to destroy people but false praise or looking the other way because of LD can be just as bad.

[quote=”costadina”]This is a touchy matter for me. What should I do if a student who has LD misbehaves in class? I don’t want to be too harsh, but not too lenient either.

What is misbehavior to you? What subject are you teaching? Regardless, I’d suggest you redirect the behavior. don’t punish, counsel. Do you want to solve the problem or punish it?

If you want to solve it, redirect the student. Make your lesson plans appropriate to their needs. We all lose patience and our tempers sometimes but it accomplishes nothing. Why does it make you angry? Think about that. You’re taking things too personally if it’s making you angry.

If a student with ADD starts looking around or gets up, instead of paying attention, or changes the subject, because he/she doesn’t understand it, what should I do?

Redirect the student. Kind humor is better than anything else.
And as good as that are lessons which engage and hold the attention of your students. Avoid droning on and on, never read out loud from a textbook, vary your tone of voice, put energy into your manner and consider teaching a kind of performance art.

Consistency really is a key ingredient. My other main axiom is that it should “cost less” to behave in ways that are productive than to behave in ways that distract or don’t involve learning, regardless of the intent behind the behavior.
I will also use “punishment” as a way to direct positive attention at a student… so if they’re required to spend that two minutes after class discussing why and how to improve behavior, there will be something positive in it, too.
And, of course, very often behavior can be “re” directed before it goes awry with an errand — somebody has to hand out these worksheets to each row… I’ve known teachers to send important notes to other teachers that said “Kim needed an errand to do. Thanks!”