I teach English at an alternative high school, and am struggling with one particular student’s inability to complete assignments. The student is new to our school, and I have little information about previous accomodations and IEPs/IPPs developed at other schools (and their relative success or lack thereof). This student is highly dependent and impulsive, but obviously tries to pay attention in English class and seems to “get it” when I work with him individually. In other classes, he is confrontational and openly critical of teachers and peers, completes absolutely no homework and is consistently unprepared for class. He does, however, love to participate in (read “dominate”) classroom discussions - whether or not he has prepared for or understands the topic being discussed.
I’ve restructured unit plans to include in-class assignments so that I can hang some kind of “evaluation” on his work, but even in a highly structured cooperative environment paired with “role model” students, he bottoms out … skips class when group work is involved, doesn’t show for group presentations, and spends most of his in-class time complaining about “the establishment” and the “useless” nature of school. He refuses to write anything but blank verse poetry, will not complete written OR oral examinations … AAARRRRRGGHGHGH!!!!
This student lives more or less on his own (at 18 years of age), and it would be sooooo easy to just “let him go” but that’s the last thing I want to do. I really, really think he has potential, but I’m having a really hard time getting to it. Does anyone out there have any ideas?
Re: Homework / Assignments and ADHD
thank you! i’ve been digging and digging - i will certainly try allen’s book.
Re: Homework / Assignments and ADHD
Carla,
You are to be commended for caring so much about this boy. It sounds like you have encountered him at a point when he has completely given up any hope that he can be successful in school. It is possible that he is quite gifted — some of your descriptions of his attitudes and behaviors are extremely like some gt/ld students I have encountered who have so much ability and intellectual curiousity but find school to be a stifling horrible place that demands both too little and too much of them simultaneously. It is unclear to me the exact nature of this boy’s difficulties, but it certainly sounds as if more than ADHD is going on. Gifted kids are often very good at hiding their LD — the gifts mask the disability and the disability masks the gifts. I recommend that you read the book “The Pretenders.” I can’t recall the author’s name at the moment, but I’ll try to locate it. If your student is able to read, it might be a good book for him as well. It is never too late to help, but it sounds like helping this boy may first require gaining a better understanding of the nature of his difficulties and of the barriers he puts up to hide and to protect himself.
Re: Homework / Assignments and ADHD
Carla,
I think you are absolutely right!! My son is gifted/ld and when I was reading this it reminded me of him to a T!! I think you are right in saying “find out what’s going on!”. That’s the only way to truly help this kid.Are there any records you can look at that might shed some light on the problem?
I took my son out of school in 3rd grade because the school system wouldn’t even acknowledge he had a problem. After many yrs of testing etc we finally got the dx. of Disorder of Written Expression and a processing disorder. At home, I give him a lot of oral work and I also have him use a tape recorder and video for speeches etc.He uses a laptop for written assignments and we cut down the amount of problems etc. that is required. He also gets extra time on test. These are just a few of the suggestions that our doctor gave us. They are working very well.He is learning and isn’t frustrated with his work. Good Luck, Jan
Writing Disorder?
Carla,
My 7th grade son has a very frustrating time when it comes to having to write papers, and answer essay questions on tests. My child has ADHD and a disorder or written expression called dsygraphia. Dsygraphia causes my son much frustration when he has to physically write and think about getting the words down in the right order.
What has helped keep my child imotivated, is to be able to use computers in the classroom for written assignments. It’s so much easier to cut and paste on a computer, than to edit handwritten papers. You get your work done faster too. My son also has some problems with bubbling scan tron cards - getting the right answer in the right bubble.
My son’s teachers allow him to type in class when necessary, and even take essay questions home to answer. He is given extended time on tests as well.
It sounds like your student might be frustrated with the process of having to organize his thoughts, and get things written down. Maybe he is discouraged because it takes so much effort to write, that he’s tired of trying.
Keep encouraging him! You seem to be able to reach out to him well, and are aware that he’s having difficulties.
My son uses an organizational mind mapping program called Inspiration 7.5. He has used this program for History class, and Language Arts classes to help him write papers and get things organized for writing. It’s been a tremendous help to him.
Best Wishes!
Re: Homework / Assignments and ADHD
Is he on medication? If so, he doesn’t take enough. If he’s not on medication or he’s not going to take more, then working individually - or having someone work with him individually - would be the only answer even if it’s not a realistic one. You say he ‘gets it’ when you work with individually.
His ADHD and his years of discouraging experiences in school explain his ‘bottoming out’. He thinks school is useless because it likely has not often meet his different learning needs and the establishment has probably not often been responsive to this kid.
That you are is wonderful - grade the work he manages to get done when working one on one with you. I feel grades should be based on student’s mastery of concepts - not how much work they’ve turned out - you don’t need a semester’s worth of assignments to tell where his skills are in relation to his peers or to his grade level or to where he was on the spectrum at the beginning of the year.
Good luck.
This student lives more or less on his own (at 18 years of age), and it would be sooooo easy to just “let him go” but that’s the last thing I want to do. I really, really think he has potential, but I’m having a really hard time getting to it. Does anyone out there have any ideas?[/quote]
Janet Allen’s books? She talks about working with kids like the one you are mentioning. One book I loved was It’s Never too Late. It is filled with ideas to help motivate kids to read and succeed. He needs to take responsibility for his actions. He sounds somewhat ADHD-Impulsive and maybe he would benefit from learning to focus better and working on appropriate pragmatic language so he can learn what behavior is appropriate and not appropriate in classes.