Skip to main content

creative way to help

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

How do I help an ADHD student in my classroom stay focused, on task and address their behavior in a way that would not hinder their desire to work or behave?
thanks
KRL

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 10/02/2002 - 2:02 PM

Permalink

I think it’s in your manner and your lessons. Children will do a great deal for the adults who clearly care about them. This student will work to go the extra mile if he knows he has your regard and your understanding.

Sometimes I have such students sit near to me or in the front of the room. Yet at other times, depending on the student, I sit them near to the window as looking out at it can help them to stay settled. There’s a bit of an art in helping each ADD student choose just the right seat for them.

Then I plan lessons that are inviting of attention. I regard teaching as something of a performance art. I don’t drone on and on. I encourage an interactive class that also allows some movement. “Everybody raise your hand if you know the seven continents’ names. Keep your hand in the air if you can tell us which one does not well support human life…” I don’t use textbooks as I think they do not serve any student very well.

Some ADD kids can make it very hard though. Each ADD student is like a fingerprint, very unique and different from all the others. Don’t get frustrated and do keep trying to find the combination that works and even if you don’t, you and the student will still hold each other in mutual regard which is ever the most important thing.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 10/05/2002 - 10:58 AM

Permalink

I highly recommend “The ADD/ADHD Checklist, an Easy Reference for Parents and Teachers” by Sandra F. Rief. This is a great, easy to follow book with tons of practical solutions for parents and teachers.

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 10/05/2002 - 1:47 PM

Permalink

Just this week, I saw the following tip—every day give the child an index card with the date on the top. Whenever his attention has drifted away and he comes back have him mark an X on the card. This is supposed to help him make himself more aware of his attention drifting and helps serve as a self-monitoring device. If the cards are kept, he can (with some outside encouragement) challenge himself to get fewer Xs as the days go by. I can’t vouch for whether this works—I’ve just had my seventh grade son try it for a couple of days of homework. I will say, however, he was surprisingly willing to do it and has been putting down his Xs.

A related tip I read this week (wish I could remember which website) for the classroom—suggested for CAPD kids but perhaps equally applicable here—is to give the child a small index-sized card that has different colors on both sides. The child should be close to where the teacher speaks and the teacher should be able to see the child’s desk. At the beginning of class, the child will have the yellow (for example) side of the card facing up. When he finds the teacher is saying something he does not understand (because he didn’t understand or his attention drifted) he flips the card to the other side and color. The teacher, seeing this, then knows the child has missed the last point and the teacher can restate it for the class as a whole. I don’t teach—just a parent—so can’t judge how practical this would be in a classroom, but it seemed like a simple and relatively unintrusive and discreet way to help keep a child on track.

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 10/07/2002 - 12:14 AM

Permalink

I teach social studies primarily but even when I do teach language arts, I use ‘trade books’ not basal readers. I use many sources to read in social studies but never a textbook. There are many things in print ranging from magazine articles to weekly readers to documents to handouts that are not textbooks.

Textbooks are written by adults and always in a voice and a tone that is condescending to children. The language and sentence structure of a textbook is not inviting of attention and social studies should be.

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/08/2002 - 1:03 AM

Permalink

As parents, we should all be so lucky to have even ONE teacher like you in our childrens’ lives. Thank you for caring so much about these kids.

Back to Top