Tips For Managing The Inattentive Symptoms Of ADHD In The Classroom
If you are a teacher who has a student that has ADHD, you likely want to make sure that your lessons are as effective as possible for that student. The main obstacle to efficacy is the fact that ADHD can cause kids to have a really difficult time paying attention to you. This will cause even the very best lessons to be useless because the child will not be paying attention. Here are some of the possibly inattentive symptoms that are associated with ADHD and how you can help your student get through them and actually learn.
1. Your Student is Making Careless Mistakes
The first thing that you want to watch for are careless mistakes. This is a sign that your student is having a hard time paying close attention to the details of a situation, First, commit to not giving multi-step instructions. If you need to tell your students to cut a piece of paper into a star and then write their name on the back, first tell them to do the cutting portion and then, after they star has been cut, tell them to write their name. This will allow your ADHD student to compartmentalize the instructions and follow through. Providing written instructions will also make it easier for your students with ADHD to follow along and stay focused.
2. Your Student is Having a Hard Time Paying Attention During Class
If your student is generally having a hard time paying attention in lecture, move him or her near you so that you can easily make eye contact frequently throughout the lecture with him or her. This will allow you to keep your student slightly more engaged.
Also be sure that you include an audio cue whenever you are about to move from group work or activities back to lecturing. You could wring a bell or clap your hands and have your students duplicate the pattern that you clapped. This will allow you to signal to the class that you need them to listen and give everyone, including your students with ADHD, the chance to ready themselves to listen, which will increase their overall level of attention.
3. Your Student Has a Hard Time Taking Notes
Create a clear, guided note system for your students so that they can take notes on your lecture or reading and feel confident that they are getting all of the information. This will help your ADHD student stay focused during lectures and have good notes from which he or she can study!
For more information, talk to a company that specializes in ADHD schools.
