Post by Mayleng on Oct 31, 2004 12:39:16 GMT -5
These are ideas for the teachers:
d, these are some ideas for the teachers to use to help with the ADDers, not all are going to apply in your case but there are some that can be added into the 504 or IEP. I have put those in bold.
A. Organizing Your Attention Deficit Disorder ADD or ADHD Students for Teenagers.
Few ADD or ADHD kids are naturally well organized. Most are space-cadets.
Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADD or ADHD, are often well known for taking two hours to do a twenty minute assignment, and then forgetting to turn it in the next day (Hint: it really IS in their backpack). Please take the extra six seconds required to make sure that you ADD ADHD students have actually turned in their work.
Write schedule and timelines on the board each day.
Provide due dates for assignments each day.
Divide longer assignments into smaller sections and provide due dates or times for the completion of each section.
Your ADD ADHD students will function better when able to anticipate times requiring increased concentration. A visual representation of the day's schedule will provide another opportunity to internalize classroom routine.
Interact with your ADD ADHD student's parents as much as possible to keep them informed as to assignments.
B. Presenting Your Lesson to ADHD Students
Provide an outline with the key concepts or vocabulary prior to lesson presentation. The students can follow along and see the main concepts and terms as you present the lesson.
ADHD teens are easily bored, even by you. Try to increase the pace of lesson presentation. Resist the temptation to get sidetracked.
Get excited about your lesson! And communicate your excitement to your students!
Include a variety of learning activities during each lesson. Use multi-sensory presentations, but screen audio-visual aids to be sure that distractions are kept to a minimum. For example, be sure interesting pictures and or sounds relate directly to the material to be learned.
Many teachers are now using PowerPoint presentations or Astound presentations for their students with great effect.
Provide self-correcting materials for immediate feedback to the ADD ADHD student.
Use computer assisted instruction, both in terms of the student at a computer, and also in terms of presenting information via PowerPoint presentations.
Use cooperative learning activities, particularly those that assign each teen in a group a specific role or piece of information that must be shared with the group.
Pair students to check work.
Provide peer tutoring to help ADD ADHD student's review concepts. Let ADD ADHD students share recently learned concepts with struggling peers. Use peer tutoring whenever possible. Use older students to help your attention deficit students, and perhaps allowing him to tutor a younger student.
The more exciting a subject is to an ADD ADHD students, the better he will perform in your class.
C. Using Worksheets and Giving Tests
"Usability" is the design buzzword for the 21st Century. Just as web designers strive to make web sites fast, easy to navigate, and more user-friendly, teachers should strive to make their worksheets easy to understand, easy to navigate, and user friendly.
Use large type.
Make the important points easy for the student to find.
Keep page format simple.
Include no extraneous pictures or visual destructors that are unrelated to the problems to be solved.
Use buff-colored paper rather than white if the room's lighting creates a glare on white paper.
Write clear, simple directions. Underline key direction words or vocabulary or have the students underline these words as you read directions with them.
Draw borders around parts of the page you want to emphasize.
Giving Tests to ADHD Students
What is the point of giving a student a test? What is a teacher trying to measure? Are we measuring how well a student can take a test? Or are we measuring how well a student has learned and mastered information and/or skills?
Stay focused on the goal!
Frequently give short quizzes and avoid long tests.
ADD and ADHD students are well known for doing poorly on long tests or on timed tests, even when they know the material.
Also provide practice tests.
Provide alternative environments with fewer distractions for test taking if necessary. Students with attention deficit will often perform much better is taking a test in a quiet environment with few distractions.
Using a tape recorder, have the student record test answers and assignments or give the student oral examinations.
Consider modifying the test environment for ADD ADHD students to accurately assess their ability/achievement on subject area and standardized tests. Individual administration in a quiet area with frequent breaks will give a more accurate assessment than group administration.
D. Increasing Your ADHD Students' Performance
One of main characteristics of students with ADD ADHD is the difficulty with sustaining attention on tasks over time. In other words, they get bored very easily, even by you.
Promote time on task, never time off task. Take time to catch the student being on task and working hard. Reward him with a simple smile or pat on the back. If you do this consistently, you will see his attention span, or time on task, increase throughout the school year, making your life easier in the long run.
Your ADD ADHD student will respond better to situations that he finds stimulating and engaging. Varying the instructional medium and pace will help sustain the attention deficit student's interest.
Your ADD ADHD student would probably find lessons that emphasize "hands-on" activities highly engaging.
Keeping the time required for sustained attention to a task balanced with more active learning will improve your attention deficit student's performance. Changes in instructor's voice level and variation in word-pacing will also increase his attention during instruction.
Break long tasks into a series of shorter "sprints."
Ask the attention deficit student how long he thinks it would take to perform a certain task. Let him set his own time and race against the timer.
Stress accuracy instead of quantity of work.Mastery of a subject is really what you want as a teacher anyway.
Computers are great for 1 on 1 work and immediate feedback.
Students using medication to treat attention deficit disorder will have their optimal attention effects for methylphenidate (Ritalin) 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours after medication. Other medications differ, and it is best to check with the physician about the time of maximum medication effects. If possible, it is best to schedule the most attention-demanding tasks for the ADD ADHD student during this medication window.
Combine your verbal directions along with illustrations or demonstrations of what you want your students to do. The more ways you use to describe what you want your ADD ADHD students to do, the greater likelihood that they will actually do it.
Your attention deficit student will be more successful when given directions one step at a time. When a series of instructions are given, retention beyond the first direction is difficult. Minor adjustments on the part of the teacher in giving directions will help the ADD or ADHD student a great deal.
Proximity is an issue when giving directions. The nearer you are to the ADD ADHD student, the greater the chance that he will be listening closely.
Few ADD or ADHD kids are naturally well organized. Most are space-cadets.
Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADD or ADHD, are often well known for taking two hours to do a twenty minute assignment, and then forgetting to turn it in the next day (Hint: it really IS in their backpack). Please take the extra six seconds required to make sure that you ADD ADHD students have actually turned in their work.
Write schedule and timelines on the board each day.
Provide due dates for assignments each day.
Divide longer assignments into smaller sections and provide due dates or times for the completion of each section.
Your ADD ADHD students will function better when able to anticipate times requiring increased concentration. A visual representation of the day's schedule will provide another opportunity to internalize classroom routine.
Interact with your ADD ADHD student's parents as much as possible to keep them informed as to assignments.
B. Presenting Your Lesson to ADHD Students
Provide an outline with the key concepts or vocabulary prior to lesson presentation. The students can follow along and see the main concepts and terms as you present the lesson.
ADHD teens are easily bored, even by you. Try to increase the pace of lesson presentation. Resist the temptation to get sidetracked.
Get excited about your lesson! And communicate your excitement to your students!
Include a variety of learning activities during each lesson. Use multi-sensory presentations, but screen audio-visual aids to be sure that distractions are kept to a minimum. For example, be sure interesting pictures and or sounds relate directly to the material to be learned.
Many teachers are now using PowerPoint presentations or Astound presentations for their students with great effect.
Provide self-correcting materials for immediate feedback to the ADD ADHD student.
Use computer assisted instruction, both in terms of the student at a computer, and also in terms of presenting information via PowerPoint presentations.
Use cooperative learning activities, particularly those that assign each teen in a group a specific role or piece of information that must be shared with the group.
Pair students to check work.
Provide peer tutoring to help ADD ADHD student's review concepts. Let ADD ADHD students share recently learned concepts with struggling peers. Use peer tutoring whenever possible. Use older students to help your attention deficit students, and perhaps allowing him to tutor a younger student.
The more exciting a subject is to an ADD ADHD students, the better he will perform in your class.
C. Using Worksheets and Giving Tests
"Usability" is the design buzzword for the 21st Century. Just as web designers strive to make web sites fast, easy to navigate, and more user-friendly, teachers should strive to make their worksheets easy to understand, easy to navigate, and user friendly.
Use large type.
Make the important points easy for the student to find.
Keep page format simple.
Include no extraneous pictures or visual destructors that are unrelated to the problems to be solved.
Use buff-colored paper rather than white if the room's lighting creates a glare on white paper.
Write clear, simple directions. Underline key direction words or vocabulary or have the students underline these words as you read directions with them.
Draw borders around parts of the page you want to emphasize.
Giving Tests to ADHD Students
What is the point of giving a student a test? What is a teacher trying to measure? Are we measuring how well a student can take a test? Or are we measuring how well a student has learned and mastered information and/or skills?
Stay focused on the goal!
Frequently give short quizzes and avoid long tests.
ADD and ADHD students are well known for doing poorly on long tests or on timed tests, even when they know the material.
Also provide practice tests.
Provide alternative environments with fewer distractions for test taking if necessary. Students with attention deficit will often perform much better is taking a test in a quiet environment with few distractions.
Using a tape recorder, have the student record test answers and assignments or give the student oral examinations.
Consider modifying the test environment for ADD ADHD students to accurately assess their ability/achievement on subject area and standardized tests. Individual administration in a quiet area with frequent breaks will give a more accurate assessment than group administration.
D. Increasing Your ADHD Students' Performance
One of main characteristics of students with ADD ADHD is the difficulty with sustaining attention on tasks over time. In other words, they get bored very easily, even by you.
Promote time on task, never time off task. Take time to catch the student being on task and working hard. Reward him with a simple smile or pat on the back. If you do this consistently, you will see his attention span, or time on task, increase throughout the school year, making your life easier in the long run.
Your ADD ADHD student will respond better to situations that he finds stimulating and engaging. Varying the instructional medium and pace will help sustain the attention deficit student's interest.
Your ADD ADHD student would probably find lessons that emphasize "hands-on" activities highly engaging.
Keeping the time required for sustained attention to a task balanced with more active learning will improve your attention deficit student's performance. Changes in instructor's voice level and variation in word-pacing will also increase his attention during instruction.
Break long tasks into a series of shorter "sprints."
Ask the attention deficit student how long he thinks it would take to perform a certain task. Let him set his own time and race against the timer.
Stress accuracy instead of quantity of work.Mastery of a subject is really what you want as a teacher anyway.
Computers are great for 1 on 1 work and immediate feedback.
Students using medication to treat attention deficit disorder will have their optimal attention effects for methylphenidate (Ritalin) 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours after medication. Other medications differ, and it is best to check with the physician about the time of maximum medication effects. If possible, it is best to schedule the most attention-demanding tasks for the ADD ADHD student during this medication window.
Combine your verbal directions along with illustrations or demonstrations of what you want your students to do. The more ways you use to describe what you want your ADD ADHD students to do, the greater likelihood that they will actually do it.
Your attention deficit student will be more successful when given directions one step at a time. When a series of instructions are given, retention beyond the first direction is difficult. Minor adjustments on the part of the teacher in giving directions will help the ADD or ADHD student a great deal.
Proximity is an issue when giving directions. The nearer you are to the ADD ADHD student, the greater the chance that he will be listening closely.
d, these are some ideas for the teachers to use to help with the ADDers, not all are going to apply in your case but there are some that can be added into the 504 or IEP. I have put those in bold.
