Teachers with adhd

I'm a Teacher With ADHD and Here's How I Make It Work

Topic: Life Outside School

You have to embrace your strengths.

It’s August. The month where I spend hours with my laptop open, staring at blank walls wondering, “What am I going to put here? When am I going to have time to lesson plan? When’s lunch?” Prepping my classroom always proves to be a lengthy and quite stressful process. I’ll start on one thing and then get distracted by another, and before I know it, I’m back to square one.

Teachers, doctors and my rather rude next-door neighbor have all claimed I have a bad case of adult ADHD. As for childhood me, let’s just say I had ADHDD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder double.

Upon hearing my initial diagnosis, my mother knelt down, held me still and said, “Michael, we are not going to give you medicine for this, you’re going to have to learn to manage yourself. ” Today, as a teacher, I am still managing and some days battling my adult ADHD. Here are the seven ways I’ve learned to deal with ADD/ADHD as a teacher. If you’ve dealt with any of these feelings, then I hope they can help you too.

1. Embrace who you are.

For many years, I refused to say the letters. I refused to identify as one of those people who dealt with that condition.

When I became a teacher, I learned that I no longer needed to hide. I could say the words and identify with a part of myself. I embraced my ADHD and everything that comes with it. So in my classroom I tell funny stories that are loosely related to content sometimes. I show funny videos at random times during the class period just because they are funny. I fidget freely and sometimes have even been known to run around my classroom when I hear an exceptional answer from a student. The funny thing is, these things are most of my students’ favorite thing about me as a teacher.

2. Take time to fidget.

I know we are all sick of fidget spinners and cubes, but for me the concept has been vital. Children with ADHD have trouble sitting still, focusing and often touching or grabbing everything in sight, and the same can be true for adults As a high school debate student, I learned to flip my pen (a trick all my students try and fail to replicate), as a way to fidget while listening to formal arguments. Now as a teacher with ADHD, I flip my pen all day long to help me focus on the tasks in front of me.

3. Don’t overwork yourself.

I recall a time when I had to send an important email to another member of our faculty while my students worked on a group project in class. “Mr. Yates, the bell is ringing…Mr. Yates…Snap out of it man!” a student had to yell to get my attention. “Sorry guys, go fast to your next class!” I said looking up and standing from my laptop. I didn’t even hear him talking to me.

One of the most interesting things about ADHD for me has been my ability to hyper focus on tasks. When that happens, I devote so much energy to the task that I often don’t hear what is going on around me and certainly do not look at the clock. This often causes me to overwork myself. When you must devote your total focus and attention to a task, be sure you can pull yourself back and take a break.

4. Try to time everything.

Have you ever been in the middle of a super cool lesson activity only to let it run long because you were so busy talking with one group, guiding another and reveling at what a great activity this is while simultaneously thinking about ways to improve it for next class period and even next year only to have the bell ring before you have completed your lesson? Happens to me all the time! So, I time every activity and every bit of direct instruction to keep me on task and on time!

5. Wander when necessary.

While I love my classroom, I often have to get out of there! My coworkers find me just walking the halls during in-service preparation days, my off periods, in the middle of class sometimes…ok I’m joking about that one!

I have need a change of scenery in my school day. When I have an off period I will walk to the gym, the front office, go watch another teacher’s classroom, go outside or anything that’s not in my classroom. I’ve actually benefited in several ways for this. Fresh air and change of view is great. But one day, as I am doing my typical hall wandering, I happened to have my planner as I walked into a friends classroom while her students were working in stations. A few minutes after I walked in, our Principal comes in to do an evaluation of that teacher. She sat next to me and said, “You are doing, on your own, what we are trying to get everyone to do. Thanks for supporting your fellow teachers.” Wander the halls guys! It pays off!

6. Don’t let your students take you too far off task.

Even though all students are angels who love to learn all the time, they do have the occasional day in which they do not want to learn. Sometimes students try to get teachers off task on purpose! I know I couldn’t believe it either but it’s true!

Early in my teaching career this was done quite easily in my class. If my students talked about basketball we would launch into a five to ten-minute discussion or debate about Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or how bad the Knicks are. I lost so much instructional time but actually built really solid relationships with my students. I decided that I wanted my classroom to be a place where this type of random relationship building is okay but students still learn a lot. So I figured out ways to incorporate various points of interest for short bursts of time in the middle of lessons.

7. Cope and medicate in ways that work for you.

Living as an adult with ADHD can be equally as challenging as your childhood days. We all have our own ways to cope and if that means medication for you, do not be ashamed. At the end of the day, the most important role of a teacher is to educate and push students in ways that leads to a changed world. Whether you medicate, meditate, or use exercise, only you know what works best for you.

Can You Be a Teacher If You Have ADHD?

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through any links that you click. This post may also contain sponsored links.

Can you be a teacher if you have ADHD? You better believe it, but there are some caveats.

Adulting With ADHD Staff

A teaching job can be exciting, fun, stressful, and challenging – all at the same time. But when you have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), things get amplified – particularly the stress and the challenge of the job. You do not just have to keep a tab on your students in the class, but you must also deal with issues that fall outside the scope of teaching.

So, can you be a teacher if you have ADHD? Yes, you can be a teacher if you have ADHD. However, you need a strong support system, both inside of school and out. You also need to ensure you’re properly managing your ADHD properly by following your doctor’s treatment recommendations.

Assuming you already know what ADHD is, continue reading to learn more about how the condition plays out in the classroom and outside of it, as well as the things you can do to manage its symptoms.

How Does ADHD Affect Your Role as a Teacher?

People diagnosed with ADHD tend to have trouble being attentive, managing impulsive behaviors, or can be overly active. These symptoms continue and could cause difficulties at home or in the workplace, especially one as chaotic as a school.

As a teacher with ADHD, you can easily get bored. For instance, you would readily deviate from the prescribed lesson and make excuses to shift to things or topics that you find more interesting. Spontaneously or randomly whipping up a classroom activity is quite a possibility, for instance.

Other things you might find challenging include:

Finishing paperwork
Prioritizing tasks or ascertaining which ones to finish first
Sitting still during meetings

Your struggle to stay focused is not limited to school or the classroom. Even when watching a movie with the class, staying still all the way through may be a difficult prospect.

Fortunately, all of these hard-to-do tasks can be made much more manageable with proper treatment. We’ll talk about a few coping mechanisms later in the article, but make sure you talk to your doctor about managing your ADHD so that its effects on your work as a teacher are lessened as much as possible.

Can You Get Away Without Opening Up About Your ADHD?

Generally, you will not come across many teachers with ADHD – also, there are many who stay undiagnosed for long. People usually do not talk about their ADHD since it could feel quite exposing, and also one might even feel vulnerable doing so.

However, whether you talk about it or not, people will eventually come to know about your condition – your actions would give it away. Your efforts to put on that somber face and use deliberate, cautious movements won’t help much. In fact, your ADHD may become apparent during your job interview, particularly if the interview process has a written test.

Another reason you should not hesitate to speak up about your condition is to avoid being labeled as irresponsible or lazy. When your school management and other teaching staff know you have ADHD, they are more likely to accept your shortcomings and offer you increased leeway as a result.

In fact, many teachers with ADHD often end up getting treated better once they reveal their condition to their friends and colleagues. Also, by filling in your principal about your disability, you make an ally that helps you set up your optimal classroom/work environment.

Another reason you should come out in the open about your ADHD is to protect yourself legally. Believe it or not, you are eligible for accommodation if you’re an American who suffers from ADHD, as it’s considered a recognized disability as per the law.

However, to seek accommodation, you’ll need to be able to delineate how and in what capacity ADHD impairs activities in your routine life. The law has been drafted this way because ADHD and similar disabilities manifest differently in different individuals, based on brain function, age, and other factors.

To clearly demonstrate how ADHD spells havoc in your everyday life, you should know more than a thing or two about your condition. Educating yourself about ADHD would help you request a specific accommodation type that would address your constraints at school.

One more thing: in an insightful WebMD article entitled “Should You Tell Your Boss You Have ADHD?”, certified ADHD coach Dave Denison says that you should consider whether you can get your needs met without telling your boss you have ADHD. If your boss isn’t a supportive person, you might find that revealing your condition only makes things worse.

How to Cope With ADHD as a Teacher

ADHD is lifelong; you cannot cure it. And if you’re predisposed to the condition, you cannot prevent it from happening too. It’s something you will have as a kid and continue to have into your adulthood. However, if you understand your condition and responsibilities in life, there are ways to get around the problem or make it have a minimal impact on your life.

First, talk to your doctor and confirm your diagnosis. If you want your school’s administration to take your request for accommodation seriously, you’ll need to have medical proof of your condition.

It’s also important that you’re doing everything you can to manage your condition. As every person is unique, you should talk to your doctor to figure out the best treatment plan for your situation. Trying to manage ADHD without the guidance of a doctor is like trying to drive a car without taking a driving test; sure, you might be able to do it, but it isn’t worth the risk.

Although every situation is different, there are still certain things that all ADHD sufferers can do on the daily to deal with their condition better. Here are a few:

Embrace Your Condition

Accept the fact that you have no reason to hide the condition from anybody. Though people would eventually detect it, it’s important you let them know before they let you know they know. ADHD is a part of who you are, and you must treat it like so.

Keep Yourself Busy

Like kids, adults with ADHD also have trouble remaining still and focused. Depending on the type of ADHD you’ve been diagnosed with, you may feel the urge to touch or grab anything in your sight.

If you do feel the need to fidget, do it in a way that doesn’t make you look restless or rattled. For instance, you can flip a pen while focusing on things in front of you. The fidgeting would also help when you have to sit still and listen to other people talk, such as during a meeting.

Don’t Work Too Hard

As someone with ADHD, you may have the tendency to over-focus on specific tasks. When that happens, you end up devoting insane levels of energy to the job in hand, up to a point where you become oblivious of the other things happening around you.

This often leads to overworking yourself, which is a one-way path toward burnout.

There are a few ways to avoid this.

One way to get around the overworking issue is by taking breaks when possible. However, break opportunities can be rare in a busy classroom, which means you’ll need an “in the moment” way to break out of over-focusing.

A solid option is grounding yourself. There are a variety of ways to facilitate grounding, but the options most appropriate for the classroom are picking up and touching nearby objects, breathing deeply, and walking around the classroom.

Time Things Out

Your ADHD could cause you to get completely immersed in a particular activity, making you forget you have other things on your plate too.

This could happen more often than you realize. It is, therefore, important to time your activities so that you stay on track. You can use a phone alarm, Post-it notes, or anything that could possibly make you more aware of time.

Wander When You Must

If you feel the need to take a break and walk out of your class while the class is in progress, do not hesitate to take that brief hike. But make sure you don’t do that randomly or while actively interacting with your students.

Take the mini-break when your class is busy working on something. Or assign activities to your kids and then take a stroll. Such breaks will help you catch some fresh air and also offer you a brief change of perspective.

Note: You should only do this if your class is older or if you have an aide who can watch the classroom while you’re out. Don’t leave younger children without supervision.

Do Not Get Deviated by Others Too Easily

Students understandably like to ask teachers questions during class. Oftentimes, it’s to clarify something about the current lesson that they’re unsure about.

However, there are also instances when students raise queries just to change the session’s course or distract the teacher. When this happens, it’s easy to deviate from the main lesson and dive into a tangent that, while interesting, may not necessarily fulfill your curriculum requirements.

It’s important to realize that there is nothing wrong with going off on these seemingly random tangents. In fact, they help you build new relationships and strengthen existing ones with your students. And your pupils will certainly learn a thing or two in the process too. However, you have to be careful not to let this become habitual so that you don’t lose invaluable teaching minutes.

Embrace Coping Methods That Work

Different people cope differently with ADHD.

Some people need to be on medication, while others can operate without medicines. If you need to administer medication, do so. Meditation alone may work for some. It may not work for you, and you need to realize and acknowledge that.

At the end of the day, your students and colleagues will not know how you manage your condition behind the scenes. Therefore, you should embrace coping techniques that work for you. If you’re in need of some additional tips, this article from Psych Central on the 12 Best Tips for Coping with ADHD should help.

Organize Things After School

If time management and staying focused are your major roadblocks, spend some time after school simply cleaning off your desk and sorting all your stuff. You will invariably have paper piles on your desk to attend to. Through proper organization, you can make sure you do not work on anything random you see on the table, only skipping to the ones that need your immediate attention.

You can also put your files and various documents in folders with multiple dividers. Make sure you label those compartments so that you know which one is holding what.

If you have trouble reminding yourself about what you should be doing, you can use a to-do list app on your computer or phone to remind yourself to email a parent, give handouts to students, attend a meeting, or do anything else you might need to handle.

The Bright Side of Things

Though ADHD renders teaching a true challenge, the condition can also help you stand out in positive ways or make you excel at your job in ways non-ADHD teachers may not be able to.

You can be a lot more creative within the classroom. According to Scientific American, people with ADHD have increased creativity, especially when it comes to finding innovative solutions to problems. This can allow you to create interesting and engaging ways to teach subjects that students might typically find difficult or boring.
You’ll have more energy than the average teacher. According to Healthline, some people with ADHD have incredibly high energy levels, which might make it easier for you to inject excitement and enthusiasm into the classroom.
You can accomplish certain tasks very quickly. According to Pepperdine University, people with ADHD can “hyperfocus” on some tasks and complete them extremely quickly. This trait can be useful when grading papers or coming up with lesson plans.

As you can see, it’s not all bad; having ADHD can give you an advantage in quite a few ways. And it’s important to have a positive attitude and focus on the benefits this condition can bring, as that will make it much easier to cope with in the often chaotic classroom setting.

Can You Succeed as a Teacher with ADHD?

ADHD conjures up the notion that you would not be able to stick with your job for long. And during the period you are employed, you might think missing work every now and again, having troubled relationships with students and other teachers, etc. would become part of the norm.

It need not be that way, however. There are many professionals with ADHD who have excelled in the workplace, after having adapted to their condition and developed coping skills.

Having ADHD is not necessarily a negative thing – particularly if you appreciate it for its benefits. Many entrepreneurs, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, etc. have ADHD. This includes David Neeleman, JetBlue’s CEO. To overcome your disability, you should not just stop with embracing it but must also put your creative hat on.

David Neeleman, for instance, came up with the concept of e-tickets because he frequently misplaced his airplane tickets each time he flew. By creating a system that didn’t involve paper tickets, he overcame his personal inability. In the process, he also helped people who may have had the same issue.

It’s important to play to your strengths. As we mentioned before, ADHD boosts your people skills and creativity. If you put that to good use within a classroom, you’ll find that a long and successful teaching career comes quite naturally.

Should You Let Your Students Know About Your ADHD?

Telling your students about your ADHD is a personal decision. While it might open the door to an excellent conversation on mental health, you might also invite the scorn of critical students (or their parents).

Your classroom is a space that consists of individuals. Although small (if you teach primary school kids), your students have minds and musings of their own. When you take the time and put in the effort to explain to the kids about your condition, they see where you’re coming from and all the struggles you put up with on a daily basis.

Make sure you don’t make it a sob story and also do not expect anything in return. You can express what you go through one-to-one or address the entire class at once. But do not enter the conversation hoping that your otherwise rambunctious students will turn disciplined and obedient all of a sudden after your admission.

The goal should be to educate and enlighten your pupils. Your open admission may, in fact, prompt students who have ADHD of their own to become more vocal. And there’s a good chance that your classroom might have a few students with ADHD.

When these kids with ADHD hear your story, they may come to see you as an inspiration and role model. Over time, they are less likely to use ADHD as an excuse for not doing things they can do. Also, you could help students with ADHD learn and inculcate certain coping mechanisms that have helped you in your journey.

Probably, the biggest takeaway of it all will be ADHD would no longer seem like a “disease” or an impediment to anything to the little ones with the condition.

Are There Drawbacks to Letting Students Know You Have ADHD?

There certainly are positives attached to letting your students in on your ADHD. However, there are some drawbacks to the exercise as well, which may make you think twice before going public.

First, the kids probably wouldn’t have noticed your ADHD before you admitted to having the problem. This is especially true if your medications or other coping techniques were doing a good job of mitigating your symptoms. Once you admit it, however, some students may no longer be able to unsee it. Your inability to remain still or talk at a slow rate of speed would now garner more attention than before.

Regardless of whether you make the disclosure or not, your initial few years as a teacher with ADHD will likely be quite tough. You must be prepared for that, and your goal should be to stick through it until the job becomes natural.

Conclusion

ADHD is not a life-breaking condition – not even close. As with many other health conditions, you can lead a happy life in and outside your school when you learn more about ADHD and how to manage it. Getting proper diagnosis and medications, if needed, are a must. As mentioned before, the support you get from your school has a major say in whether you succeed in your teaching career or not.

If the course is heavily scripted or rigid, and you cannot afford to deviate from the curriculum, teaching can become quite painful. But if your school management understands you need those occasional deviations to reboot, then things become much easier.

Here’s the takeaway: you can absolutely become a teacher if you have ADHD. Many people have done it and continue to do it successfully. If you’re willing to embrace your limitations and work to mitigate their effects on the classroom setting, becoming a teacher is absolutely possible.

Sources

Society for Education & Training: How I Manage My ADHD As A Teacher
We Are Teachers: I’m a Teacher With ADHD and Here’s How I Make It Work
Nancy Carroll: A Teacher With ADHD?
Additude: ADHD at Work: Time Wasters and Productivity Killers
Scientific American: Are People with ADHD More Creative?
CHADD: Asking for Workplace Accommodations
Reddit: Teachers with ADHD?
WebMD: Things People With ADHD Wish You Knew
Psychology Today: ADHD Adults: “What It Feels Like to Have ADHD”

How a teacher can work with students with learning difficulties

Photo depositphotos

A teacher in his practice often meets with children who for some reason find it difficult to learn. For example, a child may have dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a complete lack of motivation to learn. What should a teacher do if there are students with learning difficulties in his class, at the round table “Interaction with difficult children in the classroom”, organized by Yandex.Uchebnik and the Shalash Charitable Foundation, Ksenia Votyakova, a neuropsychologist at Yandex.Textbook, told.

How to understand that a child is having a hard time learning

You can notice learning difficulties in a student not only by bad grades. Sometimes it happens that learning for a child is such a maladaptive practice that he is in functional, physiological and mental stress. This can be expressed not only in poor academic performance, but also in the fact that he is very tired, he has a negative emotional trace from studying, or, for example, he starts to get sick a lot.

Therefore, you need to pay attention not only to academic performance, but also to the general emotional background, changes in behavior, interest, indicators of motivation.

There are several main manifestations of learning difficulties: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), reading disorder and poor academic performance. Whatever options for learning difficulties the teacher encounters, the algorithm for working with them consists of three main steps.

General algorithm for dealing with learning difficulties

The first step is to stop blaming and criticizing the child, not trying to shift responsibility onto his family, parents. According to the idea of humanistic psychology, every child wants to be good, but he cannot change on his own. The participation of an interested adult - a teacher or a parent - is necessary.

The second step is to figure out the causes of learning difficulties on your own, with the help of specialists or the student's parents, or at least formulate possible hypotheses about them. This may be the relative lack of formation of certain higher mental functions that underlie reading disorders, attention deficit.

The third step is to apply specific techniques that follow from causes. In this area, you need to experiment, sometimes go through trial and error and look for what works.

Learn the profession of a speech therapist from scratch and start practicing right in the learning process!

What will happen?
The basics of corrective work with adults and children, many practical tasks and feedback from experts.

And what is the result?
Demanded specialty and diploma of the established sample.

Installment available.

Learn more

Let's look at three main types of learning difficulties.

1. Dyslexia and dysgraphia

According to various Russian studies, reading disorders occur in 5-20 percent of school-age children, on average, in 10-15 percent. According to the International Dyslexia Association, 80 percent of learning difficulties are caused by dyslexia and dysgraphia, because modern learning does not yet consist heavily of video and audio content, it is mainly reading.

Dyslexia - the ability to acquire only partial reading skills, in which the person nevertheless retains a general ability to learn. Dysgraphia - partial violation of the writing process, a person has repeated mistakes in writing. Dyslexia and dysgraphia do not always go together, but in many cases they accompany each other.

Dyslexia and dysgraphia are associated with the peculiarities of the work of certain areas of the brain. When working with learning difficulties, neuropsychologists seek to find out what exactly could be the cause, what parts of the brain are associated with the disorder, in order to develop a corrective program. Teachers may not know the intricacies of how the brain works, but understand that if a student has a serious reading disorder, then specialist help is needed. 9

with motivation. In secondary school, restoring the student's belief that learning can be interesting is much more difficult than overcoming reading difficulties. Therefore, you need to start working with dyslexia and dysgraphia as early as possible.

The work of a student with writing disabilities

We can notice that the child has dyslexia, already in the second half of the first grade after the end of the letter period. The child reads slowly, makes a large number of mistakes when reading, spells, he has a mirror spelling of letters or a mirror pronunciation of syllables. He does not proceed to reading in whole words and whole groups of words, there are violations of the semantic aspect of speech.

Because if I read slowly, it's hard for me - it eats up a very large resource, I can't always fully understand the meaning. We can fix this in two ways - a decrease in reading speed and the fact that the child incorrectly answers questions on the text or does not answer at all.

What to do if your child has dyslexia or dysgraphia

✅ To begin with, admit that he has this problem, stop blaming and reduce the requirements for him.

Notify parents and work with them to try to find a specialist and conduct a diagnosis.
✅ Change the form of submission of material. Texts should be short and interesting, written in large sans-serif font with illustrations that reveal the meaning or complement the text. There is a lot of good audio and video content available now to complement your text work.
✅ Check if everything is in order with the child with the technical side of reading - the perception of sounds, syllables by ear, and work out tasks that, through improving visual perception, auditory analysis, attention, help develop the technical side of speech.
✅ If everything is fine with the technical side, you need to work on the semantic side of speech. It is important to develop oral coherent speech - ask the child to retell, make up stories from a series of pictures, talk about their interests. Active work on coherent speech has a powerful developmental potential and draws written speech after it.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

In practice, ADHD looks like this: the child is constantly distracted, does not listen, gives impulsive answers, moves excessively and gets tired by the middle of the lesson. Most likely, these difficulties can be associated with weakness of regulatory functions , which are responsible for the prefrontal sections of the frontal lobes of the brain. The brain continues to actively form in elementary school. Therefore, if in grades 3-4 the dynamics of the child's behavior is only negative, the teacher can use his teaching tactics to work with him, but it is imperative to recommend that parents contact specialists - psychologists, speech pathologists, psychoneurologists, neuropsychologists, speech therapists.

Children with ADHD get tired easily. Against the background of fatigue, they begin to behave even more actively. Adults mistake this external burst of energy for readiness to work productively. Such children often have difficulties in relations with their peers: they do not always adequately assess the situation, they can react impulsively, which leads to conflicts.

What to do if your child has ADHD

✅ The main goal of correction by the teacher is to help the child organize his attention and activities. Since such a child “gets involved” in the task longer than peers and cannot quickly concentrate, attract his attention at the beginning of work - you can call him by name and specifically formulate what he needs to do.
✅ Ask the child to remove everything superfluous from the desk, because objects that are not related to the lesson will only distract him.
✅ Such children cannot work for a long time - they need a dosed load and frequent breaks. For example, in elementary school, their performance is high for 15-20 minutes, after which they need to change activities or move around. Since they enter the task for a long time and get tired quickly, the most difficult and long tasks in the test papers should be placed in the middle.
✅ Give such children detailed feedback. The continuous stream of thoughts in their head needs to be structured somehow. By giving feedback, you can point out to the child his successes and mistakes so that he notices and realizes them.
✅ Break the task into parts, give instructions or an algorithm for completing a particular task in stages - in the form of schemes, action plans, schedules, checklists. It is important that the rules for organizing actions are not only at school, but also at home. For example, a checklist on how to pack a backpack for school, how to solve a text problem or learn a poem.

3. Failure and lack of desire to learn

Usually, children who do not show much success in school, fall behind the program and lose interest in learning, may not form certain higher mental functions: attention, speech, perception, memory, spatial representations, serial organization of movements, thinking. In the case of such a violation, it is also important to understand its causes - to consult with a specialist in order to understand. how to help a student. If a specialist works with such children in an elementary school, these violations are usually compensated for by the 5th grade.

A common problem might be slowness . This is a constitutional innate feature associated with the work of the brain, which rarely changes over time. For such children, time limits are stressful, so they should not be rushed, they should be given the opportunity to work at their own pace and complete assignments, give less homework. If such children lose their motivation to study even in elementary school, then in the middle school it will be difficult to restore it.

What should a teacher do with children who do not want to learn?

Intrinsic motivation is based on three basic needs: autonomy and goal setting, when the student himself decides what and how to do; the need for a sense of competence, success, and the need for relationships with other people.

The main idea that the teacher needs to keep in mind is that if he is dealing with a student who does not want to learn, you need to create success situations for him: give tasks that he can do - easier, shorter, and give more time to solve them .

In addition, the teacher can give the student the opportunity to independently set learning goals , as far as possible, and choose ways to achieve them. For example, you can offer to complete the task in a different form at the request of the child. In this case, the need for autonomy and goal setting is realized, and the child's internal motivation is restored.

You can read more about what other speakers said at the round table "Interaction with difficult children in the classroom" in our abstract.

To help teachers find the key to interacting with children with difficult behavior, I am a Teacher of the Yandex.Textbook service, together with the Shalash Charitable Foundation, launched the course Dealing with Difficult Behavior: Principles and Tools. This is a free online course, designed for 16 hours, which can be taken in the recording at any convenient time, and as a result, receive a certificate of professional development. You can register for it using the link.

Advice for teachers on working with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Back to the magazine

Tips for teachers on working with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Read in source

Who, if not a teacher, understands that it is very difficult to work with children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Free sessions with a speech therapist

Free ICT course for children

Who better than a teacher understands that working with children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is very difficult, because they are constantly distracted, unable to sit still and can be quite stubborn and aggressive. There are recommendations for the teacher when working with a child with ADHD, which will help make it easier to find those threads with which you can influence the student.

What you need to know about ADHD

First, you need to understand the nature of the disease. The disorder is not the result of bad upbringing, bad character, etc., but has a biological basis, which is aggravated by social factors. The baby could have suffered a brain injury in the womb or be a victim of the influence of alcohol or drugs during the mother's pregnancy.

Don't take children's bad behavior as their own fault. However, it is necessary to be able to control and direct such students in the right direction, because they can:

take time from the whole class during the lesson;
do not remember the condition of the problem, do not have time to write down the equation for a long time;
shout out, talk to the teacher;
have difficulty reading, especially if you have to follow the text while others are answering;
do not solve problems, do not write essays, etc.

Be more patient and attentive to children with ADHD. Also talk to the school psychologist, who can provide more guidance on how to deal with a child with ADHD.

How to deal with students with the syndrome: general recommendations

To make working with a child with ADHD easier at school, there are tips for teachers such as:

try not to demand too much from your child during complex tasks. If he is focused on the exercise, do not pay attention to the fact that he fidgets in place, etc., because with your remark you can simply switch his attention;
break large tasks into subtasks, supplement them with graphs or tables for better understanding. It should give the impression that the activity changes at least a little;
Always keep a hyperactive child in your line of sight. Better to put him on one of the first desks;
build work with such children individually, as they need to arrange more moments of rest;
play at high student activity and add competition elements to the lessons. So you can create additional motivation;
focus on achievements, not failures;
don't shout. This can only provoke an even stronger emotional reaction in response;
make your lesson schedules regular. This is necessary because the child must learn to adhere to the framework and at the same time not get lost in the daily routine, which is already difficult for him.

And, of course, given how vulnerable and emotional hyperactive children are, you need to build all classes on positive emotions.

It is your confidence, calmness and clear presentation of the material that will help to achieve a more stable emotional state of children in the classroom.

How to deal with disobedience and inattention

The following tips for teachers working with children with ADHD can help to gradually eliminate negative behaviors and cope with extreme mood swings:

Always remain calm. This advice is especially relevant when the child is crying, nervous due to failure, hysterical. One has only to shout at him, and the child will cry even harder. The same applies to situations where children are distracted in the classroom.
Tactile contact works well. If the child has turned away, is distracted, or simply has become "soaring in the clouds", instead of verbal abuse, touch his shoulder. This will attract attention and will not cause resentment or fear.
Teachers with ADHD in a student should remember about physical education. Do them every 20 minutes.
Teach your child to be responsible. For example, if he does not have time to wipe the dust in the classroom during the shift, then appoint him on duty the next day.

Feedback from teachers teaching children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

How are lessons with children with a disorder going

Why you shouldn't be afraid

What can be difficult

Guest

I teach third graders. There is an Attention Deficit Non-Hyperactivity Disorder student in the class. Great boy, very smart. But it needs to be led all the time, directed. Otherwise it will crash. And so, the material assimilates normally.

Irina

It is very difficult to control such a child during classes. He doesn’t do anything himself, he also distracts others.

Guest

I work with a baby along with a psychologist. I have been teaching with her since first grade. Now she is in the fourth. I know that parents invest a lot in it, and it shows. Now the girl's behavior is much better.

Guest

Such children get tired of doing tasks very quickly. They have to repeat the conditions of the tasks all the time, pull them up and force them to do at least something.

Guest

If you become a friend and mentor for a student, then there will be no problems. Do not create problems for yourself, just give them warmth and care. Children feel it. Otherwise, nothing will work.

Conclusion

Working with children who have a disorder is a difficult task and requires special skills. But, if you follow the recommendations and take a reasonable approach to the learning process, you will notice how in a year the student will become more obedient, understanding.

Published: 03/14/2021

0003

Quick registration

Forgot your password?

All information is taken from open sources.
If you believe your copyright has been infringed, please contact write in the chat on this site, attaching a scan of a document confirming your right.
We will verify this and immediately remove the publication.

Want to do more than just read? Take an unlimited card!

Paid access

Valid for 365 days from the date of activation of the card

Video practice

View the history of activities with children in videos

Visual work of a specialist - Yes

The dynamics of the results of classes - Yes

Available at any time - - Yes

Certification

Meet the professional standard "Educator-practitioner"

Certificate of Conformity PrSt. - Yes

Entry in the certification register - Yes

International Level - Yes

Certificate

Improve your skills (any course, except copyright)

Courses for 36, 72, 108, 144 and 180 hours - Yes

Issuance of state approval sample - yes

Delivery - yes

Video archive

Study at profile and related lectures

Profile video lectures - 1039

The entire video archive -

Manuals for all lectures - Yes

Certificates for all lectures - Yes

Selections

Watch collections of lectures on general topics

Collections of future lectures - Yes

Video Compilations - Yes

Final certificate for 36 hours

Approval

Everything you need for a successful certification

Documents for certification Yes

Knowledge for certification - Yes

Document Compliance Check - Yes

Practice

Connect and watch online classes and videos

Attendance at online classes - Yes

View video recordings of classes - Yes

Certificate of Professional Practice for 256 hours.

Supervision

Understanding classes with our students in practice

Analysis of the video of our classes - Yes

Seeing Consulting - Yes

Schedule - 20 times / month. 60 min.

Mentor

The tutor analyzes your classes for your students

Analysis of the video of your classes - Yes

Consultations on your studies - Yes

Schedule - 16 times / month. 60 min.

Work

Earn on classes in the institute's web platform

Training to work remotely - Yes

Web platform connection - Yes

Accompanied by a mentor - always

In partnership with the Moscow State Pedagogical University

Mass media registration certificate El No.

Learn more