Statistics show that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) impacts about two students in every classroom, in every school, across America. Teachers need to be aware of and sensitive to these childrens’ needs. The Attention Deficit Newsletter states that individuals with ADD ADHD tend to have slower brainwave activity in the front regions of the brain, which is the part of the brain that helps us to decide what to pay attention to in the world around us. Writers of the newsletter go on to say that teachers need to remember that a child who truly has Attention Deficit Disorder was born with the problem. It is not just a matter of the child being lazy, bored, or lacking self-control on purpose.
If you know that you are going to have a child in your class this upcoming September that has ADHD or ADD, you may want to start thinking about how you are going to set up your classroom. The website article gives helpful hints for setting up the classroom and where to sit a child with ADD.
Attention Deficit students do things without thinking about the consequences of their actions. The impulsive behavior of an ADD student may end up causing many interruptions throughout the school day. A teacher needs to have techniques and procedures to use with his or her class that may have an ADD student. The site Dealing with Impulsive Behaviors provides several techniques to use with your ADD students. It suggests to conduct role-playing activities so the ADD student can see possible solutions to problems and practice them during the day. Furthermore, implement a classroom behavior management system. Actively reward the behaviors that you want the students to do. Focus on the positive. Set hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly goals depending on the reinforcement needs of the ADD ADHD student. Go to this website to find more procedures to use with your ADD student so he or she can have a successful school year.
Also worth taking a look at is the site titled Presenting Your Lessons. Remember that people with Attention Deficit Disorder are typically easily bored. This site offers various ways for you to present your lessons to an ADD student so you will not lose the student during the lesson. For example, allow your students to make frequent responses throughout the lesson by using choral responding, frequently calling on many individuals, or by having the class respond with hand signals. Prepare hands-on activities to help your students stay actively engaged. Use cooperative learning activities where each child in the group is responsible for a role. The key is to always keep them involved.
There are many things that can be done to help those with ADD ADHD. There are several good clinical interventions, ranging from medications to non-medication treatments. These classroom interventions that you read about in the above mentioned websites are also very helpful! Ritalin is often prescribed for ADD ADHD students. The site article strongly disagrees with the use of ritalin. There are definitely alternatives to ritalin, but you need to be aware of the alternatives. Do you think ritalin is too easily prescribed to children?
Every child in our classrooms is a unique individual. As teachers, we need to make sure we are meeting the needs of every child whether they are gifted and talented or classified. I was fortunate that the Bergen County New Jersey district I teach in provided its teachers with professional development workshops on the topic of differentiating instruction. I found the workshops to be so beneficial that I want to share some websites that give information on differentiating instruction. It’s not an easy task, so you have to start slowly, but just keep in mind that there is plenty of research showing the benefits of differentiating instruction. Furthermore, there is no better time than summer to research this topic and plan for the fall!
Premesh Silva writes “EVENT 2002- Ask Questions from a world reknowned panel!
A very distinguished groups of experts from various disciplines of Sustainable Development will be answering your questions, as part of the Mandate the Future’s EVENT 2002!
You have to send in your questions before the 31st of May 2002. So get to it now!
This feature takes a look at eBooks versus traditional texts. Some of us might be already familiar with eBooks, and not even know it (Have you ever opened a file with pdf?) The article discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of eBooks. Worth a read. Also, free eBook links are attached.
This week’s feature focuses on the importance for teachers to enhance learning for every child by meeting each child’s individual needs. A number of useful links on rubrics and technogy aided instruction are included.
Filtering content not suitable for children is a big concern for parents and educators.
There is a very provoking article published by Kay E. Vandergrift titled ‘CENSORSHIP, THE INTERNET, INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, AND YOUTH’, which takes a look at how far is too far when it comes to censoring content for children. The basic question that the article tackles is, ‘Should schools censor what children view on the web?’ As we evolve into a more technological society, our children will replace many of their face to face interactions with cyberspace interactions. Are we hurting our children by protecting them from certain types of content? Are we limiting their freedoms?
For an additional reference, there is also an article titled Child Safety On The Information Highway, which discusses the risks for children when they use online resources.
Literature Circles are a wonderful tool for teachers to use. These discussion circles help teachers to differentiate instruction and touch upon the various learning styles of their students. A wonderful aspect of literature circles is that it teaches the students responsibility. Each child in the group is responsible for producing some aspect of the story, whether it be vocabulary words, comprehension questions, summarizing, illustrating the setting, or making the connection between the story and real life.
If you have implemented Literature Circles, what successes or failures have you encountered? What benefits do you see from this type of activity? We would like to hear your opinions and experiences.
Here are a couple of Literature Circle links for your reference:
PBS / Netscape have teamed up to put together some lessons plans on dealing with the issues related to September 11. Some good ideas are located here, including issues with tolerance and the American Flag.
