How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD

Although much has changed in schools in recent years, the power of differentiated instruction remains the same — and the need for it has only increased.

Today’s classroom is more diverse, more inclusive, and more plugged into technology than ever before. And it’s led by teachers under enormous pressure to help decidedly unstandardized students meet an expanding set of rigorous, standardized learning targets. In this updated second edition of her best-selling classic work, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers these teachers a powerful and practical way to meet a challenge that is both very modern and completely timeless: how to divide their time, resources, and efforts to effectively instruct so many students of various backgrounds, readiness and skill levels, and interests.

With a perspective informed by advances in research and deepened by more than 15 years of implementation feedback in all types of schools, Tomlinson explains the theoretical basis of differentiated instruction, explores the variables of curriculum and learning environment, shares dozens of instructional strategies, and then goes inside elementary and secondary classrooms in nearly all subject areas to illustrate how real teachers are applying differentiation principles and strategies to respond to the needs of all learners.

This book’s insightful guidance on what to differentiate, how to differentiate, and why lays the groundwork for bringing differentiated instruction into your own classroom or refining the work you already do to help each of your wonderfully unique learners move toward greater knowledge, more advanced skills, and expanded understanding. Today more than ever, The Differentiated Classroom is a must-have staple for every teacher’s shelf and every school’s professional development collection.

Life is especially tough for Joey. Not only does he struggle with ADHD, his family is truly dysfunctional. Readers will sense that Joey is a good kid who’s trying to do the right things, but often without much support. Readers will likely laugh and weep for Joey.

Some of us learn things in a different way from those around us — do you too? One frog might need a bit of help with counting; another might not know how to behave around other frogs. Other young frogs in this book are easily distracted and get themselves into trouble. But help is at hand: if we think differently about things that we find difficult, we can find our own ways to get better at doing them.

Paige, an imaginative, witty young girl with ADHD plans to earn an interview with astronaut, Kelsey Strongheart.

In opposition to traditional models of special education, where teachers decide when a child is deemed “ready to compete” in “mainstream” classes, Mara Sapon-Shevin articulates a vision of full inclusion as a practical and moral goal. Inclusion, she argues, begins not with the assumption that students have to earn their way into the classroom with their behavior or skills, it begins with the right of every child to be in the mainstream of education, perhaps with modifications, adaptations, and support. Full inclusion requires teachers to think about all aspects of their classrooms — pedagogy, curriculum, and classroom climate.

How can you empower students with invisible disabilities to manage their challenges, accept and advocate for themselves, and reach their goals and dreams? This guidebook has inspiring and informative answers. Told with the authentic voices of adults with hidden disabilities, this encouraging, eye-opening book will help you guide students on the Path to Disability Pride and support their success in the classroom and community. Personal stories blend with powerful strategies as the authors share reflections on their experience with disability—and offer up practical teaching tips and interventions based on the latest research. An essential resource for educators, families, and self-advocates, this book will help students with non-visible disabilities dare to dream big and unlock their full potential.