i am currently in college preparing to become a teacher and i was wondering when i am teaching a student who has been diagnosed with adhd, what sort of classroom activities or methods should i use with the student to keep them involved and interested in the class?
Re: teaching students with adhd
Sarah:
I love your ideas for teaching ADD/ADHD youngsters.
What in the Sam Hill is meant by the term “watershed” ?
John G.
Re: teaching students with adhd
Wow. Something I actually know from doing homework with my child!
Watershed is the term for the large geographical area that is responsible for contributing water to a body of water, like a bay or an ocean.
Quiz at 11.
Re: teaching students with adhd
A watershed is a moving body of water AND the land drained by that water.
Do you know the name of your town? Your county? Your state?
Do you know the name of your watershed?
(I just started my lesson on watersheds with that dialogue above)
My kids don’t know the name of their watershed and neither do you, dear sir!
If you pour a cup of water onto the ground in your backyard (or motor oil, heaven forbid!) where will it go?
As water always seeks the lowest point, in my back yard it would follow the terrain to the Crum Creek which connects to the Darby Creek and then to the Delaware River which eventually goes to the Atlantic Ocean.
All the world is in watersheds. Our two largest watersheds in America are the Atlantic and the Pacific and the Continental Divide determines the division between them.
I take my kids outside each with a cup of water and tell them to find the nearest stream. We pour water in front of the school and watch it seek its lowest point. We keep doing that and to their unending delight, we come to a stream (of course)
Nature works!
I find adhd kids do best in small class sizes. They need to feel connected to the class and the teacher.
Past that, lessons which allow for movement and that move at a quick pace help. I do a lot of “everybody raise your hand if you know what your address is. Keep your hand in the air if you can name your watershed.”
Rather than ask a question which invites only a few hands, I phrase my questions so that every hand can go up - at least the first time around. It involves all the kids and gives everyone a little break from the “sit still” stuff that is school.
I also have kids to the front often to act something out. As many kinesthetic opportunities as you can build into your lesson, the better. But again all this works best in a small class size.
I also allow any student to have something small and soft to hold during class. ADHD kids love to tap their feet and their pencils and they need to do that. Instead of noisy tapping, I encourage small stuffed animals, erasers, hair twirling or doodling. Again, it helps them to contend with the need to stay relatively still.
I also start every class with a bathroom/drink break. As children come into the room (I teach middle school) they are allowed without asking to go to the bathroom and get a drink. It gives them the moment of freedom that helps them to deal with the 35 minute class to come and absolutely cuts down on interrupting requests to go to the bathroom/get a drink in the middle of class.
Read Mel Levine’s Educational Care book for more suggestions on how to deal with the ADHD child.