Sunday, March 12, 2017

Assisting ADHD Adolescents on Assignments and Assessments

Excellence in Education: Assisting  ADHD Adolescents on Assignments and Assessments  
This is the 3rd part of an ADHD Series: Other Strategies to Support Students with ADHD. For the first part on helping ADHD students socially, click here and for the second part on ensuring their academic success click here.

Helping ADHD Students on Assignments and Assessments:
  1. Check with the student to ensure they understand the directions. Directions should be clear and concise.
  2. More so than other students, students with ADHD benefit from instant feedback. The use of assignments or assessments online with instant feedback is extremely beneficial.
  3. Avoid clutter on handouts, webpages, and assessments. Additionally, ADHD students will often fret more than their peers if given a long test or a page with many questions on it.  This also pertains to sections where students need to respond, so please provide ample space for student answers. Don’t tell anyone but Pearson’s SOL TestNav gets this one right with 50-70 questions on the SOL and only seeing one question at a time.
  4. Avoid having students transfer work/answers from one place to another place.
  5. Teach and encourage active test taking strategies like highlighting key words, crossing out false answers, etc.
  6. As mentioned earlier, ADHD students will often take longer to complete their work; if a student with ADHD notices classmates turning in their work, he/she will likely feel pressured to rush through the assignment or assessment. Require students to stay in their seats when finished and begin working on the next task. Don’t allow them free time.
  7. Obviously, many students with ADHD have 504s or IEPs allowing for alternative settings, but many ADHD students do not have these accommodations. Allow any student to make use of alternative settings for work.
  8. In small or individual setting, the ADHD student may feel more comfortable whispering directions or quietly reading the material to him/herself. This helps him/her focus and many students benefit from hearing the information as well.
  9. Remove distractions from the work environment.

Classroom Management Strategies
  1. Use wait time 1 and wait time 2 when asking and answering questions. This extra time prevents impulsive answers and also provides time to think.
  2. Use random calling on student techniques (cold call, popsicle sticks, random name generators, dice, etc.) to force students to focus.

Students with ADHD often struggle with work completion. Their disability may cause disorganization, distraction, poor focusing, and working memory deficits. As such, it may take them significantly longer to complete an assignment and once completed, the assignment may well get lost. Additionally, sustaining attention on one task for an extended period of time, most likely will be very difficult for student
Useful Links:

Portfolio Assistance If you have a student who needs assistance setting up his/her portfolio, click here

Technology / Website Permission Request Form http://go.shr.lc/1HovEA6 Please use this form to request use of a website that requires student log-in if the site is not already on the approved list. DART approved list



Calendar and Memo Items
Year-end calendar is here.

March 13: VPT testing



March 14: Communication Matters: Speaking with Students in School with Bob Garrity. Join us for this workshop which will include
  1. Learning about Carol Dweck’s Mindset Research
  2. Exploring and learning about ways to clearly speak with students about their behavior
  3. Practicing I-statements for successes and concerns  
Workshops will be offered on March 14th throughout the day from at 9:15-10:00, 11:15-12:00, 1:15-2:00 and 2:45-3:30. You’re encouraged to sign-up in advance.

March 16: Faculty Meeting and District Chorus Trip

March 17: Band’s Jazz and Casino Night

March 21 & 22: All 10th graders will take Writing SOL tests No Mustang Morning

March 28: Middle School/Rising 9th Grader Visit; No Mustang Morning

March 30: End 3rd Quarter

April 21: Spring Pep Rally

Project-Based Learning: The What, Why, and How! -April 3
Virginia Association for the Gifted is excited to offer an introduction to Project-Based Learning: The What, Why, and How at the Lynchburg City Schools' Information Technology Center.  Participants will explore delivery models by engaging in the creative process of developing their own project step by step with collaborative support from instructors and peers. All participants will receive resources for building future units along with a collection of previously developed ideas. Deadline for registration is March 29 and the event is April 3.

Birthdays
March 16: Dean Eliason

Worth Your Time


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