Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Managing ADHD In The Classroom

By Dennis Ward


Attention, Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is commonly experienced by children from a young age. It affects almost five percent of the population and is the most childhood behavior disorder. ADHD in the classroom can interfere with the performance of the child because of lack of concentration. These kids can also find it very difficult in making and keeping friends thus the teachers have to make sure that they assist the kids to concentrate in class.

This condition is usually classified into two categories which are hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive behaviors. Consequently, a kid can suffer from inattentive or hyperactivity disorders or even have the two of them in combination. The symptoms associated with inattentiveness are failure of being organized, trouble completing assignments, and inability to follow given instructions, making many careless mistakes during class work and overlooking details.

The hyperactivity disorder is associated with occasional squirming or fidgeting in class.Unable to stay at a single place for quite some time, cannot be quiet while playing, interrupting other people and intruding in their conversations, being jumpy all the time and climbing places that are inappropriate, answering questions promptly even before the question is read out completely and many other related behaviors.

This disorder thus adversely affects the performance of these students in school because they are very inattentive. More so, these students can be so impulsive to the extent of leaving exams as well as tasks unfinished which explains their low performances. Also, teachers that do not know that these kids are suffering may often punish them because they fail to finish tasks or to disrupt the class.

For these children to be helped in class, the teacher must be aware of their condition and be willing to assist them. For instance, the teacher can make sure that the tasks given to these children are short and brief and require immediate feedback. If the projects are long, they should be broken down into parts that can easily be manageable at specific times.

To add on that, teachers should give direct instructions to the children. Therefore, they should work with kids one on one. Unlike the other children, the concentration span for these children is so low thus teachers must be especially attentive to them. If they are helped in this way, they will improve their performance because they will have more concentration.

Another thing that the teachers should do is to make sure that the lessons are well structured and organized. This will help the kids to identify the important points quickly before being distracted. The students with this condition tend to have better memory if the material is structured in a meaningful way for them. Hence, the teacher should provide a lecture outline before giving the notes to students.

To conclude, the students should also be given rules that are precise and well defined. These rules should be accompanied by visual codes that are specific so that they can easily remember. Many other modes of teaching are available for the teachers to use and assist kids who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to help them fit in a normal classroom setting.




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