5 Things General Education Teachers Should Know About ADHD
October 12, 2021
Some general education teachers face a challenge in dealing with hyperactivity and impulsive behavior in the 10% of students with ADHD, but remember that they are not bad students, and try to help them with these five tips that will make them (and their parents) grateful to you!
1. Let them move
Some research has found that children with ADHD learn better if they are moving or rocking while doing so. They need movement, and the teacher's role lies in finding ways to help them release their energy constructively without affecting others. The teacher can turn to stress-relief toys such as (the Pop It toy, a stress ball, or even an eraser!).
However, some students may need more than that; allow children, for example, to sit on an exercise ball. Also consider allowing them to stand at the desks in the back, and if there are children who must stand and move from their spots, try drawing a path for them to walk—and listen at the same time—inside the classroom. Try also incorporating rest breaks where they stand and stretch.
2. Promote physical education and recess breaks
Children who take breaks perform better on standardized tests than those who do not rest. If you restrict high-activity and movement times, be prepared to face the consequences! The need of children with ADHD to move is cumulative and builds up throughout the day. They must be given a break in which they release accumulated energy, and withholding it from them due to bad behavior or uncompleted school tasks leads to counterproductive results.
3. Give them preferential seating
Some children with ADHD experience visual distraction and should have priority sitting in the front rows. As for those who experience auditory distraction—the children who constantly look behind them at any sound—sitting at the back of the classroom allows them to hear you better. You should allow them to sit at the back of the classroom. Beware of moving the child's desk away from their peers and making them sit alone; this behavior gives them a sense of shame and stigma and subconsciously gives the green light for the rest of the students to bully them. Any change to a child's seating must be done privately, not in front of all the students, and without making them feel discouraged. One way is to change all students' seating so that no one feels they are the reason, and if you find that they are still rocking and fidgeting in the new place you chose for them, do not hesitate to rearrange the seating once more!
4. Notice their good behaviors, and ignore the bad ones
Children with ADHD receive many negative remarks about themselves. Therefore, when you see them controlling their behavior or completing their work and assignments, make sure to notice and praise that, and be lenient with the opposite. Equality does not always mean equity; most children—and even adults—improve with encouragement and praise more than correction and discipline. When there are problems that need to be addressed, be clear and specific: "He was scribbling over answers and getting up from his seat a lot today" is better than "He was bad today." Consider identifying three issues if you encounter them and giving a daily rating out of 5, where 1–2 is a problem, 3 is average, and 4–5 means a great day. This enables parents to understand their child's behavior and reinforce or regulate it.
5. Never mention their medical treatments in the classroom
Asking a child about their medications in class or in front of their peers is a violation of privacy. Most teachers reading this would agree, but based on what children say, it happens to them from time to time, which is catastrophic and devastating for them, often causing them to stop taking medications and discontinue treatment. It is better to hint to them and say, "You seem distracted today" or "You seem very active" instead of asking about their medication. If you need to speak with them about medication, remember to speak in private. Finally, do not hesitate to share your observations regarding medication side effects or lack of efficacy with the parents (or with the child's doctor after obtaining parental permission). Your observations are valuable: you spend eight hours a day, five days a week, for nine months with the child, and your professional opinion matters.
Adapted translation
Originally published in Arabic. This English version was produced with AI-assisted translation; the Arabic original remains the reference.
