How to Manage ADHD Students
Students with ADHD can be difficult to manage because they are going in a million directions at once. There are ways teachers can promote organization, which leads to easier management of students with ADHD.
Instructions
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Donna Goldberg, with ADDitude magazine, suggests that you start by identifying students with ADHD by using special education assessments, previous diagnosis or your own intuition.
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Give each ADHD student an evaluation through the Special Education department, which will get them onto an Individual Education Plan.
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Ask for an aide to be present in your classroom at all times, to help redirect the student with ADHD and to help you in teaching all students. An aide is especially important if you have more than one child with ADHD in your classroom.
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Create a classroom schedule, and post it on the board. Students with ADHD thrive on solid schedules.
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Talk to students two days before a schedule change will occur. Remind them of it the day before the change in the schedule.
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Schedule each class period in blocks. Have a short block for teacher instruction, a short block for questions, a short block for group work and a short block for individual work. Include three-minute breaks between all of the blocks. Repeat the blocks if needed to give all the instruction or to allow ample time for work.
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Understand the signs of classroom disturbances caused by ADHD. These might include excessive chatter, misbehavior or talking back.
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Have a plan for handling these disturbances. With ADHD students, the best plan is reminding and redirection.
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Allow for several breaks during your day.
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Provide time for physical activity for all students each day.
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Try using ball chairs for students who have ADHD. The extra concentration required to remain sitting on the ball chair often allows other parts of their brains to focus on the work at hand.
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Try giving ADHD students something else to do with their hands to get rid of energy. Using a stress ball, squeezing clay or other such actions often help to manage ADHD symptoms.
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