ADHD Students Video Reflection

Strategies to Manage Student Behavior

The teacher has used DO NOW activity quite brilliantly, it helps students to focus on class immediately. He also left the PPT with instructions for students to refer to at their own speed. There were two TAs helping during class, which helps to do quicker transitions, something quite important when teaching students who have trouble focusing. The teacher always uses a positive approach, and redirection in case of any disruptions, I agree with his approach completely, I use it myself, he redirected student’s attention to her own work, complimented her effort, and the student got back on track and started smiling.

He tried making transitions as smooth as possible, but no one can ever be perfect, the mentor provided good tips like use visual cues, have a checklist on their desks of what to do, where to put their materials, homework, what books and materials to prepare. Another tip was to use the timer that is more visual, which the teacher already used, but not regularly, then the mentor pointed out that the right amount of pressure pushes students to focus and make teacher’s life a little easier. I agree with the right amount of pressure, if the class is not very well structured and transitions are not very clear, any students will not focus and will use every spare minute to chat and do their own things. I also think visual cues are important for ADHD students to know what is expected of them, what to do with their homework and how to prepare for the next topic or subject.

The relationship between mentor and teacher

I think the teacher and mentor have good productive relationships, the fact that mentor knows what ADHD means from firsthand experience makes her a great expert in the field. The review she provided for the teacher’s lesson was very constructive, she mentioned the success of the activities he was already implementing and provided useful and effective tips how to improve his transitions, which teacher himself mentioned he had issues with. Having a mentor when dealing with ADHD students is very helpful, it allows the teacher to share the weight of responsibility for these students and acquire the best practices in order to help the students to succeed.

Recommendations to the teacher

I think the teacher is already doing great with his ADHD students and the fact that he switched from banking into teaching Special Education is very inspiring. What he could try using along with his cueing is the Gradual release of responsibility, with the I Do, We Do, You Do activity, where he models to students the expectations and the process of how to achieve them, then they work together on it and then students continue working alone. I also think tangible rewards might work with the ADHD students, and personalized approach, which he already uses. I think to talk to students privately to know them more, and what works for them help to tailor classes to students’ needs. In the last part of the video they showed the teacher incorporating the mentor’s feedback into his class, I noticed students were seated differently, I think this has been performed brilliantly because classroom layout is very important for the student movement, teacher movement and focus as well.

I have one class where I have several ADHD students, the things I would incorporate with them are Do Now, to help them focus from the start and I need to learn to make better transitions between activities and keep them focused once we start an activity. The problem in this class also comes from the friendships the students have established, that is not very stable, and one day they can be best friends and the next enemies. So the level of hostility varies based on what was happening at night in the dorms. Due to this the environment in the class can escalate very quickly if the ADHD students are in direct confrontation with each other. In this case, I can try to redirect them, shift their focus to something else.

References:

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2008). Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility. ASCD. Alexandria.

Marzano, R.J. (2017). The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/platform-user-content/prod-copy/get_help_resources/activity_resources/module4/The_Art_and_Science_of_Teaching.pdf

Redl, E, & Wineman, D. (1952). Controls from within: Techniques for the treatment of the aggressive child. New York: The Free Press.