Ideas on ADHD

In this Harvard Education Letter article, Laura Pappano describes how Colorado teacher Kartal Jaquette organizes his third-grade classroom so students with ADHD can succeed:

• His mindset is that if some students are confused, it’s his fault. 
• When he is addressing the whole class, he sets a timer and tries to speak less than eight minutes. 
• He keeps the pace of the class moving to convey urgency.
• He’s particularly conscious about giving complex directions. “There is no fun way to do directions,” he says. “But you need directions.” To deal with this challenge, Jaquette uses routines – for example, right after recess, students always have a “Do now” math problem to write in their journal and solve, and then four students are called up to the board to explain their work. 
• Homework also follows a predictable pattern: “Every homework is on the same sheet,” he says.” It is the same color; it goes in the same folder.” And it’s always available online if students forget it. 

“I am the one who is in control of balancing attention spans in my class,” says Jaquette. “I view ADHD as a tendency we can all have.”

Pappano draws on recent research to make several other points:

• The percent of students with ADHD has probably not changed over time, but the increasing number of diagnoses is due to higher-stakes consequences of school failure.

• While over-identification and angst are common, some specialists worry about students who are not picked up by superficial 10-minute assessments, especially in lower-income communities. 

• Left unaddressed, ADHD can increase school failure, substance abuse, difficulty keeping jobs and maintaining relationships, and suicide. With effective treatment, people with ADHD can be successful in school and life.

• Teachers need to focus less on obedience than on learning, says George DePaul of Lehigh University. “The traditional classroom with kids sitting at desks, sitting still, hands folded, face forward,” he says, “– we couldn’t design a worse environment for kids with ADHD.”

• Teachers should make expectations clear, let students choose among assignments, and give students immediate feedback on their performance and self-organization.

“Attention, Class! As ADHD Diagnoses Rise, Teachers Find Strategies That Can Help All Students” by Laura Pappano in Harvard Education Letter, September/October 2013 (Vol. 29, #5, p. 1-3), www.edletter.org 

From the Marshall Memo #499