Classroom Behavior Strategies

Teaching Strategies helpful when dealing with students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder

Aug 24, 2006 Darcy Andries

A list of teaching strategies to use when teaching children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), also known as attention deficit disorder (add).

This is a list of tips for teachers of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD), addressing teaching style. Not all these strategies will work for every child or every teacher. Don't be afraid to try something and then admit it doesn't work. That's why there's a list of different things! Go ahead and try different things until you find what works for both you and the child.

1. Deliver consequences and rewards more immediately and frequently. They do not respond as well as their classmates to delayed rewards or partial reinforcement schedules.

2. Reward the student for sitting still for short or long periods.

3. Use signals for silence such as finger snaps, color-coded cards, or flipping on/off the lights.

4. Praise students often for specific things they did during the day.

5. Use preferred activities as incentives.

6. Help the students feel comfortable asking for assistance.

7. Be unusually clear and specific in stating behavioral goals and consequences to these students.

8. Give specific responses after reviewing a good behavior diary each day or week.

9. Be patient. These students need lots of extra attention and many things repeated.

10. Work with students with ADHD and ADD one-on-one if possible. Enlist an older student to help in your classroom and work with students who need more guidance.

11. Put some beans in your pocket; each time you compliment the child move one bean to the other pocket. Try to move all the beans each day.

12. Place smiley cards around the room; every time you see one look at a student and compliment him if he/she is behavior appropriately.

13. Reinforce, Reinforce, Reinforce. Praise the students when they are showing the desired behavior.

14. Help stop a student from becoming disruptive by calling on him/her to read aloud or answer a question. It will help get his/her mind back on task.

15. Allow at least five seconds after asking a question before calling on a student.

16. Some students will need more time to process before coming up with an answer.

17. Be sensitive when making special arrangements. Low self-esteem, combined with poor relations with their peers, makes students with ADHD and ADD very sensitive to other students' perceptions of them.

18. Provide as much positive attention and recognition as possible.

19. Clarify the social rules and external demands of the classroom.

20. Evaluate your own tempo as teacher. Set up activities students can do while you're going over things a second time for students who are struggling with the activity.

21. Vary instructional techniques: presentations, assignments with a buddy, cooperative groups, puppetry, experiments, visual aides, etc.

22. Move around the room to be physically close to the student and answer questions if the arise.

23. Encourage note taking.

24. List the main ideas or concepts before the lecture.

25. Let students use flash cards, write on cards, highlight, or finger spell to increase movement.

26. Give the student an outline and list the main ideas or concepts in advance. Alert students to important parts by using key words.

27. Alternate activity with inactivity and instruction time with individual work time.

28. Identify problem behavior and target behavior. Then, identify the consequences and rewards of each and reinforce them.

• Give the child a "clean slate" every day.
• Pick one problem at a time and start with basics.
• Focus all rewards on only one or two behaviors at a time.
• Once the behavior is well established, gradually replace the rewards with natural consequences.

29. Ways to improve attention to directions:

• Make directions clear and concise and simplify complicated directions.
• Check with the students to make sure that they understood the directions.
• Use both oral and written instructions for activities.
• Have the students recite directions or difficult concepts in unison.

For more strategies, check out Part 1 on Classroom Environment.

The copyright of the article Classroom Behavior Strategies in ADD/ADHD is owned by Darcy Andries. Permission to republish Classroom Behavior Strategies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

1940s Teacher