Have you ever had an Educational Assistant (EA) give up in frustration? A student who was so hard to get to focus that is seemed even one-on-one support would not help?
When I was the Special Ed Coordinator at my school I remember greeting an EA in the hallway, only to ask her why she was not working with her assigned student. Her reply; she could not get him to focus on the work in front of him.
Although this did support the teacher's determination that he had ADHD (although he did not have a diagnosis). Regardless, he seemed to be on my caseload now so I could learn more about him.
At least for the moment.
The first time I worked with him it took me 8 minutes to get him to focus on the page. Clearly this would cause a tremendous challenge for anyone trying to get him started on his work in the classroom.
We all need strategies to help us in these scenarios. I did get him to focus, then to start to learn, and finally to work independently. It took time, but eventually, he even started to indicate what his favourite activities were.
We all need strategiesto minimize the impact of ADHD in the classroom. The blog post and video that I am sharing this week is one that I published last year, but which I updated recently.
Saint Patrick's Day is just around the corner. Inspire engagement in your math centers now with these engaging color-by-code worksheets for addition and subtraction within 20.
Thanks, folks for sharing your time with me today! Hit reply with questions or requests.
Cheers for now!
Marian Busfield
Engaging Curiosity
P.S. The forest in today's picture is a beautiful dog walk nearby. However, more than just beautiful, it is a forest that is a part of a reclamation process in my town. I love seeing beauty where problems once existed.