Someone's URSA Experience 2022

This week I dove deeper into how neurodivergent students learn, specifically I focused on ADHD and how teachers and parents can be better for their children and students. I also interviewed my roommate, who has ADHD themselves. I asked them about their education thus far and what worked well and didn’t work. I asked them what needs to be changed for the better, and what they said was nearly the same as my research concluded this week.

My research before the interview was mainly on being better for the students from the point of view of teachers and parents of children with ADHD. I tried to find out first what students need in the classroom and see what the adults around these children can do to ensure that these students feel comfortable and can learn just as well as any other child. The first thing that all of my research suggests is that keeping the learning environment comfortable and calm is a huge priority. If a student with ADHD is ‘acting out’ or making distractions then it is key that the teacher does not make the student feel guilty or embarrassed. Teachers should not shame any child or do activities that can lead to an environment where grades determine status or intelligence. An example that explains my point is posting grades of students for everyone to see or telling students who scored lowest on an exam/test. These types of activities pit students against each other and foster an environment where grades determine worth and intelligence. Some students with ADHD may feel ‘dumb’ or less than already because they have a harder time focusing and remembering material so making sure that they know they are not less than any other student.

Some other things that are extremely helpful in terms of classrooms are:

• Focusing on child’s needs like getting rid of distractions or giving them extra help on activities 
• Helping with organization
• Seat a student where there are fewer distractions.
• Give instructions that are clear and brief.
• Have simple classroom routines and rules.
• Be warm, encouraging, and positive.
• Praise efforts.
• Guide kids to slow down and take their time.
• Give prompts to stay on task.
• Give breaks to move around in the classroom.
• Give extra time to complete work.
• Teach students how to check their work.
• Teach study skills such as taking notes, reading aloud, and prepping for tests.
• Break down multi-step projects and assignments into smaller parts.

These are simple things that can also help other students regardless of if they are neurodivergent. Some of these things also just create a positive learning environment which is extremely important for all students. Teachers can also take a course online about how to further support ADHD students through CHADD’s Teacher Education Course. CHADD is the national resource for ADHD and they also have a Teacher to Teacher hotline where teachers can ask for advice on how to better support their ADHD students.

During my interview with my roommate, I asked them what needs to be changed in the school system today. They said that the biggest thing that helped them in school was when teachers checked in. They said that clear communication between students and teachers on expectations, needs, and going over one on one about plans (such as a 504 or IEP) are the most helpful things teachers can do. They also mentioned the same things my research before had concluded, clear instructions and expectations, breaking down assignments, praising efforts, extended time, and they also said that hands-on activities are helpful. Many neurodivergent students are tactile learners, so this is not surprising. At the end of our interview, they said that when they really enjoy learning a topic, they hyperfocus on it and therefore, retain most or all of the information. They said they really enjoyed Algebra 1 in High School, so they hyper-focused on it and succeeded greatly in that course. This connected back to my previous research on play in learning. It seems that through my experience and research so far when learning is fun and intriguing, all students succeed more than average. I anticipate that the rest of my research will conclude the same thing, but I am yet to discover what is next.

Until next time,

-Chloe