How do I support teens with adhd in the classroom

[LessThanAverage]

I am a secondary school teacher and have just received my timetable for next year. I have classes known for having multiple children with adhd in them. There is also a few children in the middle of adhd assessments. With Coronavirus restrictions, how can I support them best. I sometimes find myself wanting to scream at them for things I know are symptoms. How do I help these children? There is maybe 3 kids with this condition max in any of my classes.

Sorry for the late post but it happened to be on my mind whilst sorting out things for September.

Does your SENCO not have strategies that you can use? We have lists on our intranet with suggestions for specific students which can be useful for others with then same or similar condition.

I think I would keep explanations concise and write down as much as possible in bullet-points: 1. Read paragraph A. 2. Answer Q 1-3 etc to help keep them on track. Don't have too long sitting in the same position doing the same thing. Lots of lessons for me this year are going to be desk-bound which is very odd because we don't normally use them in Music. So we are going to split the lessons into little chunks: 5 minutes of listening, 2 minutes of oral questions on it, 2 minutes of clapping rhythms etc to keep things moving and stop them getting stale. What subject is it for?

We use task management boards so that the lesson is broken into chunks with discreet goals and checkpoints so they can see where we're at and what they should be doing.

Lots of verbal reminders too, so I say 'right now you should be...' more often than usual.

Our students are all going to have a personal mini whiteboard this year (my suggestion). I find these invaluable in class for students to show me what they understand and being able to doodle seems to help fidgety students.

We were told for our online lessons April-July to divide them into 10 min chunks and that works well too.

Plus give them key definitions/diagrams/facts on handouts. I like little slips of paper that they glue in and annotate (could be adapted on a laptop using the post-its).

Yes, verbal prompts and clarification are good.

You do need to think about how not to constantly interrupt the flow of the students who find it easier to concentrate, however.

Sorry, probably completely obvious but do ask the students one to one what would help! I'm sure you do/would.

Will your classes also have an LSA in them? As a relatively new LSA to secondary school, the teacher does their bit and then I might sit with them to ensure they understand, help them break the task up into smaller chunks, suggest sentence starters for those who really struggle.

With regards to the hyperactive side, that is dealt with on a student by student basis. My own son can happily sit through his primary school lessons as he is also quite rule compliant - heck knows how he got an ADHD diagnosis as we always felt more ASD but the more we learn, the more we can see where it fits. So it's not always a case of the Adhd kid being the 'active' one.

If you have a student who does need a more active approach then I would speak to the LSA or learning support department to find out if there is an echp which would detail the support needed and how it would be provided.

I'm a secondary SENCo so encourage teachers of pupils with ADHD to have a calm approach with clear expectations, structure and behaviour boundaries. ADHD is not an excuse for poor behaviour so it's important to know the difference between ADHD type behaviour and unacceptable behaviour. ADHD causes inattentiveness, poor organisation, restlessness and poor concentration. I encourage rest breaks every 20 mins (wander to the water fountain etc) to help. Give a checklist of what you want doing to the pupils with rest breaks included. List equipment required and timings. Always put what reward you'll give at the end if all is completed so they know what's in it for them! Hope this helps. Thank you for wanting to get it right for them, they'll appreciate that a lot I'm sure.

@gettingalife - have you alternatives for some of your strategies in case the water fountain is currently out of action, they don't have the same freedom to walk around the school as previously?