Five ADHD myths busted

According to a CDC screening programme in the United States, approximately 11% of pupils are now thought to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This means that your class could potentially have 3 pupils who may find it almost impossible to physically sit still and focus their attention on your lessons.

With that in mind, let’s look at the most common misunderstandings about ADHD…

1. It is not caused by...

...bad diet or poor parenting. It’s actually associated with structural and chemical alterations in the brain that children are born with.

2. It is not a condition...

...that is exclusively diagnosed in boys: girls can be affected too. Statistically, 13.2% of boys and 5.6% of girls are diagnosed with ADHD. Often, girls are more adept at mimicking social situations or learning rote responses, so their symptoms may be better hidden..

3. Medication does not...

...‘cure’ ADHD - it can merely help to manage the symptoms. (Neither is it true that ADHD medication is a tranquiliser, incidentally). Medication can have a number of serious side effects that have to be monitored.

4. ADHD does not...

...happen in only one setting. If you have ADHD, it’s a universal feature across all areas of your life: at home, at school, in the supermarket!

5. Teachers cannot...

...make an ADHD diagnosis. (And neither can educational psychologists, for that matter). But they can both support parents and assist in the diagnostic process by signposting pupils to paediatricians who are qualified to make a medical diagnosis.

Remember: a student doesn’t have to display both inattentiveness and hyperactivity to be considered for an ADHD diagnosis. Many students with ADHD only present one form of the symptoms related to the condition. 

Symptoms of ADHD

Symptoms can fall into the 'inattentiveness' or 'hyperactivity' categories.

Inattentiveness

• Short attention span
• Easily distracted
• Forgetful
• Unable to carry out instructions
• Flitting from task to task
• Difficulty with organisation
• Trouble completing tasks

Hyperactivity

• Constant fidgeting
• Excessive physical movement
• Excessive talking
• Unable to wait their turn
• Interrupting
• No sense of danger

(Source: NHS)

In conclusion...

...understanding that ADHD is a genuine, neurological condition that affects how your pupils think and behave is hugely important in working out ways to manage them effectively in your class. Many of the strategies for helping pupils manage ADHD are designed to improve attention and organisation, so of course they will benefit all of the other children in your class too.

Staff meeting activity

To read a 15 minute staff meeting activity that accompanies this post, and to download the resources that support it, visit our website.

Don't forget: we are currently offering a free classroom management guide that explains how to support children who present attention seeking behaviour.  You can get it from here.

How to convey calm during a classroom crisis

Happy new year!

 

To celebrate the start of the new year, we are giving away our 16 page guide to managing attention seeking students - for free!

 

To take advantage, head over to the free guide section on our website.

With that said, here's our guide about how to convey calm during a classroom crisis. 

Most teachers have felt totally frazzled by a pupil's behaviour at some point. However, when a crisis strikes, the situation will rarely improve unless the adult is able to give the impression that they are cool, calm and collected.

10% of all human communication is conveyed through the words we say, 30% is communicated by how we speak, and a massive 60% is conveyed by body language. Therefore, it's really important to practice the art of appearing 'neutral' and non-threatening. If you allow yourself to register a shocked or angry face in response to a pupil's behaviour, this can give off the wrong message and is guaranteed to make their behaviour worse.

With that in mind, here's our guide to giving off that calm vibe in a crisis - even if you actually feel like tearing your hair out!

1. Adopt a relaxed stance

Practice displaying a 'neutral facial expression' . This means softening your gaze, reducing eye contact and relaxing the facial muscles.

Match your body signals to your face, allow your shoulders to sink down, loosen your arms, and stand in an open posture (no arms folded or pointy fingers!) Stand still.

Hint: when people cross their body, it makes them look nervous. It's looks like they are getting ready to defend themselves from some form of physical attack!

Use a mirror to practice and perfect this technique!

2. Check your vocals

Make the effort to deliberately keep your voice low and your speech slow. Keep your breathing steady. When under stress, we tend to talk faster and in a higher pitch that can be stimulating to the fight/ flight part of human brains.

The children will naturally pick up on these cues and sense that you feel nervous or challenged.

3. Make like a swam

When managing highly stressful situations, the first person who needs to calm down is you!

Even if your heart is beating like the clappers, you can train yourself to give the illusion of being calm and in control. Be just like a swan: whilst it looks like the bird is gliding over the surface of a lake without a ripple, its legs are paddling furiously underneath!

4.  The psychological effect

The effect of this is that children feel safe in the knowledge that you are calm and you know how to handle the situation.

Children who are angry or distressed will struggle to process the words you are saying, but the primitive 'reptilian' part of the brain can still receive the reassuring non verbal signals you are sending.

Any onlookers also feel reassured that it is you, the teacher, who is in control.

Staff meeting activity

To read a 10-15 minute staff meeting activity that accompanies this post, and to download the resources that support it, go to this page on our website.

What to do when a student argues back

Most teachers have been there.  You make a perfectly reasonable request of a student (“Please put the game away, Kevin, it’s work time,”) and for the third time this week, Kevin begins drawing you into an argument in front of the rest of the class (“No – it’s not fair! When Mr. Jones was in, he let Kate have the game, so…”)

Arguments like these can escalate into a conflict that's played out in front of the entire class. So how do you successfully handle these kinds of situations? Here’s our guide to stopping arguments in their tracks.

1.  Don't argue

Okay, that’s easier said than done, but under no circumstances start arguing with a student about what is or is not fair. Or what the supply teacher let happen when you were out of class last Tuesday afternoon. Or exactly what constitutes work time. Or anything at all.

Here's why:

• It is highly likely that the student comes from a family where arguments are the norm. That means they’re probably better at arguing than you are. They're gold-medal standard arguers.
• The pupil is arguing to draw your attention away from their original behaviour, not to debate some perceived inequality. Don't fall for it.

2. Depersonalise

Make it clear that the conflict is not about you and the child, but about the school rules. For instance, “I’ve told you to put the game away,” feeds the argument. “The school rule is that there are no games during work time,” makes it clear this is not a personal conflict between you and the child.

Here's why:

• The student walks away at the end of the day without the feeling that the argument sprang from some personal dislike.

3. Issue an instruction.

We’re going to follow up our reference to the school rules with a clear, firm instruction indicating what the student should do next.

Bad: “I’ve told you to put the game away – do it now!” This personalises the conflict and, as a bonus, escalates it into a power struggle. It invites the classic response that, “You can’t make me”. (You can’t.)

Good: “The game needs to go away, now, thank you.” The required behaviour is clear and the direction is assertive. Not referring to yourself or the student in the sentence downplays the sense that one side will 'win'.

4. Be a brick wall.

Every time the student continues to argue, calmly, but firmly, restate the rule and instruction, repeating exactly the same wording. No deviations. “The rule is that there are no games during work time. The game needs to go away.”

This will end the argument.  Here's why:

• Because it takes two to tango. It is impossible (and infuriating) to argue with someone who firmly but politely repeats the same line.
• The student will learn that there is no point in arguing with you, because it doesn’t lead to any progress. It isn't any fun.

Staff meeting activity

To read a 10-15 minute staff meeting activity that accompanies this post, and to download the resources that support it, go to this page on our website.