Recommendations And Strategies For Working With Students With Attention Difficulties/Hyperactivity

Recommendations and Strategies for Working with Inattentive/Hyperactive/Impulsive Students

Lindsay Barnes School Psychologist [email protected] ** Prior to addressing a student’s difficulties with attention or hyperactivity, it is important to rule out any physical, developmental, or cultural reasons for the behavior. Speak with the student’s parent to determine if the behavior difficulties are present at home as well as at school. Determine if the parent has addressed these concerns with the child’s doctors. There are many physical and cultural factors that may cause a student to appear inattentive, including seizures, hearing deficits, and bilingualism. If any of these are the true reason for concern, they must be addressed first! **

When working with students who have attention difficulties, the most important thing to remember is to be consistent. These students often need a great deal of structure and consistency. They may not react well to change. In addition, rarely is an intervention a “miracle cure” – most interventions will require time and patience before their effectiveness can be determined. Even though it can be frustrating, it is important to stick with it! However, it is also important to recognize when an intervention is not working – if the intervention has been in place for 2-3 weeks and has not had any positive effect, it is probably time to try something new.

Finally, the best strategy for working with these students is good overall classroom management. Provide your students with a daily environment that is well planned, organized, structured, and predictable. Classroom rules, daily schedules, and assignments should be clearly displayed, and specific tasks should be assigned to specific times. Use teaching techniques that involve active student participation, rather than passive listening. In addition, regularly scheduled brief “stretch breaks” may be beneficial to all students.

The following pages will list a number of strategies and interventions that may be helpful when working with students who have attention or hyperactivity concerns. Many of these strategies may be things you are already implementing in your classroom; however, I thought it might be helpful to have them all compiled into one document. As with any interventions, it is important to remember that what works for one student may not work for another, and that a combination of multiple interventions and strategies will likely be the most effective in helping these students. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at any time!! 1. Proximity is important. Inattentive students often benefit from being seated near the teacher during classroom instruction. This proximity may enhance attention and help reduce disruptive behavior. If necessary, move the student’s desk right next to yours.

2. Communicate with parents. Communicate with parents as often as possible regarding their child’s performance in school (both positive and negative). Make sure that teachers and parents are on the same page regarding any interventions. One effective method for parent-teacher communication is a notebook that travels between teachers and parents daily, with feedback on student performance from both parties.

3. Allow for some movement/activity, as long as it does not disrupt the learning of the student or others. For example, allow the student to stand by his/her desk rather than sitting.

4. Allow for some amount of fidgeting. Allowing students to handle a small object while doing a task may actually improve concentration on the task at hand. Being allowed to manipulate an object may put them more at ease and allow for greater focus to the material you are trying to teach. The student’s “fidget item” can be something agreed upon by both the student and the teacher, in order to decrease the likelihood that it will be disruptive to other students.

5. Establish eye contact when giving verbal directions. When feasible, stand near the student.

6. Clearly delineate your expectations and any task requirements.

7. Adopt a “silent signal.” You can redirect overactive or inattentive students in a low-key manner by utilizing a silent signal. Meet with the student privately and develop a discreet signal that will cue the student that his behavior has become disruptive or that he needs to return to task.

8. Focus on the behavior, not the student. When a student is being disruptive, correct them by focusing on the specific behavior that is bothering you, not the student’s global self (i.e., communicate that “what you did was wrong,” and not “you’re a bad student”).

9. Catch them being good! Reinforcement of positive behavior is generally more effective than punishment of bad behavior. Acknowledge and reinforce the student for good behavior (even if you have to really try to find something they’re doing well!)

10. Give immediate and frequent feedback when the student succeeds on a task or gives the task his/her best effort. Reinforce often, building the student’s self-confidence before moving on to more difficult tasks.

11. Use praise liberally, and minimize criticism. Try to consistently display a caring and supportive attitude towards the student. Recognize success, and praise him/her sincerely.

12. Inform parents of successes, not just negative behaviors. Make positive phone calls and send good notes home. Establish a positive working relationship with the child’s parents.

13. Provide visual reminders for the student. An example of a visual reminder could be an index card taped to the student’s desk that reads, “STOP, THINK, ACT” or “Raise your hand before speaking.”

14. Simplify and increase visual presentations. Use visual references for auditory instruction. For younger students, picture schedules or picture prompts may be particularly effective.

15. Teach the student organizational skills. Teach the student to use lists and organizational notebooks/folders. Many students will not know how to effectively use these tools unless the skills are directly taught.

16. Color-code the student’s materials to help him/her stay organized.

17. Divide long-term assignments into segments. Use a calendar to specify when each segment should be completed. 18. Alter activities when no success is being made on a task.

19. Repeat instructions often. After presenting directions, ask the student to repeat them back to you.

20. Seat the student away from any auditory distractions, such as heaters, air conditioners, etc. Attempt to have any visual or auditory distractions in the room placed behind the student.

21. Seat the student with positive peer models. Use cooperative learning groups or peer tutoring as feasible/appropriate.

22. Schedule more complex assignments for the morning hours.

23. Allow discretionary motor breaks. Overly active students often show improvement in their behavior when allowed to take brief “movement breaks.” Allow the student to leave his/her seat and walk quietly around the room if the student is feeling particularly fidgety. If motor breaks within the classroom prove to be too distracting, consider allowing the student to leave the classroom briefly to get a drink of water or to walk up and down the hallway.

24. Allow “attention” breaks. Contract with the student to give him/her short breaks to engage in a preferred activity each time that he has finished a certain amount of work. For example, a student may be allowed to look at a favorite comic book for 2 minutes each time that he has completed five problems on a math worksheet and checked his answers. Attention breaks can refresh the student –and also make the learning task more reinforcing.

25. Use activity rewards for improvement such as running an errand, erasing the board or arranging chairs.

26. Teach students to “echo” information just heard in their minds, so that he/she can remember the important facts. When providing instruction, allow time for students to do so.

27.Allow for student choice. Whenever possible, give the student a choice of activities/assignments. If they have 2 assignments to complete, tell them both assignments must be completed, but allow them to choose the order in which to do the work.

28. Teach the student to slow down and reflect. The student must learn to control his/her impulses, scan and select relevant cues, and ignore distractions. Self-verbalization and modeling are two methods that may be effective in teaching these strategies. a. Self-verbalization. Teach the student to verbally command him/herself to “Stop” and “Think.” Again, visual cues on the student’s desk may be helpful. Encourage the student to talk to him/herself while solving a problem whenever practical. b. Modeling. Sit the student next to peers who are more self- reflective, so that he/she may imitate their behavior. Arrange a “buddy system” in which a peer assists the student.

29. Develop a written contract with the student in which tasks, behaviors, and consequences are specified. Be sure to include the student in the development of the contract, especially in regards to rewards that may be earned.

30. Teach the student to monitor his/her own behavior. Have the student keep track of the number of times he/she calls out in class (or whatever the target behavior may be). Alternatively, cue the student at set intervals (e.g., every 10 minutes, every 30 minutes – the time period will depend on the severity of the behavior). When you cue the student, have him/her mark down whether or not he was paying attention at that moment. Later, review the student’s assessment of his own behavior with him. This will help the student recognize the severity of the behavior. Set modest goals with the student – if today they were on-task 10 of 20 times, challenge them to be on-task 12 of 20 times tomorrow.

31. Encourage parents to set up an appropriate study space at home, with routines established as far as set times for study, parental review of completed homework, and periodic notebook and/or backpack organization. 32. Ignore mild fidgetiness. Selective ignoring can be an effective teacher response to minor fidgeting or other motor behaviors. If the student’s fidgety behaviors are relatively minor and do not seriously derail classroom instruction, the teacher should simply not pay attention to them.

33. Remove unnecessary items from the student’s work area. Students who tend to distract themselves and others by playing with objects behave better when their work area is uncluttered. Remove any items that the student does not need for the work assignment but might be tempted to play with (e.g. extra pencils, paper clips, etc.).

34. Utilize the “Rubber Band Plan.” For this intervention, place up to six rubber bands on one wrist during an activity. Each time you have to verbally remind or prompt the student about his/her behavior, transfer one rubber band to the other wrist. If at least one rubber band is left at the end of the activity period, reward the student with a point. Establish a number of points necessary for the student to obtain a prize. Gradually reduce the number of rubber bands used at the beginning of each monitoring period.

35. Utilize a point card or “Daily Progress Report.” a. Point cards can be an effective way to monitor and improve student behavior. Typically, point cards work best if they are broken down into smaller segments of the student’s day. In addition, point cards are generally more effective when they target fewer behaviors; I recommend choosing no more than 3 behaviors of greatest concern. When addressing these behaviors, be sure to word them in positive terms – e.g., “I raised my hand before speaking” rather than “I didn’t call out.” If you are interested in implementing a point card with one of your students, I would be happy to draw one up for you! b. When using a point card, it is important to discuss with the student where they both earned and lost points. Some key questions to discuss with the student may include, “What did you do today to earn your pluses (smiley faces, etc.)?” and “What can you do tomorrow to earn fewer zeroes?” Again, keep goals modest and attainable – if the student had 5 zeroes today, ask him if he can work toward having only 4 zeroes tomorrow. In addition, utilize the “check mark” (or straight face) when attempting to get a student back on task. When first using the point card, both pluses and checks are desirable – the student is simply working toward not having zeroes. If the student is starting to act out, remind him/her, “Right now you are losing points, because you are calling out. If you get yourself together, you can still earn a check rather than a zero.”

36. Challenge the student to use a timer. This strategy may work best with older students. In this intervention, the student is given a small timer to keep at their desk. Before beginning an assignment, ask the student how long they think it will take them to complete the task. Then challenge the student to time himself and to finish it in that time period. If the student cannot judge how long an assignment should take on his/her own, you can also tell the student, “This worksheet should take you ten minutes to do. Time yourself and see if you can finish it in ten minutes!” This strategy can be effective for students who do not complete their work in a timely manner, as well as students who tend to rush through their work. If the student typically rushes, challenge him/her to take ten minutes or longer to complete the task.

If you have any questions about any of the strategies or interventions listed here, please do not hesitate to ask me! I would be happy to clarify or assist you in implementing any of these recommendations.