The Philosophy Behind The Little Resource

In my experiences as a classroom teacher, resource teacher, and parent of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I have found that most educators continue to view this disorder from a clinical or medical perspective, concentrating on student inabilities and differences.   As a result, educators tend to look for individualized programming ideas to support students with ADHD in inclusive classrooms.  Teachers are quick to refer students to Special Education services, looking for “fixes” to help make students with ADHD perform like the rest of the class.

In high school, in my experiences, individualization of programming for students with ADHD appears to be the norm.  In fact, many of the students with ADHD with whom I have worked are either modified with Individual Education Plans, or have their own Individual Behaviour Plans.  Rarely do classroom teachers adapt their teaching styles or classroom management techniques to accommodate these individual students.

Because I have a child of my own with ADHD entering the realm of high school, as well as having a number of students in my current classes who have been diagnosed with ADHD and who really do not respond to being singled out for adaptations or individualization, I wanted to develop classroom supports for high school programs which could be implemented with entire classes.   Time and time again I hear from students that they don’t want to be doing anything differently from their classmates, despite the effect this might have on their academic outcomes.

As a result, I have put together a number of academic and cognitive-behavioural resources and programs that classroom high school teachers can utilize across whole classes to support students with ADHD, as well as to provide support for other students.  The majority of the strategies fall under the umbrella of Differentiated Instruction, which is considered to be best practice for teachers.  Most of these strategies are available elsewhere on the web, but a great deal of time is required to research and find them.  The time it takes to find and implement different strategies is one of the biggest deterrents to using effective interventions.

Using class-wide academic and cognitive-behavioural strategies for adolescents with ADHD will help to support their educational needs, while allowing them to be independent and anonymous.  Additionally, these strategies will support other at-risk students within the classroom environment and teach all students valuable skills to support their learning in the future.

Masters Project Completion Certificate