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Ask for help > suggestion about ADHD please
suggestion about ADHD please
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lizsantiago
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suggestion about ADHD please
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OHH i am so desperate! i have been teaching for 12 yrs so what i am about to say is not knew to me but i am out of ideas. the thing is that i have a 3rd grade of 24 students. the classroom where i teach them is another �s teacher, this teachers is always changing the student �s desks and she usually have them sit side by side making it easier for them to talk and impossible for me to go around the room to supervise students, the classrom is so full of things like old computers that she doesnt use, tables, books, closets, etc that i cant barely walk without tripping. aside from all these, i have 16 student in the group (can you imagine? more than half of the group) with ADD and 11 of them have hyperactivity, six of them are hyperactive to a point that can make a teacher want to jump from a second floor. to make the story short, out of the 16 only 2 are medicated, the others are always making noises, singing, talking either with another student or alone, murmuring, using pencils as airplanes or cars (making of course the sound effects), etc.. i am getting to my house everyday with almost no voice, trying to speak over their noises. i spend most of the time calling their name trying to make them look at me and pay attention. i have two 3rd grades and what i teach in one class to the other group, takes me 3 classes with the other. is almost impossible to make games, use ppts, and give a class. i tried changing seats, puttting the noisiest next to me, giving them points for behavior, taking them points, sending them notes to the parents, i even talked to the physical ed teacher to take the best behave to the patio to play as a reward once a week during my class, giving them little toys as rewards. NOTHING WORKS! and i mean NOTHING HAS WORKED! i have to say that for the very first time in my life i hate everyday to go to that classroom. what else can i do? how can i stop them from making noise when is a condition they have and cant control? i cant keep loosing my voice and i a afraid of getting calluses on my vocal cords, i used to be a soprano in a chorus and now i cant even sing .. at all. aside from all of these, they are not getting good grades.
desperately seeking HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!! |
8 Apr 2011
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calixa2
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Dear lizsantiago, Why don �t you try meditation at the beginning of your periods. It ill be good for them, but for you as well. Hang in there! Here are two links: |
8 Apr 2011
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carinita
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Hi, Liz
Yes, from time to time I shout at primary students...but you know what?? Last Wednesday I tried just LOOKING at my students in the 5th grade and showing a dissaproving face. Instead of shouting I just expressed my dissaproval with my face and it was utterly much more effective than shouting...
I advice you to give it a try I �m also new as a teacher of kids I hope we can keep in touch
P.S I think I understand what you feel  |
8 Apr 2011
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lizsantiago
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calixa ty nice links
carinita i have done that and i loose more time doing that  |
8 Apr 2011
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roneydirt
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@ calixa Now if the meditation is to help her calm down before she goes to class... well ok, but if it is for the students then that is as good as the "Love and Logic" crap. No good and only makes it worst. I loved it when some teachers tried to use that stuff on my students, they got ate alive, including the specialist whose focus was meditation for ADD books and the co-promoters of the Love and Logic books.
Have you discuss with the regular teacher and the Principal of the school the situation? Is there a specialist in the school working with these students? One of the questions should be finding out the special needs students focus point. In real ADD students they have an element or something that brings them back to focus on what is being done. Next if the class is as messed up as you said that also causes lost of focus and is also a physical danger, so should be cleaned up. Since your in Puerto Rico there are some US rules because Puerto Rico is an US territory, like if the class has such a large ADD population there is suppose to be a teacher �s aid at all times for the special need students especially if there are severe cases. (Granted if the Federal budget isn �t fixed that funding might not be there.) Might have to redesign short burst lessons changing every 5 minutes between activities mixing in physical activities that keep things changing but still teaching what needs to be taught, but it needs to be set up in a consistant method as a routine so students know what is next. I would also see if there are any of the parents able to come as volunteers to help in the class. Now there is also the old military drill that works as well but don �t know if you want to be that strict.
On the throat, hot water with honey and lemon mixed in it. |
8 Apr 2011
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Zora
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Hi Liz,
My mom was just telling me the other day about my one cousin who is very hard to keep under control as his mother was taking crack when he was conceived. Now, she was telling me that EVERYDAY he comes home with a note from the teacher about him not sitting down, talking in class, standing on chairs, etc... very hard to control... but my mom �s sister, his grandmother, can usually make this child more-or-less behave. Naveed, the name of the little devil, likes to help out, do things to help out his cousins who are his age also and, well, this got me to thinking that maybe, you could put all your students in groups, give the groups names like "The Super Squirrels", The Amazing Ants" and then, within the groups assign a leader each day and give them and their groups tasks to do in English.
Do not worry about the noise too much. It �s hard to control this type of student and honestly, they can �t really help it... so use this energy to your advantage and, in a way, just let them teach themselves. Let them have fun and they might surprise you and really start enjoying class and wanting to learn.
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8 Apr 2011
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carinita
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I agree with Zora If they are noisy, it doesn �t mean they are bad |
8 Apr 2011
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lizsantiago
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roney, yes i talked to the principal and the social worker they have done NOTHING, aboutthe classroom , this teacher has been like that for years, and she refuses to clean the classroom. about fundings, thats a no also. any more ideas? |
8 Apr 2011
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Daisee
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How many times per week do you take this class?
How long is each lesson that you do? |
8 Apr 2011
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edrodmedina
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Hi Liz. You have yor work cut out for you. You �ve had some good suggestions. Like Ron mentioned keping the lessons short or rather breaking them up into short chunks and havingthe students move and be physical can help. Having teams is also a good idea. You group the teams and have them chooe a name so that they have ownership of the team but make sure you choose the team name pool so that they don �t give themselves outrageous names. I assign a dferent tea leader on a weekly basis and that studenis in charge of getting materials and passing the stuff out. He is also in charge of marking teams points. I made a rectangular chart half the size of a standard sheet of paper and it has numbers 1 through ten around the perimeter and the team name with student signatures or student pictures orthe team mascot in the center. When I catch the team behaving properly or cooperating I tell the leader to gitve the team a point. I also give individual points so that sometimes even if theteam as whole isn �t behaving but one or two students stand out they get rewarded. When the team has accumulated 10 points the points are distributed to the team. Since I have little ones and am trying to get them to learn to use money the points I give are coins fake I got at the dollar store and they have to be able to add and exchange the different coins pennies for nickles, nickles for dimes etc. at the end of he week I allow the student to buy things that I �ve pre-priced (you can make the prices whatever you want (50cents for a pencil for instance, a nickle for a sticker and so on). If you this make sure you let the students know why they are getting thepoints so others can try and copy thegood behavior. I hope this helps. Ed |
8 Apr 2011
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MapleLeaf
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Try to get them busy with tactile activities. It really helped in my class. Arrange the activities and give them a choice to pick one. They can do it for hours. The circle time or any any kind of explanation didn �t really work for this students. They either were sitting not participating at all or were rather distruptive. In a big class in public school we usually have a special need teacher for one student. Since I worked in a private school and there were only 7 kids in my class, the tactile Montessori activities really saved me in that situation. |
8 Apr 2011
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