Due to attention problems, children with ADHD cannot listen adequately to lessons at school, cannot study efficiently at home, and may make mistakes in their exams. These children's negative and constant criticism and their decreasing academic success negatively affect their self-confidence over time. The fact that the way courses are presented, assignments, examination systems and other assessment tools are not suitable for these children further increases the existing difficulties. As a result, even if they have normal or above-normal intelligence, the school success of these children cannot reach a level compatible with their capacities.
ADHD is related to the malfunctioning of the centers in the brain that control attention and behavior. The child's behavior is not due to spoiledness, disrespect, or the parent's inability to provide adequate discipline. The reason why these children "know what to do but cannot do what they know" is because the behavior control system in the brain does not work well. Teachers' approaches and teaching styles towards these children are the most important factor for their success.
TYPES OF LEARNING IN CHILDREN WITH ADHD
For children with ADHD, movement does not impair learning. On the contrary, it is necessary for learning. Behaviors such as playing with the pen, fidgeting, scribbling, or holding any object in the hand during the lesson help the student to maintain a higher level of mental alertness; so the student listens better and works on the task. If these children's small movements do not disrupt their learning, these behaviors should not be prevented. Assigning these children to activities that require minimal passivity in the classroom yields positive results. Children with ADHD are often visual learners or kinesthetic learners (by doing). They cannot learn easily in traditional lessons that require passive listening to their teachers. They need more activities that include visual clues to cope with skills such as mathematics, summary writing, and book narration. Children with ADHD may be innovative, intuitive and have different learning styles. The efforts made by teachers to diversify learning types yield very positive results.
CHANGING TEACHING METHODS AND RESOURCES
Use of visual-verbal clues and reminders: Expression using pictures is much more effective than narration using only words.
Making visual presentations about the subject being taught: It will be very instructive for the teacher to present the subject visually to these children. Using an overhead projector or other reflectors, being more face to face with the class, and using colored pencils to show important information are effective.
Keeping important information about the subject on the board throughout the lesson: If important information is always placed in the same place on the board, students will know where to find it. It is more appropriate to grade information with numbers rather than letters of the alphabet.
Key words related to the subject should remain in a visible place: Key words should be displayed on the board, on posters, or in a place easily visible in the classroom, as long as that subject is being studied. Posters are important visual reminders. Students can visualize the poster during the exam. Various pictures enable the student to memorize the subject more easily.
Using graphic organizers: Graphs facilitate the visualization of concepts, the concretization of abstract concepts and remembering.
Minimizing passive learning where only verbal transmission is used: The most quickly forgotten information is the information obtained passively by listening. Even if the topic being taught is interesting, students cannot constantly focus their attention on listening. Teachers use approximately 100–200 words per minute. Even a child who can actively focus his attention can only listen to 50–100 words per minute. In addition, research shows that while 70% of students' attention is captured in the first 10 minutes, this rate drops to 20% in the last 10 minutes. If these children are only passive listeners, they cannot activate their own potential for their own learning and active learning cannot occur.
Active use of learning methods
Use of question and answer
Brainstorming usage
Teaching review skills: He can be made to look at the capitalized titles of each chapter, the texts under the pictures, and the summaries at the end of the chapter. .
Using pair learning
Having two students teach each other
Using group response: The teacher removes a student with the correct answer. He or she can then use the “chorus answer” by having everyone repeat the correct answer. It is a method that gives students with ADHD less opportunity to daydream and wander their minds elsewhere.
THINGS TO DO ABOUT NOTE-TAKING AND WRITING IN CLASSES:
Of all the academic skills, the most difficult area for children with ADHD is writing. Classical exams and written assignments are the tasks they avoid the most. More test-based exams and computer-based homework assignments are effective.
Tips that will make note-taking easier can be taught: Using abbreviations for commonly used words increases the speed of note-taking.
Main points can be identified: Tell the student, “This is important, save it.” A warning is given.
They can take notes in two columns: The main idea is written in the first column, and details about the main idea are written in the second column.
Note-taking may be reduced: For these children, both listening and taking notes are a difficult task. When writing, they do not focus on what is taught in class. Giving the student guide lecture notes may reduce the need for note-taking.
ARGMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE REGARDING HOMEWORK
To show that the student's effort is taken into account Homework should be collected, checked and discussed. Learning by giving opportunities to students' creativity It should enrich students' experiences and encourage students to research.
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These children can finish a homework that other children would take 1 hour to complete in at least twice the time. The teacher can change the amount of homework or the content of the homework according to the difference, taking into account the approximate completion time of a homework and how long it takes a child with ADHD to finish that homework.
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Reducing written homework for these children. It is very important for. Ways to reduce written homework:
1. Mathematics problems or questions are not asked to be rewritten from the book, only the answers are written. The aim is to check whether the student knows the answer, not whether he copied the question or not.
2.Instead of writing all the problems or sentences, the student is asked to fill in the gaps.
3.Creative activities can be given instead of written homework. He may be allowed to make a sound recording for a book narration, to paint a poem, or to build a model.
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Long-term projects and term papers can be divided into parts. Problems arise in long-term projects and assignments due to deficiencies in skills such as planning, implementing the plan and adjusting the time. The reason these kids take time with these assignments is because they become overwhelmed by large, multi-step projects.
1. The material to be read can be divided with colored paper clips according to the length of the section. Thus, the student sees how close he is to finishing.
2. Homework can be divided into sections. The student's assignments are divided into sections. When the student finishes, he takes a break.
3. Long-term assignments can be divided into sections and a separate date can be determined for each. The part of researching the term paper and collecting the necessary information, the part of writing it in draft form, and the dates when it will be delivered in its final form are determined from the beginning, and the student is guided and followed up in complying with these dates.
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Giving homework that teaches thinking improves the child's thinking skills and children with ADHD do these homework more willingly.
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If the homework is suitable for the child's speed and capacity, it is possible to produce quality studies.
REGULATIONS THAT CAN BE MADE REGARDING EXAMS
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They should be seated in the classroom where their attention will be least distracted and a calm environment should be provided during the exam.
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Exam questions should be prepared in understandable language, the predicate of the question can be given in a darker color and underlined.
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Classical exams that require recalling information without preparation are more difficult than exams that require recognizing information. For students with ADHD, test-style exams that stimulate memory are more suitable.
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Multiple choice or true-false questions can be asked, and word banks can be used. It is recommended to use word banks that contain 2 columns that require matching/comparing the correct answer. Since stored knowledge cannot be easily recalled, a word bank is a good way to accurately measure their knowledge. Words provide students with “visual prompts.”
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In classical exams, different question options may be offered that can replace each other. The child answers the question whichever he thinks he can do. For example, the question about the reading passage in Turkish class may have two different options.
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It is necessary to develop grading methods that do not penalize the student's learning problem.
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Students can earn extra points by completing studies or projects and correcting their mistakes in the exam. This method should especially be used with children who are at risk of slipping in the classroom. If possible, creative projects can be given that will earn points.
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PREVENTIVE APPROACHES FOR BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
You may think that you will be unfair to other students due to the approaches you apply to children with ADHD. In other words, the teaching methods you will apply for these children, the homework assignment approaches, the arrangements you will make regarding exams, etc. You can keep in mind that the changes will attract the attention of other children and that they may question this situation and want the same changes. However
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