Instructional Facilitation and the ADHD student
The brain is a complex and powerful tool. It can be used for us or against us.
I am about to drop many brain bombs in this report!
Get ready for a teaching mindset explosion... in... 3... 2... 1...
Educators have not been trained with success strategies to leverage learning for classroom kiddos.
The result:
Maximum potential falls short.
NOT because of the student, because of the lack of teaching techniques that are required to extract and harness student brain power already within their minds.
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
BUT Maya Angelou...
When we know better, do better.
Is your school getting mediocre results?
I bet you have been trying to find the 'perfect program' or textbook or resource.
Well, it doesn't exist.
The solution:
Instructional delivery techniques that target neuroscience to improve memory and understanding for students with ANY program, textbook or current resource.
We have been missing the 'secret sauce' which is an understanding of how the brain ACTUALLY learns. and it's NOT what you think...
Schools are getting counter-productive results at the cost of spent money, hard work and valuable time.
There are simple steps to open up access to content for our struggling learners with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and ADHD.
The ADHD brain actually has MORE focus than the typical brain.
YES... true fact!
Instructional experiences in the classroom work AGAINST how the ADHD brain learns.
Reverse these effects with these 3 secret, counter-intuitive teaching techniques:
Secret #1: Automate Optional Switch-Tasking
Too often we try to simplify student focus by targeting ONE idea or skill.
We work to 'settle down' the ADHD brain instead of using its natural abilities.
Our instructional delivery forces unruly, non-regulated behaviors because our expectations are conformity and compliance.
We may believe that the opposite of compliance is anarchy and that's just not true. We can correct behaviors by providing supports for the 'jumpy brain' and increase learning and engagement.
How?
One of the greatest motivation triggers for humans is autonomy.
Daniel Pink says in his book Drive that autonomy, or the free-will to have a select choices that offer self-direction
Autonomy is the key to motivation
Motivation is the key to interest
Interest is the key to focus, flow and productivity
Once the desire is triggered, students can easily self-direct and regulate their focus and achieve flow.
Flow is the state of 'being in the zone' where time speeds up or slows down and when athletes perform at their peak.
Our brains and bodies are capable of flow (hyper-focus) with the right trigger. How can schools leverage this technique?
In mathematics this looks like ONE Stimulus, but with many layers and levels which provide options, choices and autonomy.
A Stimulus is anything that stimulates thinking reasoning and sense-making (NOT answer-getting and solving).
A Stimulus triggers curiosity, creativity and wonder which leads to focus and flow and getting 'in the zone.'
This brain state is now ready for increased memory, learning and achievement.
A Stimulus can be a picture, symbol, story, situation, a number, an equation, or a video.
The key is to remove any prompt or question that leads to answer-getting or solving.
Answer-getting and solving are essential in mathematics, but are the exact actions that deter interest for our ADHD students.
It's a 'catch 22' situation because we want students to be mathematically fluent with solving and answer-getting, but solving and answer-getting are the exact opposite triggers for brain focus for ADHD math strugglers.
By beginning lessons with a Stimulus, we will lead student to answer-getting and solving but AFTER interest and focus have been achieved.
A Stimulus is the key to harnessing deep focus for all students! Here's an example: A pizza company makes square pizzas That's it!
A situation with no prompt or question that leads to answer-getting and solving and creates an avenue for student choice, voice and autonomy.
How?
The automated facilitation technique that requires no additional planning or prep for the teacher but produces amazing results of interest, focus, curiosity and creativity for students is the following process:
Give the Stimulus (Pizza Problem)
Use my favorite 3 words to prompt students to think, reason and sense-make... Tell me about... this pizza situation
Other prompts that can be used for other stimulus when appropriate are: What do you see? and ... What do you notice?
An additional prompt that allows for creativity and interest is asking students 'What math questions can you create?
BOOM!! So... Secret #1: Automate Optional Switch-Tasking
Through delivery of a Stimulus (and more examples to come!) and facilitating through perspective prompts...
What do you see? Notice? Tell me about? What math questions can you create?
We will trigger the ADHD jumpy brain and capture it's abilities to gain peak performance. Secrets #2 and #3 coming soon to your inbox!!
Want to learn more
Register below for the course.
Course Curriculum
Jonily Zupancic
Jonily Zupancic is achievement-ready, breaking mathematical barriers for struggling students through unique lesson design and delivery structures. As the founder of Minds On Math, she has dedicated the past 24 years to creating rich, differentiated, engaging mathematical classroom experiences to maximize math achievement. Through brain-based, multi-sensory techniques all ability levels of students including gifted, dyscalculic, at-risk and typical are mathematically stimulated improving memory, retention of content and gains reaching their next learning level.
