The skills of "staying focused longer to the right task" are important to teach ADHD students so that they can be successful in school, and later in their careers. Here are some tips to help ADHD students One of main characteristics of students with ADHD is the difficulty with sustaining attention on tasks over time. In other words, they get bored very easily, even by you.
1. Promote time on task, never time off task. Take time to catch the student being on task and working hard. Reward him or her with a simple smile or pat on the back. Doing this consistently, will see the attention span, or time on task, increase throughout the school year, making life easier in the long run.
2. ADHD students will respond better to situations they find stimulating and engaging. Varying the instructional medium and pace will help sustain the attention deficit student's interest.
3. ADHD students would probably find lessons that emphasise "hands-on" activities highly engaging.
4. Keeping the time required for sustained attention to a task balanced with more active learning will improve your attention deficit student's performance. Changes in instructor's voice level and variation in word-pacing will also increase his attention during instruction.
5. Break long tasks into a series of shorter "sprints." Same amount of work, just organised differently so that they can work with focus, rest for a few seconds and see how they did, then work again.
6. Ask the attention deficit student how long he or she thinks it would take to perform a certain task. Let them set their own time and race against a timer.
7. Stress accuracy instead of quantity of work. Mastery of a subject is really what you want as a teacher anyway.
8. Computers are great for 1 on 1 work and immediate feedback. Students with attention deficit disorder can stay focused on computers for longer than written work due to the direct feedback given by a computer.
9. Combine your verbal directions along with illustrations or demonstrations of what you want your students to do. The more ways you use to describe what you want your ADHD students to do, the greater likelihood that they will actually do it.
10. Attention deficit students will be more successful when given directions one step at a time. When a series of instructions are given, retention beyond the first direction is difficult. Minor adjustments on the part of the teacher in giving directions will help the ADHD student a great deal. Proximity is an issue when giving directions. The nearer you are to the ADHD student, the greater the chance that he will be listening closely.