If I have a short attention span or ADHD, how can I focus for a lesson?

Question

Many students these days face a similar problem, and from my experience, large classrooms are not conductive to these learners. Typically each subject is studied for 1 hour or more before moving on to the next. How can we adapt as educators to make sure everybody can work to their full potential? If you relate to these problems, let me know what helps you!

Answer 1

I am an occupational therapist who specifically works with students and individuals with ADHD on enhancing their executive functioning skills (focus included). I tell my clients all the time to time block and work in chunks to assess their attention span limit but also use that information as a means to expand over time. For example, maybe you set 1 15-20 min timer, giving yourself a 3-5 min break before continuing. For this approach, I love the use of a pomodoro timer.

I also think how you process sensory information is important. I assess all of my clients with a sensory profile to gain further information. For example, if you have an increase in the area of movement seeking, a tool to provide additional input while you sit can be helpful (vibrating pillow, tactile foot rest, etc). It gives the body the input needed while allowing you to engage and focus longer.

Answer 2

Hello;

Achieving and maintaining a group of students attention on a topic is a challenge for any educator--elementary, high school, or graduate. Whether the course is in-person or online, sustaining engagement is a responsibility that the educator must take on.

Large classrooms allow students to sink into invisibility. Educators can take steps to ensure that students remain seen and engage in the topic. Here are a few of my strategies for teachers:

1. Say, "I am going to call on you during this lesson" at the start of the lesson. This alone perks up the majority of students and sets the expectation that their engagement is expected.
2. Ask a low threat opinion or yes/no question that does not have a wrong answer in order to break the ice. "Have you ever heard of _______?" If "no," then delve into introductory material. This can get the students speaking and engaging and gives the teacher the opportunity to thank them for their input which then encourages others to add more later as the course unfolds.
3. Use a prop that draws attention or gives permission to answer. A nerf ball tossed to a student to identify them as OK'd to answer (but not others) is a way to have fun, yet limited, way to shape the conversation in a big group.
4. Walk around and look into each students eyes. This is a great way to identify who is with your class. A student who appears to be distant may be asked an opinion question to get them to speak up. Praising publicly a quiet student is a great way to communicate dignity & respect while acknowledging that speaking up in a class is something that isn't their style. Be approachable, transparent, and humble.
5. Give short exercises to cement the lesson. After engaging with lecture content for a short period, a video clip exercise followed by a low-threat paper quiz can help sustain engagement and also be a formative assessment for each student. Helps the teacher gauge their effectiveness and identify anyone who may be struggling with the material and require additional help.
6. Use a fun tool: Kahoot (kahoot.com) is a great, fun way to quiz students, allow them to compete, and solidify your lessons. The catchy music, screen names, and a smidge of creativity can help easily drive sustained engagement, improve scores, and help good teachers become great.

Strategies for students who may struggle with maintaining engagement during class include:

1. Sit close and have a desktop plan that works for you. For example, good pen + subject notebook + coffee = my desktop plan.
2. Write your notes on paper. Note taking is challenging, forces attention, and the translation from what is said (by the teacher) to what is written (by you) makes it your own words. In my experience, paper notes are more valuable to me than laptop notes. This is a matter of student preference, but go with a desktop plan that works and you can organize well.
3. Ask questions and engage with the teacher/professor. They get little feedback on how well they teach and engaged students with questions are a good way to help shape their approach. Use office hours.
4. Read the syllabus and understand the course description, objectives and, especially, the calendar and assessments.
5. Limit distractions at key times during class. Laptops & phones are great, until they're a distraction. Multiple tabs, notifications, beeps & buzzes rob your focus and degrade your performance.
6. Meet with another student who understands the material and talk about it. Peer tutoring is powerful. Get a real tutor for courses that are a real struggle for you. These may include chemistry, physics, or anatomy. Extra help can show unseen tips that a classroom would never reveal.
7. Take personal responsibility for the material. The learning is yours and "learning to learn" is a key life skill applicable to other areas beyond the class material. Each course may require a different mix of learning approaches tailored by you to maximize your attention and retention.

I hope that you find these suggestions helpful!

Dr. Theodore Croy

Answer 3

Brain breaks and movements that cross the body plane are helpful for learners who need attention support. A 1 hour lesson should include movement breaks every fifteen minutes, with structured guides for what movements are helpful; always keeping in mind accessible options, as well.

Adding a kinesthetic component to lessons can help, as well (i.e. - tossing a ball while reviewing vocabulary words).

Structure, routine, and patience are key components of a successfully managed classroom. When students know what to expect, they are better able to focus on the lesson.

Answer 4

Hello,

I can definitely relate to these problems as an educator with more than one decade's worth of experience teaching and tutoring students of all different ages who have short attention spans, ADHD, and other special needs.

I am a huge proponent of project-based learning. By designing lessons and curricula around student innovation rather than test-taking skills, students are able to contribute to their own everyday learning in many meaningful ways regularly that allow them to express and apply their expanding inner knowledge base in ways that feel both comfortable and challenging for them. Many special-needs students are highly creative people and their minds are typically moving a mile a minute even if the people around them can't/don't necessarily sense that reality externally.

Along those lines: differentiated instruction really comes into play here. Teaching different students different ways is key to helping them grow and reach their full potential at all times. Since the one-size-fits-all methodology of academic instruction is fading fast with every new generation of learners, the more creative a teacher can be with their everyday teaching, the more enjoyable and beneficial learning and corresponding output will appear for everyone involved on both the giving and receiving ends of things. Using a wide variety of learning and teaching resources that appeal to the visual, auditory, artistic, holistic, left- and right-brain wavelengths respectively can make for a much more well-rounded learning experience for one's pupils and helps to enhance academic diversity all the while in the long run. Music, educational media, and technology are essential tools in this regard. When mixing and mingling multiple meaningful means of teaching and learning together into a pot of highly enlightened wisdom, one gets results that allow effective application of learning like never before, leading to contentment on both the students' and teachers' parts, separately/individually and together.

Good luck with your teaching, and keep up the great work that you are already doing and have done too! Cheers! :)