Three Down!

February 26th, 2015: What modifications for learners who are exceptional do you see?

These last couple of weeks I have begun working with the few kids in my class who have a harder time staying focused and who sometimes throw tantrums. It has been interesting working with them. I work with them during their writers workshop time, which is when they are to be quiet and come up with "five finger" stories. Once they finish one, they just move onto another one. And this time is really difficult for the few boys I work with. My job is to silently, but so they know, watch them and keep reminding them to stay on task. They are so easily distracted by everything that is going on around them. If one person raises their hand to ask a question, it throws my boys off and they are all of a sudden just staring into space. Or if you tell one of them to get busy on their paper, sometimes it just makes him have a tantrum. 

Just a couple of weeks ago, the teacher I work with came up with an idea to start giving them one gummy bear if they are doing a good job during their writing time. So she would watch them and if they went a couple of minutes without needing reminding to stay on task, she would give the each a gummy bear. At first I wasn't too sure how all the other kids in the class would react, because gummy bears are awesome and they weren't getting any. But they were all so good about it. And the last couple of weeks since she started doing it, the three boys are doing so amazing! 

We also give the boys so many compliments. Randomly walking by and just saying, "Wow! I really appreciate that you boys are doing so well!" or, "Keep up the good work guys! I really love seeing how hard you work." And it really seems to boost their confidence and they want to keep impressing us. They are doing so great but it is also a struggle to keep them focused. With what we have been talking about ADHD this last module, has really stuck with me, because I help these kids, and it is nice to know different ways to help them out.