Cathy Boerner LTM 631

Response Paper 4: Classwide Interventions for Students with ADHD

A synopsis of the article. What are the main ideas? The article e!ins y e"#lainin! the enefits of classwide interventions versus individual interventions$ Classwide interventions refer to usin! %ethods for hel#in! children with ADHD that can e used a%on! all of the students$ As descri ed in the article& these interventions %i!ht loo' li'e reward syste%s for !ood ehavior& incor#oratin! choice instruction& and e%#loyin! co%#uters in the classroo%$ If teachers are a le to use classwide interventions that will enefit children with ADHD while also enefittin! the entire class& teachers are creatin! a less(disru#tive classroo% with strate!ies that are easier to use on a daily asis and the #articular students with ADHD won)t e sin!led out fro% the rest of the class$ The first of these interventions is called *Contin!ency Mana!e%ent+$ This refers to a##lyin! #ositive and ne!ative conse,uences to students) ehaviors$ Teachers #rovide #ositive reinforce%ent for a##ro#riate ehavior and %i!ht have a syste% of re%ovin! a reward if a contin!ency is not %et$ Studies show that this intervention %odel wor'sshowin! increased student ti%e on tas's& decreased hy#eractivity& and increased co%#liance to directions$ The teacher enefits fro% this %odel ecause she can use it to %ana!e lar!e !rou#s at once$ To affectively use this %odel& teachers need to clearly define the e"#ectations& identify the reward and e"#lain when the reward will e received$

Thera#y Balls are another for% of classwide intervention that can !reatly enefit children with ADHD as well as the rest of the class$ Instead of chairs& children sit on !y% alls& which allow for fluid and constant %ove%ent while #erfor%in! tas's$ The alls hel# children with ADHD stay focused on tas's or activities while havin! a way to e"ert their ener!y& leadin! to !reater attention$ The draw ac' to i%#le%entin! this intervention as a classwide %odel is that it would e e"#ensive and #ro a ly not realistic for schools to su##ly alls to all the students$ Self(Monitorin! is usually used as an individual intervention& ut it can also e affective if used as a classwide ehavioral strate!y$ The students rate their own ehavior and co%#are it to their teacher)s ratin!s$ Initially there is a reward !iven to students whose ratin!s co%#ly with those of the teachers$ .ventually the teacher)s ratin! and su se,uent reward is faded out as the students learn to accurately assess his or herself$ Ideally students will feel inde#endently res#onsi le for their ehavioral and acade%ic success throu!h the use of this intervention$ /eer(Monitorin! is the #rocess of !ivin! students the tas' of %onitorin! the ehavior of the entire class$ Students identify and reinforce the class)s #ositive ehavior and #oint out ehavior that isn)t acce#ta le$ Instructional Choice lets the students have so%e decision(%a'in! a ility within the teacher)s set of chosen tas's$ The student can choose a su 0ect to e!in with and1or the order of tas's to co%#lete$ This leads to student en!a!e%ent and a feelin! that the students have an authentic choice in their learnin!$ Classwide /eer Tutorin! is the #rocess of #airin! u# students and havin! the% ta'e turns tutorin! each other$ This #rovides the students with i%%ediate feed ac' and a

%ore inti%ate learnin! settin!$ So%eti%es teachers create a contest around the #eer tutorin! interventions& deter%inin! a winnin! #air of students at the end of the tutorin! session$ Instructional Modification is the #rocess of %odifyin! assi!n%ents and tas's to etter suit individual students$ Learners with ADHD can enefit fro% this ecause they can e !iven fewer #ro le%s to wor' on& therefore !ivin! the% a tas' that they are a le to stay focused on$ /rovidin! fre,uent deadlines is another instructional %odification that can !reatly enefit an entire class$ Teachers often see #ositive results when assi!n%ents are ro'en u# into a series of s%aller tas's& each with their own due date$ Co%#uter(Assisted Instruction e%#loys educational software to en!a!e students in learnin! activities$ The software #rovides %ore e"#osure to the %aterial and offers i%%ediate feed ac'$ Studies have shown that co%#uter assisted instruction has een #articularly affective with i%#rovin! students) %ath #erfor%ance$ Practical applications of special education interventions/strategies and how you might use these in your current or future classroom. Reflect on your beliefs regarding the intervention or strategy. ell me why you thin! this strategy/intervention would wor! or not wor! in your classroom. "s this an intervention or strategy you could use with all your students? I thin' the Contin!ency Model %i!ht wor' in the short(ter%& ut the reward syste% %i!ht not have lon!(ter% effects$ I feel li'e the novelty of the reward %i!ht wear off after so%e ti%e or the students) natural develo#%ental ehaviors will co%e ac' after the contin!ency %odel ein! used !ets dull or routine$ I)ve seen the thera#y all wor' in the 'inder!arten classroo% I a% currently o servin!$ The intervention isn)t classwide& there is only one all that one !irl uses durin! all activities that occur on the car#et$ I would e inclined to assu%e that this

would lead to the other students feelin! disadvanta!ed fro% not !ettin! to sit on a all$ I only e!an o servin! the classroo% after school was all ready %idway throu!h so I didn)t !et to see the initial incor#oration of the all$ 2ro% what I)ve een a le to o serve the students don)t a##ear concerned with the all$ 3hen they !ather on the car#et the desi!nated !irl !oes to the all and sits and sli!htly %oves around on the all while it is stationed on a round #latfor% so it doesn)t roll away$ It see%s !reatly effective$ I)ve noticed that this !irl is inclined to ADHD ehavior 4althou!h I haven)t een told if she is5 ut when she sits on the all she see%s less disru#tive and %ore content$ I thin' Self(Monitorin!& 0ust li'e the Contin!ency Model %i!ht wear off after awhile or once the teacher)s reward had fades out$ This syste% %i!ht e !ood for short( ter% chan!e& ut I fear students %i!ht re!ress as the school year %oves on$ 2or youn! children I thin' it %i!ht not e develo#%entally a##ro#riate to as' for an accurate assess%ent of the%selves$ I notice at this a!e children usually elieve what they are doin! is not a #ro le%& or at least they don)t co!nitively understand why it their ehavior is not acce#ta le$ At the youn!er a!e& children are still learnin! what !ood ehavior loo's li'e and to e !iven rewards for what the teacher #erceives as !ood ehavior %i!ht lead students ein! %otivated to ehave or #erfor% tas's only for the reward$ 6nce the reward fades out& the students %i!ht feel li'e they are doin! so%ethin! wron! or wonder why the teacher isn)t !ivin! the% as %uch attention$ I thin' /eer(Monitorin! %i!ht lead to so%e disru#tive issues if used in a lon!( ter% settin!$ The 'inder!artners in the class I a% o servin! tend to already #oint out when another student isn)t doin! so%ethin! they are su##osed to$ I don)t see the% #ointin! out other student)s #ositive ehaviors$ I elieve that at this a!e& children are 0ust

learnin! to a##reciate their #eers successes and !ood ehavior$ I would e leery of usin! this intervention for a youn! classroo% ecause it %i!ht inadvertently #ro%ote children to ta'e on a * oss+ roll or a * ad student+ roll$ I would e afraid that the ad ehavior would e #ointed out %uch %ore than the !ood ehavior and this would lead to an unwanted result$ I thin' Instructional Choice is a hi!hly affective and develo#%entally a##ro#riate %odel for any a!e classroo%$ Allowin! students to have so%e choice !ives the% a %ore authentic learnin! e"#erience$ I thin' this %ethod can enefit all students& es#ecially learners with ADHD ecause it is i%#ortant for learners with ADHD to have #ersonal interest in what tas's they #erfor%$ It is eneficial also for students elieve their teacher thin's they are ca#a le of %a'in! !ood learnin! choices on their own$ The Classwide /eer Tutorin! %odel is a !ood strate!y for students to uild self( efficacy as while hel#in! another student with their ho%ewor'$ The %ore they can o serve their a ility to hel# another student with a tas' the %ore they will reali7e they are ca#a le of #erfor%in! the sa%e tas's$ I would not want %a'e this a ehavioral strate!y that is %otivated y a reward or *winnin!+ tea%$ I would want to incor#orate classwide #eer tutorin! as a nor%al #art of %y classroo%)s functionin!$ In older classroo%s& this intervention strate!y could have so%e downfalls& leadin! to disru#tive ehavior or students not stayin! on tas' while they are #aired to!ether$ Instructional Modification %i!ht e one the est interventions offered in the article$ I %i!ht feel this way ecause it is the %ost #ersonal intervention& addressin! the s#ecific a ilities of each student$ I i%a!ine this strate!y would e hard to %aintain as a classwide intervention$ I thin' it would e i%#ortant for the teacher to e very consistent

and s#ecific of what is e"#ected of the students when usin! instructional %odifications$ 2or e"a%#le& rea'in! a lar!e assi!n%ent into a series of s%aller tas's is a !reat strate!y$ The due dates for each tas' would need to e very clear so as not to !ive students the #erce#tion that the entire assi!n%ent isn)t due until a later ti%e& therefore there isn)t %uch #ersonal %otivation for co%#letin! each tas' at earlier dates$ 2or s#ecific acade%ic areas such as %ath& I thin' Co%#uter(Assisted Instruction is a !reat intervention strate!y that can e i%#le%ented classwide$ In %y first o servation with a second !rade classroo%& the students too' turns usin! the class co%#uters durin! inde#endent ti%e$ I noticed that while the students were wor'in! at the co%#uter they a##eared focused& en!a!ed and on tas'$ As with all interventions& I a% learnin! the i%#ortance of havin! strate!ies for assistin! children with e"ce#tionalities that can e #erfor%ed classwide$ 3hile individual interventions are crucial ecause they)re %ore #ersonal and #rovide students with %ore one(on(one ti%e with their teacher& it a##ears %ore attaina le for a teacher to find ways to use interventions for the whole class$ Doin! so would ena le students with s#ecific needs to feel #art of the !rou#& not havin! to e #ulled away and sin!led out fro% class activities$