The ADD Educator

Are you a teacher with ADD or ADHD?

Do you ever feel absolutely overwhelmed by your workload?

Do you just wish you could be everything your students AND whoever else you’re accountable to?

Is it all just too much sometimes?

Let me tell you a story: About two months ago, I was sitting in one of my semester-long Civics classes (admittedly kind of zoning out, but that’s part of ADD.) I had been racking my brain about one student in particular. You know this kid in your class. They’re the one that keeps you up at night. This kid was the one that when his name was mentioned, other teachers would roll their eyes and say “good luck getting anything out of him.” I entertained thoughts about what he could be if he could just do what’s asked of him.

He’s the kid that’s been labeled as lazy because he couldn’t do what was in front of him quickly enough to appease his other teachers. He couldn’t read, think, process, or move fast enough to appease his teachers before me. As a result, he was labeled almost instantly.

This kid has ADHD.

You probably think you know where this story is going…. keep reading anyway.

He wasn’t hyperactive, which made a lot of his teachers gloss over him. His ADHD manifested itself in incomplete assignments (no doubt a result of poor executive functioning,) which became a problem when it came time to submit grades.

He was sweet, loved metal and rap music, his family, and his pets. As a fellow pitbull owner, we often shared pictures and antecdotes about our fur babies. He was labeled as a bad influence because he had tattoos and multiple piercings (calm down guys. I teach high school.) He had a girlfriend. He loved video games, especially Fortnite. This student doesn’t talk like someone who is unmotivated and lazy. In fact, he talks about a mile a minute!

When I finally got the chance to talk to him about his grades, I learned that his mom didn’t have insurance, and the medication he had been prescribed was over $300 a month. She didn’t make him go without, though. He volunteered to not get his script filled because he knew the money could be spent on food or other necessities. He said, “how can I take all that money when my family is struggling?” When I say my heart broke, I mean it in every sense.

I felt for the kid. I almost cried. This kid wanted so badly to do well, but his brain quite literally won’t let him. His past teachers used that as a reason to dismiss him as lazy and dumb. I wanted to be different. I wanted to be what SO many of my teachers had been to me: caring, helpful, understanding, and willing to do whatever it took to help me succeed. To an ADHD kid, those qualities don’t go unnoticed.

So right then, we got to work. I talked to his Advisory teacher, and he agreed to let this kid come to my class during that time so he could get caught up on his work. We downloaded planner apps onto his school laptop, as well as used Google Calendar to input deadlines. In class, I would make sure that as soon as I gave him an assignment, he put in the deadline so he would remember. I kept on him about turning things in, going as far as sitting next to him when he was done with an assignment to make sure he had turned it in.

You guys, he went from an F to a B right before semester grades were due.

I was overjoyed! I watched this kid not only acknowledge his shortcomings, but also push himself to succeed despite them. When he left of the semester, he said “Ms. Steele, thank you for everything. I’m passing everything this semester because I used the stuff you taught me. I’m going to graduate on time!” and gave me a big hug. I did cry tears of joy that time.

I tell you all of this to say, I’m grateful for my ADD. Without it, I couldn’t have helped this kid develop skills and take advantage of strategies to realize his potential. This blog is designed to help teachers like me. Those who want more than anything to help their students, but their brain can’t narrow down the infinite amount of ways to do so. Stay tuned everyone, great content is coming your way!