Bravely ADHD

27/09/2024

🩷They want independence, but they need help.
💙We want to support them, but not enable helplessness.

https://www.abettersemester.com/post/catch-track-academic-blunders-together

23/09/2024

😩Has the backslide begun? 😖Has the forgetfulness kicked in yet? 😒Is there strangely less homework and more missing/late assignments? 😶Are you getting, "I don't know what that is!" during your weekly grade checks?

😣It's easy to feel intensily frustrated as those last semester's patterns begin to reappear.

👍This year will be better though! Because we are planning for the predictable, and we have strategies for all those blunders and backslides.

🙁This is a particularly difficult time for our struggling students. They really try to hold onto the last remnants of independence, as their need for assistance grows. Meanwhile, our struggling student’s brains are sliding into the mid-semester slump ahead. 🫣

Read on to learn about one of the most powerful and most used strategies for helping our struggling students catch those blunders before it is too late.

https://www.abettersemester.com/strong-start-series

17/09/2024

⏰ Map Time to Manage Time

Use a paper week view schedule with time intervals.

We use this to really think through how to use the hours in the upcoming week.

📌PRO TIP

🔲 Beware of white space - White space registers as free time, so if you have an expectation for that time, be sure to write it down/color it in.

☺️ Map time with your student, weekly.

1️⃣ Commitments - Shade in commitments such as school, clubs, sports, practices, tutoring, coaching, dinner with gradparents, counseling, doctor appointments, etc.

2️⃣ Travel & Prep - Don't forget to block out the time that should be spent getting ready, and time spent driving. Don't assume that your struggling student will automatically think of this.

3️⃣ Homework Time - Now we can plan our dedicated school work time. I suggest no more than 10 min. per grade level (ex. 6th grade = no more than 60 min.).

4️⃣ Chores Time - Allow your student to weigh in on this one too. Consider writing the chores on the side and allowing your student to fill in when they will do what.

❤️Let’s get on the same page with our struggling students regarding time, in the only way that makes sense to their unique brains. Visually.

We can't change our struggling student's ability to sense time, but we CAN help them SEE it. 🤓
When our brains struggle to do something internally, we simply find a way to do it externally. 💪
Time mapping is just that.

Continue to use this strategy weekly to build those life long habit around managing time visually.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGPK-MUENE/OhE1wjq_BUXRSzfn5YEW0g/view?utm_content=DAGPK-MUENE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor

16/09/2024

https://www.abettersemester.com/post/visual-time-for-the-time-blind

We find ourselves in a tricky after school storm of interesting activities, increased homework load.

16/09/2024

The after school schedule becomes a bit more complicated during the second month of a new school year. Clubs and sports are kicking in and our after school hours are slimming down. This tends to occur just in time for the more challenging and longer term homework assignments begin to surface.

Less time. More work. Sounds like a training course for adulthood, right?

We find ourselves in a tricky after school storm of interesting activities, increased need for additional time spent on make up work and test retakes.

I've also noticed a spike in school resistance and sick days during this phase. Our kids begin to feel like they just need a break. (They probably do.)

This week is the perfect time to talk about time. Read on to discover why our struggling students lack time awareness and how we can teach them to better manage their schedules.

Enjoy!

https://www.abettersemester.com/strong-start-series

11/09/2024

Managing That Second Semester Backslide
⭐️It’s catch and track time! Let’s take advantage of the struggle this month, to teach some life skills. Woot! Woot!

📖 The A.R.T. Log - A great way to catch homework blunders, without taking over. Quickly log the day’s events, things to remember, and tasks for tomorrow.

⏰ Time Mapping - We map time, to plan time. Managing time because possible when we make it visual.

📋The Radar List - The ultimate catch and track strategy for managing falling grades and the mounting backlog of late work and test retakes.

10/09/2024

😫Grades are slipping?
💙It’s going to be okay.
❤️We have strategies for that!

Begin an after school ritual using the 🔹Daily Check In🔹strategy.
https://www.abettersemester.com/post/checking-in-with-struggling-students

If homework is being forgotten and silly mistakes are made… add the 🔸A.R.T. Log🔸 to your daily ritual.
https://www.abettersemester.com/post/how-to-catch-homework-blunders-without-taking-over

🥰Thank me later.

10/09/2024

✅Add this step to your daily check in.

📖 It’s time to access your inner administrative assistant, as you will do the easy job of writing, while your struggling student does the challenging job of remembering.

Using one page per day. Split the page into three sections:
✏️Assignment
✏️Remember
✏️Tomorrow

Honestly, this conversation really shouldn’t take longer than ten minutes, once you get in your groove.

See more…

https://www.abettersemester.com/post/how-to-catch-homework-blunders-without-taking-over

08/09/2024

Dear Loved Ones,

One of the first expected backslides is 🧐memory function. More specifically, the executive function.. working memory.

Working memory is the ability to remember what you need when you need it. It’s the memory that works for us. (See what I did there?)

🤪Kids begin to forget. Forgetting things like pencils, homework, instructions, and where they are in the universe. It’s reasonable to expect that missing and late assignments will begin to show up.

As daily mistakes begin to add stress to your struggling students experience, it’s a great time to show them the benefits of 📝 logging tasks daily.

Sometimes, students must see the benefits of a strategy before they pick up the trick for themselves.

So it’s time to access your inner administration assistant, as you will play a support role, and role model… lots of roles.

Read on to learn the steps and pro tips for the A.R.T. Log strategy that you can add to your daily check in this week.

Enjoy!

https://www.abettersemester.com/post/how-to-catch-homework-blunders-without-taking-over

07/09/2024

Managing The Second Month Backslide

Most ADHDers tend to be at their best and the most ‘normal’ at the beginning of the school year. While the majority of (neurotypical) students flounder within the newness of change, ADHDers and struggling students, have a very different experience.

Of course, things are only new or novel for only so long. It’s a tough time for struggling students, as the reality of the struggle sets in. It turns out the pattern of struggles continues and mistakes are beginning to show up again.

Despite all of their effort, things begin to slip. Their brain is betraying them, by forgetting and not listening, despite the student’s mindful efforts. It’s demoralizing. The ego takes a hit, and the increased struggle levels them feeling, “stupid.”

Meanwhile, hearing from others that the mistakes are from not caring enough or lack of effort. It’s no wonder they begin to hide and lie to keep people from knowing about their mistakes.

https://www.abettersemester.com

29/08/2024

Embrace The Struggle

The struggle is where the learning happens. We want our kids to learn the benefits of working with people to help their challenges, rather than avoid people, and hide them.

Make this discussion a weekly ritual. Prep for this discussion by printing the grade report. Having the report on paper is really essential to this process. It allows you both look at the same thing, and write notes in the same place.

(Note: If your struggling student is ADHD, please look into Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria and keep this in mind as your approach this discussion.)

https://www.abettersemester.com/post/catch-falling-grades-before-they-crash