One morning, my students were preparing for a math test and doing a series of review problems. For many of them, the biggest challenges were not the questions on the paper in front of them, but their ability to address it. When I contacted a student who seemed to be working quietly, it turned out that he had carefully solved the first problem, only to write down guesses for the rest. Now he rewarded himself by carefully drawing cartoon cityscapes all over the newspaper.
I asked him why he didn't try to solve the other problems and he quickly told me he didn't know how. When I pointed out that she solved the first one correctly and that the rest just needed to follow the same process, she confessed that she simply took too much time and that he didn't want to do it. I convinced him to come back and try again, but there were only a few minutes left in class and he barely had time to start. Caught between the schedule of the day and his own brain, he was going to fail. I know he can learn and do math, but his difficulties paying attention and staying focused, along with the structure of school, make it very difficult for him and others who share his challenges to find the success they deserve.
In particular, this year I have more students with ADHD than I can remember, and it seems like the numbers have increased. increasing for a while. This may simply be because we are getting better at diagnosing students and understanding their challenges, but recognizing their needs cannot be ignored. The students I work with represent the full spectrum of attention challenges, from hyperactive and impulsive to inattentive and lost in their own thoughts. Many have formal diagnoses of ADHD and others show attention challenges that may be due to anxiety, trauma, and even racism – all of which impacts their ability to learn to their full potential and achieve the same level as their peers who do not have the same difficulties in the school environment.
Our awareness of students' SES and cognitive needs is growing, but schools still rely on some kind of cognitive “normality” that we expect all students to achieve. Working around these needs or expecting children to adapt is not something we can continue to do if we truly want all students to thrive. Given the prevalence of these diverse brains, why do we continue to structure our classrooms and schools in ways that make it so difficult for these children?
What doesn't work
A typical school day requires students to sit still for long periods, listen in large groups, and follow a strict schedule that dictates when and how long they need to learn certain subjects. There are many reasons why this does not work for many students, however, our system requires that we choose efficiency and convenience over what works for cognitively diverse students.
Large classes create more distractions for students who have difficulty concentrating and they inevitably receive less attention and support since there are more students for teachers to work with. A large number of students makes it more difficult to plan for individual needs and forces teachers to teach at an imaginary average level. A rigid schedule makes it easier to schedule adults and services, but it is challenging for children who need time to engage and prefer to continue working on a challenge once they are locked down.
We have also doubled down on basic, isolated skills rather than creating opportunities to see learning as connected and authentic. Individual subjects and rote assignments are easy to plan and evaluate, but they quickly lose their appeal if you don't connect with the limited content or don't see success in school as the main reason for learning. The annual rotation of grades and classes makes it difficult for students who struggle to adapt to routines or who need their own systems to succeed. Keeping teachers in a single grade and sending them new groups of students annually prioritizes teachers' expertise in content and routines at the expense of relationships and knowledge of individual students that could help more cognitively diverse students through find greater success. Grade levels and age-based grouping allow for standardized testing and a standardized curriculum even though we know our children are not meant to conform to a standard.
Until recently, I had spent most of my career teaching students for two years in a multi-age class; Having the opportunity to leverage my knowledge and relationships with each student in the second year allowed for tremendous growth and success. However, even in my district, we see multi-age and multi-year teaching opportunities disappear as we strive for a consistent curriculum and common experience for all students. Unfortunately, what is consistent is that in this model, certain students will always struggle.
Authentic learning in action
A recent field trip to an urban nature center created opportunities for several students who typically struggle with impulses and attention to engage in learning and showcase their skills. While smelling the dried buds of different wildflowers to find one that smelled like citrus, one of my more distracted students shouted that he could use it in the soap he made. Finding out that she made soap at home was pretty surprising, but then she asked the name of the flower and, despite how many times I struggled to get her to take notes and keep track of where everything was, she pulled out a small notebook and took out a pencil. from his pocket and wrote it down carefully.
Another student who regularly asks what the point of the lessons we are giving is (and generally settles for “good enough” in whatever activity we offer in the classroom) became a leader with a map in his hands, guiding his group. through a treasure hunt in the forest. He was happy to pause and check his directions, get feedback on where to go, and take his time reading and re-reading the map and clues he collected, none of which I could get him to do on his own at school.
These moments show the power of what is possible when learning is real and takes students outside the confines of our standardized system. Other authentic experiences in the arts and sciences can also provide experiences that engage and challenge students toward real learning.
Find time
Now that I know what can attract and motivate these students, I can imagine creating more opportunities that allow them to leverage their talents and increase their skills and knowledge. But we're already a third of the way through the school year, and my curriculum requires me to teach certain topics for certain periods of time, which doesn't leave room for many of the types of experiences these kids need. June will soon arrive and I will pass them on to the next teacher, who will not know what I know and will need another four months to learn it, wasting valuable time educating these students.
Simply working one-on-one for 15 minutes with a student can produce more moments of learning and connection than they seem to experience in a typical week. Reading alongside someone and doing an impromptu word study or decoding lesson creates an opportunity to learn where they are active and paying attention in ways that are much more difficult when the information is presented to the whole group.
But these opportunities are the exception, not the rule. I rarely have time to work one-on-one with a student for more than a few minutes, let alone flex the schedule to allow for more time when kids are immersed in learning. I don't have time to tailor lessons individually or plan units that might appeal to students who need more than a canned lesson to hold their attention.
Why can't these types of experiences be more common in schools? They require huge resources in staff and time, but could make a significant difference to what our education system could offer students currently struggling to get ahead. What if we built our model around time and relationships, promoting smaller class models where students stay with one teacher for more than a year, and creating more time for open learning, and built-in planning time for students to learn? Do teachers design experiences that meet the requirements? needs of the students in your care? It is clear that our current model does not meet the needs of many of our students, and the number of those who are struggling appears to be growing.
Considering everything we know, it is time to restructure the school in a way that can get us out of a one size factory model and toward something that recognizes children's individuality and the unique ways they learn. Instead of expecting children to change and adapt to a cognitive norm, to ensure that everyone can thrive, we must change our model to meet them where they are today.
