Back to School Organization Tips for ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder Techniques and Strategies for Teachers

Aug 17, 2009

Many back to school teaching strategies and tips can be used to help organize a classroom, rules, and schoolwork for an incoming child who has ADHD.

Many students with ADHD have difficulty organizing their work and surroundings. When a new school year is about to begin, all children can become overwhelmed, but for kids with attention deficit disorder the feelings of chaos can be hugely exaggerated. Teachers can help children with attention issues by carefully organizing the classroom, providing tools that will help a child keep work and assignments well ordered, and present material and rules in a clear manner.

Designing a Tidy and Structured Classroom

Students with ADHD will perform better in a classroom that is well organized, structured, and has classroom rules clearly posted. Children with attention deficit disorder will need guidance organizing their world, and a chaotic, disheveled classroom environment will cause stress and even misbehavior that is often associated with the disorder. Arrange desks into small workgroups of four or less. Review posted rules clearly and regularly.

Additionally, display any steps (both written and in visual format, if possible) that children will need to use to complete assignments. For example, if students are learning how to divide, demonstrate and draw up the rules of division so that the child with ADHD can refer to them regularly.

Finally, keep clutter to a minimum in the classroom and make sure that supplies, books, and other necessary materials are easily located and labeled. Set up a quiet space for times when the child with ADHD needs to have peace and quiet away from a noisy group and this, along with the other strategies above will help him to listen more attentively in class.

The Student Binder

Depending on the age of the child, a binder can be provided that will suit his or her classroom needs and help to organize projects, homework, and academic subjects. Younger students will benefit by keeping weekly lists of homework assignments and reminders of upcoming special events or materials they may be required to bring into school. Older students can have binders that separate subjects, with pockets for homework papers, finished assignments, and work in progress.

Important to note is that binders will eventually become overloaded and messy, so teachers should set aside a few minutes at the end of the month to help children remove the unnecessary papers and reorganize.

The start of a new school year can be a wonderful time for students and teachers. The stress of entering a new classroom can be compounded if the space is chaotic and disorganized, especially for a child with ADHD. This stress can be decreased when teachers structure their classrooms thoughtfully, post rules and expectations clearly, and help to organize the many papers and classroom assignments using student binders.

A great first activity for an inclusive classroom setting is to create a back to school bulletin board with the students.

The copyright of the article Back to School Organization Tips for ADHD in Special Needs Education is owned by Karen Plumley. Permission to republish Back to School Organization Tips for ADHD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Sep 9, 2009 4:58 PM

Guest :

What you say is so true. Another tool that helps to organize an ADHD child is to color code their folders and binders creating a different color for each subject. I have also found for my older students, that find that they have too many folder is to give them a 5 sleeve folder. In which they can separate the subjects by tabs. My friend's daughter loved her folder. She decorated it with stickers and sharpies and made it her own.