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a ready-to-run workshopSupporting Students with ADHD
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Supporting Students with ADHD (Workshop)

Students with ADHD are not choosing to be inattentive or impulsive, their brains regulate attention and impulse differently. Supporting them means structure, movement, clear expectations, and strategies that work with how they learn, not constant correction for things they cannot simply will away.

Key takeaway

Students with ADHD regulate attention and impulse differently; structure, movement, clear expectations, and supportive strategies help far more than repeated correction.

Format
PLC / team meeting
Length
45 minutes
Group size
Any (works 4-40)
Who can run it
Any teacher-leader
You will need
Slides (5)Printed handoutA student in mindA timer
Aligned to
Learning Forward: Rigorous ContentInTASC 2: Learning DifferencesResearch on ADHD supports
Share / assign

Why it works

ADHD involves differences in attention regulation, working memory, and impulse control, not a lack of effort or discipline. Classroom strategies that reduce the demands on these areas, clear structure and routines, chunked tasks, movement and breaks, immediate feedback, and reduced distractions, help students with ADHD succeed, while constant correction for symptoms they cannot control does harm. Teachers support; diagnosis and treatment belong to professionals.

The research: Research on classroom supports for ADHD; CHADD and clinical guidance.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

    The core activity: plan ADHD-friendly supports

    Teachers leave with structural, movement, and feedback supports for one student who struggles with attention.

    Support the brain, don't correct the symptomConstant correction for inattention or impulsivity, things a student cannot simply will away, damages trust and does not help. Build supports that work with how they learn.

    Facilitator notes

    You support; you do not diagnose or treatDiagnosis and medical treatment belong to clinicians and families. Provide classroom supports, follow the student's plan, and share observations with the team.

    Adapt it

    Participant handout

    One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

    K12 Academics · Professional Learning

    Supporting ADHD: structure, movement, support

    <b>Work with the brain:</b> routines and chunking, movement, immediate feedback, and following the plan.

    1. The student or profile:
    2. Structural supports (routines, chunking, expectations):
    3. Movement and feedback strategies:
    4. The plan I will follow:
    5. When I involve the team or family:

    Make it stick

    Support, do not correct:

    Common questions

    Isn't ADHD just a behavior problem?
    No. It is a difference in how the brain regulates attention and impulse. Treating it as willful misbehavior and correcting constantly does not work and damages the relationship.
    Am I supposed to diagnose or treat ADHD?
    No. Diagnosis and medical treatment belong to clinicians and families. Your role is classroom supports, following any plan the student has, and sharing observations with the team.
    What's one high-leverage support?
    Structure and chunking: clear routines, tasks broken into manageable steps, and immediate feedback reduce the load on attention and working memory.

    Go deeper

    Build it into a bigger day

    Workshop
    Self-Regulation
    Workshop
    Accommodations, IEPs & 504s
    Workshop
    Routines & Procedures