People with ADHD are notorious for bad memories, object permanence issues, executive functioning failures, hyper-fixations, and more. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, for adults with ADHD, “daily tasks such as getting up in the morning, preparing to leave the house for work, arriving at work on time, and being productive on the job can be especially challenging for adults with undiagnosed ADHD.“ When you’re a teacher with ADHD, you might find these tendencies are causing stress and chaos in your career. Knowing yourself and what you need help with is key to keeping your cool throughout the year.
I am not a medical professional, and the things discussed below are based on my own personal experience and the experience of close friends. It’s hard living with ADHD, and this article doesn’t have all the answers for you. Get help. Talk to your doctor. You deserve it. The more you understand this disorder and the more coping skills you learn for yourself, the higher your quality of life will be.
Here are my ten tips for a successful year as a teacher with ADHD.
If you’re not wearing pockets, keep your phone on loud.
You’re going to need to call it often to find it. Another option is getting a smartwatch so you don’t have to always have your phone on you. I don’t have money for that. Other than that, try to wear pockets as much as possible. Pockets are the best when you have ADHD. Most of the things you need will end up there for you to discover later on. Pockets are magical.
Get a brightly colored clipboard.
You’re going to lose this often too. Bright colors are easier to find. My clipboard is my walking junk drawer. Every random piece of paper that is handed to me during the day goes on this clipboard. I have a running to-do list on this clipboard. I have the schedule on this clipboard. It’s not neat. It’s not well organized. It is on me most of the time. It does have a designated home that it rarely visits. When I need something I know I was supposed to keep track of but immediately forgot existed, nine times out of 10, it’s on the clipboard. Another magical place.
Everything has a place, even if it’s not always in its place.
I know you’ve heard this before, and it does take extra work at the beginning of the year, but it’s worth it. One trait of ADHD is hyper fixation. Let yourself hyper-fixate on the extensive organization when you’re setting up your room. Here’s the truth, if you’re like me, you won’t stay extensively organized. You have ADHD. You’ll start mismatching, misplacing, and creating doom piles everywhere. However, when you finally find the time, focus, and energy to straighten up, you will be absolutely shocked to find this radical organization system waiting for you. It will instantly make you feel less overwhelmed and be so proud of yourself. That pride will help to cancel out the shame you feel for getting so unorganized in the first place. It’s a little hug to your future self.
Give students as many jobs as you can.
Most teachers will tell you that having too many jobs and too much for the kids will be hard to manage. When you have ADHD, you need help with stuff you’re going just simply to forget to finish doing. The more you can get your students to take ownership of the room, the better your classroom is going to run.
Set reminders on your phone.
Need to tell a student to take their medicine at 11:30? Do we need to send a student down for therapy every Tuesday at 9:00? Need a student to grab the snack basket before 8:30 Wednesday -Friday mornings? Set a recurring alarm on your phone for these things. You won’t remember them. The kids won’t remember them, either. At one point, I had so many alarms for different kids I gave them each a unique ringtone. When their ringtone would go off, they would get up and go left to do their task. It was one of the smoothest procedures in my room. The alarms going off might be annoying, but not as annoying as being called by the office over and over about all the missed tasks. You can adjust the volume too.
Keep one detailed schedule of pullout services.
This is another task that is a bit labor-intensive at the start of the year but worth it. You cannot expect yourself to remember where every kid will be at every point of the day, but you need to have quick access to this information. Give yourself a cheat sheet on that brightly colored clipboard. Create a spreadsheet that shows where all your students are at in 30-60 min intervals throughout the day. Include anything that takes kids out of the room on a regular basis. This means interventions, speech, tutoring, therapy, and even end-of-the-day clubs. This will help you every single day with simple things like when you’re asked where a kid is for early dismissal. It will be crucial in an emergency when you need to ensure all your students are safe.
Don’t plan to bring something important on Mondays.
There is something about a Sunday night that is not conducive to remembering to bring in donuts or that special book you’re planning to read the next morning. If I need to bring in something special, I plan a different weekday. This way, I am in a school mindset after work and will pick it up right away for the next day. When I started this rule for myself, it made a way bigger difference than I thought possible.
Create a strong routine.
Create a recurring block for guided reading groups, independent time, etc. Planning becomes less overwhelming when your class periods are structured for the week in clear patterns. The kids will thrive with the structure and know what to expect. Block your own time before and after school or during your plan bell. That grading pile seems less daunting on Tuesday morning when you know you have an hour set aside to grade after school every Thursday.
Try body doubling!
Body doubling is becoming better understood and shared as the ultimate hack for people with ADHD. To body double, you need to find another person to anchor you down into a task essentially. You and the person will both be working on independent tasks in the same space. The shared productive energy helps you both stay focused on your work and is oddly soothing. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it is worth a try because it may surprise you. I didn’t think it would work for me, but it’s now one of my favorite hacks. I build it into my routine with my teaching partner, and it helps me stay accountable for things I need to get done in a timely manner, like grading.
Be open and honest with your students about your ADHD.
When you level with your kids about your own struggles, you build stronger connections with them. They will know you are a safe space when they have similar struggles. Students will even find your phone and hand it to you before you realize you misplaced it again. They will be forgiving when you promised them a popcorn party, forgot the popcorn, and need to reschedule. When you ask them to give you grace, they learn to give themselves grace when they struggle. Model for them how to persevere productively.
Living with ADHD is hard. Even with medication and therapy, it takes extra work to manage. These hacks are my favorite coping skills that I have learned throughout the years from therapy and friends. Before I figured out these systems, I was drowning as a teacher. I thought I had made a grievous mistake with my career choice. Learning to hack my ADHD gave me the confidence and structure to be the teacher I envisioned myself as a little girl. I still struggle and falter, but I now know how to forgive myself for how my genetics set me up for failure. When I feel the drowning coming along, I return to these staple hacks to get my head above water. I encourage you to try them out. Talk with friends about what works for them. Try and try again until you find what is helpful to you. You and your career are worth it.
Lauren Anderson is a 32-year-old Cincinnati native. She is teaching 4th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies in a public school setting. She is passionate about education innovation, literacy, and social justice. In her free time she loves to be outdoors and spend time with her family, especially her two young kids. She earned her B.A. in English Literature and her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Cincinnati and is a proud Bearcat! Her Twitter and Instagram handles are both @A_in_Class.
