Brittany Hargis

May 5, 2014
ADHD Rationale
A.D.H.D. is not B.A.D. is not just the name of our presentation, but a motto that we want
all future teachers to believe in. After having been in field for the past three semesters, we have
seen how ADHD is handled or better yet, how it is not being handled in the classroom. During
our time in the ECE program we have spent a lot of time inside of a classroom and it is
unfortunate that all of us have witnessed similar interactions with students with ADHD in the
classroom. There is no one particular aspect that has led to this disconnect between teachers
and their students with ADHD, but what we have done is try to create a curriculum that solves
what we believe to be is the main cause of this disconnect: teachers being uneducated about
ADHD.
In this curriculum that we have created, we made all of our decisions based on what is
best for the student; not what is fastest, not what is easiest, not what was already
implemented, but what is BEST for our students. After talking, reflecting and exploring other
ideas, we feel very strongly that uneducated teachers are one of the leading causes of this
tension within our schools and classrooms. In order to address this tension and help in the
effort to getting rid of this tension in our classrooms we have created several different aspects
within our curriculum that we hope help solve or at least alleviate this tension.
One of our main focuses within the curriculum are making sure that our teachers and
faculty are well versed in the symptoms of ADHD, implementing correct strategies for ADHD in
the classroom and handling specific situations that may occur within their classroom with
students who have ADHD. One way in which we plan to address these issues are bringing in
professionals that are more familiar with and knowledgeable about ADHD to help educate our
teachers and faculty about the disorder. We feel as though having a professional who is an
expert in the field will help teachers and faculty to have more difficult and specific questions
answered. In addition, by bringing in a professional from the community it allows our teachers
a second outlet for help for their students. In addition, we also want to involve our parents in
the process to learn more about this disorder. We feel as a group that having teachers and
parents of the same page can alleviate problems that may occur in current and future
instruction. Working as a team to help students with ADHD to succeed is our main and we
believe that this curriculum will do exactly that.