Thesis+10

flat

Running head: //Add the first few words of your title (Anywhere from five to seven words).//

Title of your paper.

Mariana

Institution

Date Note: The title page begins your thesis and should include a running head, the title of your paper, your name, institution, and date.

**Abstract** Note: The abstract is on a separate page and is a 120-word summary of your thesis. That is, an abstract should include the problem, purpose, method, and findings of your research.


 * Integrating ADHD students in a normal class.**

Each child has the opportunity to have access to the curriculum in an equal way to his or her peers but ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity) children impact the mainstream classroom in a negative way (McClintock, 2002). According to Bupas (2011), ADHD is a disorder that appears in early childhood and it affects around one in twenty five boys and one in one hundred girls. Boys are about three times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with it, and it is not yet understood why. According to Merrell and Tymns (2001), when children with ADHD assist in the mainstream classroom they frequently achieve lower grades than their peers. According to The American Academy of Pediatrics (2007), ADHD is considered as a neurological problem in the brain that controls impulses and this makes the child face difficulties to control his behavior in the classroom.

The ADHD disorder can cause different problems such as difficulty to pay attention, act without thinking among others and this makes that children have a poor performance in school. Children with ADHD do not have the same learning as other students have in a mainstream classroom. According to Summer, C. (2011), students with different disabilities such as ADHD will require a higher attention than the other students because they present learning difficulties so they see, hear and understand things differently. Because there is a problem integrating ADHD students in the mainstream classroom, teachers can have different roles such as facilitator/coach and didactic leader is essential to solve the problem, furthermore to know EFL (English Foreign Language) teaching methods that can be applied inside the classroom such as TPR (Total Physical Response) and Brain Gym should be required to integrate ADHD children in the mainstream classroom.

**The three primary characteristics of ADHD**

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder known as ADHD is a disorder that appears in early childhood. The disorder affects the learning of children, their behavior and their mental development. When a child presents the disorder, he can present different behaviors and different characteristics that are product of the indicators that the ADHD has. According to Compart and Laake (2006), ADHD can be identified when a child presents different signs like distraction, impulsivity and hyperactivity. The characteristics that ADHD has can be identified before the age of seven. Moreover, the three main symptoms of ADHD make that children with this disorder behave different than the others. Their behaviors and ways to be make them special and unique and make the children present a variety of traits in their daily life.

Firstly, the main symptom of the disorder is inattention. Inattention is defined as the lack of attention on different activities in the child´s life. When children have inattention, it is common that they do not pay attention to details because they have trouble concentrating. Furthermore it is easy for them to get distracted because of external noises such as music, cars, among others. According to Smith and Segal (2011), when ADHD students are performing an activity, they prefer hearing about topics in which they are interested on. In this case they have no problems on focusing their attention. The inattention symptom can be proved because of different characteristics the child presents, for example; he almost never pays attention to details, he has difficulty following instructions, he has problems learning new things and he frequently loses books or other items. All the mentioned signs of inattention are part of ADHD but the most obvious symptom of ADHD is hyperactivity.

Hyperactivity is a condition identified by excessive restlessness and movement. When children present hyperactivity, they are naturally quiet active because they are always moving since they present a lot of energy. According to Smith and Segal (2011), hyperactivity makes children do several things at once. Additionally when they are forced to sit, they continue moving their leg or their finger. At the same time it is hard for them to be quietly due to the fact that they tend to talk excessively. That is why it is not easy for ADHD children to be quiet and stay in calm inside the classroom. According to the ADHD Association (n,d.), hyperactivity helps children to learn because they like to explore. It is vital to mention that the symptom of hyperactivity is much related with another symptom of ADHD called impulsivity.

Impulsivity is when a person feels natural feelings to do things without forethought. According to Smith and Segal (2011), the impulsivity can provoke problems with self-control; they manage themselves less than other children do. When children present this symptom it could be said that they tend to interrupt conversations or interrupt others. Moreover it is a little bit difficult for them to be patient because they cannot wait for their turn and they cannot think before they act. In addition they tend to invade others’ space; sometimes they are moody and overreact emotionally. That is why people think and believe that the ADHD child is disrespectful and rude even though, in most of the times, they do not take into account that the child can have this behavior due to his disorder.

ADHD can cause positive effects on children, because they can have qualities that others do not have Smith and Segan (2011). First of all, creativity is often higher, since ADHD children are inventive; they sometimes tend to see what others do not see. Mind flexibility improves too due to their exposure to new people and to different ideas. Therefore, they learn to see life situations with different points of view. Besides that enthusiasm and spontaneity increase because they are, in most cases, a lot of fun and are rarely boring. Energy and drive appear as the final positive effect. They refer to the students’ motivation on doing something. When an ADHD learner is motivated, it is difficult to make him lose his attention on something he really likes.

Children with ADHD present a variety of traits in the classroom. First of all inattention can be proved because of different factors the child presents, for example; he often does not pay attention to details, he has difficulty following instructions, he has problems learning new things and he frequently loses books or other items. When the student presents hyperactivity the child is naturally quiet active because he is always moving and he presents a lot of energy. Hyperactivity makes the student does several things at once in the classroom. The pupil has impulsivity due to the fact that he interrupts conversations and others due to he cannot wait for his turn. Furthermore when he is attending a class he tends to ask irrelevant questions and he acts without thinking. So, teachers need to address the disorder by using different teaching methods that are going to be useful in the mainstream classroom.

**Teaching methods to work with ADHD children**

**Dynamic methods.** The TPR (Total Physical Response) teaching method is useful to work with ADHD children because its purpose is to make students enjoy their classes as much they can, in order for them to have a successful learning. Asher defines this process as “a body-language conversation” when a teacher speaks and a student “answers with a physical response such as looking, smiling, laughing, turning, walking, reaching, grasping, holding, sitting, running and so forth” (Cook, 2001). In TPR students can achieve their learning goal because they communicate effectively due to they listen and respond to the spoken English language commands of their teacher. According to Turketi (2010), when a student is focusing on an action, the learner unconsciously focuses on the learning goal as well. Moreover ADHD pupils learn English with this method because the TPR method incorporates movements into learning process.

Different techniques based on TPR can be addressed in the mainstream classroom in order to make the students learn faster. Every child learns to comprehend much faster than they learn to produce. Give instructions using TPR, for example sit down, stand up, and raise your hands can cause a physical response on the child. A teaching technique based on commands will make students react with their bodies as well as their brain, for example point to the window, and point to the yellow pencil. The phrase: “Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand. (Ancient Chinese Proverb) shows the importance of using dynamic methods when teaching English to children**.** Furthermore ADHD children also learn with the use of different body exercises due to they involve students in the class and they activate the students’ mind.

The Brain Gym method is a method of teaching that applies physical movements which works well with ADHD students. Exercising before a class is very useful for ADHD students because they need to enhance their brain development in their learning process. According to Denison (2007), developmental body movements performed by children with ADHD are necessary for brain development due to the fact that it links brain integration and balance between the human body and brain. The Brain Gym is supposed to have a positive impact on young students with ADHD because it lets students to support concentration, memory and learning skills and at the same time the method is useful to achieve a significant learning.

Different techniques based on the Brain Gym method can be used in the mainstream classroom to work with ADHD students. The figure 8s technique lets the students to engage creativity and it is a good warm up for creative lessons. Furthermore the cross crawl technique is very useful because it avoids the excess of energy and it makes it easier for the student to concentrate on the class. The use of music in the classroom can make the learning process more enjoyable in the class and this stimulates the right side of the brain. ADHD children learn from active movements, moreover they learn from the classroom environment due to the fact that they are visual learners.

**Affective method.** The Suggestopedia method is focused on reduce the stress of children by creating an unwind environment inside the classroom. According to Lozanov (n,d.), the Suggestopedia method helps the students to eliminate the feeling that they cannot learn English. The method lets pupils with ADHD to learn in a relaxed and comfortable environment. The Suggestopedia method makes the process of learning faster and efficient because students can learn from the environment, all they have and look around them. In order to make that an ADHD child learn the English language, the classroom must have a colorful and attractive environment for the students. According to Armstrong, T. (1999), when there are ADHD students in the English classroom the use of the Suggestopedia method is an alternative because ADHD children are good visual learners, and attractive material immediately gets their attention.

**ADD characteristics.** The disorder of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is defined as the lack of attention on different activities in the child´s life. When a child has inattention, it is common that they do not pay attention to details because they have trouble concentrating. Furthermore it is easy for them to get distracted because of external noises such as music, cars, among others. It can be identified when a child is not overly active and he does not disrupt other activities. He may present serious inattention problems and may have trouble focusing. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2007), this type of ADHD disorder is more common in girls than in boys. When a child presents it he frequently tends to not follow instructions, so he is disorganized. As a consequence it is common for him to forget things.

ADD can be diagnosed by the school teachers and also with the parents help. Different actions can diagnose ADD on children such as: If children take more than the usual time to understand things and instructions; if they are unable to concentrate on the tasks or unable to remember things, they might be suffering from ADD (Admin, 2011). ADD is presented when children does not present hyperactivity. The other symptoms of ADD in children include lack of discipline, inability to keep their things safely and slow movements, etc. It is normal for ADD students to behave in this way; the best way to identify ADD is by observing different behaviors that the child presents.

**Research questions**

My research questions have the objective to find the information that will be vital for my thesis. To know this data will help me to have the results of my investigation and in this way will be known the real facts that can occur when a teacher has ADHD pupils attending the class. Furthermore these research questions look for different strategies, methods and techniques that will be helpful to address ADHD children in the mainstream classroom.

**1.- What do teachers do differently to integrate ADHD/ADD in the mainstream classroom?**

**​2.- What are some strategies and techniques that a teacher can use with ADHD/ADD children?**

**​3.- How do teachers integrate students into the classroom that helps the ADHD/ADD learner to adapt in the classroom?**

**Method (Approx. 500 words)**

**Participants**

For this investigation is needed to have 3 students that present ADD of 2°, their names are: Carlos Ares Marquez Ramirez, Bryan Ivan de Lira Esparza and Jessica Guadalupe de Lune. The English teacher: Maria Jose Alvarez Ramirez and the Special Education teacher: Patricia of the school: Jose Arreola which is located in Jesus Maria. Furthermore, one student with ADHD whose name is Juan Emmanuel Lopez Martinez of 2°. The English teacher: Mariana Morfin Torres and the Special Education teacher: Eulogio of the school Cuauhtemoc which is located in Jesus Maria, Aguascalientes. In addition the whole classmates of these children will be also participants.

**Instruments**

First of all a check list will be needed in order to identify their ADD/ADHD. The checklist counts with eight different aspects that the kid can present in the class. An observation format will be use to identify what behaviors the child present during activities or tasks that students do during the English class. Then will be needed to interview the English teachers using a teacher guide with different questions in order to collect information of knowing how they work with the ADHD/ADD children. Once that the checklist is ready and also the answers of the interview, it will be needed interview some children that study in the mainstream classroom. Furthermore it will be necessary to ask some questions to the Special Education teachers to gather more information of the specific disorders. If it is necessary recorders are going to be needed. The classes will be observed several times in order to collect information and to make the ADHD/ADD children feel comfortable. These will be useful to analyze the information and identify the main problems of the child.

**Procedure**

**Research Design**


 * Procedure**
 * Research Design**

**Results and Discussion** The results are the findings of your research. The discussion is your conclusion of your findings. Make sure you have a good mix between results and discussion – not too much of one while sacrificing the other. Provide visuals when doing so makes it easier to understand the data (e.g., graphs, tables, etc.).

**References**

American Academy of Pediatrics (2007). Understanding ADHD. Retrieved from []

Armstrong, T. (1999). ADD/ADHD Alternatives in the classroom. USA: ASCD Block, J and Smith, M. (2010). ADD/ADHD in children. Retrieved from http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_teaching_strategies.htm

Bupas’ Health Information (2011). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Retrieved from http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/a/attention-deficit

Compart, Pamela and Laake Dana. __The kid-friendly ADHD & Autism cookbook.__ United States of America: Fair Winds Press, 2006. Cook, S.B, (2001). What is TPR ? Retrieved from http://www.tprsource.com/asher.htm. DuPaul, G. And Stoner, G. (2003). ADHD in the schools. New York: Guilford Gridley, L. (n.d.). What ADHD students wish their teachers knew. Retrieved from http://www.caddac.ca/ cms /page.php?49 Kutscher, Marin MD. __ADHD- Living without brakes__. London: Kingsley Publishers: 2008. Maguire, T. (2001). Brain Gym. The weekly column, 59. ​McClintock, L. (2002). An evaluation of the management of children with ADHD in the classroom. Retrieved from [|http://arrts.gtcni.org.uk/gtcni/bitstream/2428/5828/7/An%20evaluation%20of%20the%20management%20of%20children%20with%20ADHD%20(Attention%20Deficit%20Hyperactivity%20Disorder)%20in%20the%20classroom.pdf] McIntyre, T. (2004).What Strategies for teaching youth with ADD and ADHD. Retrieved from www.ldonline.org/article/13701/ Parker, H. (1992). The ADD hyperactivity handbook for schools. Plantation, FL: Impact Publications. Smith, M. (2011). ADD/ADHD in children. Retrieved from http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htm Turketi, N. (2010). Teaching English to children with ADHD.SIT Graduate Institute, 1(1), 1-60.

Follow APA formatting when completing your references section. Alphabetize references according to author or title (when there is no author) and single space between the references themselves but double space between each reference. After the references section, provide an appendix for each item: questionnaire, survey, observation sheet, etc. In your text, say, //(See Appendix A)// - not in italics.

**Appendix A**

**Appendix B**

**Appendix C**