Academic Recommendations

Academic Related Recommendations to increase attention and focus in the classroom

1. Sit at the closest desk to where the teacher is usually talking and giving instructions. This helps the student be able to focus directly on the teacher, not have to filter out visual and auditory stimulus in between and will help tremendously with attention to the teacher, attention to following and understanding verbal directions. Putting red or blue painters tape around their personal space to give boundaries as to where they need to stay, and other students stay out of their space. Do not have any hanging mobiles above the student or in their view when trying to listen and watch the teacher. Try imagining trying to attend to someone while there are things moving above your head or theirs, it isn't very easy!

The best learning environments and classrooms are ones that the only visual that the child needs to attend to is the teacher, the board, and what you want them to attend to! Put all your decorations in the back of the room where they are not usually looking. Display their work in the hallway or at their cubby holes.

Keep student away from sitting in "busy" or high traffic areas in the room, such as near file cabinets, toy shelves, pencil sharpeners, etc.

2. Surround the student with attention issues with students that DO NOT have severe issues, so that they can model good behaviors. Surround them with other students that are doing well and following directions well, and may even help them stay on task by showing them what to do!

3. Chewing gum is a great way to help increase auditory attention. Sucking on a water bottle with a sports lid that makes them suck increases the movement of the inner ear muscles, helping with auditory attention as well.

4. To help with need to fidget in the seat and get more movement stimulation while sitting the student can wear a weighted vest, sit on a move and sit seat wedge, wear ankle weights, and wrap elastic material around the bottom of the chair so that instead of kicking the chair and getting in trouble, they can push against the elastic to try to stimulate tone and movement to help keep their brains and bodies attentive. These items can be purchased through the pink catalog called "Therapy Shoppe" or through the OT at your school may have other resources.

5. Wear ear muffs or headphones to filter out background sounds. Junior Ear Muffs can be purchased through Therapy Shoppe or local hunting stores. This allows them to hear voices well, but cuts down on background sounds that may be distracting.

If auditory attention is a severe problem then an FM system can be requested from the SPED dept.

6. Make sure the student and all students have movement breaks in between sitting tasks, a good rule is that every 20-30 minutes of sitting a child under 8 years needs 10-15 minutes of movement. Their bodies are made to learn through movement! You can do a lot of "class work" while the students are moving. Even a quick ten-twenty jumping jacks for a movement break is great, wheelbarrow walking, and bdpq code charts are great as well. The Infinity Walk is also a wonderful classroom tool. You can do times tables, spelling, reading, etc in standing in their "box" outlined on the floor, laying on their bellies, jumping, standing on one foot, Marching, creeping on all fours, etc.

7. Make clear what the rules and consequences are for out of line behaviors and stick with it, otherwise they won't believe you when you say something. Make sure to use positive reinforcement as much as possible though and minimize the negative. Use every opportunity to build a child's self esteem, this is their greatest gift that lasts a lifetime!

8. Encourage linear swinging 2 times in a day, especially at recess for children that have difficulty with attention. 15 minutes of linear swinging (hung from a single point) releases the same amount of serotonin as a full day's dose of Ritalin! The best part is there are no terrible side effects when done naturally! Other activities are bouncing on a large therapy ball, rolling over to walk onto hands, rolling to a target, rocking in a chair, jumping, infinity walk, running.

9. Use a visual timer (red shows amount of time left to work) and with a good visual schedule gone over at the first of the day, set the timer for each "work" start out with 15-20 minutes, work up to 45 minutes. Tell the student they must sit as long as they see "the red" on the timer. If they get up, then the timer gets set back for 5 minutes, and they must sit down and continue to work. The reward is, when the red is gone, they get to choose a sensory calming activity for 5 minutes (i.e. linear swinging, bouncing on a ball, rocking over a ball, jumping with weights, throwing a medicine ball at a target above shoulder level, wheelbarrow walking, creeping or Bear walk, Infinity walk, going to their "tent" area or another calming area in the room such as bean bag reading area or rocking chair, or running an errand for the teacher).

10. Use a reward system that works for that child. If they can see their reward and it is obtainable, they can often sit a lot longer! You can give a star for each time they sit for the "red timer" allotted time, and at the end of the day or week, they get a big reward.

11. Cut down assignments to short increments, such as cut the worksheet in ¼, and give ¼ at a time, with a sticker or another positive reinforcement for good work for each portion done on a page of many problems.

12. Use reading highlighters to highlight the lines.

13. Use color overlays on their work to make the page easier to read such as pink, blue, or green overlays.

14. Use an incline board made out of a 4 inch notebook with a chip clip velcroed to the top.

15. Use a "frame" to help the child move the "frame" down the page for reading, writing, etc.

16. Use card stock to cut out a 1 inch rectangle as long as a line and hold over the page to help cut down visual stimuli.

All items mentioned can be found on www.TherapyShoppe.com

Thank you for trying to help this student, and many more by understanding more about how children learn best!

Heidi Clopton, Occupational Therapist & Dr. Jason Clopton, Developmental Eye Doctor

Center of Development Cookeville TN

1-877-372-2567 www.developmentaldelay.net

Pediatric Occupational, Physical, Behavior, Nutrition, and Speech & Language Therapies 1080 Neal Street, Suite 300 Cookeville, TN 38501 Phone: (931) 372-2567, Toll-Free: (877) 372-2567 Fax: (931) 372-2572 Email: covd@covd.biz

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Sit at the closest desk to where the teacher is usually talking and giving instructions. This helps the student be able to focus directly on the teacher, not have to filter out visual and auditory stimulus in between and will help tremendously with attention to the teacher, attention to following and understanding verbal directions. Putting red or blue painters tape around their personal space to give boundaries as to where they need to stay, and other students stay out of their space. Do not have any hanging mobiles above the student or in their view when trying to listen and watch the teacher. Try imagining trying to attend to someone while there are things moving above your head or theirs, it isn't very easy! The best learning environments and classrooms are ones that the only visual that the child needs to attend to is the teacher, the board, and what you want them to attend to! Put all your decorations in the back of the room where they are not usually looking. Display their work in the hallway or at their cubby holes. Keep student away from sitting in "busy" or high traffic areas in the room, such as near file cabinets, toy shelves, pencil sharpeners, etc. 2. Surround the student with attention issues with students that DO NOT have severe issues, so that they can model good behaviors. Surround them with other students that are doing well and following directions well, and may even help them stay on task by showing them what to do! 3. Chewing gum is a great way to help increase auditory attention. Sucking on a water bottle with a sports lid that makes them suck increases the movement of the inner ear muscles, helping with auditory attention as well. 4. To help with need to fidget in the seat and get more movement stimulation while sitting the student can wear a weighted vest, sit on a move and sit seat wedge, wear ankle weights, and wrap elastic material around the bottom of the chair so that instead of kicking the chair and getting in trouble, they can push against the elastic to try to stimulate tone and movement to help keep their brains and bodies attentive. These items can be purchased through the pink catalog called "Therapy Shoppe" or through the OT at your school may have other resources. 5. Wear ear muffs or headphones to filter out background sounds. Junior Ear Muffs can be purchased through Therapy Shoppe or local hunting stores. This allows them to hear voices well, but cuts down on background sounds that may be distracting. If auditory attention is a severe problem then an FM system can be requested from the SPED dept. 6. Make sure the student and all students have movement breaks in between sitting tasks, a good rule is that every 20-30 minutes of sitting a child under 8 years needs 10-15 minutes of movement. Their bodies are made to learn through movement! You can do a lot of "class work" while the students are moving. Even a quick ten-twenty jumping jacks for a movement break is great, wheelbarrow walking, and bdpq code charts are great as well. The Infinity Walk is also a wonderful classroom tool. You can do times tables, spelling, reading, etc in standing in their "box" outlined on the floor, laying on their bellies, jumping, standing on one foot, Marching, creeping on all fours, etc. 7. Make clear what the rules and consequences are for out of line behaviors and stick with it, otherwise they won't believe you when you say something. Make sure to use positive reinforcement as much as possible though and minimize the negative. Use every opportunity to build a child's self esteem, this is their greatest gift that lasts a lifetime! 8. Encourage linear swinging 2 times in a day, especially at recess for children that have difficulty with attention. 15 minutes of linear swinging (hung from a single point) releases the same amount of serotonin as a full day's dose of Ritalin! The best part is there are no terrible side effects when done naturally! Other activities are bouncing on a large therapy ball, rolling over to walk onto hands, rolling to a target, rocking in a chair, jumping, infinity walk, running. 9. Use a visual timer (red shows amount of time left to work) and with a good visual schedule gone over at the first of the day, set the timer for each "work" start out with 15-20 minutes, work up to 45 minutes. Tell the student they must sit as long as they see "the red" on the timer. If they get up, then the timer gets set back for 5 minutes, and they must sit down and continue to work. The reward is, when the red is gone, they get to choose a sensory calming activity for 5 minutes (i.e. linear swinging, bouncing on a ball, rocking over a ball, jumping with weights, throwing a medicine ball at a target above shoulder level, wheelbarrow walking, creeping or Bear walk, Infinity walk, going to their "tent" area or another calming area in the room such as bean bag reading area or rocking chair, or running an errand for the teacher). 10. Use a reward system that works for that child. If they can see their reward and it is obtainable, they can often sit a lot longer! You can give a star for each time they sit for the "red timer" allotted time, and at the end of the day or week, they get a big reward. 11. Cut down assignments to short increments, such as cut the worksheet in ¼, and give ¼ at a time, with a sticker or another positive reinforcement for good work for each portion done on a page of many problems. 12. Use reading highlighters to highlight the lines. 13. Use color overlays on their work to make the page easier to read such as pink, blue, or green overlays. 14. Use an incline board made out of a 4 inch notebook with a chip clip velcroed to the top. 15. Use a "frame" to help the child move the "frame" down the page for reading, writing, etc. 16. Use card stock to cut out a 1 inch rectangle as long as a line and hold over the page to help cut down visual stimuli. All items mentioned can be found on www.TherapyShoppe.com Thank you for trying to help this student, and many more by understanding more about how children learn best! Heidi Clopton, Occupational Therapist & Dr. Jason Clopton, Developmental Eye Doctor Center of Development Cookeville TN 1-877-372-2567 www.developmentaldelay.net	Related Topics: Calming Spaces Suggestions to Improve Academic Focus

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