Are you looking for strategies to help students concentrate on one activity at a time? If so, keep reading.
1. Plan leisure activities for the end of the day. Make participation in these learning activities dependent upon the conclusion of class duties.
2. Establish time at the end of each class period to finish unfinished tasks.
3. Notify the student that work not finished in one sitting can be finished later. Give the student ample time to finish earlier tasks to guarantee closure.
4. Give the student clearly stated expectations for all situations.
5. Converse with the student to explain (a) what they are doing wrong (e.g., failing to finish a learning experience before starting another) and (b) what they must be doing (e.g., finishing a learning experience before changing to another).
6. Show to the student how to finish one learning experience before moving on to another (e.g., return things to their proper places, return borrowed things in the same or better condition, etc.) before expecting the student to perform the duties on their own.
7. Create classroom routines (schedule)s and procedures for transitioning from one learning experience to the next.
8. Create rules for organization (i.e., everything has a place, and everything should be in its place). Enforce these rules continuously in the classroom.
9. Praise the student for changing from one learning experience to another without difficulty: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., classroom privileges, passing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).
10. Plan learning activities so the student has more than enough time to finish a learning experience if they work continuously.
11. Follow up a less desirable task with a more desirable task. Make the conclusion of the first task appropriate to perform the second task.
12. Get the student to ask for help when they need it.
13. Urge the student to manage their everyday lives as if they were self-employed. This should increase their motivation to finish projects successfully.
14. Designate a learning experience that involves instant, short-term tasks.
15. Get the student to time learning activities to monitor personal behavior and accept time limits.
16. Find the expectations of various environments and help the student create the skills to be successful in those environments.
17. Create classroom rules: • Complete every assignment. • Complete assignments quietly. • Remain in your seat. • Finish tasks. • Meet task expectations. Examine rules often. Praise students for following the rules.
38. Gather the student’s learning materials (e.g., pencil, paper, textbook, workbook, etc.) when it is time to change from one learning experience to another.
18. Choose a time during each class period to put away learning materials.
19. Create, in conjunction with other school staff members, as much consistency across the several environments as possible (e.g., rules, criteria for success, behavioral expectations, consequences, etc.).
20. Consider using assistive technology designed to help students to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder concentrate. Click here to view list of assistive technology apps that we recommend.
