- Students with special educational needs
too impulsive and not reflective enough, as discussed in Chapter 4. Her style also suggests a failure of
metacognition (remember that idea from Chapter 2?), which is her self-monitoring of her own thinking and its
effectiveness. As a solution, the teacher could encourage Irma to think out loud when she completes two-digit
problems—literally get her to “talk her way through” each problem. If participating in these conversations was
sometimes impractical, the teacher might also arrange for a skilled classmate to take her place some of the time.
Cooperation between Irma and the classmate might help the classmate as well, or even improve overall social
relationships in the classroom.
Constructivism, mentoring, and the zone of proximal development
Perhaps Irma has in fact learned how to carry digits forward, but not learned the procedure well enough to use it
reliably on her own; so she constantly falls back on the earlier, better-learned strategy of single-digit addition. In
that case her problem can be seen in the constructivist terms, like those that I discussed in Chapter 2. In essence,
Irma has lacked appropriate mentoring from someone more expert than herself, someone who can create a “zone of
proximal development” in which she can display and consolidate her skills more successfully. She still needs
mentoring or “assisted coaching” more than independent practice. The teacher can arrange some of this in much
the way she encourages to be more reflective, either by working with Irma herself or by arranging for a classmate or
even a parent volunteer to do so. In this case, however, whoever serves as mentor should not only listen, but also
actively offer Irma help. The help has to be just enough to insure that Irma completes two-digit problems correctly
—neither more nor less. Too much help may prevent Irma from taking responsibility for learning the new strategy,
but too little may cause her to take the responsibility prematurely.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.........................................................................................................
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (or ADHD) is a problem with sustaining attention and controlling
impulses. As students, almost all of us have these problems at one time or another, but a student with ADHD shows
them much more frequently than usual, and often at home as well as at school. In the classroom, the student with
ADHD may fidget and squirm a lot, or have trouble remaining seated, or continually get distracted and off task, or
have trouble waiting for a turn, or blurt out answers and comments. The student may shift continually from one
activity to another, or have trouble playing quietly, or talk excessively without listening to others. Or the student
may misplace things and seem generally disorganized, or be inclined to try risky activities without enough thought
to the consequences. Although the list of problem behaviors is obviously quite extensive, keep in mind that the
student will not do all of these things. It is just that over time, the student with ADHD is likely to do several of them
chronically or repeatedly, and in more than one setting (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In the classroom,
of course, the behaviors may annoy classmates and frustrate teachers.
Differences in perceptions: ADHD versus high activity
It is important to note that classrooms are places that make heavy demands on not showing ADHD-like
behaviors: students are often supposed to sit for long periods, avoid interrupting others, finish tasks after beginning
them, and keep their minds (and materials) organized. Ironically, therefore, classroom life may sometimes
aggravate ADHD without the teacher intending for it to do so. A student with only a mild or occasional tendency to
be restless, for example, may fit in well outdoors playing soccer, but feel unusually restless indoors during class. It
also should not be surprising that teachers sometimes mistake a student who is merely rather active for a student
with ADHD, since any tendency to be physically active may contribute to problems with classroom management.
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