Helping students to complete their work prior to night before

[pigletbunny]

Hi

One of my students in Grade 11 has ADHD to the MAX (I do too, which is why I can’t help him with this particular problem!), and this is what he said about his projects for school:

“well i have a hard time staying focused (as you should know) so ill get home at around 3:10 and think to myself i should really get started on this really important project due tomorrow i think this for the next 9 hours then i think to myself f***. by that time in tired and the only thing that makes me actually to the work is the thought that i can sleep when done. oh and this happens a lot”

I gather that his parents are NOT open to the idea of medication.

I told him that I’m come on here and ask for help, especially since next year’s his last high school year (we’re in B.C.), and, after that, he’s at University, where his method is NOT going to work. (Um, personal experience speaking )

SO, ideas, please, peeps? THANK YOU

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[Scattybird]

This is tricky. I can empathise completely with your student because this has been my working style for always and even as an adult it’s how I work. It is completely exhausting.

When your student goes to university he will be an adult and able to decide for himself about medication.

In the mean time, the only way to make him start his work earlier is to somehow increase his adrenalin and his sense of panic if it doesn’t get done. That sounds crazy I know but without that it’s hard to get motivated.

I read on one of the posts here about short-term gains. It’s something I have started doing and it kind of works – sometimes. But I am taking meds now so not sure if it would work without.

Anyway, I have a backlog of papers to write and if I don’t do them I will lose my job next year. So that should be incentive enough to do them but no – apparently not. So I set myself goals with a treat at the end. So for example, when I have finished 3 of them I am going to buy myself a box set of Harry Potter films and will veg out one weekend. So I can’t see the long term consequences of losing my job but I can look forward to a more immediate treat. I think it might have been caper who recommended a YouTube video that helped.

The idea of doing a bit of work at a time is good for some things but for academic projects it’s hard- or at least I find it hard because I forget stuff easily and spend so long refreshing my memory, even the next day, that it’s easier to do it in one go even if I work all night. It’s easier to work overnight too. Everything is quiet so there are fewer distractions, the tiredness makes my brain focus better on what needs to be done and because it’s last minute, adrenalin keeps me awake.

So, try to incentivise him with short term benefits like a treat if he starts and finishes before a deadline.

I am sure others will give better ideas. Of course everyone is different and he might just respond to breaking the task down to manageable bits and doing 30 mins towards it each day.

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[laddybug3]

My problem was that I liked planning. It was so much fun thinking about the end product that when I started it my mind had already thought I finished it. My high school had guided study. They had teacher to help with homework. Literally guiding me on what to do. Like planning. Sometimes my planning didn’t work out and I would have a break down. When it was a good idea to stop, start working, and finish it.

We had to show our assignment notebooks to the teacher in charge of us. One student would always claim he didn’t have homework. Then the teacher would ask me what was my homework in the class. From Sophomore year to senor year we had the same, English, history, and guided study class. I would tell the teacher my homework. Totally not helping with his no homework excuse.

What worked for me was little reminders in my assignment notebook. Things like, ‘two more days till the project is due,’ in red, ‘a day until project is due.’ I also had this jar where I put different color stick. Each color had a cash amount, candy, or something I would like to do. I could only get a total twenty for the week. The bigger the project the more money I could get. It was a Monday through Friday thing only. Weekends was to blow the rewards. If I didn’t turn in, finish, or didn’t reach a reasonable goal; I couldn’t put anything in the jar.

I really want to start doing that again. To bad it wont work.

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[jk]

I’m thinking a ‘coach’ might be a good idea, if there’s one available in your school.

Teacher Assistants, Educational Associates; whatever you call them, are there to literally support and coach with stuff like this. My job as an EA in a high school is to help students with learning disabilities to succeed by teaching organization skills, giving the tools to get good at completing assignments, staying focussed, etc., etc. In my opinion, having an advocate or coach for the adhd student is almost as important as getting the right diet.

And sometimes it’s just not the same at home, as we might expect it to be; parents of teenagers know absolutely nothing … I know, I am one!

The adhd student needs to know they have someone on their side at school too!

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[Anonymous]

This is a helpful thread for me. Right now I have 3 papers past due. Due dates Nov 15, Dec 15 and Feb 15. I’m really stuck on the first one. I’m wondering about putting it aside in favour of moving on to the next one. Not doing it and accepting a lower grade isn’t an option.

I like the idea of a big reward – at the end of each paper.

My prof is being wonderful – I’ve filled him in on trying a new med. Since I haven’t done the formal testing, I don’t qualify for accomodations but I have been given them anyway.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Bellamom

Sounds like you have a great Prof and Uni system if they have given you accommodations without a formal diagnosis. But then they know you are taking meds so guess you must have been prescribed them.

It might be an idea to work backwards and get the paper due on 15 Feb done first? Then you are only really late with two. It also depends on how much each one is worth. Sometimes students focus on the smallest paper and ignore the one worth most marks.

My suggestion is you might want to select one of them at a time and focus on that. Put aside some time each day for it. Break up the task into manageable pieces – I mean small pieces so you can feel good about getting that small thing done. Build it up gradually. So think about the title of the paper, collect the literature you need and do a plan of headings and subheadings. Then focus on what goes into each subheading. You can smooth it all out at the end when you do your editing. If you think in terms of little sections it will be less daunting. It does take some self discipline though.

Nellie wrote a post somewhere about breaking things into small sections. Previously my small sections were too large. It works better with really small chunks because you won’t be scared of starting and you will probably do more than you think.

You say not doing the papers is not an option (double negative). But think – it’s better to get them done than to strive for perfection and not do them at all. 60% is better than zero.

Give yourself a treat at the end.

Most importantly, keep your Prof updated always.

Good luck.

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[Anonymous]

Thanks Scattybird! I am going to work on the last one first. At the same time I have to work my way through a ton of reading having much of it done by March 13th when I fly off to Winnipeg for an intensive few weeks. That’s a whole nuther story of being up close and personal with 17 other people every day for 18/19 days – 8:30 am to 5:00pm. And they wonder why I won’t stay in the same place as them. !!!

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[Scattybird]

Good luck with that! Staying somewhere else sounds better.

I must admit to needing to take my own advice! It’s not easy but keep that focus!

Great things happen bit by bit.

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[Anonymous]

I actually found a place with the mother of a friend of a friend where I’ll have a nice room in the basement and the family room to myself. I won’t have to go to the bathroom when I don’t even need to just so I can be in a room by myself. (I do that all day at the school.)

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[Tiddler]

I’m finding that there has to be a big enough incentive to get work done before a deadline.

For now, the battle to do homework seems to be over because he gets half an hour on his favourite computer game for every 20 minutes of homework done. He is actually ASKING to do homework at the moment. When that wears off, I hope I’ll be able to find something else to motivate him.

Me – I want the deadline. I’ve not found anything else that can cut it.

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[Anonymous]

The tips above are great!

Here’s another one:

If there’s too much difficulty in getting stuff done while you’re alone in a room, try getting it done while in the same room as other people. It’s kind of helpful as long as you don’t get distracted by them or what they’re doing. Doesn’t have to be people who’re trying to get the same thing done either, it could be your mom, a sibling, or just a friend.

The other people act like a sort of buffer because if you’re alone and you decide to stop, it’s just you, but when other people are around, you get self-conscious.

Do it in a public place or leave the door open. Have someone in the next room. It gets you more aware of what you’re doing.

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[Tiddler]

Ooh. That’s true. When I work at my friend’s kitchen table I get loads more done than when I’m sitting at my own.

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[laddybug3]

I have a final tonight. Have I been studying? Nope! Totally forgot about until I read this post again. Same class, I forgot to turn in the homework, but the professor is very nice about homework. Just as long as I turn in the homework tonight is okay. She gives us a week over and we still get full points.

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[Anonymous]

The incentive idea works well with a lot of students (my class) and even with my own personal work projects. Yes, even teachers need incentives to get that nasty work done. I promise myself a treat or incentive that really intices me and I absolutely wont let myself have it until Im absolutely done. It makes the prize that much sweeter.

Ahh, we`re such simple creatures! 😆

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[drakeadonian]

Well I have always been a last minute guy and all i can say is the important to me tasks get done and all the others never had a chance anyway.

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