I gave a math quiz last Friday. My severely ADHD student was absent that day. Today, when we had the time, I handed him the test and said "Hey, Kiddo, I need you to take this test." Simple enough. He threw a monstrous fit. He wrote "I hate you" on the back of the test and showed it to me, then insisted he was here on Friday and already took the test (this is demonstratively false, proof including an e-mail from Mom saying Kiddo was sick and could he turn in his homework on Monday?) Gah. So, consequences administered and all that, including a potentially permanent 0 for the test (data necessary thing for administration), though we might try again tomorrow. There is nothing in his IEP about changing the time of the test or anything like that. Did I do wrong in waiting until the afternoon to ask him to do the test? Do I accept this as a one-time bit of brattiness or is it something I should bring to the attention of the IEP team, looking for a plan for giving him make-up tests, finding when the best time is, etc?
One-time bit of brattiness is what I'd go with. Document EVERYTHING, including making a copy of the back of the test. I also would have sent a copy home. I wouldn't tiptoe around him in the future if I didn't have to.
I'm thinking he may have forgotten about the test until he was confronted with it. I try to remember to remind kids when they come in first thing in the morning that they have a test to make up at such-and-such a time. I have a couple of students with diagnosed anxiety disorders and this seems to help them most of the time. If they do have an outburst, I try to treat it as a one-off, document, and move on. I'm fortunate in that I have the professional discretion to not have to give a zero and can just find another way to evaluate.
Probably best to involve a conversation with mum. I'd tend to agree that you may have caught the kid on a bad day. He could have felt ambushed that the test was 'sprung' on him and his response was to get defensive. Could also be helpful to ask the kid to give you a time when he thinks is best for him to sit his test, within reason of course. Sometimes giving the kid some form of choice makes them feel empowered and he may look a bit more favourably on the test.
I would have mentioned it to him before dropping it in his lap. You could have then mentioned that there was free time available and he could take it now or he could suggest another time.
Good grief. It wasn't really sprung on him since I'm assuming it wasn't a surprise quiz given on Friday (so the means it was coming at some point). I'd give him one more chance tomorrow (maybe email mom to remind him about it) and if he pulls the same nonsense then a 0.
Something is going on. A kid might be labeled with ADHD now but later we'll find out a host of other things he may have been dealing with. Above all else! Document! How well is your district in handling these issues? Do you have someone who sees this child regularly, like a full time counselor? Concerning the back of his test: You know the parent best, would sending a copy of the back of the test help or hurt or could it go either way?
I would give opportunities to make this up but I would need to rearrange the questions a bit. If the student ever discovers that he can get more time this way, and possibly cheat, he might develop a pattern of behavior that would be extremely hard to train out of.
We're a charter school. He just barely received his IEP and has yet to have any real pull-outs (he's fine academically). However, he does see a private therapist three times a week. Mom and Dad are pretty much the best, so I did show them the back of the test.
Can you give a kid an IEP for extreme ADD? I've been told no at my school, although it can severely affect performance.
If students are getting zeros for not being able to do the work then it is impacting their academics. Test scores can no longer be the sole indicator in evaluation for IEPs.
If it's medical and disabling with another learning disability (which he has), yes. I've seen it before. We also suspect he has some other emotional issues yet to be properly diagnosed.
In my experience, many kids with ADHD end up qualifying for special ed under the Other Health Impairments category.
We have many children who will do this, especially during standardized testing, who do not have an ADHD blanket to shelter under. Many do it because it gives them a sense of great power over adults, or as a way to lash out at the society that marginalizes them—I assume. Never in all my years could have imagined children were damaged in such varied and profound ways.
My first impression is that this is not ADD related, except possibly for the impulsiveness of the reaction. Although another ADD related possibility, (I'd say unlikely but possible), is a sudden imaginary fear concerning the test, as sometimes ADD children develop imaginary fears. I'm kind of wondering if the incident is more of a minor issue than it appears on the surface to adults. I agree with your response of not allowing the outburst and informing the parents; I probably would try to avoid it becoming a major issue. When one of my students throws a fit, I like to invoke my rule that I will listen when they speak as politely to me as I speak to them. A really good book, no, the best book I've read on dealing with meltdowns is by Daniel Siegel and Tina Bryson; No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind. New York: Bantam, 2014. E-book ISBN is 978-0-345-54805-4.
It wouldn't surprise me. Again, parents are great, but they're also the natural type and while happy with taking him to a therapist, are shying away from checking out that sort of diagnosis.
Mom and Dad are struggling with it as well. The other students will instinctively know, or will cognitively grasp, that there is something unique about this student and I doubt the behaviors will be duplicated by any others. You certainly got this! Hopefully he gets the extra help and its great that it is being identified in grade 2. We are getting students in grade 8 that there has been parents begging for testing of their students for years and there has been huge documentation of behavioral issues.
So Day 2/3 (Monday and Yesterday), and no test is done. Monday was the official try-again day, Tuesday was unfinished work spring cleaning where I unofficially turned a blind eye if he so happened to pull out the test and complete it. Parents and administration are at peace with the zero.
I have a sweet student who never completes any work. The kid will sit there quietly and just stare at the paper (despite prompting, timers, strategies, etc). On a good day, the kid can complete the work with no problem, but about 80% of the time the work does not get done. I have talked to the parents and my admin and am now just giving zeros. It actually is a relief to come to peace with the fact that sometimes, that's okay. You can't make a child do something they don't want to do.
But sadly everyone csn give up on the child because the underlying csuse is difficult to determine, and ifvthe available services don't do it it is easier to give up on the child and blame the child for his problems.
I've pushed things as far as I can push them, and trust me, I have really tried to get this student some help. If there is no admin or parent support for getting special ed services (my school is very anti SpEd and will basically only test if the parents demand it), at some point these children have to be allowed to fail to show in a concrete way that what's happening in the classroom currently is not working.
I don't know if Otter's example is giving up. More like the natural end of a phase of approach. Now she has concrete proof what she can do with x,y, and z isn't working. Until she gets other things, here's where things are. And while it's our job to help the kid, I think some kids truly learn to think they have no skin in the game. Concrete failure is good there.
It is only a natural progression of what those at the school are willing to give. It is far from what could be done. I don't mean otterpop because clearly the school's decisions are lacking.
