PAY ATTENTION TO INATTENTION!
SAALED
Capetown, 2011
Rosemary Tannock,PhD
Canada Research Chair & Professor in Special Education;, OISE/University of Toronto;
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; Senior Scientist, The Hospital for Sick Children
Recurring themes
Short attention span/ inattention
 Poor working memory
 Challenges accessing the curriculum


From exclusion, through inclusion, to
belonging
Risk Triad
for Belonging
Poor
Working memory
Classroom
inattention
Poor Academic
Attainment
www.teachadhd.ca
http://working-memory-and-education.wikispaces.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vg3fLgrNus&feature=player_embedded
What do we mean by
“poor working memory?”


Smaller capacity?
Poorer filtering out irrelevant
information, that is…
poor selective attention!
Pay attention to Inattention!
387 children followed from Kindergarten - Grade 5
Inattention in kindergarten
as reported by teachers
Poor reading in Gr. 5
even after controlling for IQ, hyperactivity,
emotional problems, & reading ability in
Kindergarten/Grade 1
What is attention?


Which of these students is paying attention?
How do you know?
Do outward
appearances
necessarily reflect
internal mental
state?
The problem
Where is the ‘mind’s eye’ ?
Attention Networks
Back of
brain
Front of
brain
Brain’s neurochemicals
Norepinephrine
Alerting
Focusing Acetylcholine
Executive Dopamine
Posner & Rothbart (2007). Annual Review of Psychology, 58:1-23
The Brain’s Attention Networks
(Posner)

Maintaining alertness


I’m ready!
Focusing visual & auditory stimuli
 where

you look & what you listen to.
Zoom in!
Executive attention
 Inhibiting
competing thoughts, emotions, stimuli to
complete a task. Ignore distractions!
Part II
How can we help children
pay attention?
Effective instructional practices

Introducing the lesson
 Draw
schematic on board
1. Preview
2. New
information (T)
3. Individual
work
4. Group
work
5. Review &
close
Preview previous lesson(s)
 Set learning expectations
 Set behavioral expectations (remain seated, talk in
quiet voice in small group)
 State needed material
 Simplify instructions & choices

Effective instructional practices
Conducting the lesson
 Be predictable
 Support the learner’s active participation
 Use audiovisual /different modalities
 Ask probing questions – allow time to respond
 Check performance & give prompt feedback
 Help learner self-correct errors
 Help learner focus/refocus
 Divide work into smaller units

Effective instructional practices




Concluding the lesson
Give advance warning
Check assigment
Preview next lesson (very briefly)
Problematic Attention Networks:
Implications for education…
Problem
 Alertness –
not ready !
Solutions

Actively engage the
learner’s attention

Focusing – zoomed
out / wrong target!

Increase saliency of
relevant information

Executive controlacted without
thinking!

Precue/prompt &
praise
1A. Engage ALL learners in active
learning

Create learning activities with high
response rate

questions for whole class to answer
(thumbs up/down)
Think-Pair-Share – 2 minutes
How else can you increase each learner’s
active responding in class?
 Discuss & identify 3 ways

1. Engage ALL learners in active
learning

Create learning activities with high
response rate
questions for whole class to answer
written, choral, gestural
 active monitoring & marking sheet
(click/clunk; know that, don’t understand,
new, oops I was wrong)
 partner activities (discuss, read, co-write)

1B. Engage ALL learners in active learning

Break into smaller units /
shorter time period
1 page/column at a time
 Use count-down timer


Help get started
check understanding
 set timer, then leave!


Take brief (30-60 sec),
timed, structured breaks
Everyday life in the
classroom from the
perspective of a
student with
inattention or
ADHD!
INCREASE SALIENCY
OF RELEVANT
INFORMATION!
Problematic Attention Networks:
Implications for education…
Problem
 Alertness –
not ready !
Solutions

Actively engage the
learner’s attention

Focusing – zoomed
out / wrong target!

Increase saliency of
relevant information

Executive controlacted without
thinking!

Precue/prompt &
praise
2. Increase saliency… by creating supportive
classroom environment

Organize physical environment to reduce
distractions
 near
teacher, between well-focused students, away
from distractions

Organize materials so they are easy to identify &
store (color coding)

Establish & post routines on one wall
Organizing the physical
environment

Special places for all children
A
quiet place with minimal distractions
 A moving place
 A group place
 An individual place

Everything in its own place
Desks, Bags, Closets, Binders
2. Increase saliency of relevant information by
Using Effective Instructions & Commands
24

Teachers were taught how to:
 assess
a student’s ability to process & remember
verbal information
 adapt their instructional language
 “Speak short & sweet & repeat”

Children showed improvements in:
 literacy
outcomes
 inattentive behavior
 Improvements persisted over several years
Rowe KJ: 2003 Australian Council for Educational Research
Rowe K, Pollard J, Rowe K (2005) [www.acer.edu.au/news/latestnews.html]
Rowe & Rowe’s Rules of Thumb
for inattention & literacy risk (2006)

Children not at risk
 Median/mean
number of words accurately
recalled = age in years + 4 (up to age 10)

Children in high-risk category for literacy
 Cannot
recall sentences of word length
more than age in years + 3
 Likely to be rated as inattentive, poor
academic achievement
Use Effective Instructions & Commands





ATTRACT the student’s attention
Maintain eye contact, proximity
SPEAK clearly, paced
Use short sentences (‘chunked’)
Use visual/gestural cues & wait for compliance
PAUSE between sentences
MONITOR the student
If child has ‘blank look’ stop & repeat instruction
TO REPEAT INSTRUCTION
Restate slowly and simply
Do not expand
TRY IT OUT! Small Group:
label yourselves A, B, C, D etc


Partner A act as fidgety & inattentive
Partner C gives directions;
 Write
down a 5-step direction for your
‘learners’ (e.g., a list of actions, like Tilly’s)
 Give the directions to your learners
 Monitor & rate their response 0-3 (3=all
correct)
 Partners A, B,D: rate your instructor 1-5 (5= very
effective)
Problematic Attention Networks:
Implications for education…
Problem
 Alertness –
not ready !
Solutions

Actively engage the
learner’s attention

Focusing – zoomed
out / wrong target!

Increase saliency of
relevant information

Executive controlacted without
thinking!

Precue/prompt &
praise
Poor executive control of
attention, poor working memory
& slow processing speed
pose problems for giving
effective feedback
WHY?
Intended
Target
Keep eyes on your
work
1 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Time
30
Consequential approaches may be limited by poor
working memory capacity!
More effective :
Antecedent prompt plus reinforcement
31

Prompt student for desired behavior
 Model,
verbal prompt
 Verbal prompt & student repeats
 Gradually fade to non-verbal prompt & student
self-talk

Reinforce desired behavior
 Initially
praise approximations of desired behavior;
ignore unwanted behavior
 Then hold praise until desired behavior; ignore
unwanted behavior
 Gradually delay praise to extend duration of
desired behavior; ignore unwanted behavior
Prompt for
Target
Behavior
Eyes on work
32
Ignore
1 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Time
Antecedent /at-point-of-performance
approaches will be more effective
Prompt for
Target
Behavior
Eyes on work
33
Ignore
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20
Time (min)
Antecedent /at-point-of-performance
approaches will be more effective
CLASSWIDE ANTECEDENT
STRATEGIES
1. Clear rules & expectations
Define Class-wide & School-wide
Expectations for Attentive Behavior
Identify 1-2 Expectations
 Short statements
 Positive Statements (what to do)
 Memorable
 TRY IT – Discuss with partner - how do you
develop statements?
 Examples:

 Be-there-be-ready,
Hands and feet to self,
(“eyes on the fries”) eyes on the job
Teach Behavioral Expectations
Say, show, practice, review, & reinforce
positively stated expectations
 Post expectations /rules
 Teach in the actual settings where behaviors
are to occur
 Teach (a) the words, and (b) the actions.
 Prompt & pre-correct
 Monitor continuously
 Acknowledge & reinforce regularly

Be a Positive Educator

Give more acknowledgements for appropriate
than inappropriate behavior
 At least 4 to 1
 At least once every 5-10 minutes
 Follow any correction with opportunity for
positive behavior and feedback
Basic teaching techniques

Daily review


Chunk lesson.


teacher modeling, followed by guided practice & immediate
feedback until mastery learning occurs.
Independent practice


Begin with objectives. Proceed in small steps. Highlight key
points.
Procedural learning


of relevant past learning & homework
continue until responses are accurate, quick,automatic.
Weekly reviews

routine and systematically build on previously learned
materials.
Classroom Management Practice
Rating
1.
I have arranged my classroom to minimize crowding and distraction
Yes
No
2.
I have maximized structure and predictability in my classroom (e.g., explicit classroom
routines, specific directions, etc.).
Yes
No
3.
I have posted, taught, reviewed, and reinforced 3-5 positively stated expectations (or rules).
Yes
No
4.
I provided more frequent acknowledgement for appropriate behaviors than inappropriate
behaviors (See top of page).
Yes
No
5.
I provided each student with multiple opportunities to respond and participate during
instruction.
Yes
No
6.
My instruction actively engaged students in observable ways (e.g., writing, verbalizing)
Yes
No
7.
I actively supervised my classroom (e.g., moving, scanning) during instruction.
Yes
No
8.
I ignored or provided quick, direct, explicit reprimands/redirections in response to
inappropriate behavior.
Yes
No
9.
I have multiple strategies/systems in place to acknowledge appropriate behavior (e.g.,
class point systems, praise, etc.).
Yes
No
Yes
No
10. In general, I have provided specific feedback in response to social and academic behavior
errors and correct responses.
Overall classroom management score:
10-8 “yes” = “Super”
7-5 “yes” = “So-So”
# Yes___
<5 “yes” = “Improvement Needed”
BUILD HOME-SCHOOL
PARTNERSHIP & TEAMWORK
Who are the team players?
• parents,
• teachers, teacher-assistants
• psychologist, speech-language pathologist
•, physicians
• & of course the student!
Basic principles for home-school
communication

Communicate frequently & regularly


Phone call, Email, Spontaneous notes, Notebook, HomeSchool Daily/WeeklyReport Cards, Face-to-face
Increase parents’ comfort at meetings
 Provide notice of time and room in advance along with brief
list of topics/questions, ask for parent questions; provide
written summary of decisions




Highlight student’s strengths (concrete examples)
Communicate about student’s needs (concrete
examples)
Work with parents to help create structure & routines
& to generate solutions
Communicate respect
www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/specialneeds/resources.asp
Daily Report
Name:________________ Date:__________
An
Satisfactory excellent
Needs
improvement
resource
for
2
1
educators
Circle the number that best describes how the student demonstrated the behavior today
Wonderful
Brings all needed supplies &
books to class
3
Follows directions
3
2
1
Starts work with minimal
prompting
3
2
1
Interacts positively with peers
3
2
1
Responds positively to teacher
requests
3
2
1
Students signature______________________
Teacher signature_______________________
Parent signature________________________
In-class performance today:
___Wonderful
___Satisfactory
___Needs improvement
Useful Resources on ADHD
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/products.html
www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/specialneeds/resource.asp
http://research.aboutkidshealth.ca/teachadhd
.
A co-ordinated,
sustainable, multi-system approach
Systemlevel
Student
&
parents
Schoolwide
• System : home, school,
education, medical, judicial
•Transition plans (sectorto-sector, school-to-school,
grade-to-grade, class-toclass)
• Instructional pathways
(credit-recovery, creditrescue, co-op etc)
• Ongoing capacitybuilding (parent programs,
professional development)
Classroombased
TIME FOR ME TO STOP!
ANY QUESTIONS?