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Pomodoro Technique for ADHD: Why it Helps & How to Begin

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The Pomodoro Technique is a simple yet powerful time management method that breaks work into focused intervals with built-in breaks to maintain energy and momentum. Individuals with ADHD often face challenges like time blindness, distractibility, and executive dysfunction, and the structured technique helps improve productivity and sustain attention. Rather than fighting against ADHD symptoms, the

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This approach involves to students on real and significative projects with the purpose they learn through experience and practice.

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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Guided Discovery for Language Instruction Maria Victoria Saumell

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Think of the stages your young learners are at

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Think of the stages your young learners are at

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To plan better activites, think of what they are interested in according to their age and cognitive development.

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Teach students to use AI ethically and effectively

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Teach students to use AI ethically and effectively

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Learners can create their own notebooks to study

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Learners can create their own notebooks to study

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Tutorial IA: Estudia y aprende como PRO con Notebook LM - jonmircha

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The aim of this lesson plan is to introduce the writing journal into the class, as a different kind of class writing activity, which can become an additional tool in order to help students develop their writing skills.

What is a journal?

Let me first start by defining what I mean by a journal in this lesson plan. This is a similar idea to a 'learner diary', where students regularly reflect on what they have learnt in classes, and the way that activities in class have helped them to learn. Nick Peachey has written in TeachingEnglish about using learner diaries in this way. It is also a similar idea to teacher-student journals, where students will write their ideas, and the teacher will make some sort of comment. Over time, this becomes a bit like a dialogue that takes place between student and teacher, and can help both student and teacher to learn more about each other (which usually has a good effect on motivation and learning).

Essentially, the journal I describe here includes both of the above ideas, as well as others. These include ideas such as: 'fast writing' - the teacher plays some music and students write down how it makes them feel; 'character writing' - students read a story, then imagine that they are a character in the story and then they write the story from their own point of view; 'discussion sentence stems' - the teacher dictates some sentence stems, students complete them and then discuss the propositions.

The journal, therefore, is not used for any one, specific purpose. It serves as the students' 'writing space', and the type of writing will change depending on the activity.

What is the goal of journal writing?

What, then, is the point of the journal? I would argue that it encourages the teacher to include a greater number of writing tasks in the class than he/she might normally do. The purpose of the writing tasks may be to produce something that can be read by other students (by swapping over journals), but it doesn't have to be. Writing for its own sake is a goal to pursue.

Why is this so? Basically writing, like reading, is a skill that we get better at; the more that we practise it, the more fluent we will become. Encouraging students to write freely, about a range of topics, often concerning how they feel about a topic or what their thoughts are regarding their learning, will help them to become more fluent writers. It forms part of 'building the writing habit'. As Jeremy Harmer says 'Journal writing contributes to a student's general writing improvement in the same way as training enhances an athlete's performance: it makes them fit.' It can also be an enjoyable activity for many people.

What kind of journal?

Ideally a student's journal will be a fairly thin, lightweight notebook. In this way, if the teacher wants to collect in a set to look at, he/she won't find that they are too heavy to carry. Journals for younger students, who will typically write less, may just be some folded sheets of A4 with a colourful card cover which the teacher makes (or gets the students to make in the first lesson). The advantage of providing students with journals yourself is that you may want students to start writing in them from the start of the course. Otherwise, it can take a while for every student to bring some kind of journal notebook to class of their own accord! However, that is also an option.

How do you respond to the journal writing?

We are often encouraging personal reflection and response when we set a journal writing activity, and consequently the most valid response to this kind of writing might be to focus on its content and to respond primarily to this aspect of the writing. A teacher can express interest in the writing and refer to the ideas which are particularly well expressed.

Some learners may be happy with this kind of response and may prefer not to receive much or any 'explicit correction'. However, there may be learners who would definitely like more detailed feedback on errors. Perhaps the best approach is to ask learners to decide the level of correction that they would like, and ask them to write this in their journal (as suggested in the lesson plan). If correction on a regular basis is going to prove difficult, the teacher could always set up an 'appointments' schedule, and arrange to take in and correct different diaries every week.

Using a correction code

If students specifically request that their writing is corrected, one way to correct writing is to use a correction code and to encourage students to correct their own mistakes. The teacher highlights the error, using the code, and later the student reads back over his/her journal entry and tries to make the corrections.

Here is an example of a typical correction code:

WW - wrong word

WT - wrong verb tense

WF - wrong word form (e.g. infinitive instead of gerund)

Ag - the determiner/article + noun don't agree in number (e.g. singular article but plural noun)

G - there is a grammar problem

^ - there is a word missing

Sp - spelling is wrong

P - punctuation problem

Students can be introduced to this code right from the beginning of the course, and can write it in the front or back of the journal to refer to.

One disadvantage with using a correction code is that students may not actually know how to correct the mistake and may simply leave the error as it is, without feeling any the wiser about the error. For this reason, it is a good idea to use time in class for students to go back through their writing and to try to identify the errors. In that way, the teacher is on hand to help confirm the students' hypotheses about the correct form and also to give the correct form if the student has no idea what the error is. This could be an extra activity in the lesson every two or three weeks: students look back over all their writing from that period and try to correct their mistakes.

Another disadvantage with using a correction code is that it might generate a lot of work for the teacher, particularly if the class is a large one! Each teacher needs to decide, therefore, what the best approach is going to be to respond to the class journals.

Creating the mood for writing

It can be a good idea to put on some background music while students are writing. This might be related to the activity. For example, one day when I wanted students to imagine that they were a regretful character, writing from a prison cell, I put Adagio for Strings on in the background. It's one of the saddest pieces I know! It helped the students to focus on the mood. Other classical music is lively and happy - Schubert's piano music, for example, can be nice! Obviously there is no end to the kind of music that you could play in the background while students are writing. Personally I would avoid music with lyrics, because I think it would be distracting, but the music could be contemporary music rather than classical music. YouTube is a great resource for instrumental or classical music, as much as it is for songs. You might want to take it in turns: in the first class, you choose the music; in the next class, a nominated student can choose it.

Activities for journal writing

You'll find these ideas explained in more detail if you look at the lesson plan associated with this article. Here are some suggested activities:

Personalised journal entry: Students write a letter of introduction about themselves at the beginning of the course. During the course, they can write about key things in their lives: the media they read/watch/listen to; their hobbies; the things they own; the people who mean the most to them.

Reflecting on your learning: Dictate sentence stems about learning, e.g.: 'The thing I enjoy most about learning English is ...' etc. Then they compare with their partners.

Character writing: Students read/listen to a story. They adopt different viewpoints within the story and write about it.

Happiness diary: Students chart their happiness (or lack of it) over the previous week; they write about why they felt like that

Vocabulary stories: Students pull words out of the class 'word bag'; in groups they have to construct a story and write it in their journals, before reading it out to other students.

I hope you enjoy setting up class journals with your students. I think you'll find that it encourages them to view writing in a more positive way, and that you will enjoy finding out some things that you didn't know about your students.

Bibliography:

1. How to Teach Writing, Jeremy Harmer, Longman 2004

Chapter 8 - Journal writing

Article written by Joanna Dossetor

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The aim of this lesson plan is to introduce the writing journal into the class, as a different kind of class writing activity, which can become an additional tool in order to help students develop their writing skills. What is a journal?

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Scrambling in the moment to figure out what students need when they just don't get it is one of the exciting challenges of teaching. Being able to respond to learners' needs on the spot is hands down one of the greatest tricks of this trade.

And when lesson planning, we can't always guess how many steps we will need to break a lesson into and how much support will be needed for each chunk. I know I've made assumptions about what students will "get" and then in the middle of the lesson, I've had to stop, think on my feet, and add something to help move the learning forward.

Just to be clear: Scaffolding a lesson and differentiating instruction are two different things. Scaffolding is breaking up the learning into chunks and then providing a tool, or structure, with each chunk. When scaffolding reading, for example, you might preview the text and discuss key vocabulary, or chunk the text and read and stop and discuss as you go. With differentiation, you may give a child an entirely different piece of text to read, you might shorten the text or alter it, and you may modify the writing assignment that follows.

Simply put, scaffolding is what you do first with kids, then for those students who are still struggling, you may need to differentiate by modifying an assignment and/or making accommodations for a student (for example, choose more accessible text and/or assign an alternative project).

3 Scaffolding Strategies

On-the-spot scaffolding and differentiating are essential skills for teachers. And the longer you teach, the better you become at both.

So when do we do it? Well, if we get The Look from students (a distant stare, a furrowed brow) this means it's time to stop, check for understanding by asking questions or in some other way, and then review. If that doesn't work, we need to add a step -- bolster what has already been shared by adding something more.

Here's some ideas to consider when the learners in the midst of a lesson need a little extra something:

Idea #1: Sentence starters. These writing training wheels work wonders for any struggling writer, whether elementary or secondary school students (heck, I use them with university students). So if a student is sitting there and says with words (or simply with a look) "I don't know what to write," take your pencil and write a few words out with a line that follows. Here's examples: "One thing I don't understand about the civil war is____," "People disagree about this issue because____," "Something important to know about photosynthesis is____." If many students are struggling to get started with a writing task, create a few sentence starters on the white board for all to see.

Idea #2: Use an image or short film clip. In the middle of a lesson, when the thinking is stuck in the room, I've jumped online to find a short film clip or a photo. One example is a time we read about and discussed McCarthyism and my eleventh grade students needed more to really get it. I quickly went online and found and projected a few anti-communism propaganda advertisements. These over-the-top messages really made the hysteria surrounding this era come to life for them. After that, our discussion deepened and so did their questions about McCarthyism and The Cold War.

Using visuals for on-the-spot scaffolding (for an individual student or for the group) is unquestionably a best practice. Research shows that the population is made up of 65 percent visual learners. And only 10 percent of students are auditory learners yet 80 percent of instruction is delivered orally (University or Illinois, 2009).

Idea #3: Give them time to talk with a guiding question. Never underestimate giving students time to talk. As learners, we need to make sense of what is coming at us -- new information, new ideas, and concepts. If you see The Look from many, stop the lesson and invite students to engage in low stakes discussion with each other and focus it on a guiding question. The question can be framed, for example, so as to clarify the information they've already received or to compare or to connect the new information to what they already know. For example, "If someone were to walk into this room right now, how would you explain McCarthyism?" Or, "What does McCarthyism remind you of? In what ways is it different (or the same) in government/politics today?"

How do you on-the-spot scaffold? What tools and tips do you have worked well with students? Please share in the comments section below.

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Scrambling in the moment to figure out what students need when they just don't get it is one of the exciting challenges of teaching. Being able to respond to learners' needs on the spot is hands down one of the greatest tricks of this trade.

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Adaptive Teaching: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide

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Adaptive teaching is a teaching method that adjusts lessons to meet the pitch, pace and individual needs of students.

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Once the lesson is over you can try these ideas:

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Once the lesson is over you can try these ideas:

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To effectively adapt lessons after they've finished, reflect on student engagement, comprehension, and feedback, then explore alternative approaches like interactive activities, multimedia resources, or peer-to-peer learning, adjusting pacing and content delivery accordingly.

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

1. Gather Feedback and Assess:

Student Feedback: Actively solicit feedback from students about their learning experience, challenges, and what they found interesting or confusing.

Formative Assessment: Use in-class assessments to gauge student understanding during the lesson, not just at the end.

Self-Reflection: Reflect on your own teaching methods and their effectiveness.

2. Identify Areas for Improvement:

Engagement: Were students actively participating? Did they seem bored or disengaged?

Comprehension: Did students grasp the key concepts? Were there common misunderstandings?

Pacing: Was the lesson too fast or too slow? Did you cover all the material adequately?

Content Delivery: Were the methods used (lecturing, group work, etc.) effective?

3. Adapt the Lesson:

Interactive Activities: Incorporate more hands-on activities, games, or discussions to increase engagement.

Multimedia Resources: Use videos, images, or online resources to enhance learning.

Peer-to-Peer Learning: Encourage students to teach each other or work collaboratively on projects.

Adjust Pacing: Modify the pace of the lesson based on student needs.

Simplify or Extend Content: Provide more support for struggling students or challenge advanced learners.

Differentiate Instruction: Tailor instruction to meet the diverse needs of learners.

Flexible Grouping: Group students dynamically based on their learning needs.

Scaffolding: Provide support and guidance to help students master challenging concepts.

Questioning: Use effective questioning techniques to promote critical thinking and understanding.

Formative Assessment: Use ongoing assessment to monitor student progress and make adjustments.

Differentiated Resources: Provide a variety of resources to cater to different learning styles.

Peer Teaching: Encourage students to teach each other.

Learning Stations: Set up different stations for students to explore different aspects of the topic.

Personalized Learning Plans: Create individualized learning plans for students with specific needs.

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If you have students with reading difficulties because they may have dyslexia or ADHD 

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If you have students with reading difficulties because they may have dyslexia or ADHD 

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Try these fonts in your presentations and handouts