ADHD = hyperactivity galore. Why do they shut down at a moment’s notice? Motivation changes everything.
Motivation is something that gets students with ADHD going, keeps them working, and helps to complete tasks. It has been conceptualized including inner forces, enduring traits, behavioral responses to sets of beliefs and effects. Behavioral theories view motivation as an increased or continual level of responding stimulus brought about by rewards.
Taking the Wayback Machine…
Edie the reading teacher. What was I thinking? Kids might hate reading more than math. Reinforce them. Get them to work. How? Play reading games.
Motivation is a process rather than a product. It provides an impetus for direction to actions (i.e. choice of tasks, effort). Students with ADHD foster verbalization, a skill that they are more proficient with (i.e. I don’t want to work on this).
Motivation requires physical or mental activities. It entails effort, persistence, and other overt actions. The process also includes cognitive actions such as planning, rehersing, organizing, and monitoring.
- Exemplifies an intuitive understanding of learning objectives.
- Becomes more enthusiastic, even for more challenging tasks.
- Affects performance dramatically.
- Influences what, when, and how students learn.
- Attends carefully to instruction.
A key point is that motivation bears a reciprocal relationship to learning and performance. When students with ADHD achieve learning goals, they are furter motivated to accomplish even more. Setting new challenges tends to improve greater understanding.
“Our kids” are known for stutting down. Find what works, showing them that anything is attainable.
What motivates you when doing something that’s difficult, especially something you hate?