Help! Executive Disfunction Got Me!

This year was my first year teaching, and I absolutely loved it! Mostly.

As a high school science teacher at the end of my first year, there are so many things that I have learned about myself, my school, and teaching in general. The first is that teaching is exhausting. There are so many things to juggle and it can be really overwhelming at times! Having ADHD has not made it any easier. If you have ADHD as a teacher, or are looking to help out another teacher that has ADHD, here are some things that I realized were a help to me.

1. Always get the textbooks early. While no one wants to work during the summer, the reality is that if you have ADHD and you love teaching, this is likely one of your hyper-fixations. Take advantage of that! Keep your teacher's edition of your textbooks with you during the summer if possible. you never know when the whim might strike, and you'll be knocking out next year's prep and lesson planning.

2. Organize everything in digital files. Let's face it - the papers will absolutely get lost in that filing cabinet that you dump everything into. Use that cabinet for short-term paper collection, and keep a digital copy of the things that you really need.

3. Organize everything by chapter, not by file type. One of the previous teachers shared her digital files with me, which was so generous, but it was overwhelming. The neurotypical brain can handle organizing PowerPoints in one folder and worksheets in another, but the ADHD brain will struggle. Here is why. Inevitably, you will need to print a worksheet last minute. You know that you are teaching Earth Science chapter 18 right now, but you don't remember what you named the worksheet for this lesson when you saved it last year. You are frantically searching through trying to find something that you know you have, but you don't recall the file name, so you can't search for it, and you don't have time to make it again. If you save everything by chapter, you will have fewer files in each folder, and you can quickly find exactly what you need.

4. Keep sticky notes on whatever surface you teach next to or behind. Since I teach in a lab, I teach behind a giant lab table. In the top drawer of that table are three to five colors of sticky notes at a time. If there is something that I think of or remember in the middle of class, I write it down immediately (so that I don't hyper-fixate on that thing!) and take that sticky note to my computer. At the end of the day, I complete the sticky notes that I can and throw away the ones that I already took care of. I never use this for long-term reminders. After a couple days, the old sticky notes become part of the desk and I never see them again. Only use these for day-of or next-day reminders. If the topic on your mind is several days or weeks out, then make your sticky note, "set alarm or reminder for ______." This gives you a task that you can accomplish to get that event out of your mind so you can focus on what you are trying to do right that minute.

5. Don't commit to extra stuff if you can help it. You think that you have the time for it, but you honestly don't.

6. Don't try to take all of your work home with you. I made this mistake several times. All those papers got were a short outing to my house. Instead, focus on one project that you are looking forward to planning or grading and just bring that one home. Or, if you feel ambitious, grab the hardest or worst one, so that if the hyper-fixation does kick in you can knock out the one you like the least.

7. Don't expect other people to understand. They just won't. You can be as nice or as gracious as possible about it; you could try to explain it. Until they have experienced it they could not possibly understand why you can't just pick up your work and do it. Instead of wasting your time, go in with the expectation that people won't like everything that you do, and that's okay. At the end of the day, you answer to God, not to them. Do your best, and give Him the rest.

8. Trust God! This is the most important one! I don't think I would have lasted a day as a teacher if the Lord had not been with me. Teaching with ADHD is a struggle some days, but if your trust is in Him, He will give you what you need each day. He promised that He would! If you are in His will, He will show you every step along the way. Trust Him.

To me, ADHD is never an excuse. If I didn't have ADHD I never would have fallen in love with science the way that I have, and I never would have met these kids. I love what I do, and because of that I find ways to do it better.

While this isn't an exhaustive list of the things I've learned, the hyper-fixation that drove me to write this is dying down. Maybe in two years or so I'll write part two? :)

I hope this is a help to someone! If you have ADHD or you love teaching, reach out in the comments below and share your thoughts!