Teaching With ADHD
Student teaching in a kindergarten classroom taught me not only about instruction and classroom management, but also about how to manage my ADHD in a professional teaching environment for the first time. Kindergarten classrooms move quickly and require constant attention, flexibility, and emotional presence, so I had to become intentional about supporting myself in order to show up consistently for my students.
One of the first things I realized was how easily I forget basic needs, especially eating, when I become focus or very in the moment. Because teaching kindergarten can be physically and emotionally demanding, I started meal prepping every Sunday so I would always have lunches and snacks ready for the week. Even though I usually do not eat three full meals a day, I made sure to have a small breakfast and bring lunch every day to maintain my energy. Funnily enough, my students helped keep me accountable. Snack time is extremely important in kindergarten, and the children were always quick to notice if I did not have one. Hearing “Teacher Mia, where is your snack?” became both funny and genuinely helpful. This experience reminded me that taking care of myself was necessary for maintaining the positive and supportive classroom environment emphasized in Danielson’s Domain 2.
Time management was another challenge. One of the hardest parts of ADHD for me is time blindness, where five minutes can feel like thirty seconds. To help myself stay aware of pacing during lessons, I built an association between checking the clock and something I constantly said throughout the day: “friends,” which is what we call the students at the school. Every time I addressed the class as “friends,” I would glance at the clock. Because I used the phrase so often, the habit eventually became automatic and helped me better manage transitions and instructional time, connecting closely to Danielson’s Domain 3 on effective instruction and classroom procedures.
I also learned that task initiation becomes easier for me when I connect personal joy and creativity to my work. Sometimes starting a task feels overwhelming, even when I know I will enjoy it once I begin. Teaching elementary helps with this because I could incorporate my interests into lessons through read alouds, art activities, experiments, and projects. When I was genuinely excited about what I was teaching, it became easier to stay focused and motivated. This reflected Danielson’s Domain 1, Planning and Preparation, because engaging instruction begins with thoughtful, meaningful lesson design.
Throughout student teaching, I also relied on smaller supports like sticky note reminders, visual schedules, consistent organization systems regarding assessment and lesson planning, and movement throughout the day to help regulate my focus and energy. Over time, I stopped viewing these strategies as managing weaknesses and instead saw them as tools that allowed me to teach more effectively. Student teaching ultimately showed me that ADHD does not prevent me from being a strong educator. In many ways, it has made me more creative, adaptable, and empathetic toward students who may need similar support in the classroom.
