Student Academic Struggles

I have a student diagnosed with both PDD-NOS and ADHD who is in my language arts class. He is easily distracted and to get any desk work completed, his aide takes him into the hall or the back corner of the room. Is there a better way I can minimize distractions without having him move away from his peers?

I have a student in my regular 5th grade classroom, who does not have a diagnosis of any kind. However, he often displays oppositional behaviors. He will refuse to open his eyes, pick his head up off the desk, answer questions, and has recently shown an increase in speaking out in a disrespectful manner towards his teachers. He does not lack the ability to do any of these. Often these defiant behaviors occur when he does not want to engage in a particular classroom assignment, either because he feels unsure of his own abilities or because he feels the exercise/activity/assignment is meaningless and irrelevant. I have several forms of whole-class positive reinforcement systems, but he does not always respond. I have also tried additional individual positive reinforcement tools that he has not responded to either. Can you give some ideas as to how I can help him be more engaged and cooperative in class? Thank you for your insight. I welcome any guidance!

Many of my students stress when taking unit tests to the point that their grades do not demonstrate their abilities seen during class. What strategies can I give them to relax and not fail?

I have a student who sits in class and never seems to be paying attention. He doesn’t take notes during the lesson and when test time rolls around; he seems unprepared and ends up doing poorly on the exam. How can I help him follow along with the lesson in class?

I have a student in my Algebra class who participates and can do the work but his organization and writing is so poor he has difficulty studying for tests. I’ve tried using the computer, getting him folders but to no avail, what can I do to help him?

I have a child who is non-verbal but able to identify many common objects and is able to communicate basic wants and needs via a picture communication board. I would like to start teaching her some early literacy skills and words…any suggestions as to how I might start?

I have a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has difficulty with his math facts but refuses to ‘be taught’. He likes to be ‘in charge’. He gets frustrated with his math and wants to know the answers but refuses to sit in a math group or even individually when I am teaching methods for learning the facts. He also loves creating power points in Language Arts. He will insert his favorite character in each one as an image. But what can I do for this student in math?

I teach a gifted class and have a student on the Autism Spectrum. We work on many creative and imaginative projects that have Open Ended Questions or Abstract Prompts. My student has great difficulty getting started on these projects and doesn’t seem to understand how to begin. What can I do to help her?

I have a student who is not able to answer Open Ended Questions. He cannot even begin his answer or he will say or write a response that makes no sense. How can I help him with such question prompts?

In my Language Arts classes students must look up 15 vocabulary words and write the meanings. I have such a variety of learners that I don’t think this is the best method to teach the words anymore. I have students who are bored, students who have difficulty locating the words, or difficulty summarizing the definition. When it is homework it is rarely completed well by many students if completed at all. The entire task is laborious, what else can I do to teach these words and ensure the students are learning and not groaning?