Using Puppets to Create Kinesthetic Access to UDL (Universal Design for Learning) Checkpoints

• In Event: Disability Sustaining Pedagogy: Elementary School Literacy Teaching Based on the Insights of Teachers With Disabilities

Abstract

I’m a fourth-grade teacher with ADHD and, honestly, I’ve never considered it a disability. ADHD makes me creative, curious, and quick-thinking. ADHD is diagnosed three times more often in boys than girls. I was fortunate to receive my diagnosis at a young age. My brother has ADHD and my middle-class, white family was able to afford a private evaluation because they were curious if I had it, too. Because I grew up knowing my brain was wired differently and spent my formative years working to understand how I learn, I can harness my brain's wiring to serve me as a learner and educator.

How I like to work looks different from what others may expect because I plan lessons out of order. When I was younger, I used to combat this urge to jump around, fighting to stay focused on one task at a time. But, task switching is where the magic happens. I get excited by ideas, and these sparks take me down “hyper-fixated dives.” When I allow myself to lean into these impulsive digressions, I get to lean into curiosities, make connections between what I know and what I’d like to know, and come out with a deeper understanding. Because I understand how my brain likes to work, I don’t care that my process looks illogical to someone else. Working in this way is why I’m as smart as I am and why I still enjoy learning as an adult.

I don’t believe that I have problems as a learner, but my work style does not align with school schedules. Some days I can be “in the zone” for hours, laser-focused. I call this my “online” brain; it feels electric. Other times, my “offline” times, working through tasks feels impossible. Pushing through these “offline” times feels like fighting a war with my brain and I’m often left mentally exhausted. When I was younger, I thought that I was sometimes smart and sometimes dumb. But I now know that these “offline” times are called ADHD burnout, and I allow myself to scroll on my phone, doodle, stare at a wall, or any brain break that feels good. I often think about how different my self-esteem would have been if I’d allowed myself these breaks as a student.

When we view learning variations from a deficit perspective, it is easy to consider our students with ADHD as impulsive or inattentive. When we send students the message that, due to their variation, things will always be hard for them, we’re depriving them of opportunities to understand how to use their brain’s wiring as an asset. The most important lesson a student can learn is how they learn best. I am open with my students about having ADHD and share my journey of unlocking my learning process. I try to model pride in my identity as a person with ADHD, and to emphasize the gifts it gives to me. I hope to inspire students to inquire about how they learn best.

Author

• Charlotte Maltby, Bank Street College of Education