She Suggested That We Try a Planner!
Dylan really struggled with the forty assignments due in history during the first quarter. So I wrote an email to his history teacher:
“Even with all the allowances made for his being sick (THANK YOU!), Dylan has three D’s and six E’s due to missing assignments…. What can we do to improve his communication with you, so that he knows what’s due – and actually gets it turned in WHEN it’s due?”
I got a response a few days later, and I nearly guffawed at his teacher’s suggestion. I know she is young – it may even be her first year teaching – but to think that we hadn’t tried this already was laughable.
“A suggestion I have for Dylan to know exactly what is due and when it is due is a planner (or some other way for him to consistently write down assignments and due dates). I have plenty of spare composition books and spiral notebooks, and his school has planners he could use. Because Dylan prefers things to be on the computer, he could also have a chart (online) that he can share with his teachers and add to daily? I think these are better than a weekly piece of paper, because it is less likely to get lost.”
She suggested that we try a planner! I nearly fell out of my chair. A brilliant idea, yes! But would it work?
No. Categorically, no, it would not work.
The following was only part of my gently constructed response:
“We have tried regular planners, special ADHD-organized planners, personal lists, special folders, small chalkboards, special notebooks, recording devices, phone apps and combinations of all of the above. We even tried having him write the assignment on the board AND then take a picture of it with his phone – but he often forgot to do that, too….”
I am not sure his teacher understands that she is suggesting something that didn’t work for Dylan after trying it for eight years.
So we are at Square One in history. Sometimes I think it’s just a matter of the teacher realizing that there are kids with ADHD – real ADHD – who can’t organize and remember everything the way we would like.
A planner. What a wonderful idea.