Date:     Tuesdays, 16th, 23rd & 30th January 2024
Time:     7 pm - 8 pm
Venue:  Online Via Zoom

In this series of 1-hour webinars you will deepen your understanding of how the brain perceives and responds to stress, learn how to respond to escalating behaviours and develop strategies to help students with ADHD. Webinar 1 focuses on knowledge and strategies that are helpful for understanding stress triggers, webinar 2 focuses on responding more effectively to escalating behaviours for some pupils and webinar 3 focuses on the few pupils in each class who present with ADHD or ADHD like behaviours.

Webinar 1: Develop a Compassionate Understanding of Behaviours that Challenge in the Classroom

Responding thoughtfully to off task and disruptive behaviour can be a significant challenge in busy classrooms. Learning more about how the brain responds to stress can help teachers respond with compassion and calm. Teachers will be supported to look beyond the behaviour and identify the young person’s needs. Participants will learn about;

1. The brain and Stress & Anger
   
   • Learn about the Fight/Flight/Freeze response and how the brain responds to stress
   • Understand the importance of regulate, relate, reason approach
   • Identify what is working well and build on this
2. Strategies for calm, connection & compassion
   
   • Collaborative problem solving
   • Communicating with clarity and consistency
   • Build positive relationships

Webinar 2: Responding to Behaviours that Challenge with Calm and Consistency

This webinar will focus on strategies for developing capacity to support students with additional educational needs and who present with externalising behaviours. It is critical to develop positive relationship with students for behaviour support to be successful. Understanding how behaviour problems escalate and when and how to intervene is a key factor in effective classroom management. Behaviour problems often follow a predictable pattern of escalation leading to an outburst. Participants will learn about;

• Build on existing strengths through rules and routines
• Learn about the phases of the Acting Out Cycle and understand models of Brain stress responses
• To explore ways to prevent and respond to escalating behaviours as they occur within the Acting Out cycle

Webinar 3: Supporting Students with ADHD and/or Executive Function Challenges in the Classroom

Students with ADHD benefit from differentiated teaching that considers their unique learning needs. Many students with ADHD and ADHD like behaviours have difficulties with executive function. This refers to the set of cognitive processes that control and regulate; attention, memory, problem solving and decision making. This webinar will cover;

• How ADHD impacts learning, motivation, and behaviour
• Learn techniques to improve self-regulation and self-advocacy
• Identify thinking deficits that can impact student behaviour
• Understand how executive function develops and why it is important for learners

Bio of Presenter: Dr. Clara O'Byrne, (PhD., M.Sc., M.Ed., M.Phil., B.Sc., B.A., HDE)