Tony Beals is the VP of Admissions and Enrollment Solutions at Brightmont Academy. Tony has extensive experience as both a parent and an educator working with students from an array of backgrounds including those with anxiety, depression, ASD, ADHD, and ODD. He has been in the education industry for over 25 years and has been involved as a teacher, consultant, manager, and leader.
When Learning Finally Starts to Fit - A Reflection as a Student and a Teacher
Tony Beals • April 2, 2026
When I brainstorm how to effectively teach a lesson or class, I brainstorm back to when I was a struggling student.
I’d start out engaged, sometimes even excited, and then somewhere along the way something would change. I’d go quiet, sometimes drift, some would say I would check out. From the outside, it probably looked like I stopped trying.
But that’s not what was happening.
The learning stopped connecting with me. I didn’t know how to explain it at the time. I just knew that sometimes things clicked and sometimes they didn’t, and when they didn’t, it felt like I was the problem and as a student, that fed anxiety, which made things worse. Like I just needed to focus more or try harder or keep up better.
Looking back now, it’s a lot clearer that it wasn’t about effort. It was about learning environment.
Sometimes the pace of the lesson didn’t match how I processed it. For example, If it moved too slow, I’d lose interest. If it moved too fast, I’d get lost and never really catch back up. And I could sit in the same classroom as everyone else and have a completely different experience, even though on the surface it all looked the same.
Other times it was how the lesson was being taught. If everything came through one way, just listening or just reading, there were moments where it just didn’t land. It would pass right by instead of stick. Not because I couldn’t understand it, but because it never really connected.
I know now that I wasn’t the only one having that experience, but I was just one version of it.
That’s why the conversation around flexible pacing and multi-sensory learning matters more than we sometimes realize. Not as strategies to add on, but as ways to make learning actually reach more people.
Because when the pace can stretch or slow depending on the learner, more students stay with it. And when learning comes through more than one instructional pathway or modality, when you can see it, hear it, talk through it, interact with it, it gives more than one way in. You don’t have to guess who needs what. More students just… connect.
It took me a long time to realize that what I was experiencing had a name. Neurodiversity. Not as a label, but as a way of understanding that brains don’t all work the same way.
Some learners need movement to stay engaged. Some rely on visual input. Some need time to process before they respond. Some think out loud. Some are inspired by creative uses of technology. None of that is unusual, but a lot of it still doesn’t fit neatly into how learning is typically structured.
So when a student struggles, we tend to look at the learner first. But a lot of the time it’s not the learner. It’s the mismatch and over time, that mismatch can start to shape how a student sees themselves.
I had one teacher who started to change that for me. Mrs. St. Claire. I’ve mentioned her before, but she was the first teacher who really seemed to understand how I learned, even before I could explain it myself. She didn’t make a big deal out of it. She just adjusted. The pace felt different in her classroom. There were more ways to engage and I didn’t feel as boxed in.
More than anything, I felt like I could actually be in a classroom without constantly trying to keep up or catch up.
That experience has stayed with me, and honestly, it’s a big part of why the work I do now matters to me.
At Brightmont Academy, I see that same idea play out every day. When learning is built around the student instead of forcing the student to fit the system, light bulbs start lighting up. The pace moves with the student’s level of mastery and focus, The approach shifts into more than one modality, and students who were used to surviving in school start to actually engage again.
And that brings me to something I think matters even more than pacing or strategy.
Safety.
Not just physical safety, but the kind of safety where you’re not constantly worried about getting it wrong or falling behind or being exposed. The kind of environment where your brain isn’t in protection mode.
Because when learning doesn’t feel safe, none of the rest of it really works.
That’s when you see students shut down, avoid, or push back. Not because they don’t want to learn, but because learning hasn’t felt like a safe place to be. I know what that feels like, because for a long time I was that student.
When that sense of safety is there, things start to open up. You’re more willing to try and you stay with things longer. You don’t feel like every moment is a test of whether you’re keeping up.
And that’s when things like flexible pacing and multisensory learning actually start to do what they’re supposed to do.
I think sometimes we assume supporting different kinds of learners means doing more. More interventions, more plans, more layers. But a lot of the time it’s not about doing more. It’s about thinking differently from the beginning with the end in mind.
Letting learning evolve a little. Letting it come through more than one instructional pathway. Paying attention to whether the environment actually feels safe enough for a student to engage in the first place.
When a student isn’t engaging, it’s easy to ask why they aren’t trying or why they don't fit that class, but a better question might be whether the learning actually fits them.
Because when it does, you don’t have to force engagement, because it comes out naturally.
This article was first published as part of "Table Talks with Tony" newsletters, written by Tony Beals, VP of Admissions at Brightmont Academy and author of the upcoming book, The Education Paradox.© 2025 Tony Beals.
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In this fast-paced world, it’s hard for just about anyone to maintain a sense of focus. However, it’s especially challenging for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) . The most effective ADHD classroom strategies include reducing sensory distractions, breaking the avoidance cycle, and keeping consistent routines. Per the American Psychiatric Association (APA) one of the primary symptoms of ADHD is an inability to maintain focus (as the condition’s name suggests), in addition to fidgetiness and impulsivity. Furthermore, the APA labels ADHD as “debilitating” if the condition is not addressed and treated properly; ADHD may lead to many serious academic, emotional, and relational problems. Still, there’s hope, and it can often start in the classroom. The key is to pinpoint the reason(s) behind a student’s lack of focus and to go from there. The following are five strategies to help overcome the most common “ focus busters .” 1. Minimize Sensory Distractions to Improve ADHD Focus Perhaps the biggest focus buster for those with ADHD is distraction. Almost everything becomes a “shiny object,” so to speak. However, distractions aren’t just visual; sounds, smells, and textures are other possible sensory triggers in the classroom. For example, many people with ADHD find noise-cancelling headphones to be a good purchase; the headphones can drown out everything from the cacophony of the cafeteria to that annoying little buzz from the heat vent. Similarly, scents and odors may also be very distracting to those with ADHD. In other words, there are good reasons for schools to have no-perfume policies, to avoid harsh chemical cleaners, to keep food items just in designated dining spaces, etc. Those with ADHD are also particularly sensitive to the textures and general comfort of their clothing, furniture, etc. Hard or poky chairs, loose threads, itchy shirt tags, and stiff seams can easily sway students’ focus away from their schoolwork. At the same time, textures can also be used strategically to increase focus and instill a sense of calm. Students might find it beneficial to bring special fidgets or wear certain clothing items that make them feel more at ease. Some teachers stick strips of velcro under desktops to help their students channel their squirminess and stay seated and attentive. 2. Try Body Doubling to Boost Focus and Accountability Though the presence of other people can sway the focus of those with ADHD, there’s also a way to capitalize on group dynamics. Some students benefit from “ body doubling .” No, though the concept may sound strange, body doubling has nothing to do with cloning or some kind of sci-fi stunt. In addition, it does not involve another person’s helicoptering or task management. Instead, it’s just a matter of having a focused buddy nearby. Tim Richardson, a psychiatrist at Puget Sound Psychotherapy , describes the effect of body doubling in this way: “The double provides a shared attention field. The ADHD brain stays anchored to the task by sensing another person’s attention and presence. The double acts as a gentle cue system that says, ‘I’m here, we’re working.’” At Brightmont Academy , body doubling takes place in the school’s Homework Studio . Surrounded by an on-task teacher and just a few other students working on their assignments, a quiet and focused demeanor is evident among even the most scattered and distractible students. 3. Break the ADHD Task-Avoidance Cycle Procrastination also robs people of their focus, but where does procrastination come from? More often than not, some type of fear or negative feeling is at its root. Those with ADHD, they may have to overcome not only a chronic lack of confidence, but also cognitive hurdles common to the ADHD condition. To a lot of students with ADHD, schoolwork is like a smelly garbage can. They avoid it. They find no good in it. They neglect the main problem, only for it to become more profound. The task of educators, therefore, is to give students a metaphorical hose, so to speak, and help them face whatever rotten stuff is polluting their ability to move forward. The first step toward focus in this area is to show understanding and empathy. After so many years of being deemed difficult or unmotivated by their parents, teachers, peers, etc., those with ADHD are bound to feel discouraged and apprehensive when it comes to their mounting responsibilities. The second step is to investigate the cognitive reasons behind procrastination. According to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) , “ADHD is linked to procrastination because of how the ADHD brain works. Your brain processes information differently, making you more likely to put off tasks.” Altogether, those with ADHD may find themselves in a task avoidance cycle —they might not know anything different from an ongoing swirl of defeated self-talk and setback after setback. In short, honesty around what fuels the cycle is key to escaping from it.
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