I Think My Duolingo Routine Is Sticking Around This Time!

 One of my goals this year was to clock over 300 days on Duolingo, particularly in Spanish. Lots of people have done that, so why can't I? I've definitely accomplished a lengthy streak before, but then shortly after accomplishing that goal, my streak usually ends for one reason or another. Now that I know I'm dealing with ADHD now, I've been able to get some insight into why this might be happening. I find that it has to do with novelty. If I manage to accomplish my goal, the novelty of having reached that goal wears off. Or I get bored with the language that I'm learning. Something like that. If it's not novelty, it's motivation failing me. I might be really motivated by having a goal, but once it's accomplished, then I'm over it and it falls by the wayside. 

But this time around, something feels different. I'm feeling more confident that this will stick around even beyond reaching 300 days in a row. Now that I've been reading up more on ADHD and how it functions, I'm more aware of what I might need to make certain habits stick around for a long time! Here's what I've found and why I think it's working:

1. I have tons of reminders. Right now, I am connected with people who are very active on Duolingo, so their progress is also my motivation. The Duolingo notifications are very dramatic and over the top, but instead of getting annoyed, I'm choosing to take this as a cue. If that fails, I have Duolingo set up as a widget on my phone. All of my apps can be found on one screen (so I don't have to scroll through anything) and Duolingo takes up a big chunk of space. 

I also have other apps that I'm active with, like Finch, and I have daily reminders to practice each of the languages. When I do practice, I can check them off the list and I get daily points for practicing those languages :) It feels really good to me that I'm not putting all of my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I think that's one major reason why I'm slipped in the past.

ADHD-Friendly Elements: Multiple reminders throughout the day, keeping the important things in sight, creating urgency

2. Flexible features within the app. Before talking about other reasons why I've been able to stick to my language practice, I want to talk about specific things that are working for me within the app itself. Varied practices even in a single language keep things interesting for me. Take Hindi, for example, since I am learning not only vocabulary, but also an entirely new-to-me alphabet: sometimes I'm translating sentences in Hindi, or "writing" sentences in Hindi characters, practicing writing out the individual characters, reviewing vocabulary, doing listening activities... there's a lot going on! It's not all the same all the time. 

Duolingo is also good about celebrating the milestones you hit. And it's not just limited to the number of days you've practiced. There's acknowledgement when you've done a lot of lessons in a day, when you've hit a certain number of perfect weeks of practice, when you've corrected a certain number of mistakes, when I go up a level in a language... lots of different achievements. That pat on the back feels really great!

When you practice enough and earn enough gems, it's really easy to save yourself if you do lapse in your practice time. As of the time I'm writing this, I have a 167 day streak on Duolingo. Is this a true streak in that I have missed literally no days? No. But I was able to freeze my streak with the gems I've earned and then the streak continued once I picked it back up the next day. It's honoring the practice I've done rather than just the number of days that good practice I've managed to keep up. Real life gets in the way sometimes. There are days I'm so exhausted I fall asleep before I've had the chance to practice. But I've never been punished for those lapses or for life taking a different turn than I've planned.

ADHD-Friendly Elements: Positive acknowledgement of achievements big and small, safety nets without guilt (well, not that I take seriously, anyway), novelty through varied activities.

3. I have multiple languages I'm practicing at once! At the moment, I have five languages that are in heavy rotation on Duolingo. I have a few languages that I have studied previously that I am working to keep up and grow in-- Spanish, French, and Dutch. I have one language that is completely new to me, which is Hindi, and takes more effort for me to practice. I also have a language that is interesting to me and in the same language family as another language I'm studying, which is German. This keeps it interesting to me because it's so varied. 

Practicing multiple languages also means I can do the practice that I have the capacity for that day. If things are going really well, I can do multiple lessons in all five languages I'm practicing. If things have been hectic, I know that I can do a lesson in Dutch (which is in the same language family as English and is therefore simpler for me to grasp over other languages) or in French (which I've had a lot more language instruction in, so it's familiar and I'm comfortable enough with the grammar). 

ADHD-Friendly Elements: Novelty through varied activities, novelty through a variety of languages, activities for a variety of energy levels.

4. I am (tentatively) planning a trip. I have a friend who moved to India with his wife nearly two years ago. India has been on my list of places to travel since my undergraduate years, but I'm usually hesitant to go somewhere where I don't know even basic things in the language spoken there. As a result, I have started learning Hindi! It's been hard to learn this language since I'm unfamiliar with any part of the language and the alphabet is different from what I'm used to, but knowing I'm working towards travel has been very motivating.

ADHD-Friendly Elements: Novelty leading to motivation!

I'm feeling really good that my practice has been relatively consistent this year! I'm proud of the things that I've figured out that have been helping too :) Send good thoughts that I'll make it to 300 days and positive vibes that I'll be able to continue my practice even beyond that goal for 2025!

Mental Health and Transparency with Students

 In October 2023, after seeking out and going through ADHD testing, I received a formal diagnosis from a psychiatrist. I spent the remainder of last school year thinking through what this diagnosis means for me, exploring medication (and whether that would be helpful for me or not), figuring out systems that are helpful for me as a mom and a teacher with ADHD.

On top of that, I have dealt with mainly facial tics for as long as I can remember (though they affect other parts of my body too). They look like twitching and other uncontrollable movements in my neck and face. It can also look like repeated movements and sounds (like coughing). They tend to get worse when I'm stressed and I can get into periods where it's incredibly hard if not impossible to stop doing those movements or making the sounds I do.

In the past, I have never said anything about my ticks and have gone into the school year hoping that people wouldn't notice. But the longer I taught, suddenly I had students asking me why I made jerky movements or asking if I was angry with them when they'd see a facial tick that distorted my expression. I realized I was unintentionally sending mixed signals. Once I was diagnosed with ADHD though, I felt compelled (maybe with a hint of obligation as well) to say something to my classes and that brought into question whether I would also say something about my tics. 

I spent the summer of 2024 contemplating what the benefits of sharing both of these things might be and if it would make my job harder or easier. Ultimately, I decided it would make things better enough to talk about it. Here's why:

1. Students wouldn't have to question what I was really thinking and feeling because of my struggles. Communication could be clearer.
2. According to the CDC, roughly 10% of 3-17 year olds in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD. Maybe seeing someone with ADHD in a role like teaching that requires a lot of organization and planning ahead could show them some of the possibilities for their life-- nothing is off the table.
3. There would be a better understanding that I'm not doing unhelpful things (like having a messy space or taking a long time to grade things) on purpose. They're just harder tasks for me to accomplish.

At the beginning of each year, I usually play a game of "What Do You Assume?" and have students guess things about me. They can be simple and mundane things, but they're usually things students tend to ask me when given enough time. What's my family like? How long have I been a teacher? Am I married? Do I have kids? But I also have an "other" section where I share other things about me that don't fit into these categories. For example, what movies and shows are my favorite? What am I involved in at my school? These aren't things that I make students guess the answer to, but I'll just share with them because they help solidify with students that I'm human and I have lots of other things happening in my life when I show up for class. So this year, I decided to include my ADHD and tics in my introduction. I shared what "my flavor" of ADHD and tics looked like in me since I am not everyone and both disorders look different from person to person.

At the time of writing this, I have completed the first 14 weeks of the school year (I'm writing this on Thanksgiving Break). That's enough time to form relationships with students, get behind then caught up then even more behind on grading, and form a routine within my own classroom and have feelings about said routine. Here's what I'm noticing:

1. It's not a magic bullet. Just because I shared these things with students doesn't mean that they will approach me with instant understanding when I haven't graded their assignments in three weeks (or longer). They aren't infinitely patient when I ask four or five times what they said after repeatedly not truly hearing/understanding them. They don't automatically get it when I forget things they asked me or told me.
   
   
2. Students watch closer than I think AND/OR Sometimes
   I'm better at masking than I think. I had a student recently who told me he thought I was lying about having tics because he hadn't seen them. They've been there and holy cow, they've been a lot to handle recently with everything that's been thrown my way this school year. Alternatively, another student commented to me that she understood what I meant about tics now because she was seeing them more frequently. Months had passed between the initial conversation and these follow-up comments and yet, this had been simmering in the back of their minds somewhere. There's curiosity especially around my tics. But this makes sense because according to this article, around 1% of people have a tic disorder, so compared to ADHD, it's pretty rare.
   
   
3. I have language to talk about what I'm experiencing. In those times when I'm trying really hard to listen to a student but the language just isn't coming through, I've been known to say something like, "I'm sorry, my brain isn't processing language well today. Can you tell me what you said again?" And it doesn't feel weird or like I'm making an excuse. I'm being real about what's happening in my brain and making it clear that I'm not ignoring students or not listening to students. I'm able to avoid saying "Sorry, I didn't hear you" without having to explain what I mean as an immediate follow-up. It's a small thing, but for me it makes a difference.
   
   
4. I feel like I have to hide less. I still feel negative feelings when I forget things, and struggle to keep my focus, or get stuck in a cycle I feel like I can't get out of with my motor tics, but it's mainly because I've caught myself, not because I've been called out by a student. Both are not-good feelings, but I can deal with the feelings that come from within myself better that I can deal with the external reminders, if that makes sense. I don't have to have a recovery period of "it's fine, no seriously, everything is fine" like I tried to do before. So my discomfort doesn't last as long as it used to.

All of this is not to say that everyone should go out and disclose what's going on with their bodies and brains if they work in a people-facing type of job. If anything, I'm more aware of just how personal of a decision this is. I think ultimately for me, even with the awkward moments, it was worth it. I feel like I'm living a more honest life while at work. And that feels really good.