I spend a lot of time presenting to teachers, therapists, and school professionals. And if there’s one thing that makes an audience uneasy, it’s when presenters don’t share their slides ahead of time.
People panic.
They know that if they’re frantically copying everything off the screen, they won’t actually be able to listen to the presentation.
The best presenters share their slides in advance because it reduces cognitive load and removes unnecessary barriers to learning.
Which raises an obvious question.
If we recognize this for adult learners, why don’t we apply the same logic to students?
Students spend seven hours a day learning new information, yet we often ask them to copy and record that information at the same time they’re supposed to understand it.
In professional settings, that would be considered poor instructional design. But in classrooms, we do the equivalent every day.
The purpose of taking notes during a class is to create a record of information we can use later. Yet for many students with ADHD, the process of note taking is one of the most cognitively demanding tasks of the day.
The Copying Loop
Copying notes from the board is often treated as a simple classroom task, but in reality it requires a complex set of executive processes working together in real time.
To copy a single line of information, students must:
- Locate the correct place on the board
- Hold a chunk of text in working memory
- Shift gaze to the paper
- Find the correct place on the page
- Reconstruct the text from memory
- Execute handwriting
- Monitor accuracy
- Shift back to the board
- Relocate the correct place
Then repeat the cycle.
At the same time, the student is also listening to the teacher, processing the information being presented, prioritizing what matters, organizing ideas, and attempting to record it all before the instruction moves on.
Copying from the board is simultaneous executive demand. It requires students to coordinate visual tracking, working memory, sustained attention, motor execution, self-monitoring, task shifting, and real-time language processing all at once.
For some students, the brain can write or listen , but not both at the same time.
When Copying Falls Apart
Students with ADHD have a brain that is already working harder to regulate attention and hold information , therefore working memory becomes overloaded quickly.
Working memory is the brain’s temporary scratchpad. It holds information long enough for us to use it, but its capacity is limited.
And when working memory overloads, something gets dropped, which is usually
- accuracy
- completeness
- organization
- handwriting quality
When notes are minimal, incomplete, or messy, it often means the instructional design has outpaced working memory capacity and the student’s ability to process and record the material
For some students, the brain can write or listen. It cannot do both at the same time.
What Actually Helps
When written output falls apart during copying or note-taking, we often mistakenly focus on handwriting. But what we are frequently seeing is not a fine motor problem, it’s cognitive overload.
This is important to differentiate.
Students are spending valuable cognitive resources trying to record the information, resources that could have been used to listen, think, and engage with the lesson. And when the information ends up incomplete or illegible, the entire purpose of copying or taking notes is lost.
When we recognize that copying and note-taking are multi-step executive tasks, the solution shifts. Instead of telling students to “try harder,” or ” write neater” we reduce cognitive load and scaffold the task so their mental resources can be used for learning rather than transcription.
Scaffold 1: Provide Access to the Information
When students have printed materials, digital copies, or teacher slides, the pressure to capture every word disappears. They can focus on understanding the lesson instead of racing their working memory. Allowing students to photograph the board, or record parts of the lesson ensures the information is available later, even if their working memory couldn’t manage every demand in the moment.
- slides
- printed notes
- photos
- recordings
Scaffold 2: Reduce Copying Load
Another helpful strategy is reducing the amount of information students must copy at one time. Breaking content into smaller chunks, highlighting key sections, or pausing instruction briefly allows students to process and record information without losing their place or falling behind.
- chunking
- highlighting
- pauses
- reduced board copying
Scaffold 3: Structure the Note-Taking Process
Teachers can also structure the note-taking process itself. Guided notes, templates, or fill-in-the-blank formats help students focus on essential information rather than trying to decide what matters while the lesson continues moving forward. This reduces the executive demand of filtering, organizing, and writing simultaneously.
- guided notes
- templates
- fill-in-the-blank notes
- doodle notes
These supports do not lower expectations. They remove barriers ADHD creates in the note-taking process.
Key Takeaway
Students with ADHD often struggle with copying from the board and taking notes during lessons because of the simultaneous cognitive demands involved in the process.
ADHD can create neurocognitive challenges in several key areas:
- shifting between tasks
- limited working memory capacity
- managing multiple cognitive demands at once
When we remove unnecessary barriers in classroom learning processes, we support functional performance.
Students with ADHD can then use their cognitive energy for what actually matters: understanding the lesson rather than struggling to capture it.
Free Teacher Resource
If you’d like a quick classroom reference, download the Teacher One-Sheet: ADHD and Note-Taking Supports.
Want to Go Deeper?
Copying and note-taking are just one example of how executive demands affect written production in the classroom.
sion, and classroom writing tasks and how to reduce cognitive overload so students can actually show what they know.
The course includes practical strategies for:
- handwriting and transcription challenges
- written expression breakdowns
- executive function barriers during writing
- classroom supports that reduce cognitive load
Learn more about the Not Just Handwriting course here.
