Introduction Video (1 Minute 9 Seconds)

Transcript

What might you notice about students with trauma?

Some of the signs associated with a student experiencing toxic stress are:

Reactivity and impulsivity
Aggression and defiance
Withdrawal/avoidance
Perfectionism
Repetitive thoughts about death
Anxiety/worry about the safety of self and others
Non-age appropriate behavior
Poor or changed school performance and attendance
Overly protective of personal space or belonging

"A traumatized child's most challenging behavior often originates in immense feelings of vulnerability." (Williams, 2017)

The 3 Pillars of Trauma Care in School Settings:

To approach a situation using trauma-informed care, you can practice 3 main tactics to help the student:

Safety - At their core, all traumatic events violate a sense of security. Trust and safety are violated when the people and environment responsible for children's needs become abusive, neglectful and violent.

What does safety look like for students?

Connecting with a teacher who has a calm and focused presence

predictable and consistent

Respecting their boundaries and rights
Allowing the child to be in charge of him/herself as much as developmentally appropriate
Non-punitive and non-demeaning disciplinary actions
A teacher who follows through on what she/he said

How is a safe virtual classroom modeled? Some strategies may be similar to what you are doing in-person but with a virtual twist!

Establish a virtual welcome routine. Creating this relational routine can help build and maintain connection despite the physical distance apart from students (e.g., giving an air high-five or starting the day with a positive affirmation).

Maintain clear communication and give ample time for transition from one task to another (e.g., empathizing with the difficulties resulting from routines already changed due to the pandemic and communicating any further changes ahead of time, when possible).

Provide information and homework assignments in smaller bites . Remote learning can make tasks feel more overwhelming and daunting.

Create and utilize relational rituals before diving into lessons and assignments (e.g., students and teachers each share an enjoyable moment from their day).

Give choices whenever possible ; opportunities to complete wellness activities that affirm their competence, sense of self-worth and feelings of safety (e.g., practicing a virtual deep breathing exercise together).

Show appreciation for students' effort to complete assignments and stay present in class. Acknowledge the difficulty of focusing on a screen over long periods.

Actively focus on inclusive attitudes during distance learning . Some students might feel vulnerable, sharing their home life in backgrounds online.

Connection

Students who have had traumatic experiences inflicted on them by adults learn that adults are not to be trusted.

Hypervigilance and wariness as a result of trauma makes it difficult for traumatized students to connect with an adult
(After this course, check out the module: " to learn more about ways to build connections with students)

Using a "Trauma Lens"

A shift in perspective…

From: "What is wrong with this student?"

To: "What has happened to this student?"

So, What can you do to connect with a student with trauma?

Actively focus on inclusive attitudes, making students feel valued and welcomed regardless of their backgrounds or identities
Establish and help students understand classroom rules that create predictable responses
Provide routines and ritual (e.g., greet students by name and create a virtual routine similar to a handshake or high five)
Respond to "acting out" behaviors with curiosity (e.g., "I noticed you tore up your assignment when I corrected your spelling. I'm wondering if you noticed that and also why you did that?"
Create time in the schedule for community building, circles, and mindfulness
Be a model for appropriate behavior and relational skills

Regulation

Childhood trauma impairs the ability to manage feelings, emotions and impulses appropriately.

Trauma can impair learning; chronic exposure to traumatic events, especially during a child's early years, can:

Adversely affect attention, memory and cognition
Reduce a child's ability to focus, organize and process information
Interfere with effective problem solving and planning
Result in overwhelming feelings of frustration and anxiety

Children need to learn how to identify and appropriately express emotions.

Children of all ages need to learn emotional self-awareness. It is never too late to teach a child or adolescent about self-awareness.

They also require guidance on how to tolerate distressing emotions and calm themselves through self-soothing and self-regulation.

Let's explore ways to help students practice emotional regulation in a virtual setting .

Much like learning a second language, children learn the language of emotions- help a student label the emotion he/she is demonstrating (e.g., you sound frustrated, I can see you are disappointed with your test score, etc.).

Place emotion faces with identifying labels around the classroom to help students learn about what the different emotions might like

Click HERE for emotion charts, lists of feelings, and daily feelings charts.

Provide an opportunity to reflect on the behavior and emotions exhibited (e.g., using drawing, writing, or a quiet space to reflect)

Work with the student to calm down using co-regulation . Focus on the emotion, not the behavior- stay calm and with a soothing voice, invite the student into a reflective, problem-solving discussion (this is particularly useful with adolescents) and practice emotional regulation such as deep breathing together.

When addressing behavior, you may also want to help the student identify if they are ready to address the problem. If they are still angry or need time to cool down, use a method in which the student can communicate that clearly (such as a chart). Then offer options for almost ready to talk and ready to address the issue. By providing opportunities to cool down, you might be more effective in addressing the issue. A student will not benefit from talking through a problem when their mind is still in fight or flight mode.

Activity: PAUSE to Process

OPTIONAL - Journaling Activity: After discussing different techniques for approaching situations in a trauma informed care manner, practice applying these activities through journal questions.

Questions:

Think back to a time that you had an aggressive interaction with a student, what were your immediate thoughts and reactions to his/her/their behavior?
If you can reimagine the exchange through a "Trauma Lens," how might you have reacted differently?
Think about one connection ritual you can implement in your classroom (virtual and in-person).
If you can share one take-away from this module with your team, what would it be?

UP Next - Secondary Traumatic Stress and Self-Care