The Trauma-Sensitive Classroom

1. The Trauma-Sensitive Classroom Building Resilience with Compassionate Teaching

2. Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning-mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. (SAMHSA, 2014, p.7)

3. ACES

4. ACES Quiz NPR.org Take the ACE quiz and learn what it does and doesn’t mean

5. Educational experiences can shape a student’s life for a lifetime.

6. How Trauma Impacts the Students in the Classroom

7. How Trauma Impacts Teachers • Students with special needs due to trauma exposure • Demands placed on teachers These factors can lead to a negative spiral and increase teacher stress. BURNOUT Cascade

8. Steps in the Burnout Process Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalization Lack of sense of efficacy

9. Emotional Exhaustion “I feel guilty doing something just for me”

10. “Problem Child” Depersonalization “Little Monsters”

11. Lack of Sense of Efficacy

12. Trauma-Sensitive School A trauma-sensitive school is a safe and respectful environment that enables students to build caring relationships with adults and peers, self-regulate their emotions and behaviors, and succeed academically, while supporting their physical health and well-being.

13. Is Your Work Trauma-Sensitive?

14. Action Steps for Problem-Solving Behavior Issues ***Teacher Self-Reflection (throughout all stages)*** Stage 1: Routine Maintenance Stage 2: Problem-Solving Stage 3: Managing Chronically Inappropriate Behavior

15. Teacher Self-Reflections What emotion(s) is triggered by the behavior? Are you taking the behavior personally? Consider possible biases or scripts from your past that may affect your perceptions of the behavior. Take a few breaths to calm down or use an “I” message. Model self-regulation to communicate your feelings and teach self-regulation when necessary.

16. Stage 1: Routine Maintenance Check the environment Consider possible issues Is the expectation developmentally appropriate for this student? Check for understanding Give a logical consequence

17. Stage 2: Problem-Solving Interview the student Focus on one behavior at a time Meet with Parents Plan a problem-solving conference Create a behavior chart

18. Stage 3: Chronically Inappropriate Behavior Following school policies Inform Parents Refer to Special Education

19. Resilience The ability to navigate and recover from adversity with awareness, intention and skill. Resilience develops naturally through healthy connections to others, balanced self-care, and an open, engaged mind.

20. Resilience Self-Reflection

21. Cultivating Compassion We can mindfully recognize our normal human tendency to focus on negativity and threat, and we can intentionally cultivate soothing, positive emotions and feelings of connection with others on a regular basis.

22. Cultivating Compassion in the Classroom Integrate activities that promote emotions and feelings of connection in learning activities. Integrate this content and these practices into curriculum, and implicitly, by Model compassionate behavior in our interactions with others

23. Dimensions of Compassion We experience compassion in four ways: 1. We can accept compassion or recall when someone was compassionate to us. 2. We can offer ourselves compassion. 3. We can offer another compassion. 4. We can observe another showing compassion

24. Designing Service Learning 1. Meaningful Service 2. Links to Curriculum 3. Reflection 4. Diversity 5. Youth Voice 6. Partnerships 7. Progress Monitoring 8 Duration and Intensity

25. Keep Moving Forward