Trauma-sensitive teacher
This is a good article that identifies key reasons why educators need to be trauma-informed.
Blog
Co-Regulation with Students " At-Risk"-- Calming Together
Co-regulation with Kids "At-Risk"-Calming Together Highlights and thoughts from an article by Howard I. Bath:Calming together: The pathway to self-control Neuroscience shows that humans develop their abilities for emotional self-regulation through connections with reliable caregivers who soothe and model in a process called “co-regulation.” Since many troubled young people have not experienced a reliable, comforting presence, they have difficulty regulating their emotions and impulses.
How mindfulness practices are changing an inner-city school (washingtonpost.com)
The focus at Robert W. Coleman Elementary is not on punishment but on mindfulness — a mantra of daily life at an unusual urban school that has moved away from detention and suspension to something educators hope is more effective. Here, students are referred to the Mindful Moment Room when they misstep or need calming. In a space decorated with bright curtains, lavender cushions and beanbags, program staff members coax students to explain what happened, to talk about their feelings, to...
Read the touching letter a principal wrote to students and parents after the election. (upworthy.com)
Andrew Vega is a first-generation American, the son of Mexican immigrants. He identifies as gay. He's also the principal of Bates Elementary School in Boston. Like so many of us, he had a lot on the line during this election. And like so many of us, he’s still processing the results and grappling with the implications for himself, for his family, for the people he loves. As a school Principal, Vega also had an entire school of children and their families looking to him for guidance in the...
Opportunity to Participate in a Live Twitter Chat on Resilience
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) invites you to join us on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. EDT for a live Twitter chat and discuss how adverse childhood experiences affect children’s well-being. Film director, James Redford (@jred5562) and educational leader, Jim Sporleder (@SporLin ) will co-faciliate this convening to explore strategies used by educators, therapists, pediatricians, and communities to disrupt cycles of violence and trauma. For those...
Free 'Resilience' online screening opportunity for members of National Association of School Psychologists
The National Association of School Psychologists is having a free virtual screening of the companion film to Paper Tigers called "Resilience" next week, November 16th. The last day to sign up is this upcoming FRIDAY, the 11th. Go HERE to get information about signing up: http://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/advocacy-tools-and-resources/school-psychology-awareness-week-2016/resilience-exclusive-virtual-film-screening-and-twitter-chat/resources Immediately following the screening,...
New campaign promotes power of teachers to reduce stress of traumatized students (edsource.org)
Most of the 3rd-graders in Anita Parameswaran’s class at Daniel Webster Elementary in San Francisco have had experiences so awful that their brains won’t let them easily forget. “Whether it be that they’ve been sexually molested, or they’ve seen domestic violence, or shootings, or they know somebody who’s passed away,” Parameswaran said, “I would say every single year about 75 percent, give or take, come in with a lot of trauma.” Now a national campaign is recognizing, backed by research on...
Schools across St. Louis learning how past trauma hurts learning and affects behavior (stltoday.com)
Trauma-informed schools have been around for nearly a decade. Boston schools, for example, are considered a national model. In 2014, Massachusetts lawmakers passed comprehensive “safe and supportive schools” provisions to address trauma among public school students. In the past year, the concept has gained remarkable traction in the St. Louis region, in part because of a regional health initiative called Alive and Well STL . It was launched in the summer of 2015 just a few months before the...
CONNECTING WITH KIDS IN PAIN
Kids in pain cannot learn!!! Often your most difficult students are young people living in environments with Toxic Levels of Stress. These environments change the brain! The next time you are involved with a student that is escalating and beginning to loss control try some of the following ideas . 1. BE A THERMOSTAT- NOT A THERMOMETER Develop with-in your head a pause button. Slow down. Everything in your body will be telling you to speed up... remember emotions are very contagious.
Jubilee Leadership Academy: Using ACEs Science to Transform School Culture
Students at JLA are reminded that change starts with themselves In 2004, after nearly a decade as program director at Jubilee Leadership Academy (JLA), a Christian alternative boarding school for troubled boys ages 13-18 in Prescott, WA, Rick Griffin decided to take a job in Phoenix, AZ, to work with adults with developmental disabilities. There, he began to see similarities between the issues they were having and what he saw in the kids at JLA. “There was a cognitive reason these adults I...
CLICK FOR RESOURCES: TRAUMA-INFORMED EDUCATION
These trauma-informed education resources are linked to narrative illustrations of the same topic at LucidWitness.com. The narratives are designed to be used as 'Public Service Announcements' in social media, to help grow broad, general-public awareness of developmental trauma.
Trauma Informed Schools Webinar Archive
Did you see the September 22 webinar the National Child Traumatic Stress Network hosted? If you missed it look for it here: http://learn.nctsn.org/ The handouts are also attached. Policy Issues in Implementing Trauma-Informed Schools In this webinar experts will explore policy challenges and lessons learned in promoting and supporting trauma-informed schools. Speakers will share key NCTSN resources related to the development and implementation of trauma-informed schools; discuss the...
Parenting After Trauma: Understanding Your Child's Needs (www.aap.org)
This is a brief, informative and accessible hand-out. It doesn't talk about ACEs but it does talk about traumatic stress and helps educate adoptive and foster parents, in particular. However, I think it's useful as a general guide. Excerpt: In my dream world, there would be a resources such as this for those of us Parenting After ACEs and with traumatic stress symptoms. If you know of any, please share them. Many of us are needing to provide trauma-informed self-care and understanding while...
Advancing Systemic Changes to Promote Healthy School Environments [RWJF.org]
Purpose RWJF seeks to advance systemic changes that embed health in school environments. To help advance these systemic changes, the Foundation will support a collaborative, multipronged strategy with three complementary areas of work related to Research, Policy, and Strategic Action. This Call for Qualifications (CFQ) represents Phase I of a two-phase selection process designed to identify eligible organizations to lead each area of work, which include: Applied Research and Translation (one...
CUSD ACEs resolution adopted!
The Chico Unified School District adopted a resolution declaring November ACEs awareness month, and encouraging schools to participate in ACEs awareness activities during the month of November and beyond. This is a great template to be used with our other school partners.