11 Things You Can Do Right Now to Build a More Trauma-Sensitive Classroom

December 19, 2025

As a new year unfolds, how can you meet the needs of children who come to school with physical and emotional needs that stem from trauma? Today’s post outlines 11 things you can start doing now to make your inclusive classroom a safer and more nurturing place for students with trauma in their past (or present). Excerpted and adapted from the practical guidebook Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools by Jen Alexander, these strategies will help you create an environment that addresses the needs of children who experience trauma and reduces their barriers to learning.

1. Replace “What’s wrong with you?” with “What happened to you?”

Note that this is a mindset change, not an actual question that you’d ask students or families in most cases. When you’re trying to understand a child and their behavior, consider any life experiences that could be affecting how the student functions today. Starting from curiosity can help you be open to various possibilities when it comes to understanding a student. It can also help you approach the student from a place of reflection marked by acceptance and empathy instead of negative judgment. Be sure to follow your consideration of “what happened” with the question, “How might I be able to help?”

2. Distinguish between a “can’t” and a “won’t.”

Avoid the assumption that defiant actions are always willful. Many temper tantrums and behaviors actually stem from “downstairs brain” reactions—activation of the student’s fight, flight, or freeze survival reflex. Because many behaviors you see at school in traumatized students result from a can’t instead of a won’t, neither consequences nor incentives will be effective—in fact, they could make things worse. Look beyond punitive responses, since traumatized students will need safety and support to regulate their stress response systems.

3. Don’t discourage attention seeking.

How many times do we label students as “attention-seeking” as if it’s a bad thing? When students seek connection and help when they are needed, that’s a sign of health and should be encouraged. Any person’s genuine need for attention is legitimate, and it’s not wrong to give students attention when they need it or provide help when they are dysregulated and need assistance. Consider building in times throughout the day when traumatized students receive unconditional one-to-one time with an adult.

4. Consider a “time in” instead of a “time out.”

When a distressed student is having difficulty staying in control, they usually won’t benefit from time away from others. Isolation for traumatized children can actually be retraumatizing, since it may remind them of past neglect or abandonment. Instead of imposing a time-out, try providing “time-in” with a trusted adult or mentor to give students the attention and regulation they need.

5. Be clear about safety rules and expectations.

Collaborate with your students to establish classroom rules that promote safety—and then get creative to teach and reinforce the rules. Your safety teaching tools should highlight that some expectations may be the same schoolwide, while many will be specific to individual classrooms or areas like the bus, cafeteria, hallways, restrooms, locker rooms, playground, and auditorium. Be specific about how everyone can do their part to help keep everyone safe.

6. Use positive language.

When you speak to students, phrase instructions in positive ways so they learn what you expect them to do instead of what you don’t want them to do. For example, instead of saying, “No running in the halls,” say, “Walk, please.”

7. Establish healthy boundaries.

In trauma-sensitive schools, boundaries help preserve safety. Boundaries around personal space and behavior help create and maintain healthy relationships, and boundaries around time help ensure that students are able to learn. A trauma-sensitive teacher might say things like:

• In our school, we don’t do ___ because that bothers others.
• Let me show you how we do that here so everyone gets what they need.

8. Provide hydration and healthy snacks.

Students who have experienced early childhood trauma often experience significant changes to their insulin receptor sites, which means they’re at risk for dramatic behavioral changes when their blood sugar starts to drop below optimal levels. Give students access to light, healthy snacks throughout the day. Also, allow students to have water bottles at their desks.

9. Build in brain breaks.

Throughout the day, lead your students in daily mindfulness practice, deep breathing, journal writing, relaxation exercises, stretching exercises, and other brain breaks.

10. Weave prosocial lessons into academic instruction.

Look for ways to embed positive, prosocial messages into academic subjects. In science, link lessons about interdependency to human interdependency within communities. In language arts courses, explore relationships in the context of the books you’re studying.

11. Collaborate to meet families’ needs.

Work proactively with parent groups and community members to address a variety of family needs. Provide on-site health services and link families with other health or social service resources in the community through easily accessible and timely referrals.

Use the strategies in today’s post to help build a more trauma-sensitive classroom.