Building TRAUMA-SENSITIVE Schools

Your Guide to Creating Safe, Supportive Learning Environments for All Students

Contents

• About the Online Materials
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA
  • Trauma and Its Effects
  • What Is Trauma?
  • Trauma Defined
  • Prevalence of Childhood Trauma
  • The Effects of Trauma on the Body
• The Role of Attachment in Development
  • Healthy Attachment
  • Attachment Issues
  • Attachment-Trauma
• Trauma’s Impact on Youth at School
  • Faces of Trauma in the Classroom
  • The Effects of Developmental Trauma at School
  • Triggers in the Classroom
  • Common Approaches to Trauma in the Classroom
• BUILDING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE SCHOOLS
  • The Trauma-Sensitive School Framework
  • What Is a Trauma-Sensitive School?
  • Trauma-Informed Response to Intervention
  • Trauma-Sensitive Educators
• Paradigm Shifts
  • What Happened to You? Versus What’s Wrong With You?
  • Can’ts Versus Won’ts
  • Needing Attention Versus Seeking Attention
  • Time-In Versus Time-Out
  • And Versus Or
• Essentials of Trauma-Sensitive Schools
  • Essential 1: To Help Students Feel Safe
  • Essential 2: To Help Students Be Connected
  • Essential 3: To Help Students Get Regulated
  • Essential 4: To Help Students Learn
  • The Four Essentials in Action
• IMPLEMENTING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE STRATEGIES
  • The PACE Approach to Working With Traumatized Students
  • Trauma-Sensitive Discipline Practices
  • Self-Care for Educators
• Appendices
  • The Brain Worksheet
  • Childhood Trauma Effects
  • Trauma-Informed Response to Intervention Building Blocks
  • Ideas for Apologies of Action

About the Author

Jen Alexander believes that we can make a positive difference with kids, one relationship at a time, which is why she is a passionate leader in the movement to build trauma-sensitive schools. Jen loves helping others help kids and has done so in schools, as a volunteer for the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN), and when facilitating her own trainings for educators.

Introduction

During a visit, as we played together on the floor, she said, "Sometimes I wish that you could be my mom."

The reality of schools today is that youth who have experienced trauma are not few and far between. At least one in four students in the United States has experienced trauma to such a degree that it has a negative impact on school success.

This book is written especially for educators who have one or more traumatized students they are concerned about. It serves as a beginning—not the end—to help educators understand the needs of students like Pepper, who represent many traumatized youth in our classrooms.

TRY THIS

Think and talk about your personal why for working as an educator. On a blank piece of paper, write, draw, or find another creative way to express your personal why. Consider these questions as a place to start:

• Why did you go into the field of education in the first place?
• Why have you stayed?
• What might help you connect with and/or rekindle your hope and passion for meeting individual student needs?

Building schools that meet the needs of traumatized students will be a challenge. Quick fixes do not exist, but this book can serve as a framework to understand the effects of childhood trauma and how to navigate the important process of building trauma-sensitive schools.

LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER

As a former special education teacher and current school counselor, I assure you our focus on becoming trauma-sensitive needs to be both personal and collective. The outcomes for all students will result from our collective learning and practice as we become sensitive to the needs of traumatized youth.

In the chapters that follow, we will explore the effects of trauma, neglect, and abandonment on children's development and strategies for trauma-informed care. The goal is to enable school personnel to experience how they can make a conscious difference in students’ lives on both a personal and academic level.