# Supporting Students and Staff After COVID-19

## Your Trauma-Sensitive Back-to-School Transition Plan

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## Contents

- About the Downloads 
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction

## Section I: Preparing for Back to School: Focus on Staff and Families

### Chapter 1: Why Understand Trauma? COVID-19 and Its Effects on Students

### Chapter 2: Who Do We Choose to Be? Educators Rising Up and Reaching Out

### Chapter 3: What Do We Include in Our Schoolwide Transition Plan? Getting Ready.

### Chapter 4: How Will We Create Our New Normal? Team Reflection.

### Chapter 5: How Can We Tend to Staff Needs? Professional Development.

### Chapter 6: What Will Families Need? Gathering Input.

### Chapter 7: What Will Students Feel and Need? Anticipating and Planning.

## Section II: Making the Transition: Set Up Your School for Success

### Chapter 8: How Do We Design the Components of Our Trauma-Sensitive Plan? Getting Started.

### Chapter 9: How Do We Meet Families’ Needs? Establishing a Caregiver Lounge.

### Chapter 10: How Do We Help Students Find Their Way? Community Building.

### Chapter 11: How Do We Help Our Team Be Well? Fostering Educator Resilience.

## About the Author

### Jen Alexander, M.A., NCC, SB-RPT, Professional Development Facilitator, Educator, and Consultant, Cedar Falls, Iowa

## Why Understand Trauma?

### COVID-19 and Its Effects on Students

“I miss my friends and teacher and think I’d like to redo my goal for the year. Maybe just stay alive and keep other people alive too.”

— Aisha, an almost-9-year-old

#### LEARNING GOALS
This chapter will guide you to:

- Define trauma and describe how it can affect students’ development, well-being, and learning.
- Identify potential traumatic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures on your learning community.
- Anticipate key student and team needs when schools reopen in your community.
- Determine priorities for your trauma-sensitive transition plan.

### WHAT IS TRAUMA?

Individual responses to this global crisis will be different, but many children have experienced social isolation during prolonged, unpredictable, and uncontrollable stress caused by the pandemic.

Trauma is defined as a distressing experience that threatens an individual’s safety to such a degree that it exceeds one’s capacity to cope in healthy ways. It manifests in stress responses that overwhelm a person's biological systems, affecting them physically, emotionally, behaviorally, and academically.

### What Causes Trauma?

Adverse events that can cause trauma include:
- Accidents
- Natural disasters
- Medical trauma
- Violence
- Oppression
- Racism
- Poverty
- Separation from parents

### How Does Trauma Affect Learning?

Activated stress response systems can hinder learning by affecting attention, emotional regulation, and social interaction. Optimal learning occurs when both educators and students are experiencing regulated states of arousal.

### Potential Positive Impacts

While many students faced challenges, some experienced positive changes during the pandemic that included:
- Closer family relationships
- More flexibility in learning schedules

## UNDERSTANDING YOUR OWN RESPONSE

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted students but also educators. Addressing educators' feelings and needs is crucial for supporting students effectively.

### KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Understand trauma as stress that is too much for an individual.
- Acknowledge collective trauma and the potential for collective posttraumatic growth after the pandemic.

### TAKE ACTION
- Identify students struggling post-pandemic
- Foster joy and laughter as schools reopen

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