Twelve Habits of Trauma Informed Teachers

I watched a video online of a young boy in a classroom who was cursing at his teacher and being disruptive. The boy was having an obvious traumatic response to his teacher. The teacher would respond and he would curse him every time. The principal came into the classroom and the boy responded the same. They were trying to get the boy to take off his jacket and he refused and the situation continued to escalate.

Children who experience one traumatic experience like death of a loved one, a car accident, or persistent abuse; trauma is trauma and significantly effects student learning despite its origins. Personally, I was afraid all the time and responded to everything around me from a vulnerable place of fear. After adopting two older children from foster care who suffered abuse and neglect, I conducted extensive research on the effects of trauma. I learned that when children experience trauma they function from a “survival center” in their nervous system. Their traumatic responses make it difficult to pay attention, engage in critical thinking, problem solve and plan because the automatic survival responses take over. Students who have experienced trauma will respond to stress or perceived stress in one of three ways: fight, flight, or freeze. It can manifest in your classroom in various ways including the following:

A student in fight response:

• struggle to maintain power.
• endeavor to maintain control of you and their environment
• labeled as aggressive or non-compliant.
• Irritable and have difficulty staying calm
• Display angry outbursts.
• Usually are among the most aggressive students
• Threaten peers, teachers, or administrators.
• become non-compliant
• Appear sad or angry.

Students in flight response will:

• leave the classroom
• Hide
• Refuse to participate
• Sleep in class
• Begin engaging in off task behavior
• Are Avoidant

Students in a freeze response will:

• Feel powerless and are gripped by fear
• Cannot speak up.
• Appear uninterested or “lazy”
• Disengaged

In this newsletter, I will briefly discuss 12 habits teachers can adopt to bring a classroom from chaotic to calm.

1. They use a neutral voice: They do not engage a student who is escalating in conversation until they know the student is regulated. If they must speak, they keep their voice calm, comforting and predictable no matter what the student says or does. Students who are in a trauma response cycle want very much to control the actions and reactions of the teacher and when they accomplish this, it is a never ending cycle.
2. They will distract the student by engaging their thinking brain. They will ask the triggered student a question that would evoke thinking about something they enjoy talking about or ask them to solve a problem they know the student can easily solve. For example the teacher may give the student a sealed envelope to bring to the teacher next door and tell them to wait for them to write a response to the note and bring it back. ?
3. They will find a leadership assignment that is engaging before the conflict escalates which will create a positive connection to the student.?
4. They acknowledge the students' feelings, for example they will say “I see you are having a?tough time, how can I help?”?
5. When possible, they will reduce sensory input. Such as dimming the lights, playing soft music, or nature sounds.
6. They tell the student what they want instead of what they do not want. They say, “I want you to calm down” instead of “sit down and be quiet”?
7. They practice reflective listening and offer reassuring and therapeutic touch when appropriate.
8. They offer students acceptable alternative choices, not engaging in arguments, but give two positive choices.
9. They always give clear directions, explicit instruction is very important when teaching students affected by trauma.
10. If for any reason there is a conflict, teachers make sure they attempt to repair the connection between them and their student within a day. They will communicate to the students that they want them in class and believe they can succeed.
11. When necessary they will seek opportunities to give individual attention and build connection when the student is regulated.
12. They are sure to make students aware of any changes in the classroom routine and if there is a visitor, the teacher will introduce them to the class and let them know the nature of the visit.?

Children who experience trauma are constantly stressed, which overwhelms their brain with stress hormones that negatively affect their executive functioning and emotional and behavioral regulation. I will not go deep into the biological aspects of how trauma affects the brain, but I will say that there is an overwhelming amount of research to support trauma informed practices. If you are interested, check out Dr. Bruce Perry’s work with children affected by trauma at https://www.childtrauma.org.

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