Trauma in Elementary Children
I created this resource specifically for newer teachers and for teachers who are new to teaching in schools with a high number of students who are impacted by trauma. When I first started teaching I had little information about working with students who have experienced a trauma. I felt that this handout would be a nice overview of the impact trauma can have on a student, ways in which that trauma can manifest in the classroom and some tools to help students build resiliency.
References
Burke Harris, N. [TED]. (2015, February 17). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95ovIJ3dsNk
Multnomah County Defending Childhood. (2015b). Trauma and the developing brain. Retrieved from http://www.defendingchildhoodoregon.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Trauma- and-the-Developing-Brain.pdf
Santhanam, L. (2018, Jun 18). How toxic stress of family separation can harm a child. Retrieved
from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-the-toxic-stress-of-family-separation-
can-harm-a-child
Souers, K., & Hall, P. (2016). Fostering resilient learners: Strategies for creating a trauma-sensitive classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Starecheski, L. (2015). Take the ACE quiz – and learn what it does and doesn’t mean. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean
Toxic Stress in Border Separations
When completing research on trauma, I came across an article on the impact of toxic stress on children who have been separated from their families at the border. I teach in a school with a very high immigrant population so I was intrigued when I saw the article. While not immediately related to the school setting, I found the article to have a lot of valuable information that can be applied to working with students in educational settings.
In the article, Santhanam (2018) defines toxic stress in children as "intense, repetitive or prolonged adversity without an adult’s intervention” (para. 3). This definition was applied specifically to children who had been separated from their families and were currently living in shelters (where the staff were not allowed to touch the children) I find it applicable to working in schools as well. Often, students come into school having experienced trauma at home and have not had a steady adult influence in their life to help them process and overcome that trauma. Santhanam (2018) goes on to state that when children are experiencing trauma “survival takes priority over things like academic development and physical growth” (para. 10). As a teacher, I need to be patient with my students who come from traumatic backgrounds because their brain is in survival mode and it will likely take them more time to be ready to learn.
The article had several suggestions for combatting the effects of trauma and toxic stress in children. First and foremost, “prevention is the best cure for toxic stress in children—simply put, don’t expose them to trauma in the first place” (as cited in Santhanam, 2018, para. 20). While as teachers I cannot take away the trauma my students have experience outside of school, I can do my best to ensure that they do not experience additional trauma and stress at school. Additionally, the article suggests that providing timely therapeutic interventions may help reduce some of the stress and its long term impact. However, “Time is critical for delivering these services if the goal is to relieve the child from the fear and anxiety gripping them” (Santhanam, 2018, para, 22). In the school setting these means teachers being able to recognize the signs of trauma and students and quickly reaching for outside help.
I remember working with a student last year who was exhibiting many signs of toxic stress. He was often best and when he was at school he was very withdrawn. In the past year his dad had left the picture leaving him to live with his mom and aunt. The student showed many signs of depression and it came to a point where the student threatened to commit suicide. Several other teachers and I made attempts to get him into counseling services. However we were told that there was a waiting list to see a counselor in the district and that there was currently nothing available. Having read the article this week I wish that there was a greater range of counseling services available to students at school.
References
Santhanam, L. (2018, Jun 18). How toxic stress of family separation can harm a child. Retrieved
from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-the-toxic-stress-of-family-separation-
can-harm-a-child
Learning Brain vs. Survival Brain
This is a great video that simplifies how trauma impacts students in the classroom. In the video, Jacob Ham (2017) explains that a student's brain exists in two modes, learning brain or survival brain. The learning brain is open to new information, sees the big picture and is comfortable making mistakes (Ham, 2017). On the other hand, the survival brain is hyper-focused on threat, is afraid of making mistakes, and lacks confidence (Ham, 2017). The survival brain always trumps the learning brain.
Ham goes on to compare getting students in their learning brain to the Myth of Sisyphus making useful analogies that make the impact of trauma much easier to understand.
I would use this video to help new teachers better understand how students from backgrounds of trauma may respond to events differently. The video does a very good job explaining that students who have experienced trauma have a more difficult time getting to and staying in their learning brain. Ham compares getting into the learning brain to pushing a boulder up a hill, as in the Myth of Sisyphus (Ham, 2017). He explains that stressful events in a student's live make the boulder bigger an heavier, making it more difficult to get into the learning brain (Ham, 2017). I think that this is a great comparison and it is valuable for new teachers to explore.
References
Ham, Jacob. (2017, Jul 25). Understanding trauma: Learning brain vs. survival brain [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoqaUANGvpA
10 Tips for Teachers Dealing with Trauma
Identifying that a student is experiencing toxic stress and actually addressing it in the classroom are two separate issues. While the previous resources focused on how to recognize signs of trauma and toxic stress in students, this resource focuses on how to help students in the classroom. As a teacher, it is often easy to get wrapped up in student misbehavior rather than looking at the cause of the behavior. The article is full of great reminders of how to best deal with students who have experienced trauma. My personal favorite reminder was "Kids who have experienced trauma need to feel that they're good at something and can influence the world" (WeAreTeachersStaff, 2018, para. 8).
I would have new educators read this article after exploring the resources. I feel that this resource in particular is valuable for teachers to explore because it gives them tips to help ensure student success. The advice in the article is straightforward and easy to apply to any classroom. Most of the advice has to do with changing your mindset as an educator and remembering to look at the big picture.
References
WeAreTeachersStaff. (2018, February 22). 10 things about childhood trauma every teacher needs to know. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/10-things-about-childhood-trauma-every-teacher-needs-to-know/
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