#knowingyourstudents

Research has shown that chronic early stress associated with traumatic experiences can make school success difficult for students.

Some traumatic experiences include (but are not limited to) housing/food insecurity, child abuse or neglect, immigration status, mental illness, domestic or community violence, or family incarceration.

Teachers can definitely provide a lot of support for these students through the following tips:

Recognizing trauma in the classroom

Symptoms that may be indicative of a student directly or indirectly experiencing trauma can include excessive anger that may or may not evolve into verbal or physical aggression, clinginess, trouble making friends, perfectionistic, controlling, or anxious behavior, difficulty concentrating, regular tardiness of absence from class, or defiance.

Communicating with students with trauma

it is important that teachers remain a source of consistent positivity and support in students’ lives. It can be difficult to address the  negative behaviors of a student with trauma because these behaviors, but it is important that a student’s social and emotional safety at school is preserved because if a student does not feel safe, they will be unable to learn. When trying to support a student with trauma, make sure to outweigh negative interactions with positive ones. For example, before you correct a students behavior, you should connect with them. You can ask them why they behaved in that manner, ask them to explain the situation before you come to any conclusions, or you can even try to praise them for positive behaviors first. If you do need to correct a student’s behavior, criticize them privately, rather than in front of the class. Most importantly, remember to praise these students publicly when it is deserved. Look for reasons to have positive interactions with these students.   

Seeking additional supports

It is so important to get to know your students! Establishing caring relationships with students can make learning more enjoyable for students and can even help create safe environments and boundaries without having to be stern or punitive. Ice breakers are a great way to start to get to know your students! Make sure to get involved and participate if you can. Students want to get to know their teachers just as much as teachers want to know their students. 

Here are some icebreaker ideas: 

- Skittle/starburst questions: Have each student pick a starburst/skittle. Each color should correspond to a question (i.e. If you could have any super power, what would it be?, Who is someone you look up to? If you could make any law, what would it be?). Once every student has a piece of candy, go around the room and have each student answer the question that corresponds to their piece of candy. 

- Fun fact scavenger hunt: Give each student a piece of paper with a list or grid of common fun facts (i.e. I am an only child, I have a pet dog, I play a sport). Have students try to find at least one person who that fact is true for. Have at least one different person for each fact. This gives students a chance to get to know each other more. 

Restorative justice is an alternative to punitive means of consequence, focusing on mediation, agreement, and rebuilding relationships as a way to repair harm caused by an offense. Restorative justice can be used to support students going through trauma or any other kind of difficulty. 

There are three tiers of practicing restorative justice in classrooms:

Tier 1: community building 

Schools should always be practicing restorative justice techniques as a preventative measure. A way to do this is through restorative justice circles of sharing that allow students to talk about their feelings and experiences. This helps teachers get to know their students and encourages a caring community throughout the school. In this tier, students should be communicating their needs while teachers should be empowering their students to take responsibility for themselves and keep themselves accountable. 

Tier 2: harm and healing 

Tier 2 practices should be put into action when a student has broken a rule and harmed someone else. Normally in these situations, students would be punished, but in restorative justice practices, the student would be given the opportunity to make things right by meeting with the people they hurt and a mediator. Basically, a discussion about the situation would take place, and hopefully both parties would exit the discussion with a better understanding of why and how the event took place and what they can do to improve their relationships. 

Tier 3: re-integration 

You’re off to a great start. It is so important to communicate with parents in order to foster an effective learning experience for your students. Students’ learning should not just be happening in school, but at home as well. Parents should be reinforcing what their child learns at school. Maintaining a positive relationship with parents can be done in a multitude of ways. 

First, I would suggest creating a positive first impression between you and the parents. Since it is right before the school year starts, this can be done through a “Welcome Letter” to parents in which you introduce yourself through some fun facts and then express how excited you are for the school year to start. In the welcome letter, you should also provide a means to contact you—a professional email would be preferable. 

Another way to maintain a positive relationship between you, the teacher, and parents is through positive updates about a student through either a phone call or email. This is a great method because it shows that you pay attention to their child individually and that you can recognize their strengths. Be sure to send positive emails about a variety of students, not just the same ones every week. This positive relationship will also assist any issues that a student may have in class, whether that be because of difficulty learning or behavioral problems. 

A good ratio to follow when interacting with parents is four positives to one negative. Beginning with the positives, especially before an issue with a student arises, shows parents that you are a proponent of their learning and truly want them to succeed.