Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Your Guide to Creating Safe, Supportive Learning Environments for All Students / Edition 1

by Jen Alexander

Overview

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In the United States, at least one in four youth experiences trauma severe enough to negatively affect their school success.* Give hope and help to these students with this reader-friendly how-to guide, your springboard for building responsive, trauma-sensitive preK–12 schools.

Drawing on her extensive experience as a school counselor, trainer, and mother, trauma expert Jen Alexander delivers a comprehensive framework for building a safe, supportive school environment that helps all students learn and thrive. You'll start with an evidence-based introduction to the profound impact of trauma on a child's development, attachment, and behavior. Then you'll get an effective multi-tier system of support (MTSS) for developing a trauma-sensitive learning environment, including both universal strategies (Tier 1) and more intensive interventions (Tier 2 and Tier 3) for students who need more support. Compelling anecdotes and sample scripts illuminate challenges and solutions, and the included forms and worksheets are valuable tools for helping educators build the mindset and skills necessary for becoming trauma-sensitive. With this engaging, highly practical guide to what works and why, your school team will gain insights and develop action plans that make a real difference in the lives of all kids, including our most vulnerable youth.

DISCOVER HOW TO:

• make five key shifts in the way you view and approach students, so that you're better equipped to support them
• work together to prioritize resilience by actively putting relationships first in your school
• implement universal instructional strategies that foster safety, connection, regulation, and learning for all students
• use special supports, supplemental instruction, and coaching when universal strategies aren't enough
• collaborate effectively with families and colleagues to meet each student's needs
• incorporate restorative discipline practices that focus on restitution, not retribution
• create a personalized self-care plan to promote wellness and reduce the effects of job-related stress

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Creative activities for teachers, powerful case stories, sample dialogues and scripts for educators and counselors, reflection and brainstorming worksheets, downloadable forms, and templates and handouts for use with students.

Build resilience by helping all students

• Feel safe
• Be connected
• Get regulated
• Learn

Discover the NEW ebook from Jen Alexander: Supporting Students and Staff After COVID-19

* National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee, 2008

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681252452
Publisher:	Brookes Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/2019
Edition description:	New
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	433,553
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jen Alexander believes we can make a positive difference in the lives of students, one relationship at a time. That's why she's a passionate leader in the movement to build trauma-sensitive schools. Known by children and adults alike as "Ms. Jen," she loves helping kids—and giving others the tools and strategies they need to help kids, too.

As a former special education teacher and current school counselor in Iowa, Ms. Jen has more than 15 years of experience providing support to young people and the educators who serve them. As a popular teacher trainer, trauma expert, and author, Ms. Jen shows fellow educators what works and why when it comes to building trauma-sensitive schools. With a unique ability to connect with students, educators, other helpers, and parents, Jen is devoted to facilitating school-wide trauma-sensitive transformation through effective professional development paired with school consultation. Within minutes of working with her, educators know they are learning from someone who understands the real struggles of every day teaching and learning—and believe that change benefiting educators, students, and entire school communities is possible.

Ms. Jen holds degrees in psychology and special education teaching as well as a master's degree in professional school counseling from the University of Northern Iowa. She is also a nationally certified counselor and registered school-based play therapist.

Read an Excerpt

https://brookespublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/alexander_excerpt.pdf

Table of Contents

About the Online Materials
About the Author
Introduction

SECTION I: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA
Chapter 1: Trauma & Its Effects

• What is Trauma?
• Trauma Defined
• Prevalence of Childhood Trauma
• The Effects of Trauma on the Body

Chapter 2: The Role of Attachment in Development
• Healthy Attachment
• Attachment Issues
• Attachment-Trauma

Chapter 3: Trauma's Impact on Youth at School
• Faces of Trauma in the Classroom
• The Effects of Developmental Trauma in School
• Triggers in the Classroom
• Common Approaches to Trauma in the Classroom

SECTION II: CREATING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE SCHOOLS
Chapter 4: The Trauma-Sensitive School Framework
• What is a Trauma-Sensitive School?
• Trauma-Informed Response to Intervention
• Trauma-Sensitive Educators

Chapter 5: 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

Chapter 6: Essentials for 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 Learns

SECTION III: IMPLEMENTING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM
Chapter 7: Universal Strategies for Trauma-Sensitive Classrooms
• Universal Strategies to Help All Students Feel Safe
• Universal Strategies to Help All Students Be Connected
• Universal Strategies to Help All Students Get Regulated
• Universal Strategies to Help All Students Learn

Chapter 8: Supplemental and Intensive Trauma-Sensitive Interventions
• Supplemental & Intensive Interventions for Helping Students Feel Safe
• Supplemental & Intensive Interventions for Helping Students Be Connected
• Supplemental & Intensive Interventions to Help Students Get Regulated
• Supplemental & Intensive Interventions to Help Students Learn
• We are in this Together

Chapter 9: The PACE Approach to Working with Traumatized Students
• Follow, Lead, Follow
• Playfulness
• Acceptance
• Curiosity
• Empathy

Chapter 10: Trauma-Sensitive Discipline Practices
• Restorative Discipline Practices
• Trauma-Sensitive Consequences
• Ending on a Positive Note

Chapter 11: Self-Care for Educators
• Job-Related Stress
• Final Lifeguarding Lessons
• Self-care Plans

Appendix
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Are you working with children who struggle because of their history of adverse experiences? You need this book—even if you already have a full shelf. Packed with stories, wisdom, and practical tools, this is a resource you'll come back to over and over again for ideas, support, and encouragement.

Jody McVittie