Immediately effective trauma-response framework for educators to help students during and after crises. Responding to Student Trauma is an urgent addition to current trauma response practices. Written by a middle school counselor, this easy-to-follow book provides a framework for understanding and responding to the needs of students experiencing trauma. With many schools lacking adequate staff for supporting student mental health, this guide gives educators the information and strategies they need to address the specific needs of their students. Packed with strategies to use immediately, Responding to Student Trauma categorizes trauma according to the source: self/home, school, community, and country/world. It directly addresses how to respond to crises currently facing students and educators and includes tips for planning ahead to be ready for the next crisis. The versatile structure allows Responding to Student Trauma to be used as a standalone resource, as a supplement to existing programs, or as a trauma response framework to create a schoolwide program. Having clear and comprehensive programs for times of crisis and students who are struggling with traumatic experiences allows staff to support student mental health and helps reduce staff anxiety and uncertainty about unexpected incidents. Digital content includes a reproducible school-planning worksheet, teacher quick-guide worksheet, and action items checklist to ensure the entire staff is trained and feels prepared to respond quickly to situations. A free downloadable PLC/Book Study Guide available at freespirit.com/PLC.

Educators must both respond to the impact of trauma, and prevent trauma at school. Trauma-informed initiatives tend to focus on the challenging behaviors of students and ascribe them to circumstances that students are facing outside of school. This approach ignores the reality that inequity itself causes trauma, and that schools often heighten inequities when implementing trauma-informed practices that are not based in educational equity. In this fresh look at trauma-informed practice, Alex Shevrin Venet urges educators to shift equity to the center as they consider policies and professional development. Using a framework of six principles for equity-centered trauma-informed education, Venet offers practical action steps that teachers and school leaders can take from any starting point, using the resources and influence at their disposal to make shifts in practice, pedagogy, and policy. Overthrowing inequitable systems is a process, not an overnight change. But transformation is possible when educators work together, and teachers can do more than they realize from within their own classrooms.

In this galvanizing book for all educators, Kristin Souers and Pete Hall explore an urgent and growing issue--childhood trauma--and its profound effect on learning and teaching. Grounded in research and the authors' experience working with trauma-affected students and their teachers, Fostering Resilient Learners will help you cultivate a trauma-sensitive learning environment for students across all content areas, grade levels, and educational settings. The authors--a mental health therapist and a veteran principal--provide proven, reliable strategies to help you * Understand what trauma is and how it hinders the learning, motivation, and success of all students in the classroom. * Build strong relationships and create a safe space to enable students to learn at high levels. * Adopt a strengths-based approach that leads you to recalibrate how you view destructive student behaviors and to perceive what students need to break negative cycles. * Head off frustration and burnout with essential self-care techniques that will help you and your students flourish. Each chapter also includes questions and exercises to encourage reflection and extension of the ideas in this book. As an educator, you face the impact of trauma in the classroom every day. Let this book be your guide to seeking solutions rather than dwelling on problems, to building relationships that allow students to grow, thrive, and--most assuredly--learn at high levels.

Selected as a "Favorite Book for Educators in 2018" by Greater Good. From the author of Mindfulness for Teachers, a guide to supporting trauma-exposed students. Fully half the students in U.S. schools have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress. In the face of this epidemic, it falls increasingly to teachers to provide the adult support these students need to function in school. But most educators have received little training to prepare them for this role. In her new book, Tish Jennings—an internationally recognized leader in the field of social and emotional learning—shares research and experiential knowledge about the practices that support students' healing, build their resilience, and foster compassion in the classroom. In Part I, Jennings describes the effects of trauma on body and mind, and how to recognize them in students' behavior. In Part II, she introduces the trauma-sensitive practices she has implemented in her work with schools. And in Part III, she connects the dots between mindfulness, compassion, and resilience. Each chapter contains easy-to-use, practical activities to hone the skills needed to create a compassionate learning environment.

"Building on comprehensive research conducted in US schools, this accessible volume offers an effective model of school leadership to develop and implement school-wide, trauma-responsive approaches to student discipline. Recognizing that challenging student behaviours are often rooted in early experiences of trauma, the volume provides an evidence-based, practical framework for leading change toward trauma-responsive discipline. Building on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s model of how to support individuals impacted by trauma, chapters walk readers through the processes of realizing, recognizing, responding to, and resisting the impacts of trauma in school contexts. Research and interviews model an educational reform process and explain how a range of differentiated interventions including Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports (PBIS), social-emotional learning (SEL), mindfulness, restorative justice, and family engagement can be used to boost student resilience, responsibility, and pro-social behaviour. Practical steps are supported by current theory, resources, and stories of implementation from superintendents, principals, teachers, and experts. This text will benefit school leaders, teachers, and counsellors with an interest in restorative student discipline, emotional and behavioural difficulties in young people, and PreK-12 education more broadly. Those interested in school psychology, trauma studies, and trauma counselling with children and adolescents will also benefit from the volume"--

Half the students in U.S. schools are experiencing or have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress. Much has been written about these students from a therapeutic perspective, especially regarding how to provide them with adequate counseling supports and services. Conversely, little has been written about teaching this population and doing so from a strengths-based perspective. Using real-world examples as well as research-based principles, this book shows how to * Identify inherent assets that students bring to the classroom. * Connect to students’ experiences through instructional planning and delivery. * Foster students’ strengths through the use of predictable routines and structured paired and small-group learning experiences. * Develop family and community partnerships. Experts Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes outline a comprehensive, collaborative approach to teaching that focuses on students’ strengths and resiliency. Teaching to Strengths encourages educators to embrace teaching and schoolwide practices that support and enhance the academic and socio-emotional development of students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress.

Traumatic or adverse experiences are pervasive among school-aged children and youth. Trauma undermines students' ability to learn, form relationships, and manage their feelings and behavior. School-based professionals working with traumatized students are often unaware of their complex needs or how to meet them within the hours of the typical school day. The second edition of Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students is a comprehensive guide for understanding and assisting students with a history of trauma. Designed specifically for professionals in mental health and education settings, this volume combines content and expertise from practitioners, researchers, and other experts with backgrounds in education, school psychology, school social work, school administration, resilience, school policy, and trauma. The book provides a thorough background on current research in trauma and its impact on school functioning; administrative and policy considerations; and a broad set of practical and implementable strategies and resources for adapting and differentiating instruction, modifying the classroom and school environments, and building competency for students and staff. New chapters address topics such as post-traumatic growth, interpersonal violence, and trauma screening and assessment among others. Educators can continue to use this updated edition as a reference and ongoing resource, with the ability to quickly and easily access a variety of school-based strategies to help improve educational and social outcomes for traumatized students.

This book provide a practical blueprint for creating a cooperative and respectful classroom climate in which students and teachers work through behavioral issues together.

"Students impacted by trauma face behavioral and mental health challenges, which, if not addressed, have long-lasting impacts. In Trauma-Sensitive Instruction: Creating a Safe and Predictable Classroom Environment, authors John F. Eller and Tom Hierck emphasize the importance of creating safe classrooms where students build resilience to cope with and handle traumatic experiences. This book helps readers understand the impact of trauma and develop a trauma-sensitive mindset that champions the idea that all students can learn at high levels and be successful. Educators at every level will examine practical, research-based strategies they can implement to support students in building positive behavior management and learning experiences"--

An updated edition of an indispensable resource offers practical strategies for teaching and supporting students with mental health and learning disorders. Covering topics including PTSD, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and many others, this accessible, ready-to-use reference explains how each disorder or difficulty might be exhibited in the classroom and offers straightforward suggestions for what to do (and what not to do). Using clear, jargon-free language, the book helps all educators—whether in inclusive classrooms, general education settings, or other environments—recognize mental health issues and learning disabilities that are often observed in students. Fully revised and updated to correspond to the DSM-5, this edition addresses newly diagnosed disorders, as well as incorporating the latest research and interventions for existing disorders. The book also includes current information about educational practices such as creating a culturally responsive classroom and supporting students’ social-emotional learning. Digital content includes customizable forms from the book. A free downloadable PLC/Book Study Guide is available at freespirit.com/PLC.