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Regular quizzing and self-testing strengthen memory recall. Incorporate low-stakes quizzes and encourage students to use flashcards or other retrieval practice methods for more effective studying.

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Trauma-Informed Teaching: Healing Brains, Changing Lives

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Trauma-Informed Teaching: Healing Brains, Changing Lives

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Trauma can impact brain development and function. Creating a safe, predictable classroom environment and building strong teacher-student relationships can support healing and learning for students who have experienced trauma.

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Trauma-Informed Practices (TIP) have been a topic of interest and need for the past several years. Researchers have defined TIP as a set of practices that address the impact of trauma by creating a safe and caring environment. Trauma-informed practices focus on creating a safe school culture, building relationships, and supporting students' self-efficacy. Despite the plethora of research on trauma-informed practices, sometimes research-based practices are disconnected from the daily needs of educators in the field.

Below is a list of common Trauma-Informed practices that educators can implement across all educational settings. This list has been reviewed by a group of educators representing education support professionals, teachers, and specialized instructional support personnel.

Support students from the bus stop to the classroom (and beyond!)
Using trauma-informed practices across all educational spaces can help educators collaborate to support student mental and physical health.Supporting students across settings helps to foster a positive school climate where students feel safe and confident. Be intentional in supporting families and community members in understanding and using trauma-informed practices for long-term student success.

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No matter where you work in our school communities, you can use these practices to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students.

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What is memory?

Memory is our ability to recall information (Harvard Psychology Review, 2024) Our memories are a central part of who we are. Our ability to recall memories can help us to make decisions and learn from the past. There are many things that play a role in our memory. As well as different forms of memory that we will discuss on this padlet further.

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In this section we will discuss several different forms of memory. These include short term, long term, and sensory memory.

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Short term memory is a memory that stays around for a small period of time, sometimes even less than a second (Psychology Today). Short term memory can be later stored as a long term memory. Many things that we do throughout the day may be insignificant. Something like looking up movie times or searching things online are things we may remember immediately after we do them but they are not transferred to long term memory.

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Long term memory is the process of storing and retrieving information (Sousa, 2022). There are two types of long term memories, declarative and nondeclarative. Declarative memories are explicit memories that are connected to something. These are processed through the hippocampus and cerebrum. Nondeclarative long term memories are any memories that are not declarative. They are memories that we can not explain. These may be everyday things that we do such as roller skate or dribble a ball.

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Sensory information is first sent to the thalamus which monitors the information and determines if it is important (Sousa, 2022). Sensory memory is a memory that is held in the sensory register. This is why we can sometimes catch the last part of someone talking to us when we are listening to something. We are trace the memory before it is gone. Another example is when it takes awhile to hear a noise that is repeating. As a teacher I have a great ability to block out some noises. I do not hear pencil tapping until my co teacher points it out. My sensory register is able to block it out.

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What is retention and transfer and how do they impact education?

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What is retention and transfer and how do they impact education?

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Transfer happens when the hippocampus is triggered that something in the working memory is important (Sousa, 2022). Once this memory leaves the working memory the brain looks for similar memories to store this with. Disney's Inside Out 2 does a great job with taking how the brain works with memories. Memories are color coded and stored based on similarities. Learning more about the brain and watching the movie gives you real connections that someone who has not learned about the brain may not notice. Transfer is directly impacted by our previous memories and experiences. The more experiences and past learning that a student has the easier it is to transfer information because there are more connections there.

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Retention is the brain requires the learner to to a lot more than just learn. Retention requires the student to build a conceptual understanding of what they are learning so that the information can be processed long term. For me an example of this is when students are learning math. A student that has memorized math facts may not have a full understanding of multiplication. But a student who learns the process and learns how to multiply through scaffolding and connecting it to how they would use it at a store is more likely to retain the information.

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Retention and transfer have a direct impact on education. Students who are struggling with sleep or hunger will struggle with retention and learning because their brain can not process information the same way. Understanding the brain and how it works can help teachers to understand how to overcome these challenges and also how to teach to help students retain information. Connecting to students emotions and providing scaffolding can help students retain information and transfer information from working memory to long term. Also using repetition and making stronger connections in the brain through consistency and repetition will also help.

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Long term memory and long term storage are two different things. Once the hippocampus has been triggered and a memory enters long term memory the brain looks for similarities and decides where to store it (Sousa, 2022). Long term memory refers to this process, long term storage is where the brain decides to store it. In order for these memories to be able to be recalled over time it is important that they are reviewed. For example, we may have had information stored in out long term memory 20 years ago, but after it hasn't been used this memory slowly fades.

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What we have learned about memory directly impacts teaching and learning. In order for students to retain information it is important for them to practice and repeat what they have learned. Learning something new one time will not result in a long term memory that is able to be retrieved. Strengthening memory recall through teaching in various ways, repetition, and review will help students retain important information.

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Students experiencing trauma are impacted in many ways throughout their school day. It is important for teachers to remember that their learning and memory may also be impacted. In order to help their learning there are many suggestions for classroom teachers. One of the most important is to provide and safe and comforting learning environment. No student can learn if they do not feel safe. This puts their body into fight or flight mode and they are not able to retain information. Hobbs suggests not using traditional methods of discipline. Using student centered and solution based approaches will help the student to gain trust and also reduce resistance. Students experiencing trauma need to have their basic needs met first, before they are able to focus on learning new skills and building brain pathways to turn these skills into long term memories.

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Classroom:

1. Be consistent and clear in expectations

2. Provide opportunities for student input

3. Adjust lighting and sound

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Teacher strategies

1. Use repetition

2. Connect material to real world and student interests

3. Use humor to build relationships and connect to students emotions

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Student strategies:

1. Help students build social skills through stories

2. Use circles and practice open conversations

3. provide students with a variety of ways to demonstrate learning

4. Use student centered learning approach

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Harvard Health Medical School. Memory. Harvard Health Publishing. 2024.

Hobbs, C., Paulsen, D., & Thomas, J.  (2019, May 23). Trauma-Informed Practice for Pre-service Teachers. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Retrieved 22 Sep. 2024, from https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-1435.

Psychology Today. Types of Memory. Sussex Publishers. 2024.

Sousa, D. A. (2022). How the brain learns (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.