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Daily Practices for Supporting Military Students

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Daily Practices for Supporting Military Students

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Military kids tend to be resilient, but moving around a lot is still tough. These strategies can smooth their transition to a new school.

Niedring/Drentwett / MITO images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

As an educator, I've worked with students in grades ranging from pre-K through high school. For the better part of two decades, I've also been a military spouse, and I'm the parent of three teenagers. Since my oldest child started school in 2007, my children have been enrolled in eight school districts throughout the U.S. and in Germany.

Military kids tend to be flexible and resilient and bring a wealth of experiences to their classrooms, but moving around a lot does create challenges. My kids have attended some schools that did a brilliant job meeting their needs, but we have also found schools with very little understanding of the challenges that military kids face.

Below are three strategies that I've found help military children succeed and thrive. The best part about them is that they support all students in a classroom. Students with learning differences and English language learners will benefit from clear expectations and targeted academic supports, and new students from any background will settle in more easily if conscious efforts are made to integrate them into the classroom community.

Supporting Military Kids in the Classroom

1. Make routines obvious and expectations clear: Military kids have often attended many schools, all of which have been run differently. They need help to understand how things work at your school. What seems intuitive to long-time students can be baffling to someone who just arrived.

For example, for most of the school year in Alaska, elementary school policy requires students to come to school every day dressed in full winter gear, then change out of it and into their school shoes at the start of the day. For Alaskan kids, this seems obvious, but for a military child who just arrived from Hawaii, it certainly isn't. Teachers in Alaska helped new students by posting pictures of children dressed for inside and for outside, walking new students through the routine, and providing physical support for younger students while they got the hang of things.

Making expectations clear serves the same purpose. School norms, culture, and rules can vary widely-some schools expect students to be silent as they move between classes, others tolerate conversation and maybe even a little rowdiness. In some cafeterias, students sit wherever they please; in others, there is assigned seating. When you share these details with military students as soon as they arrive, you help them know how to join in at your school. New kids have to ask so many questions already-sparing them one or two can ease some of the stress and anxiety of those awkward first days.

Things to try:

Explain terms that may be specific to your school or district (like names for standardized tests or school activities and traditions).

Provide age-appropriate visual schedules students can use to navigate through their day.

Offer reminders to the whole class instead of singling out new students.

2. Look for academic gaps and help students find ways to close them: Curriculum is generally designed to be sequential, with each year's coursework building on the previous year's. When students change districts frequently, they may miss important academic content. Even courses with the same name may cover different content in different districts.

One of my sons had always been an academic high achiever-he easily finished Algebra I with an A in our previous district. But in our new district this year, he spent the first quarter failing Geometry-the course after Algebra I in both districts-because he had not yet been exposed to skills he was now expected to know. Although he caught up after the first six weeks, it was a demoralizing start to the school year.

Teachers can help new students by watching closely for these gaps and providing extra scaffolding for students who have them. Pairing new students with established students who are comfortable with the material can support students academically as well as socially. Personally inviting military students to join you for extra instruction is also a good strategy, as these students are often very independent and may not seek it out. This provides you a great opportunity to get to know these students, bolster their confidence, and offer reassurance that their struggles are related to exposure instead of ability.

On the flip side, some military students may have already covered some of your content in other schools, or learned it in different ways, which creates a great opportunity to let them shine. Inviting them to support their classmates and share their knowledge can enhance the classroom environment for everyone.

Things to try:

Share information about your school and district's academic support resources, and outside resources for military students that you're aware of. For example, Tutor.com offers free services to active-duty families.

Use pre-assessments when possible to gain insight into students' content knowledge.

Offer students who have previous experience with your material the opportunity to mentor their peers.

3. Focus on relationships: Being a new kid is tough, but military kids know that the best part of moving to a new place is new friendships. These kids are often friendly, social, and adept at stepping into new settings. They are wired to connect with you and their new peers.

Teachers can capitalize on this attitude by taking conscious steps to build relationships with military students. Give them opportunities to share where they've been and what they learned there. Many military kids have had amazing adventures-living abroad, completing monumental road trips, and experiencing the diverse communities of our nation and our world.

Because they're looking with fresh eyes, what may seem mundane to a local is memorable for them-Mardi Gras in Louisiana, feet of snow in upstate New York, mountain vistas in Colorado. When we moved from South Dakota to Alabama, my elementary-aged children were mesmerized by warm rain-they had never experienced such magic before. Teachers have a great opportunity to connect with students by sharing these kinds of special joys, too.

Things to try:

Give new students opportunities to share unique experiences with you and their classmates.

Take time to learn about where students have been and what their hopes are for their new location, and share what's special about where you live.

Consider seating charts that allow military students to get to know new people without having to interject themselves into established peer groups.

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3 Ways to Support Military Kids in the Classroom

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Military kids tend to be resilient, but moving around a lot is still tough. These strategies can smooth their transition to a new school. Niedring/Drentwett / MITO images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo As an educator, I've worked with students in grades ranging from pre-K through high school.

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How to support and understand students who experience parents and loved ones deploying.

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How to support and understand students who experience parents and loved ones deploying.

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School is often a stable, and safe place for children who experience periods of upheaval in their lives. As an educator, you spend an entire school day with your military students, yet you may know little about military life or how it affects military kids in the classroom. The unique aspects of military culture can be difficult to understand without prior military exposure. Learn from experienced teachers, counselors, and providers as they share advice on teaching youth from military families. They touch on topics such as; military culture, transitioning students, and the special challenges of working with students who are coping with a parent's deployment. You can also watch videos on the website to understand a child's view of military life.

In most cases, you'll know who your military students are, but there are some situations when they may be harder to identify. Here are few scenarios to consider:

Parent was on active duty, but is no longer in the military,

Sibling or other loved one is in the military,

Child was not born when parent was on active duty, and parent is now in the Reserves,

Parent is either in the Reserves or National Guard and they don't live near a military installation,

Showing stress reactions such as persistent headaches, stomachaches, or moodiness,

Having trouble staying awake in class,

Gone for long periods of time or has unexplained absences from school,

Having a tough time concentrating or coping with common or routine issues,

Struggling with academic performance (drastic drop in grades, missing assignments, etc.)

Displaying uncharacteristic or aggressive behaviors, or acting out,

Showing high-levels of anxiety or worry.

Has your family moved recently? Military youth move an average of six to nine times between kindergarten and 12th grade. Youth Resources on Moving...

Do you have a parent or loved one who is deployed or preparing to deploy? Depending on the current world situation, military youth often experience frequent and lengthy separations from their parents or loved ones. Youth resources on deployment...

Do you have a parent or loved one who recently returned from a deployment? Despite being happy about their loved one's return, many military families describe reintegration as the most difficult transition they face. Youth resources on reintegration...

Do you have a parent who is coping with a military-related injury or illness? Reintegration is even more challenging when the family is adjusting to, or caring for an injured parent. Youth resources on injury and illness

Use aspects of military life as a teaching tool:

Focus a lesson on learning about the culture of an area that a student's parent will deploy. Plan a lesson that emphasizes common and different cultural influences between different kids or teens - whether civilian or military, American or foreign. Invite a military parent to speak with your class or organization, either before deployment or upon their return.

Ask a deploying parent if to be a "pen pal" for your students. The parent might send postcards, maps, coins, menus, or other interesting articles from their foreign duty station. These items will allow your students to track the parent's trip around the world.

Celebrate different military holidays, but in particular Month of the Military Child (April), National Military Appreciation month (May), or Military Family Appreciation month (November). Develop an awareness of military life to provide support.

Develop an awareness of military life to provide support

Ask about important dates that may affect your student (such as deployment departure dates, vacation dates, homecomings, etc.). Try to be flexible with due dates on assignments when these special circumstances arise.

Be neutral in your language referring to parents. Many military children have alternate caregivers during a deployment. Consider using caregiver, guardian or dear family instead.

Work with military school liaisons or contacts to find out information to help answer a military child's question about deployment. Normalize common reactions to separation; provide reassurance that feelings of loss, anger, frustration, and grief are natural when coping with a deployment.

For younger ages, include uniform-type clothing in your dress up center.

Discuss with the student or caregiver if you notice any concerning behavior. Let your school counselor and administrators know about a student with a deployed parent. However, be discrete; don't assume everyone knows about this student's situation. Initiate a conversation about the deployment with the remaining at-home parent/caregiver.

Be mindful of the difficult circumstances a caregiver is facing while coping with a deployment and offer support or assist in finding services that can be helpful.

Create a supportive environment for military students

Especially in areas of high deployments, plan a school-wide "Red, White and Blue Day" or "Thank Your Military Day" to reinforce the values of patriotism and service for your student body.

Invite everyone to wear red, white and blue for a day. Arrange to have an assembly on this day and invite speakers to talk about their military experiences or honor military parents by hosting a luncheon.

Use your school or organization's newsletter, blog or magazine to support service members.

Create a column that discusses military life and invite military teens (or school staff with military connections) to participate. Refer families in need of counseling services to various resources. Military OneSource offers non-medical counseling services (and much more) to service members and their families. The various service branches offer programs to parents who have special needs children. Ask your nearby installation or search online for the Service's "Exceptional Family Member Programs."

Provide support groups for your military students. For example, have brown bag or pizza lunches, or create after school groups.

Organize a "Traveler's Club" for students and staff to share their experiences.

Be aware of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children that helps with transferring credits during relocations.

Click on the images below to view a "pick a path" story about a tween or teen trying to cope with some common challenges military students face.

Department of Defense Education Activity: This school system is responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behalf of the Defense Department. The system operates in 164 accredited schools in eight districts located in 11 foreign countries, seven states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

School liaison officers: Each military branch of service has a school liaison program. Officers serve as the primary point of contact for school-related matters. They help with military families' school issues and help coordinate services with local school systems.

Military OneSource: Service members, their families, survivors and the entire military community have access to Military OneSource resources anywhere in the world at no cost. Military OneSource provides resources and non-medical counseling via a confidential call line 800-342-9647 - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, from anywhere in the world.

Sesame Street for Military Families: Sesame Street for Military Families is a free, bilingual (English and Spanish) website where families can find information and multimedia resources on the topics of military deployments, multiple deployments, homecomings, injuries, grief, and self-expression. The website has a section for providers to learn more about the military culture.

Military Child Education Coalition: This organization delivers programs, services, and professional development to meet the needs of military-connected students, parents, and professionals. Their programs include a Student2Student peer support program as well as educator trainings.

Revised: Wed, 11/27/2019 - 09:14

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School is often a stable, and safe place for children who experience periods of upheaval in their lives. As an educator, you spend an entire school day with your military students, yet you may know little about military life or how it affects military kids in the classroom.

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A Read Aloud for Students to help with Coping Skills and Affirmations

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A Read Aloud for Students to help with Coping Skills and Affirmations

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I Can Do Hard Things ~ Kids Book about Resilience Read Aloud

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Sesame Street Videos for Military Deployments

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Sesame Street Videos for Military Deployments

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Deployments | Sesame Street: How to Prepare

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Find advice on dealing with and preparing for deployments. Activities for children and educational videos to help cope with deployment.

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A Read Aloud to Help Children Find Joy After Loss

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A Read Aloud to Help Children Find Joy After Loss

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The  Heart and the Bottle | Children's Book about Death, Loss, and Grieving | Read Aloud | Story

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How Trauma Affects Kids in School - Child Mind Institute

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Learn how trauma from ongoing neglect, abuse, homelessness or violence causes children to have problems with learning and behavior. How to help these kids.

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Supporting Students with Trauma in School

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Supporting Students with Trauma in School

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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An Article Based in Research to Help Teachers Support Students with Trauma 

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An Article Based in Research to Help Teachers Support Students with Trauma 

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For some students, school is not just a place of learning and growth but also a refuge from abuse.

Data suggest that, on average, every classroom has at least one student affected by trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, close to 40 percent of students in the U.S. have been exposed to some form of traumatic stressor in their lives, with sexual assault, physical assault, and witnessing domestic violence being the three most prevalent.

These types of stressors, known as complex trauma, have the added wound of being perpetrated by a person with whom the child or teen has an ongoing relationship. The very people who are supposed to support and protect are those who wound and abuse. This leads to continuing states of grief, loss, abandonment, and neglect as well as persistent anxiety, fear, and depression-all at a time when the brain is in crucial stages of development.

For some young people, school is the only place in their lives where they know they are safe and can form trusted, enduring relationships. It is, therefore, a cruel irony that many students who are affected by trauma also have trouble engaging at school. They may attend school with the best of intentions, hoping to form friendships, feel connected to their teachers, and succeed at the day's tasks. Yet they can find themselves defiant, demanding, and disengaged -unable to learn and confused about why they can't relate and bond with others.

What do the latest scientific findings from the fields of traumatology, neuroscience, and positive education tell us about how to best help students who are affected by trauma? Below, we highlight some of the new practices that teachers can use to not only help students heal but also help them grow.

Healing and repair

The new field of "trauma-informed learning" has made great strides in helping teachers to better understand the developmental, emotional, and social challenges that students who are impacted by trauma face at school. While teachers are not mental health professionals, trauma-informed learning trains teachers in therapeutic approaches that can be woven into the classroom to redress the delayed development, underdeveloped neural pathways, and over-regulated nervous systems that students experience as a result of trauma.

For example, teachers can directly teach students about their body's own stress activation response and help them find techniques to regulate their heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure. Teaching through rhythm-for example, learning about math to the beat of a drum, reading an English text while riding an exercise bike, or having a disciplinary conversation while walking around the school yard together-is now an accepted classroom technique that assists trauma-affected students to regulate their nervous system through rhythmic movement.

Feeling calmer in class has the knock-on effects of helping students get along better with others, think more clearly, and stay on task. These approaches nurture students' stamina and persistence, allowing them to better deal with frustration, which benefits their social behavior in class and their capacity to take on greater academic challenges. This is indeed a hopeful approach.

Growth and strength

Trauma-informed education has helped teachers to evolve from the question of "What is wrong with this student?" to "What has this student been through?" In the field of positive psychology, we add a further question: "What does this student need to reach their potential?" This allows teachers to extend the focus from what is wrong, to what is needed, to what is possible. Building the mental health and academic capacities of students affected by trauma requires more than repairing psychological disorder and developmental delays-it requires the dual mantra of healing and growth. Of repairing and rising up.

Research by Corey Keyes shows us that healing and growth can be simultaneous processes. We don't always need to wait until something is fixed before we work on building our strengths. Indeed, growing the psychological strengths of a student affected by trauma can be a core part of healing their psychological struggles.

Working with students who are affected by trauma requires schools to assist in providing individual counseling services, safety and crisis planning, behavior plans, self-care plans to address triggers, and case management. Most of these services are not provided by the classroom teacher, yet the teacher is the person who spends the most time with trauma-affected students. A key way in which positive psychology adds to the trauma-informed strategies above is by empowering teachers in the classroom to help their students on a daily basis.

Here are five teaching techniques that you can use in your class, knowing that these approaches also assist your mainstream students.

1. Positive relationships. Trauma-affected students have more relationship challenges to navigate than most. These students can be dealing with harmful relationships at home and then come to school to manage relationships not only with their teachers but also with social workers, police officers, and clinicians-all while living out their daily lives.

It is critical that we help these students feel safe and trusting where possible, so they learn to develop social intelligence and seek out positive bonds with others. Teachers may be the only people who help these students learn what a healthy, supportive relationship feels like. Building relational trust involves simple teaching practices such as smiling, sharing parts of your life with your students, getting to know your students as individuals, and using yourself as a role model of a reliable and regulated adult.

2. Positive physical space. The physical layout and look of your classroom can be used to build positive emotions. Putting up positive visuals and quotes can inspire creative thinking and teamwork in your students. Increased natural light or soft lighting can enhance an open, warm, and relaxing environment.

Consider how the furniture and seating is arranged in your class. Is it helping students to feel safe and connected? You could also bring plants into the room or create a mindfulness corner, a dedicated space that students can visit when they need to regulate their stress response. The corner can include a bean bag, mindful coloring books, squeeze toys, noise-cancelling headphones, and more.

3. Positive priming. Following the research of Barbara Frederickson, you can use simple priming techniques to foster positive emotions such as contentment, pride, awe, and wonder in class.

Brain breaks are one helpful technique. The teachers who work with us have found that brain breaks are most effective when students reflect on the type of energy they need at that moment for learning: Escalating brain breaks build positive energy and emotions such as joy, happiness, and wonder (e.g., clapping games, thumb wars, laughter yoga, racing around the desk), while de-escalating brain breaks build calm emotions such as contentment and serenity, which help a student to feel safe and focused (e.g., silently tracing the movements of a partner, triangle breathing, playing music or repeating mantras, and body movements such as shoulder shrugging or pumping your toes inside your shoes).

You can also use positive primers to boost positive emotion when students first enter the classroom (such as by greeting them with the healthy touch of a handshake or a high five), during transitions (by turning transition routines into a silent game such as "follow the leader"), or during independent work breaks (by having students deliberately savor their accomplishment and share with a peer).

According to Fredrickson's theory, helping your students build up their bank account of positive emotions over time changes their brain to help them learn more effectively, form better relationships, and become more resilient. Next time you are planning a lesson, think about how you can use positive primers throughout the learning experience.

4. Using character strengths. Teaching strengths in schools has been shown to increase achievement and well-being. All students, especially trauma-affected students, need opportunities to identify, recognize, practice, and use their character strengths, which include qualities like kindness, humor, creativity, and bravery.

Ways to help students learn about their own strengths and the strengths of others include strengths surveys (if their literacy skills allow), strengths cards, and strengths spotting exercises-like identifying strengths in their heroes or playing a secret agent game where they are invited to "spy" on a fellow student to identify the strengths of that student. To teach about particular strengths, you could focus on stories in English and Humanities curriculums where characters or historical figures displayed those strengths. Strengths can also be developed through performing arts, sports, and other co-curricula.

5. Building resilience. Sadly, you cannot always impact the life of a student outside of school, but you can teach resilience strategies that help a student affected by trauma to gain a better understanding of their situation and to counteract the negative messages of shame they often internalize.

Students can practice resilience skills through role plays that help them to act out skills such as setting boundaries and verbalizing their feelings, all while in the safety of a classroom. Literature, poetry, and song lyrics can help students identify examples of resilient thinking-for example, Ariana Grande's song "No Tears Left to Cry" following the London terrorist attack at her concert. Analyzing the ways in which media figures, sports heroes, and other high-profile people explain their successes and failures showcases the difference between optimism and pessimism.

Teachers can also use moments in the learning process when students feel frustration or self-doubt to coach them on how to dispute their pessimism and automatic negative thinking ( "I can't do this"; "I'm dumb") to make room for optimism and constructive thinking ( "Maybe I'm tired and I need a break"; "I solved the problem last week and I can do it again"; "It takes me a little longer than others, but I've come a long way"). Learning resilience skills can provide an internal psychological buffer for students when they are outside of school, as well as providing empowering experiences at school.

Every teacher wants to positively impact the lives of their students. For students who are affected by trauma, the teacher plays an even more vital role. The introduction of positive psychology into the classroom has huge potential to change the trajectories of the lives of many of these young people by moving beyond repair to also inspire growth.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Five Ways to Support Students Affected by Trauma

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Teachers can help students recognize their strengths and build resilience.

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What is trauma?

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), child trauma is when a child witnesses or is involved in an event and, as a result, feels intensely threatened. A traumatic event or situation exceeds an individual's ability to cope. Several types of psychological or physical trauma can lead to extreme distress. Sources of trauma can include (but are not limited to) bullying, natural disasters, and sexual abuse. The National Survey of Children's Health states that 35 million children in the United States have experienced one or more types of childhood trauma.

One way to consider trauma is as a continuum in frequency and severity, from a single event to multiple events occurring over and over again. The three types of traumas are acute, chronic, and complex. Acute trauma occurs as an isolated event, such as a severe accident, medical procedure, or being a victim of a crime. Chronic trauma is when stressful or threatening events are experienced repeatedly, such as domestic violence. Complex trauma results from multiple and ongoing traumatic events such as abuse or neglect, living with alcoholism or substance abuse, and suffering from financial, food, and/or housing instability.

Impacts of trauma

Trauma has both short and long-term effects on a child's brain and body. Reactions to acute trauma may include shaking, crying, or being easily startled. It may be easier to see and understand a child's response to an acute traumatic event because it happens immediately, and one can grasp the reason why the child is distressed.

Chronic and complex trauma can be more challenging to detect in the classroom. A child may appear to be reacting to the situation at hand, but in reality they've been triggered by something else. Trauma can affect the body and brain in the following ways:

Body development: Trauma can lead to living in a near-constant state of extreme stress or fear. This heightened stress response means the child or adolescent can seemingly overreact emotionally, behaviorally, and/or physically to something that another child may not consider stressful. Children who have been traumatized may also over-respond to stimuli and be extremely sensitive to light and sounds.

Brain development: Trauma often leads to difficulties with language, communication, and processing new information. Reasoning skills are often delayed because of trauma as well.

Emotions: Emotional struggles are common with a trauma history. Children or teens may have difficulties expressing and managing their emotions, quickly exploding and struggling to calm down once upset.

Behavior: Trauma affects the ability to develop healthy attachments and relationships. Distrust, manipulation, argumentative behavior, and impulsivity can be common in youth who have been traumatized.

The trauma-informed approach

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that approximately one in every four children will experience a traumatic event before the age of 16. This means each classroom could have multiple children struggling to deal with various traumas. To create a trauma-sensitive school, where every classroom is safe, healthy, engaging, and challenging for each student, educators must incorporate a trauma-informed approach. This involves first learning about trauma and how it affects children's behaviors, learning, and relationships. Then educators set about intentionally creating an atmosphere that supports each student, demonstrates empathy, and teaches resilience.

What is being trauma-informed?

First and foremost, being trauma-informed means that one has a level of understanding about trauma and its impacts on an individual's brain, body, emotions, and behavior. It is a commitment to learning more about trauma and viewing the individual as a person and not their behavior. Without being trauma-informed, a teacher may misinterpret a child or teen's behavior in the classroom. Being trauma-informed recognizes that the undesirable behaviors are attempts to soothe emotional dysregulation, and this is often done unconsciously on the part of the trauma-impacted individual. It shifts the question from "What is wrong with this child?" to "What has happened to this child?"

Having a trauma-informed lens

A trauma-informed lens is a perspective of how the instructor views the child and the classroom. With a trauma-informed perspective, a teacher can consider alternatives as to why a student might be acting in a certain way, and the teacher can respond in a way that will not cause additional trauma to the child.

Guiding principles of trauma-informed care

SAMHSA released a report containing the six guiding principles of trauma-informed care. Both in-person and virtual classrooms can apply these guiding principles. These principles include:

1. Safety: Throughout the school and in each classroom, all people (administration, staff, and students) need to feel physically and psychologically safe.

2. Trustworthiness and transparency: Decisions are made and implemented with the primary goal of building and maintaining trust between administration, staff, students, and their families.

3. Peer support and mutual self-help: An atmosphere of support is key to building trust and empowerment and in establishing safety.

4. Collaboration and mutuality: Everyone-administration, staff, and teachers-has an essential role in developing a trauma-sensitive school. This responsibility is not just for those in therapeutic positions; instead, everyone must do the work to create a trauma-informed workplace.

5. Empowerment, voice, and choice - everyone in the school strives to empower others and recognizes that each student is unique, and both require and deserve an individualized approach. For example, when emotionally dysregulated, a student may be asked what they need to feel better. Providing the student an opportunity to use their voice and select what they want or need empowers the child or teen to recognize what they need, express those needs, and feel calm and heard when those needs are met.

6. Cultural, historical, and gender issues - Ignoring stereotypes and biases and ensuring that both teaching and other interactions with students and staff are culturally sensitive and responsive is a crucial part of trauma-informed schools.

One must note that these elements of trauma-informed care are not merely a one-time task to be checked off of a list. Instead, a true trauma-informed approach is a series of ongoing, deliberate interactions that put the child as an individual at the forefront and not the exhibited behavior.

Trauma-informed best practices in the classroom

Studies have shown that classrooms can implement several best practices to maximize the support that students need. These evidence-based trauma interventions include:

Recognize the signs of trauma

Signs of trauma in the classroom may include a child having difficulty focusing, struggling with creating and maintaining friendships, being overly tired, and/or having poor self-regulation. Students with excessive absences, changes in their school performance, and withdrawing from activities or others may also be signs that a child has been affected by trauma.

Provide consistency and structure

Daily schedules should be structured and contain elements of academics, entertainment or play, and physical exercise or movement. Also, weaving in aspects of self-regulation skill building such as breathing exercises, mindfulness and journaling can be quite helpful so that students can learn to develop these skills and implement them on their own as needed. Consistency is key to helping a child feel secure.

Providing an overview each day of the schedule and lessons for the day can also reduce anxiety for those children and teens who may become easily distracted, wondering or fearing what might come next. This quick and straightforward task may help return a bit of control to the child as they can mentally prepare for the day.

These tips also apply to virtual classrooms. Consistency and structure can also be provided by setting expectations and goals together as a class, define responsibilities, and regularly checking in with virtual students to see how they are faring.

Utilize social-emotional learning

Social-emotional learning, also called SEL, is the process through which students develop skills in critical areas. These areas include self-awareness, self-control, social awareness, interpersonal skills such as feeling and demonstrating empathy for others, effective listening and communication, and making responsible decisions. SEL skills are critical for student success in school, life, and future work.

Educators can teach these skills in various ways, including modeling behavior, using specially designed SEL curriculum materials, and in their classroom management practices. In addition to specific counseling activities to teach social-emotional learning, these skills can often be introduced in the midst of everyday learning:

When reading a story to the class, discuss how characters might think or feel.

Assigning responsibilities and tasks to each student builds a sense of self-worth.

Starting the day with an affirmation can set the tone for a positive learning environment as it encourages positive self-talk and promotes a growth mindset.

Teaching mindfulness activities such as breathing can be done in conjunction with "brain breaks" in between lessons.

Journal exercises help students identify and express their feelings or opinions, and group discussions can promote healthy and respectful disagreements.

Social-Emotional Learning Circles help promote community discussions and respectful, reflective listening.

Use restorative practices over zero-tolerance policies

Trauma-informed programs realize that zero-tolerance policies are ineffective and harmful. Zero-tolerance policies focus on the offense and are rooted in punishment. The child or teen is punished for committing an infraction with detention, suspension, or expulsion. It removes the student from the classroom environment but does not consider the student as an individual and what might have led to the misbehavior. Zero-tolerance policies disproportionately affect students of color, perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline, and do not provide the support or services the struggling student needs to achieve.

Rather than a single technique or tactic, restorative justice is a paradigm shift in how schools consider discipline and how students who break the rules are perceived and addressed. The goal is to create a new disciplinary system that is highly supportive while also being highly controlled. This system is rooted in respect, healing, empathy, and accountability. Restorative practices seek to do just that - restore relationships and environments. Instead of focusing on punishing the offending student, the focus shifts to repairing relationships between the offending student and the victim or repairing physical damage that may have occurred.

Restorative practices use support systems, including talking circles and peer juries, to create an environment where the student can hear how their actions affected the other party, and the offending student can respond. This approach humanizes both parties and encourages keeping the misbehaving student in the fold rather than excluding them from the school community. It also allows the student to be involved in finding a way to make amends instead of having a punishment doled out upon them. Restorative practices rebuild a traumatized student's relationships with authority figures, reform their belief in fairness, and build their capacity for conducting themselves with integrity.

Research shows that school-wide use of restorative practices has long-term, positive impacts on student behavior, attendance, and achievement. Drop-out and truancy rates decline, and students report being happier while in school. Utilizing this trauma-informed positive behavior support can create an entirely different school environment, especially for students affected by trauma.

Implement a trauma-informed pedagogy

Trauma-informed pedagogy is the practice that keeps trauma and how it affects learners at the forefront when designing and implementing teaching strategies. For instance, during this time of uncertainty and social isolation with the COVID 19 pandemic, educators can recognize that these stressors may compound upon existing trauma and lead to students having a more challenging time completing even basic tasks, being motivated, and engaging with other students.

A trauma-informed pedagogy also provides content warnings before discussing potentially triggering topics. The educator also prepares themselves in advance on how to respond if a student is triggered. It allows students to opt-out of participating in these discussions and reassures students that they can opt-out without any penalties. Trauma-informed pedagogy also describes and teaches grounding techniques for students who may feel overwhelmed. These types of practices help to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.

Teacher self-care while being trauma-informed

In order to create a supportive, trauma-informed classroom, it is imperative that instructors not only identify and deal with their own trauma but also regularly engage in self-care. Self-care techniques can vary based on the educator's preferences, but examples include exercise, traveling, reading, meditation, yoga, seeing a therapist, and participating in creative or artistic pursuits, such as dancing or painting.

Secondary traumatic stress

Failure to prioritize self-care can lead to burnout or secondary traumatic stress. This is significant stress that develops as a result of caring for others with a history of trauma. Hearing about various traumas each day can weigh on an educator, resulting in both physical and mental difficulties that can severely interfere with one's life.

Warning signs of secondary traumatic stress include:

Difficulties sleeping/having nightmares

Excessive fatigue

Physical aches and pains

Lack of motivation and/or decreased productivity

Difficulties concentrating

Isolation - avoiding people or activities that once brought joy

Feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, or anger

Secondary traumatic stress is not a permanent condition. Prioritizing self-care, talking to supportive family, friends, and professionals, and finding healthy outlets to relieve the stress can all help. In time, these difficulties can resolve, allowing for a clear and healthy mindset ready to support and encourage hurting students.

Professional development and training

Training is necessary in order to develop a trauma-informed classroom. Professional development training is a perfect opportunity to learn about trauma and examine ways to build a supportive environment and trauma-informed communication skills.

Trauma-informed professional development and training topics

Trauma-informed training for teachers can include a variety of topics surrounding trauma, including:

The different types of trauma

How trauma affects a child's development

Ways trauma can manifest in student's actions in the classroom

How to and how not to respond to undesirable behaviors

Developing a trauma-sensitive classroom

Developing a trauma-informed lens and teaching pedagogy

School-wide techniques and programs that can be implemented to be responsive to both student and staff stress and trauma

For those who want to become even more well-versed in recognizing and managing trauma-based challenging behaviors in the classroom, options exist for both post-graduate certificates and even a degree in trauma-informed teaching. Spending time learning as much as possible about trauma and how to best support traumatized children in the classroom can have positive and lasting results on both students and the educator.

Resources

Building a Trauma-Informed, Compassionate Classroom: Strategies & Activities to Reduce Challenging Behavior, Improve Learning Outcomes, and Increase Student Engagement by Jennifer Bashant

Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom - by Kristin Souers and Pete Hall

Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility using Restorative Justice - by Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein

Berry, M. (2018). Restoring American education: An end to zero-tolerance policies through restorative justice. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cap_thes_all/315

Byer, L. (2016). Restorative practices in the school setting: A systematic review. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/564

SAMSHSA. (2014). SAMSHA's concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. Retrieved from https://youth.gov/feature-article/samhsas-concept-trauma-and-guidance-trauma-informed-approach

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Trauma-Informed Teaching Tips for Classroom & Online Educators | Resilient Educator

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Trauma-informed teaching incorporates the understanding of trauma and its impacts on a student's brain, body, emotions, and behavior. Learn strategies, pedagogy, and self-care in relation to the trauma-informed approach.

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Family Deployment Resources and Programs

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Family Deployment Resources and Programs

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Deployed Military Parents Resources & Info * Military OneSource

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Military parents can use these articles and resources to help prepare your children for your deployment, deal with emotions during deployment and your reunion.

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Child Strenghts Chain Project Template- Help Students Find Empowerment When Feeling Helpless

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Child Strenghts Chain Project Template- Help Students Find Empowerment When Feeling Helpless

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Project Template- Empowering Accomplishment Box

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Project Template- Empowering Accomplishment Box

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Inside: A child therapist's favorite ways to help kids learn to take a deep breath, including quick explanations and videos of deep breathing techniques.
Have you ever told a kid to take a deep breath, and then they start hyperventilating? Or they breathe in, but don't breathe out?
Sometimes, kids may need a little more help to figure out how to properly take a deep breath.
First, let's review why deep breathing matters.

When you are calm, your body is in what is known as "rest and digest" mode. Your breathing is normal, your muscles are relaxed, and your heart rate is normal. It's how you would be when you're watching a show and relaxing.

But then suddenly, a dinosaur is chasing you!!

When you experience a stressful event (like an unexpected dinosaur in your living room), your body automatically goes into what is known as "flight, fight or freeze" mode. Your heart rate increases, your stomach stops digestion, and your breathing becomes more shallow.

The goal of calming exercises is to get yourself from "flight, fight or freeze" mode back to "rest and digest" mode. Deep breathing helps get more oxygen into your bloodstream, opening up your capillaries. It has a physical effect on your body to help you calm down and lower stress.

So deep breathing does make a big difference for kids. But how can we teach them to take a deep breath properly?
Here are some of my favorite ways to introduce deep breathing! Quick note: The breathing we want kids to do is deep belly breaths, not shallow chest breaths. When they breathe in, their belly should expand, and when they breathe out, their belly should contract.
Use bubbles

Blowing gently to create bubbles is a good way to be playful and breathe deeply. Kids have to blow carefully and slowly to make the bubbles, which is a major reason why I like using it to help kids take deep breaths.

Use a stuffed animal to practice deep breathing

Have your child lay down on their back and put a stuffed animal on their belly. Have them breathe in and move the stuffed animal up, then breathe out and bring the stuffed animal back down. This helps teach kids to use their belly to take big deep breaths. Another alternative is to use a weighted stuffed animal.

Use a pinwheel

Kids can practice breathing out slowly or more quickly, using the speed of the pinwheel as a measure. Then they can figure out which way works and feels best for them.

Use a Feather

Get some colored feathers and pick out one feather to use. It could be a color that they love or one that makes them feel calm. Breathe in and hold it for a count of 3, then breathe out going up on one side of the feather and down the other side.

Hoberman Sphere

Breathe in and expand the sphere, breathe out and push the sphere back in (this mirrors what should be happening to their belly) - Watch the video on YouTube!

DIY Crafts

Make a craft using half a paper plate, crepe paper or ribbons. Have kids blow the crepe paper or ribbons as they take deep breaths.

Materials Needed:

1. Paper plate - cut in half
2. crepe paper - cut into 6" - 8" strips, cut in half
3. yarn or string
4. any other embellishments to make the creature (use what you have on hand)

Attach the crepe paper to the flat bottom of the paper plate. Attach yarn/string to the top center of the curved part of the paper plate as a hanger.Have kids decorate the paper plate any way they want, as a monster, or a creature, or with stickers.

To Use: hang up the creature and have kids blow on the crepe paper to get it to move.

OTHER DIY ACTIVITIES
Floating Ball Activity from All For The Boys Fire Breathing Dragon Craft by BABYCCINO
TRIANGLE Breathing

Start at the bottom left of the triangle.

Breathe in for three counts as you trace the first side of the triangle.

Hold your breath for three counts as you trace the second side of the triangle.

Breathe out for three counts as you trace the final side of the triangle. You have just completed one deep breath.

SQUARE BReathing

Start at the bottom right of the square

Breathe in for four counts as you trace the first side of the square

Hold your breath for four counts as you trace the second side of the square

Breathe out for four counts as you trace the third side of the square

Hold your breath for four counts as you trace the final side of the square

You just completed one deep breath!

STAR BREATHING

Start at any "Breathe In" side on the star.

Trace your finger over the "breathe in" side of the point

Hold your breath when your finger gets to the tip of the point

Breathe out as you trace your finger over the other side of the point.

Keep going until you reach where you started.

When you trace the whole star, you will have completed 5 deep breaths

Start with the eight on its side and start in the middle

Go up to the left and trace the left part of the 8 with your finger while you breathe in.

When you get to the middle of the eight again, breathe out while you trace the right part of the 8 with your finger.

6 Sided Breathing

Start at the left hand side of the hexagon.

Trace your finger over the "breathe in" side as you take a deep breath in.

Hold your breath as you trace the second side of the hexagon.

Breathe out as you trace the third side of the hexagon.

Then repeat for the bottom part of the hexagon.

Breathe in like a flower, breathe out like you are blowing out birthday candles.

Breathe in blue sky, Breathe out gray skies.

Pretend your belly is like a balloon. Breathe in and make the balloon bigger, then breathe out and make the balloon shrink.

Smell the soup, cool the soup or smell the hot cocoa, cool the hot cocoa

Darth Vader Breathing - Pretend you have a straw in your mouth, suck in through the straw and breathe in. Breathe out like Darth Vader.

Ocean Breathing - breathe in and imagine the wave rolling in, breathe out and imagine the wave rolling out.

Color breathing - Breathe in and imagine a calm, happy, positive color. Breathe out and imagine a color that represents stress, anxiety, etc. leaving your body.

Soft Belly - Say to yourself "soft" as you breathe in and "belly" as you breathe out.

Whale breath

Sitting criss-cross applesauce, sit up tall and take a deep breathe in, Hold it while you count to 5 with your fingers then tilt head up to blow it out of blowhole. You can also put your hands up on top of head to create the blow hole to "blow" out.

Snake Breath

Breathe in, pause briefly, then breathe out slowly while you make a hissing sound for as long as you can.

Bunny Breath

You can do this breathing either while sitting, or add movement to it.

Sitting version - make "bunny" hands in front of chest and take quick sniffs like a bunny.

Movement version - start in a squat and hop forward while taking quick bunny sniffs.

Bumblebee Breath

Breathe in and pretend you are smelling a flower. As you breathe out, make humming bee sound. Try different ways of making the sound - longer or shorter, high or low sounds.

5 - 5 - 10 breathing

Breathe in for 5, hold for 5 and breathe out for 10.

7-11 breathing

Breathe in for 7, exhale for 11.

Count to 10

Using Your Hand to Take a Deep Breath aka Mountain Breathing

Put up one hand, palm facing out and fingers spread apart. Place the index finger of your other hand at the base of your thumb and breathe in while you move your finger up one side of your thumb. Move your finger down the other side of your thumb and breathe out. Do the same thing with the remaining four fingers, and take deep breaths in and out as you move your finger. After you've reached the second side of your pinky finger, you'll have done 5 complete deep breaths.

You can also do this with a close friend or trusted adult. Have them spread their hand out and use your finger to trace their hand and do deep breaths. Or do the opposite: spread your hand out and have them use their finger and trace yours. You can do deep breaths together!

Hands to Shoulders

Sometimes you breathe from your chest instead of your belly, but it's hard to notice. This is an easy way to figure out if you are moving your chest or your belly when you're breathing. While sitting or standing, put your hands down by your sides. Then bend your arms at your elbows and place them on the front of your shoulders. Try taking a deep breath. If your shoulders are moving a lot, focus more on taking breaths using your belly.

Rainbow breathing

Arms start at the side of your body; arms go up as you breathe in and go down as you breathe out (arms make a rainbow) - Watch the video on Youtube!

Volcano Breaths

Pretend your hands and arms are like lava flowing from a volcano. Start with your hands in front of your heart, with palms touching. Keeping your hands together, reach straight up and breathe in. Separate your hands and move your arms down to your side and breathe out.

Explosion Breaths

Start in a standing position. Breathe in as you crouch down. Then, jump up, spreading your arms and legs as you breathe out.

Nostril Breathing/Cowabunga Breathing

Block one nostril, breathe in for 5, block the other nostril, breathe out for 5.

Wood Chopper Breathing

Standing tall with legs hip distance apart. Clasp hands together and raise your arms above your head. Breathe in through nose. Exhale and pull your hands down toward your legs as you say "HA" to "chop" wood
Mindful Arts in the Classroom Breathing Cards Sesame Street Belly Breathe Video

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Deep Breathing Exercises for Kids - Coping Skills for Kids

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Inside: A child therapist's favorite ways to help kids learn to take a deep breath, including quick explanations and videos of deep breathing techniques. Have you ever told a kid to take a deep breath, and then they start hyperventilating? Or they breathe in, but don't breathe out?

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Shifting your focus away from anxious thoughts to non-threatening things in your immediate surroundings can help your body stop producing stress hormones. This exercise was inspired by the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, developed by a therapist and former pilot to help people conquer a fear of flying.

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Counting Down to Restore Calm in the Classroom

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This simple mindfulness activity can help reset your brain when things get chaotic during the school day.