Understanding Trauma by Mollie Rambour

Question #1

mrambour — 2023-11-02 01:55:02 UTC

Ham (2017), discusses the fact that when students are in "survival brain" they become panicky, are afraid to look stupid and are not open to learning new things. The survival brain takes presidence over the learning brain. As a teacher or helping professional what strategies can you implement in your practice to help the survival brain stay calm so the learning brain can work?

Question #3

mrambour — 2023-11-02 01:55:29 UTC

Ham (2017) compares survival brain to pushing a rock up a hill. The weight of the rock would cause a lot of stress on the body just like survival brain can put stress on a students ability to learn and process information. When working with students in the acedemic setting stress is often a topic of conversation. What stress management techniques or skills can you teach to help reduce stress on a daily basis?

Question #2

mrambour — 2023-11-02 01:56:42 UTC

Relationships are key when it comes to working int he helping profession. Ham (2017) talks about how mama elephants help protect their young and make them feel safe. In the learning environment we also strive to to help students feel comfortable and safe. This allows for their learning brain to have control. Relationships are a big focus when it comes to trauma informed practices. What things can you put in place when working with students to ensure that they have positive connections with adults in the building?

Kelsey's Response to Question 1

2023-11-03 17:41:12 UTC

There are numerous strategies an educator can implement to help regulate those students who are in survival brain. In my classroom we start the day with one minute meditation and self reflection writing. This allows students to start the day in a calm state while being able to self reflect on anything that is bothering them or any goals they would like to meet for the day. Being consistent and having a visual schedule allows students to feel safe and secure while giving them a say within their day. Repetition is imperative to implement so students become aware of the expectations and standards of the school/classroom. Forbes (2013) stresses "the basic process for learning anything new is to first be introduced to the material then to transfer the information from short-term memory to long-term memory" (p. 65). Not all strategies are going to work for every student, but being willing to try and find the ones that do work is very beneficial for students.

Reference

Forbes, H. (2013). Help for Billy: A beyond consequences approach to helping children in the classroom. Beyond Consequences Institute.

Kelsey Alcorn

Question 1 Response Rebecca L

rlawrence33 — 2023-11-04 00:30:44 UTC

We try to keep our classroom as a calm and safe space (although it doesn't always work!) We have established clear routines that are the same at the start of class every day. Students know the expectations of entering class quietly, getting their materials and sitting to complete their warm up question in their notebook. We have LED colored lights and have the classroom lights dimmed a bit so it is calm. We have smooth jazz playing low in the background and we have an incentive system where the class earns a certain amount of beads if most of them come in and meet expectations. The rewards for reaching a certain number of beads by the end of the trimester are decided on at the start of the trimester. These motivations and the fact that they work together as a small community to earn a prize for everyone is mostly a good incentive that has worked so far. Clarity and modeling the behavior along with practice at the start of how the expectations look, help keep it an environment that keep the class in a place ready to learn for the most part.

question 1 reply - Ranee

raneeyetts03_ — 2023-11-04 03:57:25 UTC

Mollie,

One way that I try to keep my students' survival brain tucked away is by documenting their behaviors as often as I have time for. The reason I say this is to try to learn their triggers and what is causing them to have outbursts. We all know that relationships can work wonders with students, but like the video said it's important for kids to find an adult that they can connect with even if it's not you. This year I've learned that sometimes students just need a five minute break. I don't love sending kids out of the room, however I have a student who sometimes needs a break in a different classroom to calm down and that seems to help him keep his learning brain active. I have a lot of very "low" students in my class this year, so in order to keep our learning brains on I've learned that I really need to work on building their confidence up. I try to give a ton of praise even for the smallest things that students do to try to avoid them feeling stupid or nervous about being wrong! Thanks for opening up this question for us to all discuss!

-Ranee