Children in Traumatic Situations by Sarah Cole

Ali McNeil

amcne7067 — 2025-03-24 21:13:33 UTC

I have seen a trauma response from a student in my last placement. His dad recently being taken out of the picture has lead to him acting out more and more at school. This is something that is affecting his school work and concentration due to what is going on in his personal life. Something my mentor teacher did a great job at doing was creating a positive relationship with him (and the whole class). He knows that he can trust his teacher and this has definitely helped when he acts out, he knows he can go talk to his teacher and be honest with her. My mentor teacher creating a positive classroom environment and creating those teacher-to-student relationships has supported and helped each of her students to know that she is there if they need her.

Traumatic Response Behavior

maddiephillips — 2025-03-25 17:53:49 UTC

I have seen a trauma response from in student in my 3rd placement. He came to school everyday, but the problem was that he couldn't stay awake for instructions and lessons. He was always dozing off and his head kept falling down because he was asleep. My mentor had stated that she had been told that he doesn't go to bed until around 10:30 at night, and that's why he comes in so tired in the mornings because he isn't getting the sleep he needs. Because he is so tired, he is very fragile with emotions, and anything that happens to him he gets very emotional because he is so tired and so fragile. Something my mentor did was talk to the assistant principal about allowing the child to go to another classroom to take a morning nap, and then a walk in the sun after he woke up. My mentor is very gentle with him, and he knows he can trust her if he needs anything. He did not want to do the morning nap, I think he was embarrassed about it, but my mentor does not force him to finish his work when is tired. She gives him grace because she knows what he is dealing with at home. My mentor creating that positive environment and positive relationship with the student is important so that he feels understood and loved.

Ali Odum

aliodum24 — 2025-03-25 18:56:30 UTC

In my first placement, a SPED class, there was a student who had really bad testing anxiety which led him to act out every time there was a graded assignment. I was informed that his dad is super hard on him and he will get things taken away if he does not preform well. With this, my mentor not only talked to the dad about the pressure he puts on the student but my mentor made sure to find ways to help him calm down when he is completing something that is for a grade. She stopped telling the class they were taking a test or a quiz and instead said it was a data sheet. As well as working with the student on breathing exercises to help when he feels anxiety. These are great tips to keep in mind for my future classroom and being able to support my students.

Sara Galvez

saraeg03 — 2025-03-25 19:01:16 UTC

I have seen a trauma response from a student in my previous placement. His parents have been in court for custody. He would get emotional very easily, anything family-related would trigger him. He would come to us for social skills during lunch, and sometimes my mentor would pull him aside and just chat with him one-on-one about how he is doing mentally and emotionally. She would try to avoid doing any activities that was family related during social skills. The student would get to see his mother on Wednesday's so my mentor teacher moved social skills to Wednesdays so she could talk with the student to see how he is doing before he sees his mom.

Savannah Chaudhuri

2025-03-27 17:41:23 UTC

When my preschooler gets yelled at or overwhelmed, she shuts down. Her body goes limp, and her eyes gloss over. She's unresponsive for several minutes. My mentor usually lets these waves pass by, simply leaving her alone to open up again when she's ready. Pushing while she's already overwhelmed can cause her to shut down for a longer period. Physical touch seems to annoy her during this time, so we are very hands-off and calm. Eventually, she steps out of the episode herself and we bring her back through positive comments then.

Mullis

2025-03-29 20:12:37 UTC

There is a student in one of my classrooms that sister has attempted to kill herself in front of her. There are times that her sister has a hard night and she'll come to school puffy eyed and she won't eat. It hurts her school work because she is so devastated and hurt that all she thinks about is what she saw the night before. The teacher has a desk right next to her desk that she'll go sit in without saying a word and the teacher knows exactly what to do. She'll get extra hugs and what she needs emotionally the teacher will provide to the best of her ability.

Emily Torres

2025-03-30 00:14:30 UTC

I have experienced a child in one of my placements who has some challenging behavior that is likely due to her childhood experiences. Neither of her parents are involved in her life, so she has a sense of abandonment from feeling like she lost these people. She does seem to have a passive personality with unfamiliar people and also can get upset easily and have strong emotions which is likely due to her feeling this way.

Michelle Loudermilk

2025-03-30 05:14:22 UTC

Traumatic Response Behavior in a Kindergarten Student

I have experienced a student with trauma response behavior in my current placement. The student's mother passed away this school year. The automatic behavior occurs whenever the child struggles to cope with the demands of school or life itself, and he enters into a freeze response. He becomes very still and seemingly unresponsive. My mentor gives the student time and provides a safe and calm environment for him. She uses a soft tone to talk him through the episode, validates his feelings, and offers gentle encouragement.

Traumatic Response Behavior

yoana05gu — 2025-03-30 15:46:40 UTC

I have experienced a child responding to traumatic events in their life at school. In this last placement as a resource classroom, the student is the only child in the classroom for most of the block. The child has been dealing with alot of family problems and is being faced with possible removal from the home. The child comes to school with dirty hair and face, in some cases she has reused the same clothes for multiple days at a time. The child is be littled by her parents and whenever she feels like she cannot get assignmnets done she doubts her abilities. When she is triggered away from the things she wants to do and focused on actual school assignmnets she begins to shut down and throw tantrums. My mentor teacher recognizes this and allows incentives like metal breaks between classroom transition ao ahe does not get overwhelemed as easily. The teacher will also engage in mini talking sessions and ask her questions of things she likes in. order to lift up her mood and keep her focused.

Ashley Shepard

2025-03-30 20:02:06 UTC

In my very first placement I had a student with a very unpredictable home life. This student witnessed violence at home and was moved in and out of foster homes. This student, in response, would come to class and yell telling the whole class all the horrible things he has seen at home. This child had no one to talk to about it and would be unable to do anything else in the classroom but continuously bring up the things he had witnessed. My mentor teacher was able to get in contact with our school counselor and this student now meets with her everyday for 30 minutes. Despite being a short amount of time this has dramatically changed the students behavior and gives him the space to share his heavy emotions.