Trauma-Informed Teaching by Abbey Cressman https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z Culturally responsive teaching that benefits refugees and other students with experiences of trauma. en-us 2018-09-23 21:30:10 UTC 2018-09-23 21:35:54 UTC hello@padlet.com Implications in the Classroom cressmanabbey https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804635 The issue I chose is behaviour management for ELLs with experiences of trauma. In my most recent course reflection, I noticed that learning about how to create safe spaces and meaningful connections with refugees and other students who have experienced trauma was a goal of mine heading into the course, and an area I hadn’t yet learned about adequately. 

One of the most significant implications of what Jean Clinton called being a “trauma informed” educator (2015) is the knowledge of students’ triggers and ways to respond to de-escalate behaviour.  A great resource from the Calgary Board of Education is teachingrefugees.com, and while exploring this webpage I learned that students who have already experienced trauma are often quicker to move into more intense fear responses. All of us have built-in survival responses in the face of a threat, but for students who have been experienced trauma, that survival mode is much more easily triggered. Common triggers that produce heightened fear responses in students who have experienced trauma include sudden changes or transitions, loss of control, sensory overload, vulnerability, being confronted, rejection, and intimacy. The different sources I read through presented the same argument: a practical strategy that will help teachers address heightened behaviour and social clashes is to know common triggers, know your students’ triggers, and structure classroom routines and activities in ways that will avoid triggers. According to teacher feedback recorded on the teachingrefugees.com webpage, building classroom routines is an incredibly important way to create safety, as students know what will happen next and can relax in that knowledge and feeling of being in control. Some practical suggestions from teachers include consistent greetings and goodbyes, marking transitions in a visual or auditory way, selecting important events to celebrate like birthdays or holidays, and allowing students to personalize and take control of the space. In terms of responding to students that are experiencing a survival response and are in a heightened emotional state, the Calgary Board of Education provided this fantastic resource that highlights observable markers of emotion, and best practices for teacher response: http://teachingrefugees.com.66-18-244-250.previewme3.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/What-Does-Fear-Look-Like.pdf I found it really helpful to read through the best practices for teachers and see that often, when students are experiencing more extreme emotions, it is best to have non-verbal cues and pre-determined safe spaces students can easily access to calm down. One of the most important parts of responding appropriately to students in a survival response is to be calm; avoid anger or attempting to control the response. 
]]> 2018-09-23 21:32:42 UTC https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804635 Increasing Intercultural Awareness Before ELL Arrives cressmanabbey https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804767 Before an ELL has arrived in the classroom, I can design opportunities for the student to have some control in personalizing and creating their own space. This is a challenge in high school as students are not in a consistent classroom all day, but is possible by providing students a blank notebook that they can decorate and write in, that stays in the classroom. Another idea is to allow students to do hands-on work while you are talking — students could participate in rug hooking, beading, crocheting, etc. and could easily access the supplies when they walk in the room to await instructions. Before an ELL arrives in the classroom, it is a great idea to have class routines they can fall into, but also be flexible and willing to adjust these routines as needed on an individual basis (in a way that will not disrupt the entire routine for other students). I can increase my intercultural awareness by researching and learning about different ways of knowing, so that even if I do not know much about my student before they arrive, I have an openness to the differences in ways of knowing between different cultures. I can provide opportunities for that student to invest their identity in the learning process and draw on previous knowledge and experiences when they arrive. Finally, incorporating more visuals into my teaching practice is a good habit to build for all students, and especially ELLs that have limited prior schooling and require visual cues to understand and take their learning further. ]]> 2018-09-23 21:34:00 UTC https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804767 How Research Deepened my Understanding of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy cressmanabbey https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804864 Learning about best practices of being a trauma informed teacher has helped my understanding of culturally responsive pedagogy as it holds many of the same core beliefs and practices: the importance of high expectations/high support, building connections, knowing students and their families, and self-reflecting for systematic and personal biases that increase barriers to learning are all paramount to both trauma-informed and culturally-responsive practice. Reading the Capacity Building Monograph, “Supporting Students with Refugee Backgrounds,” helped me become more aware of the issues that students who have experienced trauma face in the classroom, and also the connections between caring for refugee students and being culturally responsive. After learning more in depth about the impact of trauma on learning and student behaviour, it became clear that responding to trauma and responding to cultural diversity should not be conflated or seen as the same type of response. Rather, being a culturally responsive teacher seems to me like an attitude and mindset I can learn about and adopt in my daily practice by getting to know my students and their families well, incorporating existing knowledge into learning consistently, and maintaining a growth mindset rather than a deficit mindset. Refugees certainly benefit from culturally responsive teaching, and the information I have learned about creating classroom routines, helping students learn emotional skills and how to express emotions, the difficulty of transitions, etc. can help me also respond to the experiences of trauma that refugees carry with them into the classroom. ]]> 2018-09-23 21:34:53 UTC https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804864 Works Cited cressmanabbey https://padlet.com/cressmanabbey/xsyjpcxpzi3z/wish/284804933 “Supporting Students with Refugee Backgrounds.” Capacity Building K-12. Special Edition #45 (July 2016). https://thelearningexchange.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cbs_refugees.pdf 

“Teaching Refugees With Limited Formal Schooling.” Calgary Board of Education. http://teachingrefugees.com/socio-emotional-supports/classroom-strategies/tips-for-teachers/ 
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