I am an elementary principal who works in the \u201ckid business\u201d and every year I meet so many students.They are so diverse in every sense of the word \u2013 some are topping the growth charts, some are barely making the growth chart, some have blonde hair, red hair, brown hair, black hair\u2026you get the picture.\u00a0Previously, my school had the goal of \u201c\u2026using academic curriculum to ensure that all learners meet the standards.\u201d\u00a0We have so many resources as leaders in education \u2013 more books than we have time to read, more professional development opportunities than we can fit into our busy schedules, guest speakers for motivation, guest speakers for grading, guest speakers who taught us older teachers to stop wearing our cell phones in a pouch on our belts or kids would never relate to us! I really wondered \u2013 what more I could do to make a difference in the lives of my students?<\/p>\n
It was not until the summer of 2017 that my life changed forever as an educational leader.\u00a0\u00a0I took time to attend The\u00a0National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children Childhood Trauma Practitioners Conference.\u00a0\u00a0After listening to Dr. Caelan Soma, Derek Allen and Kathy Hart, I realized this was the training I had been missing during my 18-year career in education.\u00a0\u00a0I was like a sponge during the 3-day training. I would write until my hand cramped and then I would type until my wrists hurt and so on. I met with my colleagues at the end of each training session and we shared our notes, thoughts and ideas with a level of excitement we have never felt before. We discussed how everyone in our entire district needed to be trained to work with children who have experienced trauma.\u00a0\u00a0We decided we would meet with our district leaders, share our experiences and determine what was going to change in our buildings during the 2017-2018 school year. We knew we were on to something great! We implemented the practices we learned, we studied the books, our notes and designed comfort corners. We required that every teacher in our 2 respective buildings listen to our presentations for working with students of trauma. We required every classroom to have a comfort corner and to use it as designed, never as a punishment. After all, what is comforting about being forced into a comfort corner?\u00a0\u00a0We asked teachers to model the use of the comfort corner when needed.\u00a0\u00a0I had one teacher that calls her corner, \u201cAustralia\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0She told her class, \u201cI\u2019m in need of a break, you need to be problem solvers for the next 2 minutes while I go to Australia.\u201d\u00a0She went and sat in the bean bag chair with the animals by her side and netting hanging from the ceiling. One child started to approach her and she said, \u201cNope, I\u2019m in Australia and I still have a minute left\u2026be a problem solver!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast forward to May of 2018, our 2 pilot schools who have implemented the information we learned from our TLC training and trained our staff members on the best practices of working with students of trauma. We have seen an overall reduction of 45% in discipline referrals during this entire school year. We now look at children through a different \u201clens\u201d, we respond to children differently, we ask ourselves, \u201cWhat has happened to this child?\u201d instead of \u201cWhat is wrong with this child?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, our children have not changed.They still come to us in all shapes, sizes, hair and skin color, and with various family income levels.\u00a0The one thing that has changed is our response to children.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0We are building relationships and a safe learning environment, and we are making social\/emotional learning our top priorities – and it\u2019s working.\u00a0\u00a0While we have yet to receive our National standardized test results back,\u00a0\u00a0I can only imagine the scores will rise. I feel this because of the social and emotional gains I have seen. Students are taking \u201ctime-ins\u201d in their classrooms rather than being sent to the office for \u201ctime-outs,\u201d they are learning to self-regulate, and they are feeling cared for rather than alienated. I challenge you to take time to look at your students through a trauma-informed lens and to build new, caring relationships with them, because from my firsthand experience, you will reap the benefits for many years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am an elementary principal who works in the \u201ckid business\u201d and every year I meet so many students.They are so diverse in every sense of the word \u2013 some are topping the growth charts, some are barely making the growth chart, some have blonde hair, red hair, brown hair, black hair\u2026you get the picture.\u00a0Previously, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[36],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n