As a teacher, you may want to ask, “How do I know if a student is experiencing trauma?” While it’s important to identify students who need support, we can use trauma-informed practices with every single student because they benefit all.

Think of it like adding accommodations for disability (wheelchair ramp - wide doors) to a building. Not every single person needs it, but they significantly remove barriers for those who do. It also signifies to everyone that the building is an accessible place. We can do the same thing for our students impacted by trauma when we remove barriers and use trauma-informed strategies as a whole school.

Administrators, teachers, and counselors across the district are becoming trauma-sensitive. Josh Groves, principal at Pleasant View Elementary and Middle School, is among that group. He said their teachers at Pleasant View have experienced different student behaviors than they have in the past.

“We want to be in a place as adults that we understand those situations with our kids, and we can provide supports and interventions and things that are effective for them,” said Groves. Pleasant View has started a three-year trauma-informed and conscious discipline program to prepare staff to become trauma-sensitive.

“As a staff, we do a good job already helping most kids feel safe and cared for. I think equipping teachers with the tools that will allow them to be successful with kids who sometimes struggle with discipline,” said Groves. “We need to create an environment that all of our kids feel safe and cared for and it’s a family.”

Some tips for becoming trauma-sensitive include:

• Maintain usual routines.
  
• Give children choices.
• Set clear, firm limits for inappropriate behavior and develop logical—rather than punitive— consequences.
• Recognize that behavioral problems may be transient and related to trauma.
• Be sensitive to the cues in the environment that may cause a reaction in the traumatized child.
• Warn children if you will be doing something out of the ordinary, such as turning off the lights or making a sudden loud noise.

Written by Teena Mahoney, English Teacher at Glendale High School.