Trauma Training For Educators (Free)

kdowning@ciscentraltexas.org

Email address for information or sharing of materials for marketing trauma training to schools.  Thanks!

Yes, I agree, the "champion" on campus who is trusted by the admin. and other teachers would ideally be the facilitator who brings the video to the entire faculty to share and begin the dialogue. As you say, we have to create a systemic change to make a major impact.  I couldn't agree more about having the buy in from an administrator - and yes I would very much appreciate getting your material designed for principals.  We've only recently released the video, and have a lot to learn.  Developing that "marketing" package for administrators is a big next step.   We are trying to offer something to the entire education community - all over the country - so I know it will be shared in various ways.  But hopefully having a free resource will be a beginning.  Thanks, again. 

Thank you Kris for the meaningful response.  A valuable lesson our team learned last year is that the school's loved it when we showed up, but we became the crisis team to deal with issues that were happening during our time in the building.  We learned that we were taking ownership and leadership away from the principal and the intervention specialist as they walked away.  We now are working and developing a train the trainer model and won't go into a school unless the principal takes leadership in the implementation process.  It breaks my heart to see a teacher structure their classroom to meet the needs of our trauma impacted students, gain their trust and have them use the structure to self-regulate and process their feelings with the teacher....only to see these special kids fall back on their wounds when they transition to the next grade level that is very traditional with punitive consequences.

I know we have to start with one champion at a time, but for sustainability we need consistency from one class to another and one grade level to another. I have one school that is focussed on K-2 and they are doing some great work and have bonded as one team.  Next year they will had two more grade levels to insure that by the time their k-2 kids get to 5th grade, there will be a trauma informed model throughout the school.

I can see how the guide motivates meaningful discussions, I thought the format was excellent.  We're all in this together, it's great to share ideas and support one another through this journey.  I have a summary for principals if you want me to send it to you, (if you don't have one already) I think you can use it and align it to fit your specific services. 

I'd also like to respond to your comment, Jim, about the challenge of creating that paradigm shift - making a strong introduction to administrators to convince them that spending 1-2 hours of a professional development day on trauma is a very worthwhile use of their time.  We are trying to develop a good intro. letter to principals.  However, we've found that it helps tremendously if we have campus staff who have demonstrated their own skills in working with these challenging students and earned the trust of the principal - then they can be very effective in getting administrative buy in to share information and skills with the entire faculty.  Having that local champion - counselor, teacher, school social worker, etc. who is trusted by their colleagues on campus seems to be a big factor.  In our experience, when our Communities In Schools staff have shared the video and open up the discussion, teachers not only respond to the opportunity to share their own challenges and experiences, but ask for more trauma training. 

Thank you, Janie and Jim, for your comments.  They are much appreciated! 

I whole heartedly agree with your observations, Jim. The key is for teachers and administrators to stay well regulated, so that the student can "borrow their calm nervous system" and return to a place of feeling safe. But that isn't easy with all of the pressures put on teachers, as you've said.  And of course, strong administrative support and understanding of trauma makes all the difference.  The video and discussion guide are designed to be facilitated by any faculty member - though I agree that it is helpful if the facilitator has some background in trauma education.  I tried to make the guide very user friendly.  I've presented the video and discussion (usually a 1.5 hour minimum package with good discussion) to a number of groups here in Central Texas.  Another great resource is the Mindful Schools Program out of Oakland California.  I have great respect for the work that you did in Lincoln.  We just hosted the Paper Tigers movie to kick off National Education Week.  It was very well received - we sold out the theater in just a few hours.   Best of luck with your work!

Thank you Kris for sharing this training video. I really liked the scenarios and visual examples as to how to interact with a student who is emotionally upset. I also liked the study guide for further opportunities to dive deeper into truly understanding trauma and the strategies that are most effective. When I was at Lincoln, I knew how important it was to provide time and space for students to de-escalate, but was not aware of the power of breathing as an effective strategy and tool to help the teacher and student to move to the thinking brain.  

I have seen how powerful breathing can be to help a student move back to calm and providing them with a sense of safety in the current schools that I am working with.  I would like to get your feedback as well as others as to how the video is introduced to the school staff. A trauma informed approach is so foreign to how many educators have been trained to deal with struggling students that it takes courage and a deep commitment to make that paradigm shift from punishment to using a trauma lens of empathy and support to teach our students how to self-regulate in a safe environment.  Do you have a trainer that guides the staff through the video and support for the administrator to effectively use the supportive guide to continue the conversation and staff development?

What I have seen in my work with teachers and supporting implementation of trauma informed practices, is that our teachers are triggering due to the pressure that has been put on them by punitive legislative mandates that creates a classroom environment that is academic and data focussed.  Therefore teachers want the disrupters removed... and in many situations, the teacher's own emotional upset escalates the student to fight-flight-freeze mode. 

Our CRI team is addressing the staff as our first priority to teach them how important it is for them to bring themselves to calm, so they can approach the student with positive intent...a teachable moment.  When the bullets start flying....many want to fall back into their traditional mode.  It's easier to remove students from the classroom or to suspend them from school.  As you know it takes a true understanding of trauma in order for staff to get over the hurdle and provide opportunities for the struggling students to feel valued, safe, and to know their voice has been heard.  The greatest feedback we can receive is when a staff member shares, "I can never go back to how I used to handle discipline in my classroom"  Then you know they get it!!

As momentum is growing for trauma informed practices in our schools, I think the ACE community needs to develop a coalition to confront the high stakes testing, teacher evaluation based on student's test scores, and the death grip we still have on traditional disciplinary practices that the research clearly tells us they don't work.  We have a lot of work before us, but it's encouraging to see champions such as yourself, out there advocating for our students who don't have a voice in our system.... a trauma-informed approach will give us everything that legislators are mandating if we can allow teachers to teach to the whole child, and get the testing profiteers out of our system.  Common Core, High Stakes Testing, Teacher Evaluation tied to student test scores have NO evidenced based research that supports the punitive mandates our teachers are working under.  They can't attack the teachers without having it filtered down to our kids....shameful. 

Thanks Kris for your work and being part of such a powerful training tool.

Wow!!! I watched the whole video. Everyone who works with kids should watch this. I loved the simplicity and insight of this informative program first for me, as someone who suffers from CPTS, and second as one who works with children. I can assure you that if you follow the advice they give it will work.  I have learned so much already from the people who helped to put this program together by reading some of the books and articles they have written.

Thank you so much for sharing this with me.