Blog

t Cherokee Point Elementary School, first-grade teacher Hagit Patolai roams her classroom to asses student progress on a “fact versus opinion” writing assignment. She crouches down to read over the shoulder of a boy, asking him to point to the words (beautiful and cool) that indicate his illustrated story about a rainbow is based on his opinions. Why are people’s opinions important, she asks. It’s a question that gets at more than the lesson at hand. Patolai keeps detailed records on the...

Seat-belt use in the United States rose from 14 percent in 1985 to 84 percent in 2011 thanks, in large part, to a massive ad campaign promoting the practice. Even now, with “buckle up” warnings far less prominent, seat-belt use continues to rise . Ronald Ferguson wants to see a similar trend with the use of five evidence-based parenting principles dubbed the Boston Basics : maximize love, manage stress; talk, sing, and point; count, group, and compare; explore through movement and play; and...

Sabrina Astle is a student at Laguna Beach High School. She told ABC News that she “wanted to find a way to make a difference through our Kindness Club on campus.” The school had a spirit week titled “What if…Week,” which is designed to bring students across campus together. Each day of the week has a different message, and Thursday’s was “What if we showed more love?” The 17-year-old had the idea of replacing mirrors in the bathrooms with positive signs of affirmation. So she got to work...

Last week, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) hosted a webinar geared for educators. The expert panel spoke about what schools and communities can do when there are allegations of sexual misconduct by an educator towards a student. This webinar was a follow up to a fact sheet that was developed by the Child Sexual Abuse subcommittee of the NCTSN in response to a request from educators on how to handle sensitive situations in which a student(s) alleges sexual abuse by an...

Pam Bunyon faced the 4th graders, some splayed in chairs but most arrayed on the rug before her. On the whiteboard, she showed them the outline of a human head. Next to it were some big words for the 9- and 10-year-olds: Cortex. Amygdala. Brain stem. Bunyon, the counselor at Powel Elementary School, was using science to help students understand their impulses and give them strategies to deal with them. “So we don’t flip out,” as she and the class put it. [For more of this story, written by...

State lawmakers are considering a measure to declare youth violence as a public health epidemic. The House Resolution sponsored by Democrat Bruce Franks Jr. of St. Louis calls for the establishment of statewide trauma-informed education. Franks contends PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – is a condition that afflicts kids who’ve experienced violence. “The fact that I am 33 and I have been to now 155 funerals, an average of seven funerals since the age of six is not normal” said Franks.

Dear Student, Recently I noticed you were missing more classes than usual. I wondered and worried about what was going on. You said that you have been trying your best, but you are dealing with many challenges in life right now. Specifically, you explained you have been struggling with anxiety that is ruining everything. You described the cycle of getting overwhelmed by circumstances that exacerbate your anxiety, which in turn makes those circumstances worse. You articulated how difficult it...

It is now more important than ever to teach students the power of empathy. The majority of students in the U.S. education system are now students of color. As classrooms become more diverse, we must be prepared to teach students how to interact and care for one another. Let’s not wait for marches and demonstrations to build along lines of differences, let’s start in each classroom. Creating an empathetic space has allowed my students to take risks, challenge themselves and fully participate...

The Schoolbox Project is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides mobile, trauma informed education, art and play to children in refugee camps throughout Greece. Our volunteers come from around the world to go through our specialized training on how to work with children who have been through trauma and are living in a camp environment. Children in our programs are never excluded or punished for difficult behavior or for disabilities. They are instead given 1:1 support at school and at home...

Elisabeth Corey writes so honestly on her Beating Trauma blog . I'm a huge fan of her writing and advocacy work. This piece, in particular, is amazing. She writes about adult relationships and how they have been impacted deeply and consistently by ACEs in childhood. We know what we have lived. Unlearning and learning new and different things takes time and work. And it helps, that parents like Elisabeth share as they learn. We all benefit from that sharing. Many of us are learning how to...

Creating a supportive environment is helping reduce student behavior issues in Arizona schools and empowering students to pause before they respond instead of reacting to adverse events. Research shows experiencing six or more adverse childhood experiences increases risk factors for chronic diseases, which can reduce a person’s life by up to 20 years, said Marcia Stanton, coordinator of the Adverse Childhood Experience Initiative at Phoenix Children’s Hospital . Adverse childhood experiences...

While a large amount of research has focused on how poverty affects students’ academic achievement, information about the effects of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences on learning are just coming to the forefront. Some kids “come into a family that has the resources and the support to provide what they need, but, unfortunately, we know many kids don’t,” and spend much of their lives trying to catch up and overcome challenges, said Marcia Stanton, coordinator of the Adverse...