Tagged With "never again"
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44th Street Residents Ask SD Unified To Get Trauma-Informed (kpbs.org)
After a double homicide took his grandson's life last summer, Ricky McCoy Sr. started knocking on doors. He intended to get his neighbors, who retreated inward after hearing more than 40 rounds fired, talking again. Along with the acute trauma of witnessing a fatal shooting, they were experiencing cumulative trauma built up from years of struggling to get by and watching loved ones go to jail or get deported. McCoy and a group of 44th Street residents, whom we started following in November ,...
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9 Out Of 10 Children Are Out Of School Worldwide. What Now? [delawarepublic.org]
By ANYA KAMENETZ • APR 2, 2020 Right now students are out of school in 185 countries. According to UNESCO , that's roughly 9 out of 10 schoolchildren worldwide. The world has never seen a school shutdown on this scale. And not since Great Britain during World War II has such a long-term, widespread emptying of classrooms come to a rich country. To get a little perspective on what this all might mean, I spoke with several experts in the field known as "education in emergencies." Some have...
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COVID19 Re-Imagines School-Home-Ed Disciplinary Practices w/Trauma-aware Zero-Punishment Conscious Discipline to stop Abuse at its source!
ACE's & COVID-19 - Change is coming: Ethos is, as ethos does - Are we all on-board with the following ethos?
ETHOS: If a child commits a criminally-prosecutable act then it is a matter for doctors, not police (for HIPPA, not FERPA)! Well? Onboard?
If one grasps the prior, the following is then readily self-evident: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT lays the foundation for abuse and occurs in 80% of households and 15% of schools. Corporal Punishment implicitly perpetuates, condones and promotes th
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A Call to End Corporal Punishment in Schools [PreventChildAbuse.org]
Recently, the topic of corporal punishment in schools has come up again. This time, the topic has bubbled up thanks to a letter sent on November 22 by U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. . In his letter, Secretary King urged state officials to end the use of corporal punishment, like spanking, in schools. While King’s letter may be recent, this discussion is not. Almost 15 years ago, our Board of Directors adopted a resolution calling for the banning of corporal punishment in schools.
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A Detroit-area kindergarten teacher ensures that children learn empathy in an age of divisiveness (hechingerreport.org)
Our principal and staff are dedicated to creating a positive school culture for our students — and that includes helping them think about how we treat others and how others treat us. It’s critical to set this foundation early, which is why we place a culture of respect and caring as one of the most important things we do at our school. When students are feeling or acting overwhelmed, we send them to our “focus room,” where an adult can help them explore their feelings and understand where...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Eulanda Thorne Applies ACEs Science Awareness at School and at Home
Eulanda Thorne and her children (L to R) Sarah, Joshua, Leah, Emmanuel When school counselor Eulanda Thorne discovered the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in 2018, she felt as if she were on fire. “I felt that I had missed a vital part of my education. Anyone who is in college for social work or teaching, a class on ACEs and trauma should be a required course.” Without an understanding of ACEs, she says, “I would think the students who are sent to me are being defiant or...
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After Fatal School Shootings, Antidepressant Use Surges Among Student Survivors [latimes.com]
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2019 The children who experience a school shooting but live to see their parents and friends again are often called survivors. But by at least one measure of mental health, they too are among a gunman’s victims, new research finds. In the two years after a fatal school shooting, the rate at which antidepressants were prescribed to children and teens rose by 21% within a tight ring around the affected school. The increase in antidepressants...
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Against the Tide
“I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Kris. I am just so discouraged.” I sit with my dear friend on a sticky summer night trying to get my gut right. “Gut wrench” is an apt description. It’s invaded my body and overwhelmed my mind. I can’t think straight, see straight, see a way out. The darkness pervading her porch has met my inner ache and it’s threatening to overwhelm my composure. I am choking back a watershed of tears as I open my mouth to speak. I am trying to conjure the words to...
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At Ron Brown College Preparatory High School, Students Are Kings, Not Kids (npr.org)
We have the story now of a radical new school in Washington, D.C., Ron Brown College Preparatory High School. It's an all-boys public school designed for young men of color with a staff of mostly black men. And that staff is passionately opposed to suspending students. In the early days at Ron Brown, Dawaine Cosey spends a lot of time just trying to get students to follow the dress code. COSEY: I tell the guys here all the time, like, you're going to get love, and there's really nothing you...
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Parent Handouts updated and available In Dari, English & Spanish
The updated parent handouts are now available in Spanish as well as English and Dari. Here's the blog post with links to all three versions of each flyer. All versions of the Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs parent handouts can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow, who is responsible for making the Spanish and Dari translations available. These are updates of the...
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CONNECTING WITH KIDS IN PAIN
Kids in pain cannot learn!!! Often your most difficult students are young people living in environments with Toxic Levels of Stress. These environments change the brain! The next time you are involved with a student that is escalating and beginning to loss control try some of the following ideas . 1. BE A THERMOSTAT- NOT A THERMOMETER Develop with-in your head a pause button. Slow down. Everything in your body will be telling you to speed up... remember emotions are very contagious.
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D.C. City Council Considers Keeping Suspended Students In School (npr.org)
NPR's Scott Simon talks to Washington, D.C., city council member David Grosso about his proposal to ban out-of-school suspensions in the District's public and charter schools. GROSSO: Well, studies have shown us that over the past number of years, as people have looked at suspensions - that once you've been suspended once, you're more likely to be suspended again and again and again and again. There have been schools now in D.C. that have chosen to not do suspensions at all already, and...
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Dear Teacher
Dear Teacher I remember you and I would imagine you remember me well. I am your student. We have shared space for many years yet have never come to know one another. Although I have known you over twenty years and spent more time with you than even my closest friends and family, our relationship has remained transactional, tense, contentious and at times violent. We have cursed, threatened and insulted each other, I have thrown chairs and spat at you and you have restrained me multiple...
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Development and Implementation of Standards for Social and Emotional Learning in the 50 States (selpractices.org)
Development and Implementation of Standards for Social and Emotional Learning in the 50 States · SEL Thrive { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "SEL Thrive", "url" : "https://www.selpractices.org/", "logo": "https://www.selpractices.org/apple-touch-icon-180x180.png", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/", "https://twitter.com/" ], // "contactPoint" : [{ // "@type" : "ContactPoint", // "telephone" : "+1-555-555-555", // "contactType" : "customer service"...
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Dovetail Learning's TOOLBOX a resource for schools seeking to be Trauma-Informed
Bryan Clement, Dovetail Learning, gave a compelling presentation to the ACEs Connection community coalition in late January. He began with a video showing how kids are putting social and emotional skills into action in their school settings: TOOLBOX clearly offers great tools for strengthening relationships between folks of all ages. It also provides the language and framework creating a strong relationship-based foundation for schools seeking to become Trauma Informed. Bryan shared the...
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During COVID-19, how does a trauma-informed school pivot to distance learning?
Antioch Middle School seventh-grader Alyssia Garcia was accustomed to scanning the cafeteria during lunch for kids who might need her assistance. “I’d look for kids who looked sad, kids who were sitting alone, kids who looked angry,” says Garcia, a peer advocate at her school. Alyssia Garcia When she’d spot students sitting alone or looking sad, she’d approach them and ease into conversation. “If it’s a sad person, I’ll try to cheer them up or ask them what the problem is,” she says. “If...
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Education Transformations - Providing Soc/Emot Training to Schools & More
Education Transformations is a company that works with districts, schools, teachers, and other organizations to improve Social/Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and what we call Relational Competency. We are San Diego, CA based, but can travel.
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Empathy and Reading Comprehension Song!
I wrote the song "Handle with Care" as I was dealing with the murder of my husband's grandmother (hence the dedication to Valentine Marie Williams). The process of writing the song helped me in the healing, and in also in my feeling hopeful that I could, indeed, reach out to touch young lives to assist them in developing increased empathy and compassion for others. I also hope and pray that it fosters in listeners/ singers a feeling of empowerment --- and an inclination --- to make a...
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Engaging Parents, Developing Leaders
A Self-Assessment and Planning Tool for Nonprofits and Schools By the Annie E. Casey Foundation This publication introduces an assessment and planning tool to help nonprofits evaluate their parent engagement efforts and chart a path toward deeper partnerships with parents and caregivers. The tool spans just eight pages, with accompanying text outlining how to use it, how to assess its results and what real-world strategies and programs are already in play — and working — to boost parent...
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From "Common Core" to "Common Care" Standards - Making the Connection between Academic Content and a Compassionate Academy
For many, a shift in professional standards for school administrators might be proverbial "back page" news. Think again, especially for those who recognize that in and across our school systems there has been little understanding of the connection...
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Gathering in Topeka, Kansas for the Educators’ Art of Facilitation Chapter IV
According to Alice Miller author of The Drama of the Gifted Child, an Enlightened Witness is “an understanding person who helps a victim of abuse recognize the injustice they suffered and gives vent to their feelings about what happened to them”. Brene Brown author of Daring Greatly states, "empathy is feeling with or alongside someone, while sympathy is feeling sorry for." https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw In Topeka we unpacked and explored the message of the Enlightened Witnesses in our lives.
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Houston Schools Closed: What Happens When Schools Restart?
Please plan now for when schools re-open in Houston and surrounding area. It is not enough to just open the doors again.
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How a School Stopped Relying on Restraining and Isolating Students — and What Others Can Learn From It
Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois April 13, 6 a.m. EDT This story is a collaboration between ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune. Some Illinois schools say they need to keep using dangerous forms of physical restraint and student isolation. Here’s how one school system in Virginia successfully shifted its entire approach to safety — from face-down holds to bubble baths. WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA — When the student burst out of the school and...
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How It Feels & How We Heal: Parenting with ACEs Chat Quotes (You Tube, Database, PDFs, Links)
Parenting with ACEs is sharing inspiration, information, and expertise from our chat series in 3 formats. Parenting with ACEs: How It Feels & How We Heal Quote Collection (pdf version below as well) Quotes Database (pdf version below as well) Links to Chat Transcripts and before and after-the-chat blog posts. Thanks to everyone who showed up, who shared, and who is doing the important work that is our mission (prevent ACEs, heal trauma, build resilience). We know that work happens...
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How Mindfulness Can Help Teachers and Students Manage Challenging Situations (kqed.org)
Each moment comes with its own feeling quality—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral—even if we’re not always aware of it. The basic attitude we humans share about experience is that we want more of the pleasant variety and less (or none) of the unpleasant. In fact, “stress” could be just another name for “unpleasant.” It’s important to note that there’s no advantage in seeking out unpleasant experiences and nothing wrong with enjoying, sustaining, and appreciating the pleasant ones. In fact,...
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How Social-Emotional Skills Can Fit into School Curricula [GreaterGood.Berkeley.edu]
“No time.” Again and again, teachers tell me this is why they can’t teach social-emotional skills to their students—and it’s no wonder given the demands placed upon them. But while a 30-minute social-emotional learning (SEL) lesson might be impossible to fit into a week, slipping a social-emotional concept into already-existing curriculum content may not be. In one study , student teachers were paired with novice school psychologists to create language arts lessons with an SEL focus. The...
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How to Listen with Compassion in the Classroom (dailygood.org)
According to Thich Nhat Hanh , deep, compassionate listening has only one purpose: to help another person empty his or her heart. Even if a listener disagrees with someone’s perspective, they can still listen attentively and with compassion. The mere act of listening helps relieve the pain that often clouds perception, and when people feel heard, validated, and understood, they are better able to figure out solutions on their own. Deep listening and the emotional resonance it creates calms...
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Interview: Trauma-Informed Care with Transition-Age Youth [psychologytoday.com]
Last month, an article titled “The Tragedy of Baltimore” in the New York Times Magazine described the upsurge in violence in a city long known for its “blight, suburban flight, segregation, drugs , racial inequality, [and] concentrated poverty.” At the center of the storm are transition-age youth, who too often face long odds and challenging futures in the communities where they live. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Patricia Cobb-Richardson , MS. For the past 20 years, she has...
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Setting the Wheels in Motion - Becoming a Trauma Informed and Trauma Sensitive School
I recently wrote a blog post about how to take the first step in creating a trauma informed care model (TIC) in your school. The first step, Establishing a Baseline, is necessary because it fuels future steps in the process. In the blog post "Is Your School Ready to be Trauma Informed and Trauma Sensitive," I also listed the key components of a TIC model. I am adding them here as well, because I don't want you to have to keep going back to the other blog as you are working on this process.
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Seven Lessons from Mister Rogers That Can Help Americans Be Neighbors Again (mindful.org)
Fred McFeely Rogers was a shy, somewhat awkward, and sometimes bullied child growing up in the 1930s. After going to college for what he called his “first language”—music—he prepared to enter seminary and study for the ministry. But on a visit home for Easter, he saw television for the first time. He hated it—people on the program were throwing pies in each other’s faces, and Fred found that demeaning. Nonetheless, he sensed instantly television’s capacity for connection and enrichment. That...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Sonoma County Trauma-Informed Teaching: Knowing our Students' Stories and Fostering Resilience
Sonoma County Office of Education published this bulletin that provides an overview of ACEs science, trauma in Sonoma County, trauma-informed teaching strategies, and building resilience for teachers and students. It's attached to this post, and also available for download in this group's resources for download section.
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Speaking Up Without Tearing Down (tolerance.org)
A veteran human rights ed ucator explains the value of teaching students to call each other in rather than out. Most teachers look for opportunities to build a human rights culture and to counter hatred, bigotry, fear-mongering and intolerance. One way to do this, when students make a mistake, is to call them in rather than calling them out . Doing so prepares them for civic engagement by encouraging a sense of hope and possibility. In conversations and debates about social justice issues,...
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Superkid Power Guidebook
In Southern Oregon, Janai Mestrovich, MS, Early Learning & Child Development, labels her curriculum Empowering Superkids. The focus is on pre-K and Kindergarten kids and teaching them to know her/himself and tap inner resources of mind/body/emotions/breathing and have skills to make good choices and feel like a SUPERKID. Teaching self awareness, self respect and communication/collaboration are essential towards resiliency. Janai has developed and taught the Superkid Guidebook over a 40...
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The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...
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Mental Health Trails Metal Detectors in School Safety Dollars [pewtrusts.org]
AUSTIN, Texas — After a gunman shot and killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to make the state’s public schools safe for students and teachers. “We need to do more than just pray for the victims and their families,” he said at a news conference following the May 18 shooting. “It’s time in Texas that we take action to step up and make sure this tragedy is never repeated ever again in the history of the state of Texas.” In August, Abbott issued a...
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Mich. Kids are Going to School Traumatized - and Teachers Lack Training, Resources to Help [freep.com]
By Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press, December 15, 2019 One wintry Tuesday morning, as Tavia Redmond welcomed her third-grade students to class, she asked young Michael why he had missed school the day before. “He told me that the reason he wasn’t here was because he was dead,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Well, you couldn’t have been dead and be back today.’ He said: ‘I was dead. I died over the weekend.’ ” Later, Redmond learned that Michael's older brother had tried to kill himself — again.
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Movement And Breathing Breaks Help Students Stay Focused On Learning [kqed.org]
For many kids, sitting still all day in school is a big challenge, which is why movement breaks are good practice, whether it's in elementary school or high school. Additionally, learning science shows us that movement activates the brain and improves cognition. "This idea of children sitting for long periods of time, they aren’t naturally wired to do that," said Dr. Pamela Cantor, Founder and Chief Science Advisor of Turnaround for Children in an Edutopia video series on the science of...
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New Resource Guide for Child Sexual Abuse/Exploitation Prevention
Greetings, ACN Community! I wanted to share this fantastic new resource guide developed by one of the work groups from the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. This guide provides background on best practice, principles of prevention, identifying resources for the classroom, developing a prevention plan, age appropriate teaching suggestions, analysis of specific programs, and guidelines for implementation and evaluation. It is really quite thorough and is full of excellent ideas...
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New Safety Measures in Broward Schools Make Even Children Sick
School safety has been a major concern in Broward County Public Schools since the bloody Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. As a result of hard work of BCPS superintendent Robert Runcie (who, by the way, has recently received a “highly effective” evaluation for his outstanding performance and has been given a raise) new strategies have been implemented to ensure safety on BCPS campuses across the county. First and foremostly, all BCPS students...
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Be part of a breathtaking tipping point !
. Education Equity for trauma-impacted children: from failing funding to fair funding. Be part of the solution! Background A heartfelt tip of the hat to the Basic Education Funding Commission...
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Blended Learning Built on Teacher Expertise (edutopia.org)
An inside look at a teacher-designed instructional model that combines blended learning, student self-pacing, and mastery-based grading. DEVISING A NEW TEACHING MODEL In an effort to redesign my classroom around my students’ diverse needs, I developed a scalable instructional model built around three core principles. 1. Blended instruction: Most blended learning models involve outsourcing the creation of digital content. In the model I developed and then shared with other teachers at my...
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Brain Development and Academic Achievement
"As much as 20% of the gap in test scores could be explained by maturational lags in the frontal and temporal lobes. ... The influence of poverty on children’s learning and achievement is mediated by structural brain development. To avoid...
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Cherokee Point Youth Leaders Educate Community on Child Abuse Prevention
It’s not every day I get to bring an entire pizza party to 30 kids, but a few weeks ago, that’s exactly what I got to do. I went to visit the youth leaders at Cherokee Point Elementary School , San Diego’s first trauma-informed elementary school. We were celebrating a major accomplishment. A few months ago, I wrote about my visit to Cherokee Point to visit youth leaders and talk about Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month, which occurs every April. During my initial visit in March, youth...
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Child Trauma and the Challenge of Inclusive Education
Picture this. Its 10:00 am and you have had to evacuate students from your class. There are posters on the floor, several of them ripped up. Pens and markers thrown across the room. You have one student, Carly, standing in front of you, with a chair raised over her head, threatening to throw it at you. Carly’s eyes are glazed over, she keeps calling you “mum” and you’re worried she is going to step onto a shard of your favourite coffee mug she broke a few minutes back. What are you going to...
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journal article: Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools
Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am . 2012 January Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools Sheryl Kataoka, MD, MSHS, Audra Langley, PhD, Marleen Wong, PhD, Shilpa Baweja, MA, and Bradley Stein, MD, PhD The prevalence of trauma exposure among youth is a major public health concern, with a third of adolescents nationally reporting that they have been in a physical fight in the past twelve months and 9% having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Studies have...
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Making Schools Safer: Harsh Consequences, Or Second Chances? [npr.org]
"For the last 14 years I had been a stay at home mom and a soccer mom of three kids," says Lori Alhadeff. "On Valentine's Day my daughter was brutally shot down and murdered and I became a school safety activist." That day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when a 19-year-old former student killed Alyssa Alhadeff and 16 other people, changed many lives. And it pushed the question of school safety once again to the front and center. [For more on this story by ANYA KAMENETZ, go to...
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The Real Crisis in Education: An Open Letter to the Department of Education by Krista Taylor
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202 Governor John Kasich Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria Ohio Department of Education 25 South Front Street Columbus, OH 43215-4183 Dear Secretary DeVos, Governor Kasich, and Superintendent DeMaria: I write to each of you, in my position as a teacher in the Cincinnati Public Schools, to ask for...
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The Regulated Classroom Goes to California
Have you ever had the experience of becoming the living embodiment of an illustrated children’s book character? Yeah, that’s happened to me. I am Froggy. The Froggy that goes to school Froggy. In the children’s story, Froggy feels anxious about his first day of school. His healthy and natural nervousness (the body’s stress response system is activated by novelty) manifests in his dream. In his dream, he misses the bus and shows up to class in his underwear. I am feeling “Froggy.” Two...