Trauma Informed Tip of the Week, November 12

Avoiding Student Humiliation 

Embarrassing or belittling students may interfere with learning and lead to long-term resentment. Teachers should treat students respectfully and be mindful of their feelings. We all need to use our influence to provide a safe haven for all students regardless of their behavior. Here are several ways to prevent students from humiliation, or to fix the situation should you accidently embarrass a student and want to make things better.

1. Keep communication between you and your students private when talking about behavior or academic progress.

2. Frequently check with your students that the message they are receiving is the same one that you are sending.

3. Avoid sarcasm, even if your students might laugh at it. Students often save face by hiding how humiliated they really feel.

4. Pay close attention to body language. Sometimes what a student is saying is not what he is feeling. If a student shows discomfort, defensiveness, or withdrawal, make sure everything is OK between you.

5. If you notice any sudden change in a student's behavior, especially indications of withdrawal, find time as quickly as possible to make sure that you have not been hurtful to that student, even unintentionally.

6. Never write a student's name in a public place.

7. Do not praise a student for doing a simple task. This only makes her feel that you have low expectations for her.

8. Call on all students equally. If a student gives a wrong answer, don't say, "Can anybody help him?" Instead, ask the student if he’d like to choose another student to be his consultant. Let him choose his own consultant.

9. Ask students to tell you (or preferably write you a note) about anything that they might find humiliating or embarrassing in class, and be sure not to do those things with any student that specifically informs you.

10. Tell your students a story about a time when you were embarrassed by a teacher, discuss it with them, and listen to their suggestions of what you could have done to resolve the incident. Come up with a class poster called, "When you are embarrassed, you can. . ." and list suggestions.

Every student in school deserves the right to feel emotionally safe from embarrassment and humiliation by teachers, by other students -- and by local barbers. When this safety is violated, not only does academic performance suffer, but also students might never be free of the hurt for the rest of their lives.

Source: Dr. Richard Curwin for Edutopia

This Week at LPHS, November 12-16

Monday:

* DECA Meeting immediately following school in the LPHS Media Center

* Fall Sports Banquet at 6:00 pm in the LPHS Cafeteria

* Mindfulness Monday Activity: (Reminder, these should be done with your second hour class every Monday, if you are out on Monday, please make it up with your students when you return.)

Today's video introduces deep breathing as a way of helping us when we are stressed, anxious, and frustrated.  Below is a sample of how you can introduce deep breathing to your class.

Welcome to Mindfulness Monday! Today we are going to watch a video about deep breathing.  This stuff works when you are getting frustrated with the people around you, upset about something going wrong in your day, are feeling anxious, or just feel rushed and want to take a break.

In order to get a good, deep breath, put your hand on your stomach and push your stomach out as you breathe in.  That kind of breath fills your whole body up with oxygen.. If you just fill up your lungs and you're upset, you may feel out of breath and get more upset.  So. . let's put one hand on our stomach and on the count of 3, let's get a big deep breath and push our stomach out, and then exhale through our nose.

1. . . .2. . . .3. . . (breathe with the  class).

Here is the video!

Tuesday:

* The Student Council Representatives from all 10 Downriver League Schools will be here in the Media Center for the majority of the day on Tuesday.  No classes will be able to use the Media Center and please do not send students there during the school day.  There will be approximately 100 additional kids in our building for this event. 

* PSP Meeting, 2:50 - 3:50 in the LPHS Media Center.  You will be working with your departments during this time and, if finished, can work on other department topics until 3:50. 

Wednesday:

* PTSA Scholarship Auction in LPHS Cafeteria, Please join the PTSA in this great fundraiser that provides scholarships to LPHS Graduates.  Doors open at 5:30 and light refreshments will be provided. 

Thursday:

* BTN Meeting, 7:00 am, Media Center Conference Room

Trauma Informed Care Tip of the Week, November 5

All of these that Ms. Jasso has provided to this point have been really spot on and this one keeps with that theme.  This is such an incredibly important area that I know I need to work on as well.  Please join me in doing so!  

Avoiding Toxic Humor: Why There's No Room for Sarcasm in the Classroom by Brian Gatens

Teachers have to always guard against sarcasm, the dark side of humor in the classroom.

The best teachers often have warm hearts and a keen sense of humor. They’re the ones with an almost magical combination of enthusiasm and attention. Their classroom performance looks almost effortless as they seem to glide through the hallways from class to class.

Then there are the teachers with a poor work ethic and a sarcastic temperament — a nightmare combination for students, families, colleagues and administrators. As you work on becoming the educator you want to be, it’s essential is to live as much as possible in the first example, and to flee from the second one.

Sarcasm isn’t the right word

First, sarcasm isn’t even the proper word to use. I prefer to call it what it is: cruelty. Far from being a good-tempered, fun exchange between teacher and student, a sarcastic comment (or action) is like poison in the classroom.


If I come across as passionate on this topic, it’s because I am. I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to work with teachers whose primary goal was to be as sarcastic and snide as possible. The cascading negative effects on their students and classes were palpable. I’ve also had the unfortunate task of from time to time defending teachers when parents complained about poorly considered comments in the classroom.

Kids don’t get it

Children, depending on their social and emotional development, sometimes don’t grasp the language of humor, and any comment that isn’t direct and clear only serves to confuse them further.

Sarcasm is even worse.

Rather than creating a positive connection with a teacher, the sarcastic jibe becomes a sticking point for the child. This tends to come up when teachers “nickname” their students. Stay away from anything that appears to call out a child’s personal traits or physical appearance. Also, don’t fall into the trap of using a nickname that other students may have given the child. You don’t want to become a co-conspirator to cruelty.

It can spiral out of control

Even the lightest use of sarcasm tells other children that classmates are fair game for fun and teasing. As a teacher you set the behavior and moral expectation for your classroom. By breaking that “law” in your conduct, you’re sending the explicit message that your students can do the same.

This downward spiral creates divisions inside a classroom and makes vulnerable students feel even more exposed. Remember, everything you do sends a signal. On that same note, you have a responsibility to call out and correct any behaviors that work against the student.

The right way to use humor

This doesn’t mean that good humor doesn’t deserve a place in the classroom. I know of one teacher who began class several days a week by putting classic “Far Side” comics up on the wall, and another who encouraged the occasional joke contest. Healthy laughter releases hormones that the body loves to have coursing through it, and helps students open up their brains (and attitudes) toward learning.

Don’t hesitate to create laughter in your classroom, and be prepared to be amazed at the reactions of your students when they see you laugh heartily. Actions like that, which can’t be measured on tests or on a spreadsheet, are among the greatest joys of teaching. Have fun!

Source: education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-teaching-strategies

This week at LPHS, November 5-9

Hello LPHS Staff, 

I hope you had an excellent weekend and are well rested for the week ahead.  Please check out the notes below on the week ahead, including the launch of Mindfulness Mondays.  Mrs. Fry will be providing a short piece for you to share with your 2nd hour class each Monday.  There is a lot of research that supports work in the area of Mindfulness for everyone.  Please make sure to include this in your day.  

Monday: 

Welcome to our first Mindfulness Monday!  This is a great way for us to teach our kids, and ourselves, different ways to become more focused and to de-stress throughout the school day!  You will receive either a video or strategy every Monday for your 2nd hour. 

Since it is our first Mindfulness Monday,  here is a short video (of our kids!) explaining what mindfulness is.  You will also receive a reference sheet about mindfulness in your mailboxes on Monday.  Thanks to Ms. Knick and her class for putting together the video for us this week! 

* Happy Birthday, Kim Sisk! 

Tuesday:

No School for the elections.  VOTE!! 

Happy Birthday, Sam Breen! 

Wednesday: 

Student Council Meeting after school in LPHS Media Center


Finally, Mrs. Jasso had all of us write down our Why as the school year began.  They are awesome to read still and the memory of that Why is incredibly important for us to revisit.  Mr. Dmitruchina shared this video with me at the beginning of the year and I thought now was as good of a time as ever to share it.  As we've all shared, this job is brutally hard but also incredibly worth doing.  That initial Why has to be really strong to withstand some of the figurative punches we take.  We know that if we are in it for the right reasons, it is.  

Have a great week!