Trauma Informed Tip of the Week: December 17

Winter Break Is Hard for So Many of Our Students

By Trevor Muir

One year during the weeks leading up to the winter break, I asked my students to write about what they planned to do during their time off. Most wrote things like, “see my cousins,” “get a new gaming system,” and “go skiing.” However, one of my students turned in a blank piece of paper with just his name on it. When I asked him why he didn’t write anything, he reluctantly told me that he wasn’t excited for the break. He said all winter break meant to him was two weeks at home alone while his mother was passed out on the couch. No tree. No family dinners. Not even any presents.

It was in this moment that I realized not all students look forward to these extended breaks from school. While most kids (and teachers!) flee from school gleefully on the last day, many students like this one dread the break from school. They miss the structure of the school day, the stability of the classroom, the presence of friends, the food in the cafeteria, and the love their teachers give them.

Although we cannot change our students’ home circumstances, there are ways teachers can help their students in the weeks leading up to and during the winter break. None of these ideas take a ton of time or money, but they may help ease the stress for some of your students.

Be aware of how you talk about winter break.
Of course you can and should talk about the holidays with your students and invest in their excitement. However, be sensitive about what you say. Asking questions to the whole class like, “Who’s excited for break?” and “What are you going to get for Christmas/Hanukkah?” doesn’t apply to all students. Maybe instead ask, “What are your plans for the break?” or even challenge them with, “What is one way you can help someone in the next couple of weeks?”

Be a listening ear.
This time of year, more than any other, is when students in my class act out the most. For some it’s end-of-semester restlessness, but for others it is anxiety over the upcoming break. As teachers, we can pay close attention to behavior that is out of character and check in with those students individually. Have a conversation with that student who is more hyper than usual. Ask that student who keeps falling asleep how they’re really doing. Give those kids a chance to vent and then let them know you care about them. One of the best things teachers can do for their students during this season (and all other times of the year) is listen.

Connect students with resources when possible.
There are so many coat, toy, and food drives happening during the holiday season, but students may need someone to connect them with these efforts. If you’re concerned about a student’s food security or lack of winter gear or presents, speak with your school’s guidance counselor about opportunities that might already be happening in your school or community. Avoid giving students individual gifts, even if it’s a well-intended winter coat, without speaking to school administrators and the student’s family first.

Give students an opportunity to serve.
No matter what one’s circumstances are, everyone has the ability to serve others. And for most, the act of giving brings joy in return. How can your class serve together this holiday season? Could you perform acts of kindness for one another or write thank-you letters to military members stationed overseas? One of the best ways to participate in the holidays is through service, and teachers can orchestrate these opportunities for all of their students.

Connect with students in little ways over the break.
Once you identify students who are dreading the holiday, write down their names and make a point to check in with them over the break. Shoot a quick email to them sometime during the week, letting them know that they are on your mind. It does not have to be lengthy, just a personal message reminding them that they are important to you. The message that you care enough to connect with them during your time off will have more power than you know.

Enjoy this season and all the festivities that come with it. Just keep in mind that you have many students who will not, and you, as their teacher, have a special opportunity to meet them where they are.

Source: weareteachers.com 

This Week at LPHS, December 17-21

One Week Left! We can do it!  Have a great week!

Monday:

* Mindfulness Monday Activity:
Possible teacher prompt:

A lot of our students will tell us that they "black out when I get too angry or upset."  That's how our brain works.  When we start to get really angry or upset, we end up with too much adrenaline and other stress hormones.  The part of our brain that can think straight and make good decisions stops working.

Our challenge is to slow things down in our brain so that the thinking part keeps working instead of "blacking out."

How?  By concentrating on our senses; by focusing on what we hear, see, taste, feel (can touch) and/or smell.

Today, we are going to practice this with what we can see.  Look at this sheet and see if you can find something of each color in the room.

It may seem like a small thing to do, but it slows things down for us so we can keep thinking straight.

Monday Follow-up idea:  tell the class how you felt doing the exercise and ask how they felt.  BE PREPARED:  our Mindfulness Mondays are new and "different." They may not be too excited about doing the activity or sharing their thoughts/feelings about it.

Follow-up idea for this week:  Pick a color each day and take a couple of minutes to see how many items they can find of that color.  Remind them that this is Mindfulness!

Idea for your calm corner:  print this up and put it there!  It's an easy way to get a student to calm down or wake up. You don't have to explain how to do it beca you've already done it with the whole class!

Here is the sheet:

https://drive.google.com/a/lincolnparkpublicschools.net/file/d/1IWKy_DWrx8b16NLCbEeQWtbcg__eZ8Jo/view?usp=drivesdk

* Spirit Week Theme: Christmas Pajama Pants

Tuesday: 

* Spirit Week Theme: Christmas Headwear

* PBIS Meeting, 7:10 in LPHS Media Center

Wednesday:

* Spirit Week Theme: Ugly Sweater Day

* DECA Competition All Day @ Baker College

* Happy Birthday Mrs. LaRosa! 

Thursday:

* Spirit Week Theme: Winter White Out

* SST Meeting, 1:00

Friday:

* Spirit Week Theme: Friday Flannel

* Holiday Break Commences at Dismissal

* Rudolph's Review @ 7:00 pm in the LPHS Auditorium

Staff Birthdays Over Break: 

* December 23 - Happy Birthday Julie Linting! 

* December 26 - Happy Birthday Lisa Flanigan! 

* December 28 - Happy Birthday MaryLou Anderson! 

* December 30 - Happy Birthday Andrea Scannell! 

* December 31 - Happy Birthday Laura Perry! 

Trauma Informed Tip of the Week, December 10

Quick Classroom Exercises to Combat Stress

By: Lori Desautels

These brain breaks and focused-attention practices can help students cope with stress and trauma and focus on their learning.

The trauma and adversity that students are carrying into classrooms are changing how educators need to address learning and academic performance. Fifty-one percent of children in public schools live in low-income households, and when poverty levels exceed 50 percent, there’s a significant drop in academic performance across all grade levels. At the same time, 25 percent of all adolescents—including 30 percent of adolescent girls—are experiencing anxiety disorders.

Adversity and trauma reside in our biology, not our psychology and cognition, so we educators need to prime students’ brains for learning. This calls for a deeper understanding of how our brains develop and how they respond to adversity and trauma, and how building relationships and providing strategies that promote emotional regulation can positively affect students’ emotional, physiological, and cognitive health.

I’d like to describe some practices that not only address the stress response in the limbic brain areas, but also attend to sensory and motor systems in the brain stem area. Often these systems are compromised because of chronic stress that has neurobiologically reprogrammed how the brain of a child or adolescent responds to adversity.

BRAIN BREAKS
Brain breaks stimulate many areas in the brain that pay attention to novelty and curiosity, sparking the motor and sensory systems while initiating emotional regulation in the more reactive and primitive areas of the brain. Here are a few brain breaks you can try in class.

Funny talk: Have students loosely touch the roof of their mouth with their tongue and begin to speak. Create a class chant to say altogether, or the teacher can address the class, modeling what he or she would like students to say.

Tongue stretch: Have students use clean hands or a Kleenex to stretch their tongue as far as it can go. This relaxes the throat, palate, upper neck, and brain stem. What could you add to this to make it funny?

Hum: There are many ways you can incorporate humming as a break or to begin class. Lead students in Simon Says or Name That Tune, or have them move their arms and legs to someone’s humming. This activity releases stress and blockages in the brain stem.

Bilateral scribbles: Have students hold a different color marker in each hand and draw or scribble to the beat of some music for 30 seconds. When they’re finished, see if the drawings turned into anything familiar or strange. Have them share with a classmate and then give their art a name.

Name scribbles: Have students write their favorite word four times with their dominant hand and then again with their other hand. Discuss how it felt, which they found more difficult and why, and what happened in their brains when they used their non-dominant hand.

FOCUSED-ATTENTION PRACTICES
Focused-attention practices calm the brain’s stress response and stimulate sustained attention and emotional regulation. A regulated and calm brain is a brain that is ready to deeply learn.

When we consciously use sensations, breath, movement, and our body’s awareness, we activate those areas in the brain that pay attention to what is happening in this moment, while supporting areas we need for learning, attention, and engagement. I’ll share three focused-attention practices here.

Deep breathing: Have students scrunch their toes and cross their legs at the ankles. Then they should cross the left arm over the right arm, clasp their hands together, and—keeping their hands clasped—bring them toward their chest. Have them hold that pose for 30 seconds as they take five deep breaths, and then have them take another 30 seconds to uncurl their toes, uncross their legs, extend and unclasp their hands, and uncross their arms while taking another five deep breaths. How did that feel?

So what? As students close their eyes and sit up nice and tall in their chairs, they should visualize a golden thread that connects their hearts to their stomachs. As they breathe in, have them picture a pulse in the thread moving from their stomachs to their hearts; with each exhale, the pulse travels from the heart back down to the stomach. As the students breathe, have them say, “So what?” to themselves if a negative thought occurs.

Feeling phrases: To begin the day, have students share through a picture or description how their bodies feel. Some example phrases: cold/warm/hot; twitchy/butterflies/soft/stuck; sharp/dull/itchy; shaky/trembly/tingly; jittery/weak; empty/full; relaxed/calm/peaceful; flowing/spreading; strong/tight/tense; dizzy/fuzzy/blurry; numb/prickly/jumpy/tearful/goosebumpy.

Sensations are different than emotions in that they describe the way the body feels physically. Children who struggle with speaking can point to places on their body that hold a sensation. Sensory awareness promotes cognitive growth and self-awareness. When students can begin to identify their sensations, they begin to tap into where the negative feelings and images are. This focused-attention practice can be implemented several times a day after different experiences. Questions to ask as part of this practice:

What are you sensing? As the teacher, begin by sharing and modeling your own sensations.
Where is this in your body?
What might be the reason for these butterflies?
Can you draw what fuzzy, tingly, tight, etc. looks like?

Source: Edutopia

This Week at LPHS, December 10-14

Good Morning,

Despite the fact that the weeks are flying by, and it feels like Christmas is right around the corner, keep in mind that two weeks still makes up a good chunk of our school year and semester.  The show must go on and our kids often need us now the most!  Check below for the happenings of this week!

Tuesday:

* Early Release Day - Meetings focused on Collaboration and Department Time (1:55-3:45)
During this meeting, we will be dividing up and allowing for time specifically for co-teachers and departments to work together to plan as we move forward with a specific focus on small group instruction.  Details on where to meet will be provided before the end of the day. 

Wednesday:

* LPHS Band Concert, LPHS Auditorium, 7:00 pm

Home Events: 

* I know this time of the year is incredibly busy for everyone, but we do have home events every day this week.  Our kids are incredibly appreciative when you are able to stop by for any of them. 

Have a great week!