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Trauma and Crisis in the Classroom
Tools for Dealing with Tragedy and the unexpected.
Classroom teachers occasionally find themselves placed in the role of therapist, support person, and even first responder because of a traumatic or emotionally challenging situation that affects one or more students in a school. When this occurs it is critical that teachers be equipped with the tools that will allow them to make the best of the situation by caring for the physical and emotional, as well as the educational needs of the students. This Web page is designed to assist you in the process of preparing for such a situation by providing you with informational and support materials. The pedagogy employed is in the form of a hybrid Webquest. While I will have books and materials and a demonstration box on hand, I also provide a long list of relevant website links below and a distinct quest to the day's work.
There are two objectives for this learning experience:
By the end of today's class, preservice teachers will be able to demonstrate their understanding of methods for coping with trauma and crisis in their classroom by being able to discuss ideas for coping strategies in a closing discussion.
By the end of the next class, preservice teachers will be able to demonstrate the ability to apply their understanding of curricular tools and strategies appropriate for a crisis, by bringing and describing a classroom resource box filled with materials or lists.
Throughout my years as a teacher, I have seen traumatic events place classrooms in a state of high and immediate need. These events seem to have an affect on one or more levels.
- Some events can affect an entire school. This include school lockdowns, loss of power, national tragedies such as school shootings, global terrorist activities such as those of September 11th 2001, death or tragedy that affects the whole school, and weather-related or geologic events such as an earthquake or volcano.
-Some events may affect only a single classroom. This might include an accident, or the illness or death of someone close to the class which makes it challenging for the students to continue to learn as if nothing happened (see Maslow's Hierarchy)
-Some events might only affect a single person in the class. These can run from a situation of mild stress due to the loss of a friend, a change in family composition, a lost or deceased pet, parent divorce or even the illness or death of a sibling or parent.
In order to assist you in preparing for these and other circumstances, you will be engaging in a lesson utilizing learning centers. You will be divided into 5 groups. You will move between each of the 5 centers taking notes and developing a list of materials and pedagogical approaches that you might use for your resource box. Your assignment for next week will be to come to class with the beginnings of a resource box. This might be tupperware or a cardboard box, and should contain a list of all the things that you plan to place in the box, as well as however many of these items as you are able to locate and bring.
In class next week we will share what we have in our boxes and items that we are planning to include.
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Station 1:
Comfort Objects
Description: This station is designed to support conversation about objects that will provide comfort to the students in stressful situations.
It is recommended that as a group you create a list of those comfort objects that you might want to include in your box. Think in terms of all the different types of circumstances that you might want to be able to support and the range of student emotional and social needs. Also keep in mind how circumstances like this can reduce the outward emotional maturity and security of your students. Keeping in mind applications of Maslow's theory, be prepared for a range of needs.
- Death or tragedy that is sudden and affects everyone in classroom such as bridge collapse, terrorist attack, death of individual from school…
- Crisis during school; coping during power outage, extreme weather such as flooding or thunderstorm, terror, school lockdown…
- Single student crisis, death or accident of family member, friend, or beloved pet…
Example materials you might discuss at this station include objects that are more broadly physical such as teddy bears, smaller manipulatives such as squeezy balls or beanie babies, soft blanket, and even self-soothing things such as gum, lifesavers…
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Station 2:
Media for Support
Description: This station is designed to support conversation about objects that will assist the students in passing time, coming to grips with the crisis, or simply feeling better.
It is recommended that as a group you create a list of those media objects that you might want to include in your box. Think in terms of all the different types of circumstances that you might want to be able to support.
- Death or tragedy that is sudden and affects everyone in classroom such as bridge collapse, terrorist attack, death of individual from school…
- Crisis during school; coping during power outage, extreme weather such as flooding or thunderstorm, terror, school lockdown…
- Single student crisis, death or accident of family member, friend, or beloved pet…
Example materials you might discuss at this station include books to read that might focus on a specific issue or generally assuage or distract students, music either for background soothing atmosphere or to sing along, videos that might address a specific issue to promote conversation or simply for enjoyment, and books that you or a child could read that would address the specific issue/concern, or that are generally soothing.
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Station 3:
Activities for Distraction or Processing
Description: This station is designed to support conversation about activities that will assist the students in passing time, coming to grips with the crisis or simply feel better.
It is recommended that as a group you create a list of those activities that you might want to support through your box. Think in terms of all the different types of circumstances that you might want to be able to support.
- Death or tragedy that is sudden and affects everyone in classroom such as school shooting, terrorist attack, death of individual from school…
- Crisis during school; school lockdown, extreme weather such as flooding or thunderstorm, earthquake…
- Single student crisis, death or accident of family member, friend, or beloved pet…
Think broadly about the kinds of materials you might discuss at this station that might include relaxing or therapeutic art materials, playing cards, origami paper and instructional books, travel books or games, puzzles such as crossword or soduku…
Another important dimension is keeping children calm in a crisis. Having something for students to chew or suck on such as gum or suckers will keep their mouths busy and help them remain quiet and calm.
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Station 4:
Meeting Material Needs
Description: This station is designed to support conversation about a filling your box with support materials for those stressful times in the classroom when you are confined to the classroom or school, or when typical support structures are not available.
It is recommended that as a group you create a list of those objects that you might want to include in your box. Think in terms of all the different types of circumstances that you might want to be able to support. Examples include crises during school; coping during power outage, extreme weather such as flooding or thunderstorm, school lockdown…
Example materials you might discuss at this station include food for a longer lockdown or power outage, bathroom bucket if confined to classroom and toilet paper, flashlights for the dark, cell phone, first aid kit, water, blankets…
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Station 5:
Professional Support Materials
Description: This station is designed to help you review professional support materials that could be useful in preparing for and coping with a crisis classroom situation.
You can do this work independently and talk about and share interesting pages that you find. Another approach would be to work in collaborative pairs and then share your group's findings
Resources useful for this work include Web pages that you are able to locate as well as the link posted on our syllabus.
View Resources Below
Suggested materials developed at this station include informational Web links, reference books, articles, lesson plans, and materials for parents.
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