Tagged With "Brain Insights"
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Trauma-Informed Classrooms: Educator Self-Care
Working in a school is hard. It doesn’t matter if you work in a suburban, urban, or rural area. It doesn’t matter if you work with 5 year-olds on building empathy, teach 11 year-olds about symbiosis, coach teachers in aligning curriculum, or help high school seniors choose their postsecondary pathways. It is hard work. From the cacophony of lockers closing at dismissal, to the challenge of getting 25 sets of 8 year-old eyes looking at you in synchrony, schools are a special kind of organized...
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Trauma-informed groups rev up to address race, inclusion
Eighteen-year-old Kia Hanson has always enjoyed her time as a youth leader at the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC). She’s worked mostly with five- and six-year-olds since she began in 2016. Recently, she tapped into new skills, especially if the kids were having a meltdown. Kia Hanson “If they’re off, we ask them, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Do you want to talk about anything?’,” she explains. “Basically asking before assuming they’re mad at the world for no reason.” What made the...
Blog Post
Understanding the Effects of Child Maltreatment on Brain Development (ChildWelfare.gov)
In recent years, there has been a surge of research into early brain development. Neuroimaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), provide increased insight about how the brain develops and how early experiences affect...
Blog Post
Why Focus on Resilience? 2019 BPT Conference Big Idea Session with Teri Barila
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in” -Desmond Tutu. This quote captures the essence of why resilience matters. To Community Resilience Initiative, Resilience is not about “lifting yourself up by your bootstraps” or “bouncing back” from serious harm or injury. To us, Resilience is about self-discovery and self-awareness based on what the ACE Study, neurobiology, and epigenetics tell us...
Ask the Community
ACES Presentation for Preschool Parents (experiences, tips, etc.)
I work at an Early Learning Center that serves Head Start and ECEAP preschool families. We are looking to bring ACES and Resiliency to parents, but want to do so in a way that is strengths-based and does not leave families feeling at a loss for what they can do to move forward from ACES they and their families may have experienced. I have found many resources between this website and some other internet searches, but we are very interested in learning about other organization's experiences...
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Re: Connecting with Challenging Students
Please share a PSA link to help grow public awareness of the impacts of developmental trauma. There are so many of us who’ve never heard of the overpowering, life-long impacts. Click HERE for links designed to use in social media: https://lucidwitness.com/2016/...dex-to-lucidwitness/
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Re: For parents who want to talk to schools
Hello Ariane, I have some suggestions: Chapter 4 of The Connected Child (attached with permission) shows the disarming of fear to create felt safety in what I think is an approachable way that is easy to share with teachers. An Article of "Trauma Informed Classrooms" from Adoption Advocate (attached with permission) gives some practical framework to what is needed in a classroom setting TBRI® Animate: Toxic Stress & The Brain - is helpful as well. I provide resources for Southern...
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
We do similar work - and our experience is that it is easier to move away from punishments than to move away from rewards...and both cause some harm. What is your experience in helping folks move away from rewards?
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Hi Rebecca, tell me if students have any codes of conduct and discipline policies to follow in the schools?.
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Sajjad, Our schools have expectations and classrooms have student generated guidelines (which look very similar to adult generated guidelines). The difference is that when someone doesn't follow the guidelines the response is: regulate, relate, reason and then repair the mistake. Of course, safety always comes first which can require removal from the situation (or sometimes even the school) - but the repair is what re-establishes connection and helps reconstruct the community. This is what...
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Jody thanks for the prompt response to my question. We used rewards as for both tangible and intangible since last couple of years. Its particularly challenging for problem kids, but its an incentive to get them to do their work, get along better, and make the right choices. I personally feel that sometimes starting with something the student likes to do, rather than giving them something may be a better reward for them. We have to workout as how to help folks move away from rewards.
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Sajjad, The frame shift that I think needs to happen is the recognition that these students are not "making choices" when their behavior is inappropriate. As Mona Delahooke explains, it is bottom up behavior. We aren't teaching anything with rewards. When students are self regulated they can choose. When they aren't they cannot. It ends up being demoralizing for kids to tell them to make "good choices" and they do when they can - and when they can't and mess up and later get back into their...
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Jody, I really appreciate the way you have explained as how to help folks move away from rewards. I will share the ideas within the local community and see if it works.
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Thanks Sajjad, I invited a colleague who has a lovely one-pager on rewards to share it. I suspect she'll post it some time today.
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Rebecca, I love your Golden words (we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our efforts lie, we have an opportunity to be a part of this mission.)
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Re: The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Jody, Thank you very much for sharing the one-page handout on rewards. I will share in the local community schools very soon.
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom
Thanks for this post Sandy and Daun! To say it is urgent we transform our schools and communities is by far the key priority facing educators and public health officials today! There remains minimal benefit from common core and standardized testing if we cannot help children (and staff) learn emotion regulation and so so post haste! I couldn't agree more with your post. As a team member who has co-authored and worked with Sandy Bloom, Sarah Yanosy and a few others on some of Sanctuary's most...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom
Considering the recent suicide by hanging of a 13 year old boy in Staten Island, Danny Fitzpatrick, I believe we must intensify the above. We must discuss that sometimes teachers, coaches, school administrators are the ones causing trauma in children and they are not remotely safe people to "listen" to or protect a child. We have to take a hard, honest look at Bullying in schools, which continues to rise, and ask the question: hate is a learned behaviour...so who is teaching bullying? We...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom
Jennifer, the issue needs to be explicitly, directly addressed. I agree. I'm not sure if "carrot" or "stick" is best, maybe combination... Thanks for sharing, and for your passion!
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom
Hi Daun, I think combo of carrot and stick, but as we've discovered, carrot won't work until stick is brandished. As soon as we attach serious consequences to emotional abuse, adults who bully kids, then everyone will get educated fast. When we wanted to stop people smoking and harming others with second hand smoke, we quickly implemented laws that fined people and threatened jail. Everyone is now well educated about the harms of smoking and second-hand smoke. If suicide was the second...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom
Hey Jennifer, I have the same request for advice with politicians. In the case of developmental trauma at our city and our state levels, the first goal is simply "awareness". Even with me as an example, I had to dig around and dig around to eventually put pieces together to begin to grasp the portion of the concept that I know have. Maybe I should expand that slightly to be "accurate" awareness. At any rate, folks should not have to dig around that hard to get informed. After "awareness"...
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Re: CLICK FOR RESOURCES: TRAUMA-INFORMED EDUCATION
Thanks, Dan, for putting together this amazing array of resources. Lou
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Re: The Brain and Troubled Children and Youth
Please share a PSA link to help grow public awareness of the impacts of developmental trauma. There are so many of us who’ve never heard of the overpowering, life-long impacts. Click HERE for links designed to use in social media: https://lucidwitness.com/2016/...dex-to-lucidwitness/
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Re: An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction
Hey Daun I know when I was in high school my parents did not have a clue what was going on with myself and my two younger brothers....Their COMMUNICATION SKILLS and their CONFLICTS RESOLUTION SKILLS were practically non existent. All they knew WAS RAGE and RAGE then HIT ME.... with my own children I have taken so many parenting classes. But more important for me as a DAD is to recognize when my daughter or son 's Spirit IS CLOSED TOWARDS ME and they begin to isolate and not want top...
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Re: An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction
Wow, Rick, thank you for sharing. I am sorry that you had such experiences as a child. I am so encouraged by your own reflection and your own learning and your own changes. It sure seems like you may have broken the generational cycle. I am guessing that your own kids feel much differently about their childhoods with you !
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Re: Do you know a ‘Danny’ or an ‘Ashley’, struggling socially, emotionally, or academically?
Link to Index doesn't work. Can you update?
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Re: Do you know a ‘Danny’ or an ‘Ashley’, struggling socially, emotionally, or academically?
The Link should be current now. Thank you for asking, Ariane!
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Re: How Teachers Learn to Discuss Racism (theatlantic.com)
Yes, so true! Thank you Dr. Felitti. Wonder if Dr. Rodney Hood in San Diego has relevant insight respectively. Please know I'll reach out to Dr. Hood.
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Re: An Interview with Alfonso Ramirez on Trauma Informed Schools
Loved the info about "student advisory committee called the Trauma Informed Equity Committee which has created a pilot student climate survey to get a good look into how students experience teacher and peer relationships, the student environment, and equity in their education." Wondering if they educate students about ACEs and if so, how is that done? Also loved how he talked about the subtle nature of the outcomes of this work but also the fact they were able to drop their disciplinary...
Blog Post
The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It [Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg]
Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg (Keynote speaker from the recent Creating a Resilient Community Conference) shared the excerpt from his book Reaching Teens titled The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It. This is a valuable resource for anyone interacting with youth and we are providing the excerpt as an attachment here for you to read and share. Also, Dr. Ginsburg will be coming back to our community (virtually) and you’ll be invited to his workshop. Look out for the...
Calendar Event
Education After COVID-19: A Trauma Informed Approach
Blog Post
What Racism in Schools Looks Like [educationnext.org]
By George Farmer, Education Next, June 23, 2020 As the world has paused to analyze the deficiencies of police departments, it is not enough. All aspects of America have to examine areas of systemic injustice. That includes schools, which now have an opportunity to rise to the occasion and improve. American schools are de facto segregated based on income and ethnicity. Where students live determines the quality of education students will receive. Black and Latinx communities receive less...
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Calming the body before calming the mind: Sensory strategies for children affected by trauma [thesector.com.au]
By Clare Ryan and Berry Streets, The Sector, June 23, 2020 Children who have experienced trauma may find it more difficult to regulate their emotions and behaviours than other children. Understanding the impact trauma can have on brain development can help inform practical responses to these children’s needs. This short article describes how practitioners can use strategies that help calm children’s bodies in order to help calm their minds and emotions – specifically, the...
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Practical Applications for Schools - They're Begging for It
Educators at all levels are asking for practical applications of what they've heard their students need due to ACEs, Trauma and brain research. Here are a few strategies from my upcoming book "The Whole Child School."
Blog Post
COVID Relief law creates a $82 billion Education Stabilization Fund for local schools and higher education institutions
While the 5,000-page $900 billion COVID Relief Bill ( H.R. 133, Div. M and N) fell short on some fronts (e.g., did not provide direct fiscal relief to cash-strapped states and localities), it does provide $82 billion in Education Stabilization Funds for states, school districts, and higher education institutions—crucial support for education as students return to school after the holiday. Funding of this magnitude makes a trauma-informed COVID response possible, giving advocates the...
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Equipping Hope: A Holistic Approach to Building Trauma-Informed and Resilient Communities - $15 Mini-Event
Are you seeking support to build a truly trauma-informed school or community? Trauma-informed work is never a one-size-fits-all program. It is about building a responsive and actionable culture that is rooted in the science of Hope. Building healthy communities takes a full-spectrum approach, from building the buy-in, to implementing and sustaining the process. In this online conference, you will learn the components for building change: understanding how to develop Hope ; learning how to...
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Teaching with purpose: ACEs aware, healing-informed.
Listening to the voices from current classrooms, the social-emotional needs that students are coming into classrooms are intense and demonstrate the importance of additional commitments for well-being and self-care. Schools and communities must recognize that teachers have ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) too. Similarly, they enter the profession as “wounded healers," being charged with filling needy hearts with hope. The levels of toxic stress and compassion fatigue are increasing...
Blog Post
FREE "SEL at Home" PDF avail for downloading
Download and share this free resource! https://sounddiscipline.org/sel-at-home We hope this brochure will be helpful for parents and those who work with parents - it contains SEL resources and tools drawing from Positive Discipline and the latest brain and child development science. Please share and let us know if it is helpful! Parents and all those who work with children are also invited to our next online workshop - Reimagining Resilience 1: Using a Trauma Lens which begins this Thurs,...
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Re: FREE "SEL at Home" PDF avail for downloading
This link to download the free resource https://sounddiscipline.org/sel-at-home is invalid (Page not found). Is there another way to access the resource?