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SHINE A LIGHTThis project intends to shine a light on the social/emotional issues that impact students with disabilities in and outside of the classroom. The project will help to build cultural awareness as it relates to the social and emotional issues that impact students with disabilities. By building awareness among teachers, the project intends to develop a more welcoming school community for students with disabilities and their families.

+Workshop Schedule and Agenda

Jan. 21, 2014-Looking at the Roots of Special Education (Special Education Overview and Project Opening)

Feb. 18, 2014-Trauma and the Brain; Select student for case study

March 25, 2014-Signs, Signals, and Reactions of Trauma; Quick write and statement of confidentiality; Explore the cum; Explorations with case study

May 4, 2014-Psychological 1st Aid/Teacher Self-Care; Case study discussions; Student interview results; Final quick write

+(Let’s Review!) Signs and Signals of a Stress Reaction can be Organized into 4 CategoriesPhysical

Cognitive

Emotional

Behavioral

What are some of the signals your student displays that indicate he/she is experiencing a stress reaction?

+Agenda

Review

Student survey results (pre and post)

Psychological First Aid for School

Self Care for Teacher (caring for yourself so you can care for others)

Take 5 minutes to browse the cum looking for information to further inform you about social emotional issues that may be impacting the student

Final quick write (10 minutes)

+Psychological First Aid for School PFA is an evidence-informed approach for assisting

children, adolescents, adults and families in the immediate aftermath of a critical incident, disaster, or school crises. PFA is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by traumatic events and to foster short and long-term adaptive functioning.

Listen

Protect

Connect

Model

Teach

As we discuss these categories add one suggestion to each area on your chart.

+Listen Listen to what they say and how they act.

Encourage children to share experiences and express feelings of fear or concern.

Be willing to listen and respond to verbal and nonverbal cues (Observe non verbal communication. Remember that student(s) may also show their feelings in nonverbal ways, such as increased behavior problems or increased withdrawal.)

Give children extra reassurance, support, and encouragement.

Listen: You want to convey your interest and empathy. Where were you when this crisis happened? What were your first thoughts? What do you remember about that day?

+Protect Protect by maintaining structure, stability and

consistency. (Maintain daily routines, activities and structure with clear expectations, consistent rules.)

Children need to hear that what happened is not their fault and that they did the right thing by telling.

Validate the student’s life experiences. Provide opportunities for your student to talk, draw and play, but don’t force it.

Make adjustments to assignments to be sensitive to students’ current level of functioning.

Protect: What’s the most difficult thing to deal with right now? Are you worried about how you are reacting? Are you worried about your safety? (i.e. around other students, around adults at school or outside of school?)

+Connect Connect through interaction, activities and resources.

“Check In” with student(s) on a regular basis.

Encourage interaction, activities, team projects with friends, teachers.

Refer/take student to meet school support team. Find resources on campus that can offer support to student.

Keep track of and comment on what’s going on in the student’s life.

Share positive feedback from parents, teachers and other adults.

Connect: What would make things easier to cope with? What can I do to help you right now? What can your teacher do to help? What can your friends do to help? What can your family do to help?

+Model

It is good to be aware of your thoughts and feelings, and reactions about the event.

They can affect your students.

Your students will be watching you for both verbal and nonverbal cues and it will influence how your students cope and behave.

Monitor conversations that student may hear.

Do not express shock or anger at the possible perpetrator or event.

+Teach

Teach about normal changes that can occur when traumatized.

Acknowledge the normal changes that can occur in people who are traumatized or grieve (physical changes, emotional, cognitive changes).

Student(s) may have different reactions, even to the same event.

Encourage your student to identify and use positive coping strategies to help them after the event.

+Teach (cont.) Help your student problem solve to get through each

day successfully

Help student set small “doable” goals and share in these achievements as “wins.”

With time and support, students generally do better. (If they do not, they should be encouraged and taught to seek assistance from a parent or a teacher they know.)

Protective Factors to increase resiliency in children: caring relationships with adults (safety, basic trust, listening, high expectations, validating messages, guidance, structure, challenges)

Opportunities for meaningful contributions: Making decisions, giving voice and being heard

+A Message to Students What can you do if you recognize that you are

experiencing traumatic stress?

Come to school and stay in school

.The safest place for students is in school.

The best way to relieve traumatic stress is to go back to your regular routine with teachers and friends.

Be easy on yourself.

Calm down and “breathe”

You may think you are “going crazy” for feeling the way you do but it is normal for someone who is experiencing traumatic stress.

+Message to Students (cont.) Spend a little more quiet time at home and with friends

at school.

Share the load.

No one is an island. (Talk to an adult you trust about how you are feeling. If it’s too hard to talk to your parents, talk to an adult at school or a relative.)

Help is available everyday.

If your feelings or reactions are getting in the way of getting back to your normal routine (like going to school or paying attention in class), tell your parents or teacher.

Counseling and support is available at school and in your community.

+The Goals of Psychological First Aid

Protect the child

Stabilize the emotions and behaviors of the students

Return the student in an improved mental and emotional state to engage in learning

Every adult on campus plays an important role!

+Self-Care for Teachers: how to care for yourself so you can care for others, avoid burn-out, and set healthy boundaries Say yes when you mean yes and no when you

mean no.

Recognize your limits and do what is most important.

Trying to be super-teacher has consequences.

Take breaks often: You will be amazed at what a five minute break will do. Whether it’s spent just relaxing your brain and body, eating a healthy snack, or meditating, you will be rejuvenated so the work you do is more efficient.

+Self-Care for Teachers: how to care for yourself so you can care for others, avoid burn-out, and set healthy boundaries Exercise: Research shows that exercise can help

increase energy, improve concentration, and decrease stress and depression. It also allows you to focus on yourself and take care of your body. Both are important for reducing burn-out.

Nutrition: When feeling stress you may want to eat all of the time (trying to fill up the empty feelings) or you may have a loss of appetite. It is important to eat daily portions of food from each of the four basic food groups and healthy snacks.

+Self-Care for Teachers: how to care for yourself so you can care for others, avoid burn-out, and set healthy boundaries Drink Plenty of Water: Under stress, the body muscles

tighten up and use more body fluid. Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. Water also helps rid the body of waste.

Know your own threshold for stress: Recognize the first signs of stress. These may include increased heart rate, changes in appetite, fatigue and irritability. Pay attention to what triggers stress for you and either avoid those situations or learn relaxation techniques so you can manage your stress effectively. Modeling these skills for your students will teach them how they can handle their own stress. Focused breathing and deep muscle relaxation have been proven to work.

+Self-Care for Teachers: how to care for yourself so you can care for others, avoid burn-out, and set healthy boundaries Find at least three activities that relieve stress for

you: Do these things consistently. Planning ahead of time to prevent stress or becoming aware of what you can do when you become stressed will help decrease burn-out.

Start your day on a positive note: Begin your day by doing something that lifts you and makes you feel good. It may be enjoying quiet time in meditation or prayer, thinking about the positive things that are in store for you that day, taking a walk or conversing with your spouse/friend/colleague about positive things.

What you do first can set the tone for how you manage your entire day.

+Final Quick Write (10 minutes) Looking through a social emotional lens, take the

position of a student advocate and write a thoughtful letter to the child’s teacher for next year. As you write the letter your intent is to help the new

teacher want to embrace and work to understand this child right away (Write from the loving place in your heart. If this was your own child what tone would you like the letter to capture?)

Using your notes from Ms. Temores’ presentations, the video, the cum, the social emotional prompts, your charts, and your own observations, what have you learned that you can share with next year’s teacher so that this child will have a smoother transition into his/her new environment and be received with welcome?

Refer to the child by the name he/she prefers to be called.

+References

Bryan, T., Burstein, K., & Ergul, C. (2004). The social-emotional side of learning disabilities: A science-based presentation of the state of the art. Learning Disability Quarterly, 45-51.

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐based universal interventions. Child development, 82(1), 405-432.

Zins, J. E., & Elias, M. J. (2007). Social and emotional learning: Promoting the development of all students. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 17(2-3), 233-255.