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Copyright Beyond Consequences Institute 2016 All rights reserved No portion of this study guide may be reproduced distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher Published by Beyond Consequences Institute LLC www BeyondConsequences com ISBN 978 0 9978501 5 4 Cover Design Layout Mimi Emeline Emeline Design www emelinedesign com
Copyright Beyond Consequences Institute 2016 All rights reserved No portion of this study guide may be reproduced distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher Published by Beyond Consequences Institute LLC www BeyondConsequences com ISBN 978 0 9978501 5 4 Cover Design Layout Mimi Emeline Emeline Design www emelinedesign com
Contents PART ONE TOXIC STRESS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LEARNING Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Adverse Childhood Experiences 11 Chapter 3 Trauma Stress and the Brain 19 Chapter 4 Why We Need a New Approach 31 Chapter 5 Resilience 41 PART TWO IMPLEMENTING A TRAUMA INFORMED SCHOOL Chapter 6 Working as a Team 51 Chapter 7 Creating a Calm Room 61 Chapter 8 Creating an In School Suspension Room 67 Chapter 9 Students of Concern 77 Chapter 10 Creating a Relationship Based Culture 87 Chapter 11 Accountability Comes Through Relationship 97 Chapter 12 Effective Use of Your School Resource Officer 109 Chapter 13 Tracking Dysregulation Through Behavior 111 Chapter 14 Implementing the Trauma Informed Model 131 Chapter 15 Step By Step 141
v PART THREE STRATEGIES Chapter 16 Relationship Strategies 165 Chapter 17 Classroom Strategies 179 APPENDIX For the most up to date and electronic versions of forms in the Appendix visit www TheTraumaInformedSchool com appendix ENDNOTES Endnotes 273 About the Authors 239
Foreword When we arrived in Walla Walla Washington the summer of 2012 to scout out the location for what would become the acclaimed documentary Paper Tigers we were struck by the contrast of the prosperous wine industry juxtaposed to the older dilapidated neighborhoods Surrounding us were buildings in desperate need of repair including our destination Lincoln Alternative High School It was hard to imagine that this old somewhat barren building was where groundbreaking approaches to helping traumatized children had taken flight As we climbed the stairs Principal Jim Sporleder stood waiting at the door With a John Wayne drawl it wasn t hard to picture Jim as the imposing disciplinarian he was for many years But then came Jim s warm smile and gentle handshake that reminded us of a man who was completely the opposite After all we d read his story in numerous articles Jim had completely reformed the struggling Lincoln High Alternative High School It was a change in thinking that ignited Jim s shift and it came from the message of the landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences Study that showed that a childhood of neglect and abuse alters the brains and bodies of children As Jim began to understand that childhood experiences create learning difficulties and behavioral challenges he realized his students weren t bad kids They were kids whose unfortunate childhoods had hard wired them for conflict and primal survival leaving them unable to navigate the demands of higher education
This all explained why Lincoln was plagued with gang fights in the halls chaotic classrooms truancy drugs and arrests By all accounts implementing a trauma informed approach in a school such as Lincoln High was an administrative suicide mission Yet for Jim taking the science and converting it to best practices came naturally and with great success However it wasn t the increase in test scores and graduation rates that inspired our decision to spend an entire year in Walla Walla making Paper Tigers it was from a chance encounter with a student that set the course for this decision Through a chance encounter we witnessed a student at the school who had multicolored hair piercings and tattoos Everything about this young man screamed keep away But as this encounter unfolded we saw Jim embrace him with a big bear hug and the hardened teen crumbled into a boy needing love And there it was beyond the science that we saw firsthand the healing power of love and compassion The guide you are about to read contains the hard learned lessons from a principal s journey of moving a school from barely surviving to thriving Additionally it weaves in the experience and mental health perspective from Heather T Forbes LCSW one of the top trauma experts in this field Their combined work in this masterpiece will support you in successfully implementing a trauma informed model It is beyond comprehensive In the following pages you will have everything you need from an overview of trauma to detailed checklists to specific strategies and much much more
This complete and informative guide is one of a kind It will give you the valuable answers you are seeking for your school This guide will truly answer the ultimate question that is sweeping the educational field and that is What does a trauma informed school look like The answers await you right here James Redford Director KPJR Films Karen Pritzker Executive Producer KPJR Films
PART ONE Toxic Stress and Its Relationship to Learning
CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER ONE Introduction Y ou and your staff are about to begin a journey that will not only be transforming for your students but for you too You will be inspired and forever changed by witnessing the resiliency and hope students exhibit from having a strong connection with a caring adult It is our most challenging students that are truly our gifts They are the ones who move us to a higher order of understanding the true meaning of unconditional love and they are the ones who will bring us to our highest potential Get ready for a hard but amazing journey Trauma Students who have been impacted by trauma carry a very heavy load and operate at a continual high level of stress For most their trauma wasn t a one time incident it didn t happen overnight It happened and continues to happen on a perpetual and long term basis Many of our students experienced years of toxic stress in toxic home environments that shifted them into living every moment of everyday in survival mode Their new normal is fear reactivity and failure This is how they have survived It is all they know The result is that their brains are wired for fear their brains are not bad and their reactivity isn t necessarily wrong They are products of their environments They have survival brains and that s how they enter their classrooms everyday This is a brain issue not a behavioral issue Thus change won t happen overnight Change and healing for our most challenging of students will always be a process it will take time When implementing a trauma informed model in your school the shift from a fear based culture to a relationship based and love based The caretaker is the adult responsible for healthy brain development
2 CHAPTER ONE Punishment can t create or model those qualities we want in a child America s Cradle to Prison Pipeline Report Children s Defense Fund culture will also take time Getting school staff and teachers to change how they think act and respond to students will take conscious effort and dedicated mindfulness As staff and teachers make the shift students will then follow suit and feel the shift in school culture as well Students will begin to feel safer They ll feel a greater sense of respect They ll feel like somebody actually cares They ll feel like they belong The exciting news is that all of this will eventually result in lowered disciplinary reports and higher academic test scores The key to any type of change is to be consistent in all interactions with all students This includes everyone at the school administrators office staff paraeducators guidance counselors cafeteria workers janitors bus drivers and of course classroom teachers Creating a school wide trauma informed culture requires a shift from everyone not just a few The success of such a shift requires the collective whole There is no perfect model of a trauma informed school without its own unforeseen challenges As these challenges come up the best advice the authors can give you is to trust in yourself When you learn to make decisions out of love instead of fear you will never be misguided The answers will come when you are looking through the lens of trauma and unconditional love It is amazing that what our students do and the issues they bring to us are actually perfectly logical We must recognize however that the logic they use is stemming from their perspective of fear stress and overwhelm When we can get into their shoes understand why they are doing the things they do the answers and the solutions become very obvious Solutions and answers also come from you trusting in your own strengths and gifts and staying open to seeing the dynamics in an objective and inquisitive manner From the Top Down As the administrator you become the starting point the catalyst for the change to a trauma informed school and this change begins in the main office The main office is Ground Zero It becomes the model for others to witness and experience what a trauma informed environment is all about The main office is the foundation for the implementation process All members of the front office must work as a team and support one another with this new paradigm shift until it becomes a normal part of how business is conducted at your school Modeling in the front office of what it means to be a trauma informed school will give teachers confidence
PART TWO Implementing a Trauma Informed School
74 TRUE STORY Accountability Prevails LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL BY JIM SPORLEDER Soon after implementing our ISS I had a student in my office who was part of our Frequent Flyer Club He was always in trouble and was used to having out of school suspensions He didn t like the new change and did everything to try to get me to suspend him instead of having to go to ISS The conversation unfolded like this Me Billy you re going to have to go to ISS for the afternoon Billy Nope I m not going to do it I ll take the suspension Me I m not suspending you Billy Well you re going to have to because I m not doing ISS Me Yes you have to go down and do ISS Billy Sporleder if you send me to ISS I guarantee I will do everything I have to do to get kicked out of ISS and then you will have to suspend me Me Throwing my arms up in the air dramatically but playfully Oh my Oh you re killing me here I m asking you to do half a day and you want me to suspend you Now you re telling me you are going to force me to suspend you Why would you do that because when you come back the next day you ll be in ISS Billy No I won t If you suspend me I don t have to do ISS Me I m not suspending you I literally had students begging me to give them an out of school suspension instead of giving them ISS To them ISS was boring compared to being home or out on the street on their own
148 CHAPTER FIFTEEN Provide Feedback As an administrator your encouragement and support for your staff at an individual level is going to be critical at this stage Provide feedback to staff members by doing mini observations in their classrooms and in their interactions with students around the school Emphasize to your staff that there will be different styles that match one s personality and that is fine as long as everyone is heading toward the same goal of building caring adult relationships with students Let them know what you observe in their classrooms and help them to see that implementing these strategies is impacting student behavior and learning in a positive way What the teacher is is more important than what he teaches Karl Menninger Leave a brief note on the teacher s desk after you have done a mini walk through and observation to share something positive with the teacher G et out and encourage the model and remember that every school will move at a different pace As long as you can see that you are moving forward celebrate your progress November By November you should be in full implementation and seeing the results of your commitment You will be able to see the culture of your school becoming much more connected The following is a checklist of to be completed for November Complete a Self Evaluation Ask yourself the following questions and be as objective as possible to get an honest gauge on how this is unfolding in your school You are going to be further along in some areas than others Celebrate your successes and strengthen those areas that you feel need help
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 149 What are you seeing in the office when students are referred How is the Stress Indicator Form working now that you have had a couple of months to implement it into the conversations you are having with students How are students responding to learning about stress and the impact it has on their brains and their ability to learn Has the Stress Indicator Form been a productive tool Can you share specific incidents with staff where the stress form deepened your conversation with one or more of your students What evidence can you identify that the staff is using the implementation strategies Giving and receiving unconditional love is the most effective and powerful way to personal wholeness and happiness John Bradshaw
PART THREE Strategies
192 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 16 Feeling Words Many times we work to teach feelings to students and we overwhelm them in the process because we give them too many words Make it simple there are five basic feeling words that students need to be taught 1 Mad 2 Happy 3 Scared 4 Sad 5 Grateful Joanna Forbes 2016 2 17 GoNoodle com GoNoodle com was launched in 2013 and it is a free resource for schools to help students improve their selfregulatory skills and channel their physical and emotional energy The GoNoodle com website offers short movement videos three to five minutes in length that allow teachers to engage students in movement with dancing stretching running and mindfulness activities Use their videos and activities throughout the day to give your students a brain break Not only will these videos help students improve their behavior it will help them improve their focus and help them engage better academically 18 Humor One of the most powerful coping mechanisms we have available to us is humor Humor strengthens relationships and it calms down our nervous system Research even suggests that humor improves your immune system However this coping mechanism seems to be the least available when we need it the most when times
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN are stressful Make it a point to find the humor in whatever happens good or bad with Billy Help Billy find the humor in situations so he can learn to lighten his mood and free up his energy to problem solve and build connection 19 In School Suspension Please complete explanation of In School Suspensions see Chapter 8 for the 20 Knitting Knitting isn t just for your grandmother Neuroscience is showing that doing repetitive rhythmic and patterned activities calm the brain Knitting can lower the heart rate and reduce the stress hormone cortisol in the body Knitting is something students can do with their hands while still listening attentively in class It is also an activity students can participate in when they go to the Calm Room or In School Suspension Room to take a ten minute break Have students come into school before the school bell rings instead of the courtyard in the morning Create a knitting circle for students to join and have them knit caps for newborns and baby blankets for the local hospital s neonatal unit This type of activity would get the students connected socially give them a sense of purpose and regulate them to begin the school day 3 Other crafting activities such as crocheting can have the same benefit as knitting 21 Lighting As humans we are designed to live in unfiltered sunlight with the full spectrum of lighting Fluorescent lighting however typically only offers one color spectrum Fluorescent lighting also emits flicker which has been shown to trigger nervous system issues and a loss of energy in sensitive individuals Due to Billy s trauma his nervous system is very sensitive and it needs to be considered that fluorescent lighting can be increasing his level of dysregulation If natural lighting is possible pull up the shades and allow full spectrum lighting into your classrooms as much as possible Add some lamps with incandescent bulbs as well Replace some of your plain plastic fluorescent panels with sky panels or any other type of fluorescent light diffuser panels to help reduce the harsh glare that can emanate from the fluorescent lighting 193