Kathryn Sirianni's Portfolio Page
Link to mini-course: Supporting Children with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
About Me
Hi my name is Kathryn (Katie) Sirianni. I am a first grade teacher in a rural school district in upstate New York. I graduate from SUNY Geneseo in 2023 with my undergraduate degree in Early Childhood/Childhood Education and English. I am now in the CDIT program here at SUNY Albany. In my spare time, I enjoy going on long walks, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
My Topic and Purpose
My topic is on how teachers can support children with trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). I work in a district where many of my students are struggling with issues at home or past trauma and my heart breaks for them. I have felt helpless when trying to support theses students because I worry what I do is not enough.
I created this course for teachers who may be feeling the same way. As teachers we may be the only adult in a child's life who is giving them love and security. There are pragmatic ways to support children who have suffered trauma through love, kindness, structure, consistency, and routine in the classroom.
Trauma has always been an issue for children. However, today they are becoming increasingly more prevalent due to an increase in mental illness, change in the justice system, technology, etc. These traumatic experiences have long term effects on children's social and emotional development which could lead to mental illness in the future.
Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content
Learners will be able to:
-Define the term ACEs and various reasons children may experience toxic stress.
-Recognize long-term effects of ACEs.
-Reflect on types of ACEs they may have personally experienced or ACEs students in their classroom may have experienced.
-Identify ways to support children who have suffered trauma, within the classroom.
-Identify ways to support families who may be struggling.
Needs Assessments
Educational Problem:
ACEs or adverse childhood experiences are very common in America. According to the Harvard University website on ACEs, approximately two-thirds of Americans have experienced one ACE, and one-sixth have experienced four or more ACEs (2024). As a result of a shift in parenting, cost of living, technology, the pandemic, change in justice system, racism, etc. children are faced with toxic stress now more than ever. Although schools know ACEs are a huge problem for many students, they are not well equip to support their needs. With the focus on academics, mental health is often pushed to the wayside. However, with the commonality of ACEs, schools need to prioritize holistic learning to support these children. Mental health professionals, social-emotional learning, outreach programs, and professional developments are pragmatic ways schools can make positive change.
Learners/Participants:
This course is intended for anyone within the field of education who wants to make positive change to support children who have experienced trauma. The focus of this course will be on elementary students, however a lot of the information is transferrable to older students as well.
Analysis of Gaps:
This course comes with the understanding that most educators understand that children have adverse childhood experiences. However many schools and teachers are not equip to support children with the mental health services they may need. Through this mini-course and ongoing professional development, I believe teachers can make positive change to decrease the effects of ACEs.
Existing Efforts:
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) there are many factors that can support children with ACEs. Including public educational campaigns, legislative changes to reduce corporal punishment, bystander approaches, effective home visiting models, affordable high-quality child care, preschool enrichment programs, social emotional learning curriculum, parenting skills classes, mentor programs, and more (2024). I know many schools have adopted a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum and restorative practices, however we need to make SEL a standard in order to best support these children.
Intent Statement:
This course will bring awareness to how common ACEs are for many children in America today. Furthermore, this course will give participants pragmatic ways to support these children within the classroom.
Analysis of the Learner and Context
This course is intended for any educational professional who wants to do more for students in need. All learners are welcome, no matter their experience. This course can support a team-based profession-development. We will begin the course with brief introductory terms and examples. As we continue through the course reflection is crucial to learning. Not all of the content in this course will apply to your classroom and that is okay. Take what you like or think is applicable. The focus of this course will be on elementary students (Birth-6th) as that is my certification area, however information can also be applicable to older students. The organization of the course is designed to support any technological device and will likely spend a few days engaging with the content and reflecting. Although not necessary, I suggest participants keeping a notebook with them as they complete the course for their reflections as well as possible ideas they want to implement into their classroom.
Performance-Based Objectives
Define the various types of ACEs children can experience and explain how this affects them.
Have knowledge of various strategies to support students who have experienced trauma.
Identify ways participants will change/update/revise their current practices.
Task and Content Analysis
Perquisite Skills and Knowledge
-be able to use digital skills to navigate through this course
Unit 1: Identifying ACEs and Understanding Long-Term Effects
-Define the term ACEs and various reasons children may experience toxic stress.
-Recognize long-term effects of ACEs.
Unit 2: Self-Reflection of experience with ACEs
-Identify common warning signs of ACEs
-Reflect on types of ACEs they may have personally experienced or ACEs students in their classroom may have experienced.
-Reflect on various strategies you may/may not have tried.
Unit 3: Pragmatic Strategies to Support Children with ACEs
-Identify ways to support children who have suffered trauma, within the classroom.
-Identify ways to support families who may be struggling.
Curriculum Map
References and Resources
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html
Ludvik, D. (2020, November 9). Establishing healthy parent-teacher relationships for early learning success. Early Learning Network. https://earlylearningnetwork.unl.edu/2018/08/29/parent-teacher-relationships/
Preventing adverse childhood experiences. (2021, August 23). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/aces/index.html#:~:text=Overview,the%20body%20responds%20to%20stress.
What are ACEs? and how do they relate to toxic stress? (2020, October 30). Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/aces-and-toxic-stress-frequently-asked-questions/
Webster E. M. (2022). The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Health and
Development in Young Children. Global pediatric health, 9, 2333794X221078708. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X221078708