Lesson 3: Methods to help students cope
Leaning Objective
The learner will hypothesize and research methods of responding appropriately and compassionately to students traumatize by family violence.
How can I help?
As a teacher, you may find it difficult to believe that you can help students who have suffered as a result of family violence. However, there are ways that you can help a student feel safe and cared for in your classroom. There are a variety of methods to do this and the majority of them begin with you being compassionate and caring towards your students. Responding rather than reacting is important to remember when interacting with traumatized students. Trauma-Informed Care has become a useful tool for many school districts and can be a beneficial way to interact with students, traumatized or not. Read the articles and watch the videos to help gain tools and methods to try in your own classroom. Last, complete and submit the Google Classroom assignment. You are encouraged to share what you have created and learned with your co-workers!
Articles
Application is a crucial piece in understanding. I have provided links of articles I have found incredibly interesting and useful when proving a safe and caring environment for my traumatized students. What you gain from these articles will help you complete your Methods to Help Students Cope Cheat Sheet to use when teaching students affected by family violence.
- 8 Ways Support Students Who Experience Trauma
- Best Practices for Supporting Students Scroll down to the heading: Strategies to Support Traumatized Students
- 16 Trauma Informed Evidence Based Recommendations
- Helping Traumatized Children Learn PDF pages 53-57 (Subtitle: C. Teaching Students)
Videos
Each of these videos provides an example of how a caring classroom environment can be effective and helpful. Some of the techniques talked about or shown will be beneficial when creating your Methods to Help Students Cope Cheat Sheet.
- Giving Traumatized Kids a Head Start
- Children, Violence, and Trauma: Treatments that Work
- Trauma Sensitive Practice in Schools
- The Paradox of Trauma-Informed Care
Task
- Go to Google Classroom and sign in: Click Here
- At the top next to your login name click on the + symbol and select "Join Class"
- Enter the class code axudbzw
- Complete the assignment titled Methods To Help Students Cope Cheat Sheet
- There are additional discussion questions in which you may participate
If You are Unable to Access Google Classroom
- Go to the Google Doc, download it and complete it: Click Here
- At the top of this page, click on the discussions tab and answer the following questions:
- What would be most helpful when responding to students affected by family violence?
- What would be most helpful in deciding whether or not a student has been traumatized?
- Does your district offer any training and/or supports to educate their staff on traumatized students?
Reasoning Behind this Task
Students affected by trauma sometimes experience difficulty in communicating with others. By utilizing a classroom tool like Google Classroom, students will be able to participate in class and ask questions without feeling uncomfortable. Teachers can create assignments and discussions while linking materials that students can access. Google Classroom can be completely paperless by allowing students to hand in their assignments through the class page, receive instantaneous feedback, and access their grades. The familiar routine also allows teachers to upload recordings of class that day so that students who may have missed class can come back the next day completely caught up.
Conclusion
By utilizing strategies learned through this course, you will begin to create a safe and compassionate learning environment for students affected by violence. These strategies will be beneficial to all learners in your classroom and will begin to be routine for you and your class. I hope that through completing this mini-course you will have gained helpful tools to improve your school environment and interactions.
Lesson 1: What is family violence? Signs of trauma
Lesson 2: Effects of family violence on academics, emotions, and relationships
Lesson 3: Methods to help students cope
References
Refer back to the Home Page