Monday, April 25, 2022

Trauma Brain & The Classroom

 


Last year around February, I got a new student.  From the very first day, I knew there was something different about this child.  I couldn't put my finger on it, but after 17 years of teaching, my instincts told me that this new student was not like the many other kids I've had over the years.  Veteran teachers will understand.... when you know, you KNOW!

The very next day, I learned that he was recently returned to the custody of his father because his home life with his mother (and mother's boyfriend) had turned abusive.  I will not go into specifics to protect the privacy of the family, but suffice it to say I knew I was dealing with a child with "Trauma Brain".  

Children who have experienced mental, emotional, or physical trauma can have chemically altered brain function that effects their personal and educational relationships.  Dr. Eamon McCrory, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology at the University of College London describes it like this: 

Children – and their brains – adapt to survive. When a child grows up in an environment where there is abuse and neglect, their brains will be shaped by those experiences. These brain changes may not lead to an immediate mental health problem. Rather, they may help the child survive in that adverse environment. However, these same changes may make a child more vulnerable to developing mental health problems in future everyday environments. In part, this is because the brain changes can affect a child’s ability – and opportunities – to cultivate and maintain social relationships with others.

He has written a guidebook that I found very insightful and helpful as I learned more about Trauma Brain and how it effects children in the classroom and social settings.  You can find the PDF here.  There is a series of other trauma-related mental health topics at the UK Trauma Council website.     
 
So what did Trauma Brain look like in my new student?
~Extreme mood swings
~Screaming he hates me
~Task avoidance
~Low frustration/stress tolerance
~Noncompliance
~Throwing chairs and flipping desks
~Threatening to kill others
~Refusal to move
~Crawling under desk or sprawling out on the floor
~Yelling and growling
~Destructive
~Attention-seeking
~Attempts to escape the classroom
~Demands for 100% attention
~Inability to initiate tasks

Obviously, this put my classroom into a serious upheaval.  This child required so much of my time and attention, my other students had to learn how be without me.  And I must say they did this like CHAMPS!  I knew I could trust them to do the right thing while I helped him get through his meltdowns.  

So I immediately set to work to educate myself on how to best help a student like this.  There are many resources online that gave me a starting point.  I say "starting point" because the strategies I tried on Monday may not work anymore by Wednesday and I needed a whole arsenal of ideas!   

Now, I must say that I am not a trained counselor or therapist and most days I felt like I was doing more harm than good.  I needed to train myself how to deal with this child's behavior.  It was more about changing the way I approached him, than it was about changing his reactions.  Because I knew it would take months to years before this little boy was able to respond appropriately to his stressors.  
One clear and prominent thought every day was: How do I keep from escalating the situation?  I needed to take cues from the student and approach him carefully to avoid the most aggressive of his behaviors.  This list by he's-extraordinary helped remind me the best way to approach a child who is having a hard time.  

I also worked with my student to implement this Emotion Thermometer.  This design is by Social Emotional Workshop.  You can get your own blank copy at her site after you sign up with the email list.  
This thermometer was an excellent way for my student to show me how he was feeling without having to verbalize it.  He would just point to the color he was feeling.  From that point, I would be able to suggest appropriate ways for him to calm down.  

I found this kit at TeachersPayTeachers, that I was able to collect materials for and tuck into a quiet place in my classroom.  If my student ever got to the frustrated or angry point on his thermometer, I would suggest a 5 minute break at the Calm Down Corner.

It has a short social story, and picture clues to describe how they are feeling.

Inside a Nicky's Folder, a list on the left describes how each breathing choice is done.  The pockets on the right have all the choices.  The student can make three choices and stick them to the velcro dots.  Then they do each breathing choice three times.

This is the calming fidgets page.  The student chooses three ways to calm themselves and stick them to the velcro dots.  Then they use a 5 minute timer to spend calming down. 


If the student needs to calm down because they have a problem, they can turn to this page in the folder to choose the way they want to solve it.  

Needless to say, these three items were NOT the solution to this poor child's woes.  Everyday was a struggle.  I was on high alert every moment of the day.  I couldn't leave him alone with anyone.  He genuinely scared my other students.  

But........ he was also charming, and sweet, and friendly, and smart, and quick-witted, and a wonderful person...... when he wasn't being that other child.  I'm sure you've had children like this before.  
It wasn't his fault his brain literally re-wired itself in order to survive the environment of his former home.  It wasn't our job to punish him for those awful behaviors.  It WAS our job to help give him healthy coping mechanisms that will help him be more successful in stressful situations.  

So after months of meetings, observations, behavior tracking, pull-outs, meltdowns, therapy, and evaluations, we were able to get him the help that he truly needed.  In the end, he was diagnosed with PTSD, SPD, and ADHD.  And amazing as it sounds, he made me a better teacher.  I learned new ways to approach a child that is having a "bad day"; ways to help them work through that badness and move towards healing the hurt.  


~Stacy






Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Battle of the Books - March Madness Style

 

Our wonderful librarian has put together a really fun way to expose our elementary kiddos to a lot of different books.  We got an email last week requesting 1 or 2 book titles that we have used in our classrooms, read to our own children, or loved while children ourselves! Then she pitted each book against another in a March Madness-style bracket.   

I think this is so cool!  
She knew we wouldn't have all of these titles in our own libraries, so she found YouTube links for each book and shared them with us.  She even developed a schedule of each round to keep us all on track.  Every couple of days, we read two books to our class and then vote on them.  The book with the most votes in the K-3 elementary, moves on to the next round.

Round 1
The Gruffalo vs.  No Matter What

Round 2
The Story of Ferdinand vs. Too Many Toys

Round 3
Click, Clack Moo Cows That Type vs. Arthur's Eyes

Round 4
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? vs. Little Blue Truck

Round 5
Dragons Love Tacos vs. Jubal's Wish

Round 6
The Book With No Pictures vs. Railroad John and the Red Rock Run

Round 7
Press Here vs. Pete the Cat's Rocking in My School Shoes

Round 8
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie vs. Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

  
I know which ones I would pick to go all the way........

~Stacy


Tuesday, March 8, 2022

March Bujo and New Products!

A new month means a new BUJO!

I went with a GREEN theme for tracking my habits.

And a little spot of yellow to track my happy days!
(H - happy, C - content, D - discouraged, A - angry, S - sad, T - tired)




And here are a couple new items added to my TpT store!


Enjoy!


~Stacy








 

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Unlock the Box - Valentines!

 

This year for our Valentine's Day party, my class did an Unlock the Box adventure.  This is part of Class with an Alligator's Unlock the Box Holiday Bundle.  

Unlock the Box is a cool classroom spin on Escape Rooms.  My partner teacher and I discovered this at a Raising Student Achievement Conference a few years ago.  Using some PTO money, we purchased this bundle and her standard Bundle, as well as a box and all the locks and latches we needed.  

For this challenge, the kids had to unlock a word lock, a number lock, a key lock, and a directional lock.  They're all looped through a hasp that holds the lid to the toolbox closed.

Working in either small groups or as a whole class, the kids are given four different activities that give them clues about how to open each lock.  

The key to the padlock was hidden behind a heart cutout.  The activity that had them practicing beginning consonant sounds led them to it.

Graphing was the name of this game!

The students were thinking about 10 More/10 Less and 100 More/100 Less to solve this puzzle.  

This clue told them use the path on the directional lock! (Down, Left, Down, Right, Down)

Once they've unlocked all of the locks, they get an Oh! So Sweet! reward!

This is such a fun way to practice 2nd grade skills.  The kids absolutely LOVED it!

~Stacy



Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Meet Lucas the Spider - Plus a Directed Drawing Activity!

 

Meet Lucas.
This adorable ball of fluff is the creation of Joshua Slice.  Amassing 3.61 MILLION subscribers on YouTube, Joshua has been sharing Lucas with us since 2017.  Voiced by Joshua's nephew, Lucas totally triggers my cute aggression reflex.  (It's a thing, look it up)  He even makes me *think* about hating spiders less...... 

Lucas is perfect for the classroom because he is so kind-hearted and gentle.  He just wants to be your friend.  This video is great to use during your back-to-school activities, or even as a refresher after a particularly tough day out on the playground.

He is also very musical.
I like to use these videos as time-fillers.  There are some good social-emotional lessons built in.  Many of Lucas's videos lend themselves to conversations about feelings, problem solving, and exploration.

There is even a Lucas the Spider Store!  So many cute items!

To add to the classroom fun with Lucas, I created this directed drawing page so your kiddos can draw their very own Lucas!!  Post this up on your projector or smartboard and watch the creativity flow!  If you plan to give each of your students their own, please note that this printable fits a 9x12 sheet of construction paper.  

Enjoy!

~Stacy









Wednesday, January 26, 2022

New Bujo!


I know bullet journals are nothing new..... but it is my new obsession!  I didn't get started until well into January, so MY bujo starts in February.  I cannot take credit for most of the designs.  Pinterest is a wonderful source for ideas. 
I arranged it by month, giving each month a certain number of pages for other tracking.  Then about mid-way through the journal, I added pages where I can track yearly activities like credit card payoff, cleaning schedules, and bigger items I am saving for.   

These are all the things I want to track for the entire month of February.  I'm really curious how often (or how little) I do each of these things.  If I see a trend I don't (or do) like, I can easily adjust and set goals for next month.

I read each night before I go to bed.  That means I really go through A LOT of books.  I even re-read many of my favorites.  I'll just write the title on the spines and I can easily track which books I read, and when.

My son was very curious about my Mayo Fund.  I have an empty mayo jar in my pantry that I stash emergency cash in.  I want to start building that fund, so my goal is to deposit at $20 a month with no withdrawals.  

I've discovered that my moods shift many times throughout the day.  This design I found at Life is Messy and Brilliant was perfect for what I wanted.  

Since one of my goals for February is to lose 5 pounds, I added this tracker.  Still can't decide what my reward should be..........

Here is a look at my new Cleaning Schedule I drew up today.  This tracker is in a different section of the journal, as it is something that will take longer than just February.  I really hope it helps me stay on track and reach my goal of keeping the house up. 🤞

~Stacy

Disclaimer:  I do not take credit for these designs.  
I copied them from various posts on Pinterest.
Enjoy!







 

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Memory Matching Game


  
Do you remember this game?  I used to play it ALL the time when I was a child.  Hours were spent making matches, mixing them up and starting all over again.  I LOVED this game! 

So, of course, when I became a teacher I found a way to use this game idea in my classroom.

Years ago, I made set of these matching memory games using those calendar cutout that used to be All. The. Rage.  Yes, I am that old.....
I made all kinds of sets: antonyms, synonyms, contractions, homophones, prefixes, suffixes, and compound words.  I even made Math-based sets: place value, money, time, 2- and 3-dimensional shapes.  Really, any topic can be used.  

These games are great for whole-class, small-group, or independent practice.  

So the other day, I discovered Krista Wallden's Food Pair Buds over at her TpT store, and decided it was time to give my Matching Memory cards a little......

GLOW UP!


Now I just need to find a better (aka cuter) way to store my new cards.  😏To the Dollar Tree!

If you would like your own set of these Oh, So Adorable Synonym Matching Memory cards, head on over to my TpT store and pick them up.  Also be sure to keep checking back as I work on updating my other memory sets and get them posted.

~Stacy