Chapter 2: Classroom Basics for Students Exposed to Trauma
Discussion Points
Videos are recommended for each chapter, but typically, these may be watched independently by teachers in preparation for the session. However, with that noted, the first video below (How Trauma and PTSD Change the Brain) makes a great background for understanding trauma and it is time well spent to view this video together as a faculty during the first training session (remember that chapters one and two are the focus of training session one), with a brief discussion of the video to follow.
Recommended Videos
How Trauma and PTSD Change the Brain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdUR69j2u6c
This 11 minute video discusses changes in the brain resulting from trauma, and identifies four ways trauma impacts the brain, including increased threat seeking in the amygdala, shrinkage of the hippocampus, shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex (the smart part), and increased stress hormones throughout the broader nervous system. This is the exact manifestation of PTSD. The video ends discussing how brains can heal themselves from trauma and mentions several of the strategies described in later chapters. Educators should watch this video and then read Box 2.4 and discuss these together.
Office for Victims of Crime: Children, Violence, And Trauma—Interventions in School: https://youtube.com/watch?v=49GzqPP7YYk
This video discusses trauma training in schools with educators at a number of schools in the US. This training is based on CBITS: Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools, which is a 10-week intervention for individual and group sessions on making trauma bearable (e.g., relaxation strategies, ways to cope with anxiety, problem-solving skills).
Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Why We Need Trauma-Sensitive Schools: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=vyQdOL16d2c
This video discusses how home-based trauma can be addressed in the school setting for immigrant children.
This 11 minute video discusses changes in the brain resulting from trauma, and identifies four ways trauma impacts the brain, including increased threat seeking in the amygdala, shrinkage of the hippocampus, shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex (the smart part), and increased stress hormones throughout the broader nervous system. This is the exact manifestation of PTSD. The video ends discussing how brains can heal themselves from trauma and mentions several of the strategies described in later chapters. Educators should watch this video and then read Box 2.4 and discuss these together.
Office for Victims of Crime: Children, Violence, And Trauma—Interventions in School: https://youtube.com/watch?v=49GzqPP7YYk
This video discusses trauma training in schools with educators at a number of schools in the US. This training is based on CBITS: Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools, which is a 10-week intervention for individual and group sessions on making trauma bearable (e.g., relaxation strategies, ways to cope with anxiety, problem-solving skills).
Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Why We Need Trauma-Sensitive Schools: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=vyQdOL16d2c
This video discusses how home-based trauma can be addressed in the school setting for immigrant children.
Additional Resources
https://dpi.wi.gov/sspw/mental-health/trauma
This website from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides a list of resources on childhood trauma.
This website from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides a list of resources on childhood trauma.