Chapter 3: Defusing Explosive Behavioral Outbursts
Discussion Points
The second whole group session explores chapters 3 and 4 in the book. Veteran teachers are well-experienced at avoiding triggers for misbehaviors, as this skill tends to be honed during the first three or four years of teaching. While noting the value of teaching experience here, the facilitator should quickly go through the teaching tips presented in the chapter, while asking the teachers for additional ideas, and adding these to the Good Idea board, particularly if specific teachers utilize a particular idea. Also, the first video below, Fall-Hamilton Elementary: Transitioning to trauma-Informed Practices to Support Learning, may be viewed during the session as a basis for discussion of the overall goals of the school. The facilitator may wish to have one or two teachers review the suggested strategies presented below as Additional Resources, and then describe those briefly to the whole group.
Recommended Videos
Fall-Hamilton Elementary: Transitioning to Trauma-Informed Practices to Support Learning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iydalwamBtg
This video shows a single school in Nashville, TN which follows both teachers and children as they become trauma informed. Strategies such as “peach corners,” “check-in/check-out daily goals,” and “classroom color and lighting” are explained as one way to increase the peacefulness in school.
Educational lmpact: Creating a Trauma-Informed School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MvueCKD210
This video presents a trauma training program by Educational lmpact that shows how student misbehavior can be managed through trauma-informed disciplinary strategies.
This video shows a single school in Nashville, TN which follows both teachers and children as they become trauma informed. Strategies such as “peach corners,” “check-in/check-out daily goals,” and “classroom color and lighting” are explained as one way to increase the peacefulness in school.
Educational lmpact: Creating a Trauma-Informed School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MvueCKD210
This video presents a trauma training program by Educational lmpact that shows how student misbehavior can be managed through trauma-informed disciplinary strategies.
Additional Resources
These suggestions are adapted from: Statman-Weil, K. (2015). Creating trauma sensitive classrooms. Retrieved on 9/23/23 from:
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2015/trauma-sensitive-classrooms
_____Create and maintain consistent daily routines for the classroom. Stability helps children understand that the world can be a safe place. They feel empowered when they know the order of events and how they will be carried out. For example, placing a visual calendar on a wall or creating a book with images outlining the daily schedule for the library center can help children exposed to trauma feel more in control of their experiences. _____Tell children when something out of the ordinary is going to occur. The smallest unexpected event—such as a loud noise or a visit from an outsider—can trigger a behavioral outburst, or even remind a student of trauma and thus trigger that child’s stress responses. It is important to try to mitigate the fear and uncertainty that often come with unexpected changes. For example, during a study of trees a teacher might invite a park ranger to talk to the children. Three days before the park ranger’s visit, the teachers should hold a class meeting to discuss the upcoming visit and answer the children’s questions about the ranger. The teachers could let the children express their feelings and concerns about a stranger coming into the classroom. By the time the ranger arrives, the children have agreed on how they will introduce themselves to their guest and some of the questions they will ask. This helps children exposed to trauma feel less fearful of the new person and allows them to grapple with some of their fears outside of the trauma scenario. _____Offer children developmentally appropriate choices. Traumatic events often involve loss of control. Empowering children to have ownership of their behaviors and interests by giving them choices about things like where they want to sit at lunch or which songs to sing at circle time can help build healthy self-esteem. _____Anticipate difficult transitions and offer extra support during these times. Many different situations can remind children of their traumas, but your support can help to alleviate their responses. _____Use techniques to support children’s self-control/self-regulation. Introducing breathing activities, such as mindfulness (discussed in a later chapter), helps children self-regulate. Starting off each day with a special breathing ritual gives them the strategy they need to pay attention and to modify their breaths when they are stressed. _____Be nurturing and affectionate but also sensitive to children’s individual triggers. A child’s history of abuse causes can cause the child to feel anxious and confused when there is any physical contact. Being physically close to young children can reassure them, but with children exposed to trauma, a good rule of thumb is to be physically affectionate only when the child seeks and expects it. _____Use positive guidance to help all children understand how their actions impact others. Strive to create supportive interventions to guide children to appropriate activities. For example, when a student exposed to trauma gets angry and rips up his classmate’s artwork, the teacher should help the student understand that his actions upset others in the class. This enables student exposed to trauma connect his or her actions to a peer’s feelings.
_____Create and maintain consistent daily routines for the classroom. Stability helps children understand that the world can be a safe place. They feel empowered when they know the order of events and how they will be carried out. For example, placing a visual calendar on a wall or creating a book with images outlining the daily schedule for the library center can help children exposed to trauma feel more in control of their experiences. _____Tell children when something out of the ordinary is going to occur. The smallest unexpected event—such as a loud noise or a visit from an outsider—can trigger a behavioral outburst, or even remind a student of trauma and thus trigger that child’s stress responses. It is important to try to mitigate the fear and uncertainty that often come with unexpected changes. For example, during a study of trees a teacher might invite a park ranger to talk to the children. Three days before the park ranger’s visit, the teachers should hold a class meeting to discuss the upcoming visit and answer the children’s questions about the ranger. The teachers could let the children express their feelings and concerns about a stranger coming into the classroom. By the time the ranger arrives, the children have agreed on how they will introduce themselves to their guest and some of the questions they will ask. This helps children exposed to trauma feel less fearful of the new person and allows them to grapple with some of their fears outside of the trauma scenario. _____Offer children developmentally appropriate choices. Traumatic events often involve loss of control. Empowering children to have ownership of their behaviors and interests by giving them choices about things like where they want to sit at lunch or which songs to sing at circle time can help build healthy self-esteem. _____Anticipate difficult transitions and offer extra support during these times. Many different situations can remind children of their traumas, but your support can help to alleviate their responses. _____Use techniques to support children’s self-control/self-regulation. Introducing breathing activities, such as mindfulness (discussed in a later chapter), helps children self-regulate. Starting off each day with a special breathing ritual gives them the strategy they need to pay attention and to modify their breaths when they are stressed. _____Be nurturing and affectionate but also sensitive to children’s individual triggers. A child’s history of abuse causes can cause the child to feel anxious and confused when there is any physical contact. Being physically close to young children can reassure them, but with children exposed to trauma, a good rule of thumb is to be physically affectionate only when the child seeks and expects it. _____Use positive guidance to help all children understand how their actions impact others. Strive to create supportive interventions to guide children to appropriate activities. For example, when a student exposed to trauma gets angry and rips up his classmate’s artwork, the teacher should help the student understand that his actions upset others in the class. This enables student exposed to trauma connect his or her actions to a peer’s feelings.