Addressing the needs of the whole child (competency, relationships, self regulation and health/well being)  in a trauma sensitive manner  requires  a three pronged approach,  trauma sensitive whole school and classroom practices as well as trauma sensitive individual student supports.

• Regulation of Emotion Supports 

  • Maintain a calm voice and demeanor 

  • Be aware of student body language 

  • Teach self awareness-Recognize and gauge emotional state (Visual as well as verbal)  

  • Teach vocabulary for discussing feelings 

  • Teach affect modulation/Calming 

  • Response examples for social situations 

  • Identify trigger situations 

  • Provide a safe space to express emotions 

  • Breaks and calming techniques 

  • AVOID: Trivializing student feelings and Engaging in a power struggle 

• Regulation of Behavior 

  • Develop student’s self awareness 

  • Clear and consistent expectations and consequences 

  • Provide student with strategies and a plan that rewards using strategies 

  • Provide vocabulary for talking about feelings 

  • Offer limited number of choices 

  • Quiet or “Chill” zone for student to calm down 

  • Scheduled breaks-Physical activity (Walks, etc.) 

  • Use school resources to develop student social skills 

  • Debrief incidents as a learning tool 

  • Clean Slate-When the structured/expected response to the student’s behavior is complete, the “Slate is wiped clean” ; like hitting the reset button 

  • AVOID: Raising your voice, engaging in the power struggle; Embarrassing the child in front of the class 

• Student Self Awareness 

  • Recognizing bodily sensations as emotional indicators.   

  • Having an emotional vocabulary. Communicating feelings. 

  • Coping with arousal level. 

  • Teach child to be self aware of the level 

  • Containing it to allow child to focus 

  • Managing it, to avoid hair trigger actions 

  • Managing it, to avoid shut down 

  • Learning to recognize triggers; minimizing them, managing a response to them 

  • Recognizing emotional cues in others. 

  • Making appropriate behavioral choices based on emotional state. 

  • We are aware bulletin board-  Stems to complete such as “I like myself because... 

  • Formal curriculum-Second Step, Social Thinking, Collaborative Problem Solving, Zones of Regulation, Others