Reaching and Teaching the Wounded Child

1. Reaching and Teaching the Wounded Child Susan Kinneman, Ed. S. The Pinnacles Group Educational Consultants Dropout Prevention Specialists Laramie CSD1 Nov. 11, 2010 www.thepinnaclesgroup.com

2. Introductions • Who am I, and why am I doing this?How am I? 1-10?One frustration I have with this issue…Anything else you might need to know… • While I am doing this, Tell us your name, position, school where you are based • Name one frustration with helping students you know who are suffering from trauma, neglect, and abuse…

3. Introductions • Take five minutes to write your name, position, school where you are based, and e-mail on the note card provided • Describe one frustration with helping students you know who are suffering from trauma, neglect, and abuse…

4. Introductions • Who are you? • Tell us your name, position, school where you are based • On a scale of 1-10 how are you today? • Tell us anything else we need to know… • Turn in your note card

5. Purpose of this workshop • Review the ways trauma affects students • Discover greatest issues you and the district have with helping traumatized children learn. • Discuss ways to assist teachers to help and understand traumatized children. • Provide you with resources to continue your work. • Anything else?

6. Agenda • 12:30-2:00 • Introductions, housekeeping, etc. • Wyoming state statistics • Dropout Prevention Statistics and Information • Identification of the wounded child • Wounded by School • 2:00-2:10 • Break-Restroom, phone calls, snacks, etc. • Back in seat at 2:10 when lights flicker

7. Agenda • 2:10-3:20 • How external trauma affects academics, relationships and behavior in children • Power point and activities • 3:20-3:30-Finish up, answer questions, etc.

8. Agenda • 3:20-3:30- • Draw the winner of the free registration • Finish up, answer questions, etc. • Provide resources

9. Agenda • Rules of Engagement • Put name tent on its side when you want to share • Put phones on vibrate • Leave to use restroom when needed • Participate fully-be in the moment • Use parking garage when as appropriate • Anything else?

10. Agenda • My needs • A timer • A hander-outer/collector of stuff • A mood-monitor • Everything you see/hear will be available for you to access on a flash drive or on the school web site

11. Our Children in Wyoming Taken from the most recent Children’s Defense Fund Information November, 2008

12. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of middle school students who had ever been in a physical fight. Males: 66.4% Females: 39.7%

13. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had ever been in a physical fight in the last 12 months. Males: 39.7% Females: 21.6%

14. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of middle school students who had ever been bullied on school property. Males: 54.1% Females: 52.3%

15. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had ever been bullied on school property in the past 12 months. Males: 23.5% Females: 25.5%

16. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of middle school students who had ever seriously thought about committing suicide. Males: 16.8% Females: 25.7%

17. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had ever seriously thought about committing suicide in the last 12 months. Male: 13.6% Female: 21.2%

18. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of middle school students who had ever tried to kill themselves. Males: 6.2% Females: 9.5%

19. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had ever tried to commit suicide in the last 12 months. Male: 7.9% Female: 10.9%

20. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months. Not asked of middle schoolers Male: 19.2% Female: 35.3%

21. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to. Not asked of middle schoolers Male: 8.6% Female: 18.0%

22. WY Children’s Health & Safety(from 2009 Wyoming At Risk Behavior Survey) Percentage of high school students who had sexual intercourse for the first time before the age of 13. Not asked of middle schoolers Male: 8.8% Female: 3.0%

23. Dropout Prevention - WY 2008-2009 Number of dropouts disaggregated by grades 7-12 2008-2009 Number of dropouts disaggregated by race/ethnicity in grades 9-12

24. Dropout Prevention - WY 2008-09 Completion Rate (Reported rates are comparisons of completers to all exiters (dropouts + completers) from a four-year cohort of students. Completers receive any type of diploma or certificate. 2008-09 Graduation Rate (Graduates are regular diploma recipient.)

25. Dropout Prevention - WY

26. Dropout Prevention - Cheyenne

27. Your Beliefs-Laramie 1Special Services High Expectations: We believe students with disabilities can meet or exceed district expectations.Shared Responsibility:  We believe the measure of success must be based on the learning of all students.  We believe everybody who interacts with students has the shared responsibility to positively impact their lives.

28. Your Beliefs-Laramie 1Special Services Maximizing Learning Opportunities:  We believe in results-oriented instruction focused on continuous learning for all students and staff.  We believe the learning of all students will be maximized by making data driven decisions.Human Connection:  We believe in modeling what we expect from others.  We believe in treating everyone with dignity and mutual respect.  We believe in developing positive relationships with every student, parent. staff and member of the community.

29. Your Beliefs-Laramie 1Special Services How do you know stakeholders are fulfilling the following: We believe everybody who interacts with students has the shared responsibility to positively impact their lives. What data do you use to make data driven decisions? How do you measure whether or not “We believe in treating everyone with dignity and mutual respect.” is truly happening?

30. The dilemma You are caring humans who have a passion for the students in your schools who are wounded, traumatized, unable to cope, unable to learn, unable to form relationships, unable to thrive in the classroom. You are the experts in therapy, identification, and counseling. The teachers are the experts in instruction, curriculum, assessment, and classroom management.

31. The dilemma Yet, you are not teachers, you can’t be in every classroom. And these young people MUST go to school, this school, or else…

32. Identifying the Wounded Student • Outward appearance shows no wounds • Internal wounds are identified by behaviors, not physically.

33. Identifying the Wounded Student • Outward appearances (usually) show no definite characteristics-teachers don’t know which students have been traumatized and which ones haven’t been. They only see the inappropriate behavior or the inability to thrive.

34. Effective Processes • When are you brought in to the picture to assist in the identification of possible trauma that is causing learning and behavior difficulties? • Describe the process in your school and your satisfaction level.

35. Effective Processes • Small Group Discussion (10 minutes) • List the ways your expertise is used (in the context of identification of a child who has been wounded, neglected, traumatized, and/or abused). • Share with large group-record on flip chart paper • Before break, place a red dot on the most effective

36. Some Students Have BeenWounded by School • Frequently moved from school to school with poor transitions for new students • Labeled as “less than” academically (especially students with IEPs) • Have experienced humiliation in a variety of ways and for many reasons-academics, physical characteristics, popularity, social class-in the school setting

37. Some Students Have BeenWounded by School • Have been bullied by those in authority • Have frequently been singled out as being “less than,” “wrong,” or not “capable” • Have not been protected by those who should protect them

38. Some Students Have BeenWounded by School • Loss of pleasure in learning • Belief that they are not smart-especially LD • Re-live the painful, burning memories of shaming experiences • Exhibit chronic, habitual anger toward teachers and those in authority • Low appetite for risk-taking academically and in other areas (“I don’t care”) • Over-attachment for the “right” answers

39. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals?

40. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Report the bullies! • Help me understand why a counselor, who is aware of serious bullying on the part of a teacher, feels it’s not his/her obligation to take it to the next level?

41. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Bring pleasure back into learning • Assist in finding ways to celebrate all student achievements

42. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Avoid labeling • Provide teachers with alternatives to “sending them to the resource room” as a way to exclude them • Insist on confidentiality-reinforce with whatever it takes • Ensure that teachers/principals understand the seriousness of the behavior plan and that it is followed

43. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Help students regain the belief they can learn • Are teachers allowing students to have some choice in their topics, their method of learning, their method of showing what they have learned?

44. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Understand the deep wounds of shame • Raise your hand if you remember a shameful incident from school. • Can you even tell a colleague sitting next to you about a “shameful” incident that happened in your early schooling?

45. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Understand the deep wounds of shame • Might “fear of shame” prevent a student from sharing, reciting, participating, risking making a mistake? • Might “fear of shame” cause a rise in a student’s anxiety level triggering negative behaviors?

46. Wounded by School What can do to you help teachers and principals? • Understand hostility and anger is directed towards the system, not at them • How often do you witness teachers reducing themselves to the maturity level of their traumatized student by “engaging” in a power struggle? • Remind them that one of them is an adult, the other is an adolescent. Do you all know a “moody b^&*(“?

47. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Take small steps when involving risk • Encourage teachers to break down large assignments into small “bites” • Allow students to choose their own “due dates” within certain parameters • Allow students to “opt out” in certain circumstances-providing them with an alternative to the risky behavior

48. Wounded by School What can you do to help teachers and principals? • Less emphasis on “correctness” more on “learning” As a new teacher I thought the more I wrote all over the paper (in red), the better teacher I was–I’m so embarrassed

49. Understanding-not punishment • It’s best for teacher to understand thattheyCAN’T understand where many students are coming from. • Often teachers will view the students through their own histories and tell students they know how they feel. • Wounded children are very sensitive to feelings of judgment by others. • Serious reluctance to turn in homework allowing another to “judge” them.

50. Understanding-not punishment • Wounded children have low self-esteem and poor relationships. • Inappropriate discipline will reinforce those beliefs. • As a school, concentrate on delivering meaningful, consistent, and clear consequences that make sense. • Sometimes the “canned” programs do make sense.