In the United States, at least one in four youth experiences trauma severe enough to negatively affect their school success.* Give hope and help to these students with this reader-friendly how-to guide, your springboard for building responsive, trauma-sensitive preK-12 schools.

Drawing on her extensive experience as a school counselor, trainer, and mother, trauma expert Jen Alexander delivers a comprehensive framework for building a safe, supportive school environment that helps all students learn and thrive. You'll start with an evidence-based introduction to the profound impact of trauma on a child's development, attachment, and behavior. Then you'll get an effective multi-tier system of support (MTSS) for developing a trauma-sensitive learning environment, including both universal strategies (Tier 1) and more intensive interventions (Tier 2 and Tier 3) for students who need more support. Compelling anecdotes and sample scripts illuminate challenges and solutions, and the included forms and worksheets are valuable tools for helping educators build the mindset and skills necessary for becoming trauma-sensitive. With this engaging, highly practical guide to what works and why, your school team will gain insights and develop action plans that make a real difference in the lives of all kids, including our most vulnerable youth.

• make five key shifts in the way you view and approach students, so that you (TM)re better equipped to support them
• work together to prioritize resilience by actively putting relationships first in your school
• implement universal instructional strategies that foster safety, connection, regulation, and learning for all students
• use special supports, supplemental instruction, and coaching when universal strategies aren't enough
• collaborate effectively with families and colleagues to meet each student's needs
• incorporate restorative discipline practices that focus on restitution, not retribution
• create a personalized self-care plan to promote wellness and reduce the effects of job-related stress

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Creative activities for teachers, powerful case stories, sample dialogues and scripts for educators and counselors, reflection and brainstorming worksheets, downloadable forms, and templates and handouts for use with students.

• Feel safe
• Be connected
• Get regulated
• Learn

Discover the NEW ebook from Jen Alexander: Supporting Students and Staff After COVID-19

* National Child Traumatic Stress Network Schools Committee, 2008

The physical environment of a classroom has a powerful impact on learning and well-being--especially for students who have experienced trauma. Part of an essential new series of laminated quick guides for educators, this is your concise, practical introduction to creating a safe and supportive physical environment using a trauma-informed lens.

Authors Jen Alexander and Anna Paravano, experienced educators, and experts on trauma-sensitive schools, guide you through this critical topic in a friendly, warm, and personal style. Together, they'll show you how to create a physical classroom environment that strengthens felt safety and security for everyone, decreases behavior problems, diminishes the load on the body's stress response systems, and focuses attention--improving readiness for both teaching and learning. You'll learn how to develop a trauma-sensitive environment by:

• Setting up classroom spaces that are inviting, predictable yet flexible, and encourage choice and developmentally appropriate agency
• Establishing safe places that each student (and staff member) can call their own
• Using color as a tool to foster regulation and readiness for learning
• Defining focal points that engage students without overwhelming them
• Incorporating touchstones that help everyone feel anchored and be connected

PRACTICAL DOWNLOADS INCLUDED! 8 downloads expand on the tips in this quick guide and help you take action. With these interactive printables, you'll answer guided questions about setup in your school space, outline a solid plan for improving your learning environment, record specific ideas about your furniture and lighting, and more!

About the Series: Quick Guides for Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools

Practical, friendly, and immediately useful, this series of laminated quick guides addresses the essentials of building trauma-sensitive schools--safety, connection, regulation, and learning. Jen Alexander has collaborated with experts around the globe to bring educators tips, strategies, and activities they can apply right away in their classroom and school. Each guide in the series also includes downloadable lesson plans and exercises that educators can use to take action. Equally useful for experienced trauma-sensitive educators or those just getting started, these quick guides will help school staff create environments that support every person's well-being and learning.

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Students who experience trauma may have ongoing difficulties with executive function skills--including working memory, a skill that's foundational to attention, focus, and school success. Part of an essential new series of laminated quick guides for preK-12 educators, this is your concise, practical introduction to supporting students who struggle with working memory.

Jen Alexander and Jennifer Dickey, educators and experts on trauma-sensitive schools, guide you through this important topic in a friendly, warm, and personal style. They'll give you the insight you need to understand your students' needs, plus practical guidance, tools, and real-world ideas you can use right away to support working memory and set every learner up for success. Inside this quick guide, you'll:

• Review how working memory functions and the role it plays in academic achievement
• Learn how to recognize working memory challenges in your students
• Adjust the way you think about and talk to students who struggle with working memory
• Get specific tips, strategies, and tools to support your students' working memory

PRACTICAL DOWNLOADS INCLUDED! 10 interactive downloads--including exercises, lesson plans, games, conversation prompts, and student supports--expand on the tips in this quick guide and help you apply your learning.

About the Series: Quick Guides for Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools

Practical, friendly, and immediately useful, this series of laminated quick guides addresses the essentials of building trauma-sensitive schools--safety, connection, regulation, and learning. Jen Alexander has collaborated with experts around the globe to bring educators tips, strategies, and activities they can apply right away in their classroom and school. Each guide in the series also includes downloadable lesson plans and exercises that educators can use to take action. Equally useful for experienced trauma-sensitive educators or those just getting started, these quick guides will help school staff create environments that support every person's well-being and learning.

Trauma-sensitive education is essential to staff and students' health, social-emotional well-being, and readiness for teaching and learning. Discover what every trauma-sensitive educator needs to know in this asynchronous virtual course from Jen Alexander: experienced educator, nationally recognized trauma expert, bestselling author, and popular teacher educator.

Consisting of nine online modules and a printed companion workbook, this unique professional development opportunity will show educators what they can do to help create safe, supportive learning environments. School staff will work through engaging lessons on these key topics:

• The role of the trauma-sensitive educator
• What every trauma-sensitive educator needs to know
• Understanding collective stress and trauma
• Using the four essentials within their role to help build a trauma-sensitive school
• The importance of boundaries

Attendees will love the easy, friendly format of this on-demand course: lessons include learning objectives, video instruction from Ms. Jen, guided questions and activities, next-steps documents, and end-of-lesson quizzes that help attendees show what they learned. The companion workbook includes 20+ activities, key definitions, discussion questions, and space to collect notes and capture ideas as you create your own trauma-sensitive action plan.

Packed with practical and actionable knowledge, skills, and strategies, this online course is an important first step toward meeting the needs of all students and helping them learn and thrive.

WHY THIS COURSE?

• Offers in-depth guidance on a critical topic. Every educator needs to know how trauma affects safety, health, and learning--and how to support students as well as colleagues. This course gathers all that information in one place.
• Fits into busy schedules. This asynchronous, on-demand course is a perfect fit for lifelong learners who are short on time and want to work at their own pace.
• Delivers expert strategies and insights. Led by Ms. Jen, a trauma expert who works with districts, schools, and educators nationwide, the course also features more than 20 videos from teachers who share their real-world experiences and insights.
• Helps attendees make an action plan. Lessons align with the included course workbook, where attendees can take notes for later reference, complete activities to reinforce their learning, and draft a solid plan for bringing strategies back to their school or classroom.
• Ensures that teams access the same professional learning. Individual educators can take the course to improve their own practice, and entire teams can take it too. And you can welcome new team members later with the same learning!