Mindfulness Matter June 12th

What we will learn today: Trauma Informed Support Building Positive Relationships Levels of Engagement Curriculum

Trauma Informed Support

“It’s not what’s wrong with you, it’s What has happened to you”? Definition: Trauma is any event that undermines a child’s sense of physical or emotional safety or poses a threat to the safety of the child’s parents or caregivers TED Talk After I give the definition of trauma, I can have tables or partners brainstorm anything they think would be considered trauma

What can it be? Difficult Pregnancy Adoption Early Medical Trauma Abandonment Neglect Divorce Prenatal Exposure Foster Care Death Make a note taking spot here

What does it affect? Neural Pathways: a series of neurons connected together to enable a signal to be sent from one region of the brain to another Made by repetition The more you practice something, the harder it will be laid out (ex. Bike path) Some are created over time….. Some are created very quickly….. Positive OR negative When solid pathways are formed, we no longer have to think about our responses. Trauma - scattered pathways, firmly created based on negative experiences

Good News

Positive Relationships

Building Positive Relationships First you have to have a relationship to build a relationship Smile Find their interests Non-school discussion Private redirection AND private praise

2. Healing Environment Adults aware of voice tone, facial expressions, and touch Make eye contact Use accidental touch Provide predictable schedule Give students a sense of self-efficacy Share power Fill their bucket with “YES”

3. Ritual vs. novelty Ritual: Novelty: Consistent Predictable Safety Movement Engagement Focuses Attention Ritual: consistency, predictability, safety Novelty: movement, engagement, focuses attention

4. Levels of Development Levels of Development Level 1: Social Level 2: Emotional Level 3: Ethical Level 4: Cognitive Level 5: Physical Ability to interact with you Ability to exhibit my feelings appropriately Ability to know right and wrong Intelligence level Chronological Age Can I get along with you? Can I hold it together? Do I do the right thing? Do I understand? How old am I?

5. Upper brain vs. lower brain Upper Brain responds and our lower brain reacts During a crisis our lower brain is working Ignore the words Not the time to teach Give child time and space to regulate

Levels of Engagement

Playful Engagement: Level 1 Redirect the child without breaking stride “Would you like to try that again with respect?” OR “You know I can’t hear your words when you use that voice” in a playful/non-threatening tone Reduces misbehavior over time by strengthening the relationship and establishing expectations

Structured Engagement: Level 2 Pause the situation Use behavioral “re-dos” to help the child learn expectations and feel success Remember, we are building those neural pathways!!!! Offer two choices Provide compromise ** This takes time - plan for it and make it a priority!

Calming Engagement: Level 3 Allow the child to regulate External regulation Co-regulation Self-regulation Create a predetermined “cool down zone” or “safe spot” for students to go when they feel overwhelmed This is not a punishment. This is a time/place to regulate Calm Kits Breathing timer External: Swaying, deep compressions, singing, rub their head, feeding Co-Regulation: breathing with them, teaching then how to calm down Self-Regulation: Using cool down spot, do breathing on their own Share breathing sheet and do some examples

Calm Down Areas

Activity Split into groups of 3 Assign Levels of engagement Group 1: Playful Engagement Group 2: Structured Engagement Group 3: Calming Engagement 3. Create a T-Chart of what each level is and is not

What We Use

Curriculum The MindUp Curriculum https://mindup.org/ Mindful Classroom By: James Butler M.ED http://mindfulclassrooms.com/

Zones of Regulation

Putting It All Together Warm Up Song Zones of Regulation Mindfulness Breathing Seeing Hearing Eating Stretching Words of Affirmation Putting It All Together Morning Routine

Karyn Purvis Institute @ TCU Dan St. Romain http://danstromain.com/ Dr. Barbara Sorrels http://www.drbarbarasorrels.com/ Karyn Purvis Institute @ TCU https://child.tcu.edu/#sthash.rwPChUon.dpbs James Butler M.ED http://mindfulclassrooms.com/ Shout Outs