Visual Art in the classroom
Meditation, mindfulness and Yoga
Physical movement breaks, literacy and activity
Virtual reality
Video games
Trauma is particularly challenging for educators to address because kids often don’t express the distress they’re feeling in a way that’s easily recognizable — and they may mask their pain with behavior that’s aggressive or off-putting. As Nancy Rappaport, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who focuses on mental health issues in schools, puts it, “They are masters at making sure you do not see them bleed.”
Identifying the symptoms of trauma in the children can help educators understand these confusing behaviors.
In brief, the obstacles to learning experienced by these children include:
How Trauma Affects Kids in School by the Child Mind Institute.Miller, C. (n.d.). How Trauma Affects Kids in School. The Child Mind Institute.
James, A. (2015). Classroom management strategies. In Teaching the male brain (pp. 178-194). Thousand Oaks,, CA: Corwin doi: 10.4135/9781483393407.n12
Reichert, Michael & Hawley, Richard. (2010). Reaching Boys: An International Study of Effective Teaching Practices. Phi Delta Kappan. 91. 35-40. 10.1177/003172171009100408.