Participants will learn the definition of trauma and how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact children and their brains. Participants will gain a better understanding of how a child’s brain responds to ACEs by creating a fight, flight or freeze response and how these responses become behaviors they can observe that may indicate a student is experiencing this type of response, which traditionally may appear to be defiance, avoidance or lack of motivation. Participants will learn to ask “what happened to you” rather than “what’s wrong with you” when exploring behavioral issues in the classroom and school setting. By taking a trauma sensitive mindset, participants will develop skills to approach students with positive behavior supports that are sensitive to potential traumatic history, which will decrease disruptive behaviors in the classroom and improve academics.
