Ready, Set, Shift

More often than not, educators find themselves discovering a child's trauma after a discipline referral or academic failure because the process in place is reactive rather than proactive.

~Rhonda Neal Waltman

I was overwhelmed by the feedback I received from teachers throughout our district following the presentations by our guest speakers on Friday. So many teachers expressed an interest to hear more, learn more. I was asked if they could come back for a full day. I was asked if we could start doing book studies. I was asked what we are going to do next. It was awesome to see so many educators get so fired up about a topic, especially because a portion of the message challenges how we currently do some things, which normally isn't so easily embraced. I think it speaks to the universality of what we have all been seeing. We may not have had the language to describe it, but we could feel that something wasn't working and that there was some understanding beyond our reach. The message on Friday hit home because it made sense of things that have been frustrating us for years.

One of the things that struck me as I listened, particularly in the second session, is that what we are looking at in terms of trauma-informed practices is more about a massive mindset shift than it is a massive shift in policies. It isn't about restructuring the school so much as it is about restructuring the way we interact with challenging students. I feel like the desire to make that shift exists in our building, which speaks very highly of the kind of educators we have. 

I look forward to more conversations and reaching a greater understanding along with all of you over the coming months and years. I plan to do a voluntary book study over the coming weeks, so I will be getting that information out soon. I am very excited about what we are going to be doing for kids in the very near future.