I Was a Starfish

I Was a Starfish

     It was September of 1968. I had just started second grade a month prior. Life, as we knew it was about to be turned completely upside down.  There was a knock on the door and there stood two uniformed Air Force officers.  My father had become a casualty of the Vietnam War.

     He was returning from a reconnaissance mission to an airfield in Ubon, Thailand when his fighter jet crashed, just three miles short of the runway.  He was trained to fly B-52 Bombers.  No one knows why he was flying a fighter jet that night.  The co-pilot ejected and lived.  I had just turned seven.  My brother was 5.

     To understand the mind of a seven year-old is a challenge.  I reacted by not wanting to go to school. I can remember hiding under the dining room table of the duplex we were living in.  I was afraid to go to school because my father had died while I was at school and I didn’t want my mother to die while I was at school.  That’s how my little brain was processing this tragedy.

     Enter Maxine Moore and Louise Shuman, second grade teacher and elementary guidance counselor, respectively.  These two women helped me get back in to the school routine, going above and beyond for this little starfish!  Mrs. Moore would greet me at the door and whisk me away to her classroom where she had “jobs” waiting for me.  We would talk while I passed out papers, fed the fish, or sharpened pencils.  Gradually, through the compassion of these two women, I began to feel less afraid. 

     But, wait!!  The story doesn’t stop there!  Mrs. Moore and I stayed in contact with each other, even after my mom remarried and we moved two hours away!  When I moved back to the city I’d been living in during second grade, to attend college, guess who was my biggest cheerleader?  You guessed it!  Mrs. Moore!  Her home was my “safe place” when college became overwhelming.  I’d go there to study, to talk about trends in education, even for Sunday dinner!

     Mrs. Moore lived to be 102!  I’m convinced that there were other “starfish” that also benefited from her love and compassion.  I will be forever thankful for her love and compassion for this little starfish!  She is the biggest reason I became a teacher, too!

 

                                      

This Speaks to My Heart

This Speaks to My Heart

     For Christmas I received two educational books about the trauma-informed schools approach to student learning.  The first was from the amazing Jim Sporleder.  It’s title: “The Trauma-Informed School-A Step-by-Step Guide for Administrators and School Personnel.”  I just might be a bit over the moon that Mr. Sporleder autographed it for me!!  The other is “Help for Billy” by Heather Forbes, LCSW.  Both books have so much to share and have given a name, understanding, and value to something I have always believed about education.

     First of all, most students who misbehave do so because to them, it is something their brains have been wired to do, coming from a trauma-filled home environment.  Ms Forbes shows that research now indicates that children’s developing brains are even being wired for responses to trauma, during it’s structural development.  Children can’t help it.  Their brain drives behavior.         

    

As Mr. Sporleder says, “You won’t have 100% success, but you can love all of your students 100% unconditionally.”

     It is important to create a family climate in your classroom.  Be fair, firm, and consistent.  Develop relationships with your students, not just the “easy” ones.  ALL.OF.THEM. 

     It is more and more important that we, as teachers, address childhood trauma in the classroom. Jane Ellen Stevens, the editor of ACESTooHigh, and founder and publisher of the ACEs Connection Network, which comprises ACEsTooHigh.com and its companion social network, ACEsConnection.com., states that there is now evidence linking childhood trauma and early onset of adults with chronic disease, mental illness, time in prison, and work issues. In a nutshell, we must not ask students to all fit into the school culture because it is no longer working.  We need to change the school culture to fit the students.  Instead of expelling students, we need to keep them in school, show them that they matter and that we care about them.  It is about creating a place where children feel safe and loved.

     Something that I’ve always believed, in my 33 years of teaching, is that children who are hungry, who are scared, who are angry, who are sad, come to school being unable to learn.  As teachers, we need to address those needs before we can ever start teaching them the academic and school social expectations pieces.  It is up to us, not some program, to change how we do things for the betterment of the students who walk through our classroom doors each and every day.

Peace, Part II

PEACE

Part II

Philippians 4:7King James Version (KJV)

⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This is where my #OneWord journey will begin.  I am looking to God for peace in the things I do not understand.

Jeremiah 29:11-13New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
     If He knows the plans for my life, then who am I to question those plans?  “Everything happens for a reason.”  I need to have PEACE in respecting that reason and believing that everything will turn out as it should and was scripted by God.
     There are so many unknowns in this crazy world.  I could chose to stress about them or I can choose to believe that everything will work out the way it should.
     These things I do know:

·       My marriage is stronger than it’s ever been.

·       We have three amazing children who have found their own passions.

·       We have a gorgeous granddaughter who is smart as a whip!

·       I am happier than I have ever been in my teaching career.

·       I work with an outstanding group of caring and compassionate individuals.

·       I have a close circle of friends and we have each other’s backs!

That being said, there are some things going on, professionally, that I do not have control over.  This is why I’ve chose PEACE as my #OneWord.  I need to be at PEACE and trust the journey.  I know that I am going to need to continue revisiting this post along the journey and digging deeper to find that PEACE for things I do not understand.

#OneWord

#OneWord

     I have made the decision to be a part of #oneword for the upcoming year.  The word I have chose to pursue, study, and to have as my mantra is “peace.”  My choice was very God-given!  When I read about this fairly new idea, the word came to me almost immediately.  I didn’t really have to think about it at all!

     There is so much in the world that is unknown, and that, quite frankly, I have no personal control over.  I could stress over it all or I could trust the journey.  I’m choosing to trust the journey.  For I know what I have planned for you,' says the LORD. 'I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.

     Here’s what you need to do to choose your word:  pick your word, then go to this link and enter it.  http://getoneword.com/

More to come...

 

My "Why"

My “Why”

     Backstory:  A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from one of the first students I had in kindergarten when moving to our current community.  It was so touching that I literally cried!  I contacted the student’s teacher and asked when their class goes to lunch, so I could surprise this student.  Working with her mom, I learned that her grandmother is in hospice.   Her mom called my previous school to give me permission to come at lunch.

     I walked into the lunchroom.  The class wasn’t there yet.  However, my last kindergarten class, now second graders, was.  I was greeted with lots of “Mrs. Jenkins!!” and one particular little girl jumped up from her seat and into my arms!  She said, “I thought you forgot about us!”  With tears in my eyes, I told her, “Never!”

     By this time, the sixth grade students had begun filing in.  I didn’t see my letter-writing friend, so I asked her teacher where she was.  Her teacher pointed to the lunch-from-home table.  As I walked over, she didn’t see me coming.  I sat down next to her.  She turned, her mouth dropped open, and she threw her arms around my neck and started crying!  Other students that I’d had in kindergarten came over and were giving me hugs and high-fives.  The whole time the young lady held on for dear life! 

     Friends!  This is my “why!”  This is why I do what I do and love what I do.  It’s about making a difference in the lives of my students!  When I needed that reminder the most, God provided it with all the love I was able to feel in that school cafeteria.  Lunch was supposed to be about the young lady.  However, my bucket was filled, as well!  I am so blessed!

Being Trauma-Informed

     It is rare, so very rare, when you hear someone speak and what he has to say touches your very soul.  I was blessed to have this experience Thursday, October 12^th, right here in Hutchinson, Kansas!  I didn’t even need to leave town.

     We were honored to have Mr. Jim Sporleder speak to the public.  Mr. Sporleder is a retired principal from Walla Walla, Washington.  Under Mr. Sporleder’s leadership, Lincoln High School, an alternative education school, became a Trauma-Informed school, gaining attention across the United States due to the dramatic drop in out of school suspensions, increased graduation rates and the number of students going on to post-secondary education.   Because of these changes at Lincoln High School, the successes caught the attention of Jamie Redford, who spent a year filming a documentary, Paper Tigers, which tells the story of Lincoln High School.

     In Jim’s talk on Thursday, he stated that, we, as educators need to break away from the tradition mindset of testing being tied to teacher evaluations and from the traditional, fear-based, forms of discipline, which only add to a student’s trauma and use fear to manipulate the situation.  He went on to say that our children are the most hurting population in our communities across the United States.  He says that people use punishment to cause pain and this type of action feeds into the cradle-to-prison pipeline.  He also stated that the children of affluent and middle class families are the most hurting.

     With regard to ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), Mr. Sporleder says that these are hands no one should have to hold.  He went on to say that the ACEs pyramid (pictured below) is a very adequate predictor.

                                                                                                  

     When anyone experiences trauma, that person goes into a “flight-fight-freeze” mode.

·      Flight-Avoidance, anxiety, or fear.

·      Fight-Irritability, defensiveness, loss of temper

·      Freeze-numbing, detachment, giving up easily

When a person is exhibiting one of these responses to trauma, their brains go into a “survival mode,” and it is physiologically impossible for them to de-escalate.

     Mr. Sporleder said that the traditional way of discipline was that the behavior was recognized by the teacher, then the teacher reacted to that behavior, and this caused the student to escalate.  This is the type of reaction is the kind of reaction we need to break away from.  He said this is a dysregulated adult dealing with a dysregulated student.  As adults, we need to work at building caring relationships with our students.  To do this, Mr. Sporleder gave those in attendance the following keys:

·      We, as teachers, need to be self-regulated

·      A child’s behavior is a reaction to fear of failure

·      Intervention needs to be a calm, teachable moment

·      Approach the intent with a positive intent

     When dealing with a student who is experiencing trauma, the teacher needs to allow the student time to de-escalate and to self-regulate.  Ask the student what caused the behavior.  More often than not, the behavior has nothing to do with the current situation, but something happening outside the school setting.

     Trauma-Informed holds kids accountable to a higher level.  A caring adult give the child hope and helps them heal, when that adult is asking and responding, not reacting and telling.  The influence of one caring adult can change a life path for a child.  The unconditional love of that adult teaches love and forgiveness.  Being Trauma-Informed wipes out racial and social lines.  Mr. Sporleder says, “Being trauma-informed is not what we do, it’s who we are.”  He challenges us all to be that one caring adult for our kids.

     I will leave you with two quotes from the evening:

“You cannot reach 100% of your students, but you can love them all 100%.”

“Not every story can be a success story, but every story can be a love story.”

Expectations

     Recently, there has been a huge push, nationwide, to teach more and more academics to our youngest students, even if the expectations given to the teachers are not developmentally appropriate for the students entrusted to our care.  The push for academic excellence is starting younger and younger every year.  This is my 33rd year of teaching and the changes, quite frankly, are scary and unbelievable!  Kindergarten expectations are what first grade expectations were when I began my teaching career.  Now that I am teaching preschool, the expectations for my students used to be the expectations in kindergarten.  And so it continues.
     There is research out there that shows students that are frustrated will act out.  In an article written by Van Thompson in "Classroom" magazine, he states that students who don't understand the classroom concepts are more likely to act out, struggle controlling their impulses, tun out, and even exhibit mental health disorders.  Could it be that children are being expected to learn concepts that they are not developmentally ready to learn, that their young brains are still unable to comprehend?  I believe the emphatic answer to that is "YES!"  In some cases, not all, children act out because they simply don't get it.
     Case in point:  Many public school affiliated preschools are looking at implementing full-day preschool programs.  Why?  Because there is so much that these young children are expected to learn, that it can't be done in a half-day program.  I'm getting on my soap box here:  For crying out loud! Let them be little!!
     Even preschool is becoming data-driven and outcomes-based.  This is simply not fair, nor right, and not age-appropriate!  Preschoolers should not be expected to take computerized tests.  Quite frankly, they shouldn't be tested at all, but rather given exposure to lots of different things and the ability to explore.  They're only four!  This is what a preschooler needs:  They need to be able to run, play, talk, sing, explore, get along with others, and share.  As my amazing mentor, Sheri Kay Sitzman once told me, "Play is how children learn." Not though testing.  Not through academic expectations.  Through play!
     As well-known educator, Dr. Jean Feldman says, "When I hear stories about pushing academics in pre-k I have nightmares. Seriously! The crazy thing is decision makers have lost common sense when it comes to four year olds. And, somehow, we just can’t figure out BALANCE when it comes to early childhood. When they started pre-k in Georgia over 20 years ago they wouldn’t even let the teachers display alphabet letters in their classrooms. Anything academic was discouraged and PLAY was encouraged. What has happened? Where is all this leading???"  I have to agree!