Trauma
What is chronic trauma?
A type of trauma that is continuous over a significant period of time (abuse, poverty, racism).
What is the difference between income and wealth?
Income is how much a person makes through wages or salaries, but wealth also includes one's assets, savings, and property.
In what ways did segregation impact schools’ resources and education opportunities?
Students of color had fewer opportunities, fewer quality teachers, and unequal resources at their schools.
Is the topic of religion completely avoided in public schools?
No, teachers can teach about different religions, but they are not permitted to promote any particular religion.
Why is it important to consider intersectionality?
Failing to consider intersectionality oppresses aspects of one's identity because we are unable to cut apart the pieces of our identity.
Why is it essential that schools address trauma?
Trauma can cause the brain to remain in a survival state, rather than entering the executive state, so these children are unable to learn without first addressing the trauma.
What are some examples of ways low socioeconomic status can impact one's education?
They may feel the stress of their families passed down to them, making them less ready to learn.
They are less likely to attend a quality Pre-K program.
They are less likely to be read to.
Why do many children of color still attend underfunded schools?
While legal segregation ended, residential segregation is still prominent, which forces many children of color to attend underfunded schools.
What are some ways teachers can be inclusive of all students' religions without promoting any religion within the classroom?
Teaching about all religions, discussing the different beliefs and holidays within the religions followed in your class, and allowing the students to lead discussions about what they celebrate and believe.
What is the first question schools should ask themselves when it comes to resolving inequalities within the school?
Why. Why are the disparities happening? Following identifying the why, schools can begin to make leaps to eliminate these disparities.
What are the three steps of preventing and managing a crisis?
Prevent by making yourself aware of your students' triggers and working to decrease these. Support using grounding techniques and avoid arguing. Repair by debriefing the situation, reconnecting, and developing plans for the future.
What are two things that can change the brain that a person in poverty may have less access to due to unsafe neighborhoods and limited resources?
Reading interventions
Physical activity
Which students are the most impacted by exclusionary policies?
Students of color are the most impacted, which leads to disproportional suspensions and expulsions for them.
What are some examples of ways teachers can use inclusive language surrounding religion within the classroom?
Refer to breaks as "winter break" rather than Christmas Break, and approach topics of religion with the framework of "some families believe..." or "some families celebrate...".
What are some ways teachers can make an ELL student feel successful within an early childhood classroom?
Allowing students to learn through exploration and play, as well as letting them demonstrate their learning through project-based learning.
How can teachers help students begin to learn to regulate their emotions independently?
By building skills with the students, where they learn to identify their emotions, expand their vocabulary, build an understanding of how others are feeling, and positively express their emotions.
Is treating students who are experiencing poverty and students who are not equally equitable for the students experiencing poverty? Why?
No, students experiencing poverty are more likely to be working outside of school to support the family or taking on additional roles at home, so we as teachers should be working to eliminate this inequality created when we treat all students equally.
Why are students of color disproportionately placed into the criminal justice system?
Policies and practices within the school that disproportionately punish students of color lead to the school-to-prison pipeline, where they are entered into the criminal justice system earlier and more frequently.
In what ways does the school calendar exclude some students in terms of religion?
Breaks are often labeled after the dominant religion (Christmas Break), and time off is based around these holidays as well, leaving some students with no time off for the holidays they celebrate.
What forms of identification should be used to properly identify gifted students?
Parent, teacher, and peer nominations, authentic assessments (work samples), and identification tests.
Why is it so important that we build a connection with students and view them holistically?
Every child experiences trauma differently, so it is important that we build connections with them so they feel safe and like a valued member of the classroom.
What are some examples of the intersection between SES and race?
The number of African American and Latino children living in poverty is more than double that of white children.
Minority groups are more likely to face multidimensional poverty.
Minority families are more likely to have a higher percentage of family members working to support their families.
What are some examples of ways we can act to support people of color?
We can support businesses owned by people of color, support films by people of color, vote locally, and vote to increase the minimum wage.
What are two legal frameworks that greatly influence how religion can be discussed in school, and what does each one mean?
Separation of Church and State: The government can't establish one religion.
The First Amendment: The freedom of religion
Why is it so important that teachers hold the same expectations for all students?
The expectations we hold for students directly correlate with their achievement, as they will view themselves and their ability as less if that is what they are told.