Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence, and Chronic Stress

by Debbie Zacarian

Half the students in U.S. schools are experiencing or have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress. Much has been written about these students from a therapeutic perspective, especially regarding how to provide them with adequate counseling supports and services. Conversely, little has been written about teaching this population and doing so from a strengths-based perspective. Using real-world examples as well as research-based principles, this book shows how to Experts Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes outline a comprehensive, collaborative approach to teaching that focuses on students’ strengths and resiliency. Teaching to Strengths encourages educators to embrace teaching and schoolwide practices that support and enhance the academic and socio-emotional development of students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress.

Genres: Education, Professional Development, Teaching, Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2017

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how this book encourages us to rethink how we view struggling students in our classes. The book skims over the types of trauma students bring with them to school each day, but it doesn't focus on the traumas themselves. Don't expect a psychological reflection of the increased trauma children and teens experience daily and society's contributions to them. This book focuses on strategies to use with students who are struggling with this trauma. At the core of this book are four elements to use with student who are living with trauma, stress, or violence.
• identify students' existing strengths
• honor, value, and acknowledge these strengths
• help students become aware of their strengths
• build instructional programming that boosts social ties and networks by drawing from students' strengths

There is no magic or easy method to this, but the book offers systematic approaches with plenty of examples. The focus is on a strengths-based approach to teaching and learning that acknowledges there are many obstacles that must not be dismissed, but we need to focus on finding the goodness that every student brings to our classes. This includes making students feel valued and competent.

Teaching students to use a growth mindset is top of the list. No surprise here for me, but I fear we give lip service to this idea far more than we actually try to teach students how to develop a growth mindset. I am hopeful that moving to competency-based education will help us learn how to model and teach a growth mindset to our students. I don't want this to merely be an educational jargon/phrase for this decade.

Sometimes we overlook the simple changes we can make such as creating a physical environment that promotes learning preferences and is conducive to learning. Seating, lighting, agendas, etc. are all part of this. Do rooms feel too crowded? Too busy? Are the chairs and tables the right size? What predictable routines do we have established? How do we begin and end each class? Students find safety in these routines. Family contact should be frequent and consistent - emails, phone calls, etc.

Using positive language to talk about our students can make all the difference in the world. The authors offer an interesting contrast between a negative vs. positive evaluation sample on page 61. The authors aren't asking us to sugar coat what is happening, but the two samples are so diametrically opposed, that the truth must be in the middle somewhere.

I like the questionnaire for Types of Teacher Caring on page 50. This can be used to work with students' sense of belonging and of being valued. I also like the rubric on page 77 that shows a gradual release of responsibility that includes the focus lesson, guided practice, collaborative learning, and independent work. I am reminded of the I-WE-YOU Keys to Literacy concept. I also like that the book offers reflection opportunities with space for readers to write their reflections and thoughts.

Some teachers will say they are already doing everything that this book suggests we do, but I think we can all use a reminder. We also need to create intentional strategies (not just happen upon lucky breaks)to work with our students and individualize these strategies.

I want to discuss this book with others. I appreciate the sentiment, and I believe the strategies are helpful, but I also wonder about the actual impact of some of these strategies if the trauma is not being addressed elsewhere, with medical help, etc. I'm not exactly sure what I expected from this book based on the title, but despite respecting the book's message, I feel that something is lacking.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of us that teach in multi-cultural urban/suburban/rural classrooms this book is a must in helping us to learn to better cope and help students who come from a variety of backgrounds and suffer from a variety of reasons for stress. The author suggests a variety of usable ideas that are easily incorporated into a classroom that will assist students and help them to develop lifelong strategies. As an educator, I strongly recommend this book as a valuable and useable classroom tool.

I am preparing my classroom for the arrival of a new batch of students and I am placing this book in a prominent spot in my bookcase.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good focus on practicing assets-based work, coupled with some practical strategies and templates. This is a quick read which could serve classroom teachers well.

[Jamie East · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must-read for educators. Very practical, easy to read, but strong takeaways that can be immediately implemented.

[Janine Darragh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practical starter book for educators who are beginning to think about ways to support students who come from contexts of crisis.

[Millereva916gmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a teacher, this book is the absolute right choice. Too many books on this topic are really for counselors, therapists, and others. This one has many real-life elementary, middle, and high school examples from across the US and Canada. It includes many tools and strategies that are easy to put to use. A must-read!