All students and teachers experience stress and trauma, and both impact learning, behavior and relationships at school. It is essential to know how to manage and try to prevent these emotions. Stress is our body’s response to pressure when we experience something new, unexpected or threatening to our sense of self or control of a situation. Trauma is an emotional response to a disturbing or distressing event.

Create strategies to help everyone cope and improve learning in the classroom. The classroom may be one of the only consistencies in some students’ lives. Provide consistent routines and let them know how to voice when they need a break. Find out and recognize what motivates students to stay engaged. Document behaviors to distinguish triggers and see if you can help before overwhelm occurs. Check-in with students who are acting out or staying silent – these may be stress responses. Investing in the relationships within the classroom will set everyone up to feel supported and safe. Visit the Health Care section on business.cfchamber.com for local resources.