Tips for Teachers Developing SEL Curriculum for Students With Trauma

If you're a teacher, you may have students that come into the classroom with past trauma. It may be currently affecting their lives, and it's important to treat it correctly with SEL curriculum. Performing the following actions can ensure your SEL curriculum is up to the right standards.

Empower Students Consistently

Trauma in youth does have the ability to make them underestimate their skills and abilities. That will hold them back in the classroom, which is why when you develop SEL curriculum, you need to make sure you're consistently finding ways to empower them.

They will then feel like they have a voice and are truly capable of completing whatever task is in front of them. Give them a lot of leeway for doing things and let them access helpful resources that will make them feel empowered like never before. That's key in helping them work through their trauma-related growing pains.

Utilize SEL Toolkits

When you develop an SEL curriculum for students that have experienced trauma, you don't have to make things up on the fly. There are toolkits available that will give you a lot of useful information on trauma and ways to teach around it in a healthy and productive manner.

These toolkits will also outline some best practices that you can implement in your SEL curriculum right away, whether it's using certain educational resources in the classroom or structuring your assessments a certain way. These toolkits will provide guidelines that you can then branch out from at any point.

Develop a Supportive Relationship

Trauma in students can really mess with their relationship-building skills. That's why when you go to create an SEL curriculum for the classroom, you really need to focus on ways you can create supportive relationships from the beginning. Then students with past trauma will know they can trust you and that can get them to open up more.

You can show them early on that you're not going to judge them or escalate things. You're just there to listen and guide them in the right direction. They need to know that they can trust you, whether it's discussing personal problems or receiving more support in the classroom.

SEL curriculum is so important for students that have had to deal with some type of trauma in their life. If you know how to structure this curriculum with the right resources and teaching methodologies, you can still create a healthy learning environment for students under these special circumstances. 

Talk to an education professional for help creating an SEL curriculum for trauma-informed care.

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