TEN WAYS TO INCREASE FELT SAFETY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

In my last post I explained why your students who have experienced trauma might not have felt safety in your classroom. Even though you know you have done everything possible to make your classroom a safe place, the students still don’t feel safe. As a result, their fight, flight, and freeze responses are easily and unexpectedly triggered, interfering with their ability to learn.

Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to increase the felt safety your students experience. Let’s look at ten of those things right now.

Be predictable. Unexpected changes to the classroom routine can easily trigger anxiety in children. Post your classroom schedule where students can easily see it. Post any changes on that schedule, and tell your students well in advance of the changes. Explain exactly what will be happening, how, and why. Remind the students again as the time for the change is approaching. Also be consistent with classroom policies and procedures and grading. Students feel safer when they know what to expect.
Tell the students about classroom or school visitors. Explain who the visitor is and why the person is there. Strangers can cause unsafe feelings in students.
Provide a safe space for students to self-soothe. A calm-down area in the classroom can help children feel safe. Provide comfort items such as a rocking, gaming chair or a beanbag chair; stuffed toys; fidgets; and a blanket. Do not order students to go there; simply provide the area as an option, and let students know that they can go there when they are feeling anxious or scared.
Have classroom rituals. These can include such things as clapping patterns to quiet the class, sentences that the teacher begins and students finish, songs that are sung at the beginning and end of the day, hand signals that the teacher and students can use, and the like. These rituals help children feel that they are part of the group, which enhances felt safety.
Make sure each student has a trusted adult in the building that they can talk to. Ask students who that person would be for them. If they can’t name one, be deliberate about having an adult—yourself, an aide, or another staff member—begin building a positive relationship with the child.
Give students frequent opportunities to make choices. When students are only told what to do and never given any choices, they can feel controlled, which can be scary. Providing choices often increases felt safety.
Have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying of any sort, including students isolating or excluding any classmate. Any type of bullying—verbal, physical, or otherwise—are likely to make students with trauma histories feel very unsafe.
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Encourage students to drink water often throughout the day, and have healthy snacks available. When children begin to feel thirsty, they are already somewhat dehydrated, and being hungry or thirsty can make children who have experienced neglect feel unsafe.
Connect with children before correcting them. When speaking to students who have misbehaved, give them a chance to calm down first. Then start the conversation by letting the students know how much you like and care about them. Ask what they need at that time—do they need a drink? Something to eat? A chance to move around? Once you have connected with and shown concern for them, gently address the behavior, making sure to separate the behavior from the child. (“What you did wasn’t the best choice, but I still think you’re great!”)
Stay calm and relaxed no matter what is happening during the school day. When a teacher is visibly dysregulated, students tend to become dysregulated as well. If you feel yourself becoming agitated or angry, get someone to watch your classroom while you take a break. Every day, take the self-care steps you need in order to be rested and ready for your work. Your sense of joy and calm in teaching could be contagious to your students.

Students who have an overactive amygdala generally developed their heightened fear reactions over many months or years. It can easily take months for those students to feel safe and be able to learn. Be patient; your efforts can be life-changing for your precious students!