Every day, millions of students in the United States go to school weighed down by interpersonal traumas, community traumas, and the traumatic effects of historical and contemporary race-based oppression. A wide range of adverse childhood events--including physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse; chronic bullying; community or domestic…

The death of a student, especially to gun violence, is a life-changing experience that occurs with more and more frequency in America's schools. For each of these tragedies, there is a classroom and there is a teacher. Yet student death is often a forbidden subject, removed from teacher education and professional development classes where the…

Teachers are essential partners in addressing the needs of English learners (ELs), yet most professional development fails to mention the specific needs of such students who have experienced trauma and exhibit signs of toxic and post-traumatic stress. Such students are not readily identified and even so, are often hesitant to seek the professional…

The first step in providing support to children and teens exposed to trauma and adversity is helping them to feel safe at school and demonstrating alternative working models of relationships. By spending time in a supportive classroom, students can learn that school can be a safe place, and that teachers and peers can be caring, thoughtful people…

As sociology instructors increasingly include materials on sexual violence in their courses, both instructors and students express anxieties over how best to handle such sensitive conversations. This article critically examines the conventional advice to offer a trigger warning, which can interfere with student education (e.g., requiring survivors…

This article provides a vision of school disciplinary strategies as provided by childhood school memories of practicing or unemployed teachers. This narrative approach allows us to understand the school and its daily routines and rituals from an insiders' point of view, drawing upon the double perspective teachers employ when reflecting on their…

The assumptions educators possess about themselves, their role as teachers, and their students' capabilities play a significant role in determining expectations, teaching practices, and ultimately student happiness and success. This article provides an overview of the application of resilience principles in the classroom from the perspective of…

It is hard for many people to accept anger as part of a young child's range of feelings. Teachers work so hard to make children happy, and feel frustrated, even resentful, when they do not respond with 100 percent happiness all the time. Teachers know in their minds that anger is a normal emotion and that they, too, sometimes feel angry. However,…

This manual presents an operational approach for teachers for dealing with classroom conflict. The first section discusses the dynamics of conflict including factors responsible for conflict such as differing value systems, individuals in conflict with authority, peer group disagreement, and turnover of students. The second section discusses…

This paper addresses the problem of faculty members being confronted, in or out of the classroom, with students' personal reactions to some of the subject matter, especially sex and gender material, found in today's college sociology courses. The paper suggests some ways in which sociologists view student sharing of personal reactions and…

This book blends theory with example, anecdote, and reflection to illustrate how the caring teacher, with a clear understanding of his or her own philosophy, teaching tenets, and possibilities can bring purpose, meaning, and spirit to classroom teaching. The 10 chapters focus on: (1) "The Teaching Profession: What Are You Doing and Why Are…

This article describes the phenomenon of loneliness and its incidence in children with disabilities, and suggests techniques for detecting and dealing with loneliness at school. Interventions include social skills training, creating opportunities for social interaction, creating an accepting classroom climate, teaching adequate coping strategies,…

Research suggests several types of test-anxious students. Techniques for lessening anxiety include teaching metacognitive and learning strategies, using cooperative learning activities, and creating a nonthreatening environment. A survey of 102 developmental reading college students indicated that teacher behavior during testing and pretest review…

An overview is presented of classroom observation instruments which have been created and refined since 1962. The components of teacher-pupil transactions measured by different observation methods are listed, and the complexities and difficulties encountered when using the instruments are discussed. A description is given of the Coping Analysis…

This book looks at how teachers and young children talk to each other in the classroom, describing how a good teacher will use these conversations to build an encouraging classroom--a community where mutual acceptance is the priority and where children can learn the skills they will need in larger communities in the future. The skills include…