Hi! My class is a self-contained special education behavior unit. Most of my students have experienced severe trauma in their lives from abuse and also often the death of their parent(s). One of my students was often locked in a closet, one was abused by drug gangs in a drug house in a foreign country, three have had one or both of their parents die, two have divorced parents and four are living with family members other than their parents.
Trauma has different effects on people and in my student's lives manifests itself with anti-social behaviors that keep them from learning in traditional classroom settings.
Typically my students are academically several grades behind their peers.
The many challenges my students face have only been compounded by the pandemic. Covid-19 has meant that they have had less social encounters and less opportunites for pro-social learning.
My Project
I started using arts and crafts to help my students socialize as a class and express themselves creatively. At fisrt they were resistant as they are to anything new but now I see it really making a difference in their lives. I use art projects and arts and crafts when they are so distracted by arguing and fighting with other class members that they are unable to focus on any academic learning.
Taking 20 minutes to do an art project or arts and craft activity helps them to refocus and reconnect with their fellow students and allows them to actually learn something that I am trying to teach them.
Unfortunately we have pretty much exhausted our class resources and this would really help to provide additional and varied resources to my students. I really believe in the power of art to help a person work through some of their trauma and heal abit so that they can move forward.
I was told that I needed to edit my project and attach a lesson plan or a specific learning goal to this. If you still think it needs an edit, I'm sorry but you have no concept of what life is like in a self-contained behavior unit. We get beat up, scratched, punched, spit on and cursed at on a regular basis. Their fellow students are also the target of their anger. Don't get me wrong I love my students. I have had one cursing and spitting at me and then an hour later come up and give me a hug. They are confused by the trauma that was put in their lives and are just trying to figure it out. Art helps to be the oil on their turbulent sea.
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