Start-of-the-Year Trauma-Sensitive Tips for Teachers

by Ms. Jen Alexander, M.A., NCC, SB-RPT

Some educators eagerly prepare for the start of the school year. Picture them setting up their classrooms and excitedly creating so many new materials their laminator is in overdrive! I’ve certainly done that in my years as both a special education teacher and professional school counselor.

Others are soaking up every last moment of summer while telling themselves there’s a lot of time left—that’s been me too! No matter when you go back, the want-tos and must-dos are going to be there. Plus, they’ll be more than you can do, right?

Summer itself brings all kinds of feels for educators. Many certified and noncertified staff members spend their days off working at another job, taking summer coursework, trying to do too much at school, serving as a caretaker for loved ones, or dealing with personal stress/traumas. Others put pressure on themselves to self-care their way to a better place before back-to-school next year. Not to mention, some adults may prefer the routine that the school year brings.

On the other hand, there are plenty of educational professionals who have enjoyed their summer days and don’t want them to end. From traveling, to getting that new pet, births, weddings, time with family or friends, sleeping in, enjoying hobbies, and more—it can be sad to let it go!

So many layers, and these examples are only focused on the adults at school! Kids and families have unique reactions to the end of summer and the beginning of an academic year too. It’s not all good or bad for each person either—it’s likely a mix! As trauma-sensitive educators, we have a responsibility to hold space for these varied possibilities in ourselves and others.

Because…

Every single educator and learner can experience good things, hard things, boring things, or a mix of all three over the summer, and their feels coming into school will be varied too.

Let’s jump into how you, as an educator, can notice the need and meet the need (my favorite trauma-sensitive phrase) with your learners, recognizing we all may need different things this time of year.

An Introduction

I’m Jen Alexander, but most folks know me as Ms. Jen. I’m an experienced trauma-informed educator and the bestselling author of Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools, Becoming a Trauma-Sensitive Educator and my new trauma-sensitive quick guide series! I’m also a consultant, keynote speaker, trainer, and educational coach who’s relentless for school change and passionate about helping you build trauma-sensitive learning environments that are good for everyone, including folks who are experiencing big stress.

To address the needs of youth at the start of the school year, it’s important to acknowledge ahead of time that a big change is coming and you will be leading the co-creation of a brand-new learning community. It gives me all the feels!

To support you, I’ve created a simple card game that can help you, your teams, and your learners explore and express what the start of the school year is like for them. From there, I have additional start-of-the-year trauma-sensitive tips for you! Plus, information about how you can learn more about building trauma-sensitive learning environments.

Start-of-the-Year Card Game

Because different reactions at the start-of-the-year are expected, having a fun, invitational way for learners to express themselves (if they want to) is best. Small group sharing is ideal, because children and teens can learn they’re not alone in their reactions and practice both giving and receiving support. My new card game PFC-Security Guard-Hippo-Heart-Hands aligns with these goals for folks ages 8 and up who have already learned the hand model of the brain.

The game is similar to Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza by Dolphin Hat LLC (2023). My brain-based version is simple to play, fun, and designed specifically for processing the start-of-the-year at school or at home!

Materials:

Print off the colorful game cards on cardstock and cut them out so that you have enough for each group of 3-8 players to have their own set (56 cards total).
Also print off one poster for each group that shows the order of the cards (i.e., PFC, security guard, hippo, heart, hands) and the sentence stems that go with them (both are on page 2 of the download). Display it where everyone in each group can easily see it.

Goal of the game:

Be the first to get rid of all your cards and start a hands pile-on!

Here’s how to play:

Shuffle the cards and pass them out face down so that each player has approximately the same number. There’s no peeking allowed throughout the game in any round.
The person to the left of the dealer begins by putting a card face-up in the center and says, “PFC.”
The next person to the left puts their card face-up on top of the previous person’s card, and they say, “security guard.”
This keeps going with each person saying the next single word, according to the order on the poster (i.e., PFC, security guard, hippo, heart, hands). Start over when needed.
Keep going until… The card just played matches the word spoken by the player (e.g., they say hippo right after putting down a hippo card). When this happens, every player tries to pile one of their hands on the stack of cards as fast as possible (with one hand on top of another). The person with the last hand on the pile finishes the sentence stem that goes with the card and words that matched (e.g., hippo)—reference the poster for the sentence stems. Everybody else who wants to can take a turn sharing too. Then the person with all the cards deals the cards for the next round.
When a player has used up all their cards, they can still participate in the pile-on part of the game with one of their hands.
When a player puts their hand on the pile or starts to and flinches, the round stops, that person picks up all the cards, and they deal the next round.
The game ends when a player with no remaining cards is the first one to correctly pile their hand on the card that matches the word announced!

Sentence stems:

PFC: This year, I’m looking forward to…
Security guard: I feel… or… Something that makes me feel bored…
Hippo(campus): Something I remember from last year…
Heart: Sometimes I worry that… or… It helps me when…
Hands: I’ll take good care of myself (or others) by…

More Start-of-the-Year Tips

Here are more start-of-the-year trauma-sensitive tips to help you help kids! They’re organized according to my Four Essentials of building trauma-sensitive schools: safety, connection, regulation, and learning.

SAFETY

Safety isn’t just about physical safety, it’s about how safe we feel with one another—show that relationships come first! One idea? Lead a campaign for devices down and eyes up on campus!
Project the words, “Helping one another be safe and feel safe helps us learn.” Then discuss what it means to be and feel safe. Work together to list actions that will help your group establish that real and felt safety. Use this list to co-create your classroom agreements.
Be cautious about too much downtime in your first days. For example, time for youth to hang out for even part of a class period milling around can lead to situations that are primed for bullying. And for learners who may be nervous about being in a new group or have lagging skills or insecurities related to social situations, unstructured time may be overwhelming instead of fun. Structure is best!
Watch out for savior tropes like, “What did my students do without me over the summer?” Reality? Many youth have folks in their communities whom they can connect with and rely on for getting their needs met. Rescue mentalities often have more to do with our own needs than our students and can lead to deficit thinking. (Goldin, Duane, & Khasnabis, 2021)

CONNECTION

Plan a creative way for your students to learn about you. I loved taking in clues about myself (e.g., packet of seeds, swim goggles, and a photo of my pet). I’d invite the group to make guesses about what it might mean about me.
Put relationships first by prioritizing getting to know your students in authentic ways. Icebreakers, when inclusive, can be helpful, but don’t overlook the power of chatting with each student, asking questions, and reflecting out loud about what you’re learning about them!
Don’t hesitate to show your enthusiasm for seeing last year’s learners if you’re still in their building. This exemplifies how much your kids mean to you! Similarly, appreciate it when your students feel excited about connecting with previous year’s educators, too.
Try to make your first contact with every family caregiver a positive one, whether it’s a connection during open house, a quick note, after-school conversation, or email!

REGULATION

Infuse regulating opportunities into your school rhythms from day one—think movement and sensory-rich activities!
Model your own feelings honestly (just don’t share too much). Tell your students that you’re nervous about things that are new because it signals to them that they can feel this emotion too.
Acknowledge double deep feelings (meaning two feelings that can occur at the same time) like feeling excited for a new year and sad about missing home humans (or pets) during the day.
Tell your learners that excitement can feel like worry, anxiety, or dysregulation in our bodies. Acknowledging that it’s excitement when it really is may help prevent an interpretation that something is wrong. (Brown, 2021)

LEARNING

Find ways to make meaning of the start of your year—together—process how students grew last year, what they’ll bring with them into this year, and anything they hope to release.
Discuss goals and learnings for the year.
Consider interviewing a few of last year’s learners on video with advice for kids in your class this year. Then play it for your new students!
Ask each student to name or journal about something they want to do this year at school (e.g., hep with the announcements or read about a particular non-fiction topic). Then work with your kids all year to help make these things happen.

Continuing Your Trauma-Sensitive Learning

Speaking of learning, if you’re ready to learn more trauma-sensitive practices so you can improve safety, attendance, behavior, and learning the entire year, I have a new online course and workbook to support you. It’s truly unique. Beautiful, practical, and easy-to-navigate—when you purchase Becoming a Trauma-Sensitive Educator, you get unlimited access to over seven hours of warm, friendly instruction, including videos of me. This isn’t just a “What is trauma?” course. It focuses on what you can do about it—whether you’re a certified or noncertified staff member.

The organized workbook takes you step-by-step through a process of reflecting on the learnings, engaging in discussions with a thought partner, applying suggestions to the needs of your learners, and creating your own trauma-sensitive action plan for your unique role. Together, I’ll help you set clear boundaries and support every learner in meeting high expectations for both learning and behavior, utilizing a trauma-informed approach!

Thank you for the work you do, educators. It matters.

I’ll close by sharing my favorite advice for the beginning of the school year!

There’s nothing like first-week-of-school teacher tired, so order in and schedule as little as you can after those initial days!

Author: Ms. Jen Alexander, M.A., NCC, SB-RPT

Licensed special education teacher, professional school counsellor, trauma expert, author, and leader in the movement to build trauma-sensitive schools, Ms. Jen has more than 20 years of experience providing support to young people and the educators who serve them.

Book: Building Trauma Sensitive Schools

References

Alexander, J. (2025). Becoming a trauma-sensitive educator: The online course and workbook for creating safe, supportive learning environments. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Brown, B. (2021). Atlas of the heart: Mapping meaningful connection and the language of human experience. Random House.

Duane, Addison & Khasnabis, Debi. (2021). Interrupting the weaponization of trauma- informed practice: “… Who were you really doing the ‘saving’ for?” The educational forum, 86. 10.1080/00131725.2022.1997308.