DISASTERSHOCK How Schools Can Cope with the Emotional Stress of a Major Disaster: A Manual for Principals and Teachers

This book was written for school personnel on how to take practical steps to help the school community cope with the emotional stress of a major disaster.Part one, Coping Strategies for School Personnel, identifies the signs of stress that may be impacting administrators, teachers, and school support personnel. The section offers ten hands-on suggestions for ways to provide support for these critical school workers so that they can have the knowledge and emotional resources to then provide needed support for students and their families.Part two, Coping Strategies for Students, is designed to equip teachers with needed knowledge and skill to help students cope during a disaster. When it comes to student academic growth and well-being, it is the teacher who has the most influence on this growth. Therefore, the role of the teacher and the support they provide during a disaster is absolutely invaluable.The first two sections of part two will help teachers identify how stress may be impacting a student’s ability to function in the classroom and provides advice for how to help students understand and cope with their stress. The last two sections are designed to help teachers to be more thoughtful about how to craft a classroom environment that will help students to learn during a stressful time and how to embrace pedagogical innovations that will help reduce student stress.Part three, Coping Strategies for the School-Family Community begins with how principals and teachers can help reassure parents and caregivers. Embracing families and community partners in support of student well-being begins by equipping principals and teachers with messages that they can share with families to help them develop and maintain a helpful perspective as they walk together with their children through a disaster. The COVID-19 global pandemic, has highlighted the critical role of families/caregivers in the educative process of students. Such partnerships are vitally important to helping students weather a crisis and return to thriving personally, as well as academically.