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Benson: Climate and Culture August 22 Pre-service�

TOGETHER, �WE CAN

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Know what else we can do together?

Brandi Carlile �at Red Rocks in Denver next weekend!

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August 22, 2025

Climate & Culture

Agenda

De-escalation Basics�
How to Benson�
Effective Classroom Practices Development

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De-escalation Basics

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Behind the Behavior

Crisis: �A time when a person is experiencing intense difficulty, trouble or risk that needs our immediate attention.

Looks like: shouting, � shutting down, � refusing to follow instructions,� hurting self of others,

a flight, fight, or freeze response,

storming out of a classroom (maybe because they couldn’t use their cell phone in class)

How do we approach and respond with the best possible trauma-informed, culturally responsive, person-centered care for the student?

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Person-centered and Trauma Informed Question

Distress may come from any strong emotion

Brain senses threat

Instinctively protect themselves

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What is causing the student to act this way?

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Other factors?

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Response Considerations

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WORKBOOK PG 31

AGE

COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

GENDER IDENTITY

CULTURE

PREVIOUS LIFE EXPERIENCES

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Quiet Reflection (5 min)

How might implicit, unconscious bias and adult precipitating factors influence our response to student behavior?

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(Review)

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Examples: Nervous movements, pacing, fidgeting, sighing or shutting down.

Approaches: Be patient, listen, and convey empathy. Focus on helping the person meet their needs.

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How can you be supportive to a person at the Anxiety level?

Supportive

Be patient, listen, and convey empathy.
Be non-judgmental. Focus on helping the person meet their needs and address the cause of their behavior.

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What are some examples of defensive behavior you’ve seen?
What do these behaviors communicate?
What supportive approaches/strategies do you use?

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Examples: Shouting, refusal, asking challenging questions like “Who are you to tell me what to do?” or acting in a threatening manner.

What do behaviors at the Defensive �level communicate?

Distress that is more intense. �They feel misunderstood, challenged, or threatened.

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Providing clear directions

Directive

Short, simple phrases
Simple, reasonable choices- help them consider positive behaviors and outcomes.
Still be supportive as we layer on a directive response.

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Examples: Striking, eloping, throwing objects, pulling or pushing others, harming oneself.

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Safety Interventions:

Non-restrictive interventions such as continuing supportive and directive interventions, making the environment safe, �or moving to a place of safety. These could also include �non-restrictive disengagements.
Restrictive interventions which can be described as any physical, environmental, or mechanical intervention used to restrict a person’s liberty of movement.

2 min.

You can categorize Safety Interventions into two groups: Non-restrictive interventions and restrictive interventions.

Non-restrictive interventions enable you to respond by continuing to use supportive and directive interventions, making the environment safe, or moving to a place of safety. They could also include non- restrictive disengagements to release or escape, to protect yourself, or to rescue or protect others.

If you analyze the risk to be higher or feel unsafe, you should call for help following the schools procedures.

Restrictive intervention can be described as any physical, environmental, or mechanical intervention used to restrict a person’s liberty of movement. Use of disengagements and restrictive interventions must be a last-resort response to Risk Behavior.

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Therapeutic Rapport

Address the needs of the person, support the person, and re-establish the relationship.
Understand the incident and agree upon approaches for the future.

2 min.

If we can successfully intervene and address a student’s distress, they start to regain a sense of calm and is called Tension Reduction. They experience a decrease in physical and emotional energy. This can happen at any level of the crisis.

Tension Reduction has physical and emotional signs. Examples of physical signs are relaxing of posture, returning complexion, or reduced muscle tension. Examples of emotional signs include withdrawal, sadness, or embarrassment.

When intervening with someone demonstrating Tension Reduction, the recommended approach is to use Therapeutic Rapport.

At the end of a crisis, address any physical need of the student and then re-establish the relationship.

You may be asked to be part of a debrief to gather input, understand the incident and plan for future approaches.

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Tips for a Successful Intervention

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What would you do? (5 minutes)

Part A:

Typically quiet student, squirming in seat, repeatedly looking at clock, tapping pencil rapidly.

Part B:

You ask if they’re okay. They glare at your, cross arms tightly, they mutter “Just leave me alone! I don’t want to be here. F*&$!”

Part C:

Minutes later, student sweeps all books of their desk, stand up abruptly, kicks chair over, and throws pencil across the room.

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Rational Detachment Strategies in a Crisis Moment

Breathe

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Think, then say

Ask for help

Use grounding

Observe

WORKBOOK PG 22

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So . . . how might this intervening look in your classroom?

So . . . how might this intervening look in all of Benson?

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So . . . how might this intervening look in classroom/all of Benson?

Find a walking partner.
Take a walk with your partner (wherevs).
Discuss de-escalation overall and your techniques.
Be back in ten minutes to discuss.

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So . . . how might de-escalating and intervening look in classrooms/all of Benson?

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Let’s talk about the whole school’s climate and elements that might distress a student!

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Benson Consistent Routines to Thwart Escalation

Students need a Hall Pass to leave your class.

One student at a time can leave

If your pass is lost, YOU must write the student a pass �(let Lena know it’s lost and she will make you a new one)�

Students will not get passes the first or last 10 minutes of a class. (And they can’t drop their stuff and leave.)�
Students must stay in class UNTIL THE BELL RINGS.�
TAs CANNOT leave your class to work where you can’t see them.�
If a student is “done” working in your class, they still must stay in your class.

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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What Kind of Passes are There at Benson?

Plastic bathroom pass: to/from restroom only. Should have your room number on it. Use should be less than 10 minutes.�
Purple Universal pass: to a spot marked on the pass. Has room for the time left and the time being returned.�
Green Library pass: up to three students can be on that pass.�
White Call Slip from the Counseling Office/Wellness center: has when the student should leave your class�
Orange Lunch Detention Slip: says who the detention is for, what they did to earn it, and where to go.�
Yellow 504 Break Pass: has the student’s name and rules for the pass on one side. The other has a date and time out spot for teachers to fill out.

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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And Even More Consistencies:

A student must have a pass from the teacher of the class they are currently in to enter the Library.�
Counselors will call students down. If a student wants to see their counselor (and it’s not an emergency), they can email her for an appointment. (*Errors on schedule may call for them to go to counselor.)�
Do not allow a student to enter/be in your class who is not on your roll for that class period.�
Do not send students to work in another teacher’s class (unless you have talked to that other teacher about it).

Read the Status Report for the Day: it will list kids who are � suspended or have lunch detention or need to see admin.
Reminder: the status report is confidential

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PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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IN THE

SAME DIRECTION

How to Benson - consistently to thwart escalation

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This document will be reviewed with students in the first three weeks of school by Joe Mitacek, Sara Callies, and Colleen Johnston within English classes.�
Feel free to go over the form with your classes as well.

Link to Benson’s expectations for all - a condensed version of the Student Handbook

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Another stressor?�Cell phones

. . . getting to that at 11:30!

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Teaching Expectations/�Planning for Escalations (just in case)

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Effective Classroom Practices Plan: �A living document

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Process & Timeline:

Initial draft on Monday (email to Lena)
Engage students and refine during the first week of school
Share with admin and caregivers at end of first week

Especially Paras & Academic Support teachers!

Revisit throughout the year to adjust based on student need

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Schoolwide to Classroom: �Effective Classroom Practices (ECP) Plan

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Four key areas:

Classroom Shared Agreements/Norms
Proactive & Preventative Practices

Classroom Routines
Instructional Routines

Family and Caregiver Engagement
Responsive Practices

3 minutes

Note-Required: All educators will complete and effective classroom practices plan that will be shared with caregivers.

The ECP template for 2025-26 is focused on designing and implementing four key areas for a welcoming, culturally affirming and trauma informed classroom. These classroom systems and structures are rooted in practices for social emotional learning, restorative justice, racial equity and social justice.

Classroom shared agreements: when and how will you engage your students in co-creating this? This activity embedded in the adopted TSEL curriculum.
Proactive and Preventative Practices: what consistent classroom and instructional routines will be taught and practiced? Are there additional routines that you will be adding that are important to the learning environment in your class and subject? Are there routines that will be common across your grade level or content area team?
Family and Caregiver Engagement: what culturally responsive, intentional practices will you have in place to engage all?
Responsive Practices: When the proactive and preventative practices don’t meet the needs of some students, what consistent responsive practices will you have in place?

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Effective Shared Agreements

Observable behaviors
Limited number
Co-created with students
Positive language
Display prominently

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Establishing Routines

Remember

Anticipate which classroom activities are more prone to allowing distractions from learning.
You can minimize or even eliminate the distractions by establishing effective routines.

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ECP Planning Time

What factors do you consider?

Activity:

Review any IEP and 504 plans for your students. Which accommodations are Tier I practices that can be built into your routines and practices?
What are the routines and practices in the adopted TSEL curriculum that will be integrated throughout the ECP to support focal students?
Explore your TSEL curriculum and identify the activities for building shared agreements.

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Tying It Together

Know about what distress looks like and

Know ways to manage distress & de-escalate and

Know whole school rules

Take another look at your draft Effective Classroom Practices plan to add in what a sub or counselor or para or Academic Support (or parent) might want to know about your classroom plans for all of these.

�Feel free to cut and paste from this slide show!

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When students are escalated, we don’t join their chaos…

We share our calm.

Co-Regulation

EXIT TICKET

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MTSS Climate & Culture Contacts

Jill Bryant, Assistant Director TSEL and Restorative Justice jillb@pps.net
Tracey Brown, MTSS TOSA-TSEL tbrown5@pps.net
Amy Chotzen, Restorative Justice Specialist achotzen@pps.net
Naomi Orem, Assistant Director MTSS norem@pps.net
Chandra Cooper, Senior Director MTSS & Core Enrichment ccooper2@pps.net