The Teacher as Firefighter: Noticing the Signals and Venting

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lt. Al North who is a firefighter in RI. You can listen the interview here. As he spoke about the planning and preparation involved in his work, the teamwork required in fighting a fire, and the importance of noticing signals when approaching a fire, I was reminded of our work every day as teachers. First, that we work with students who may be carrying around a lot of stress and anxiety that needs to be vented. Secondly, that teachers need to take time for self care in order to make sure their cup is full for their students.

Planning and Preparation Takeaways from the interview:

1. Planning and preparation are vital.

2. It is important to stay flexible and change the plan when necessary to meet the needs of your students.

Teamwork Takeaways from the interview:

1. Al spoke about the importance of having systems in place and a common language/terminology.

2. Al shared that different teams are responsible for different parts of fighting the fire and that the teams support each other to reach the common goal.

3. Vent, Enter, and Search and other procedures require teamwork.

Noticing the Signals Takeaways from the interview:

1. Al talked about finding the seed of the fire. This reminded me of some issues in education such as the lack of equity and the need for social curriculum and mindfulness.

2. There are signs to look for to avoid a backdraft. This reminded me of the signs of trauma/depression in students, etc.)

3. Venting helps avoid a backdraft. Mindfulness and Trauma Sensitive Schools help students vent.

Resources:

• My blogpost from July about noticing and supporting students with trauma.

• Trauma Sensitive Schools Website https://traumasensitiveschools.org/

• Working With Students Exposed to Trauma: What Trauma Can Look Like in the Classroom (and school) https://www.schoolonwheels.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Jody-mcVittie-Handouts.pdf

• How Trauma Affects Kids in School: https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/

• Responding to Trauma in Your Classroom https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2016/responding-to-trauma-in-your-classroom

• What is Trauma? https://dmh.mo.gov/healthykids/providers/trauma

• Bessel A. van der Kolk,  The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma