Classroom180: A Framework for Creating, Sustaining, and Assessing the Trauma-Informed Classroom

Classroom180: A Framework for Creating, Sustaining, and Assessing the Trauma-Informed Classroom, by Heather T. Forbes, LCSW is a comprehensive roadmap of what it means to fully create, implement, and sustain a trauma-informed classroom from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Additionally, Classroom180 includes an assessment tool, the Classroom180 Rubric, that can be used by administrators and others specialists who support teachers on the journey of becoming trauma-informed. Creating an effective and life-giving trauma-informed classroom goes far beyond a few fidgets and a calm corner. This comprehensive book will move you to the leading edge of being trauma-informed. Forbes has developed a system of five domains with a total of twenty-seven clearly defined components to give you an organizing system of where to start and how to continually create and sustain an effective classroom designed to meet all your students, especially those who have been impacted by trauma.

Heather T. Forbes, LCSW, is the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute and author of numerous books on the topic of working with children impacted by trauma. Coming from a family of educators, Heather has a passion for helping children in the classroom. Trauma robs children of their curiosity, and Heather’s passion is to help these students return back to their innate love for learning. She consults and lectures extensively with both general and special education schools around the nation and the world. Her signature style is to bridge the gap between academic research and “when the rubber hits the road” classroom situations, giving teachers and school personnel the understanding and tools they need for even the most challenging of students. Heather has worked in schools with trauma-impacted students and knows firsthand how challenging it can be on a daily basis with these students. Much of her insight on understanding trauma, disruptive behaviors, and developmental delays, comes from her own experience of raising two internationally adopted children and mentoring a severely trauma-impacted young adult.