Crisis/Loss Classroom Intervention or Supervision
In the Event of Student/Staff Death
Vigo County School Corporation
Student Services Department
______
(Name of Classroom Supervisor– 1) (Name of Classroom Supervisor – 2)
We are providing classroom intervention or supervision (circle one) in the class listed below, in relation to the death of
______
(Name of Student/Staff)
Please cover period ______in room ______for ______
(Name of Teacher)
What we currently know about the death is______
______
______
The following format has proven useful in classroom interventions. Make adjustments as required.
1. Make a statement concerning the difficulty of dealing with death. Acknowledge that it is not the usual order of things for a young person to die, and share the school’s desire to provide support for understanding the grief process in general, and this difficult situation in particular. Acknowledge that not all people will have the same feelings, thoughts and beliefs about death, but add that it is important for the class to take some time to deal with the situation since it has happened to them.
2.Offer the classroom teacher a picture of the deceased (yearbook, etc.) to pass around the room.
3.Clarify the facts surrounding the death, as we know them. Stick to known facts and do not allow speculations or rumors. Answer questions openly and honestly within the known facts. Answer “We don’t know” if that is the case.
4. Ask students to identify the desk or area where the student worked. Help them understand the reality that the desk will remain empty, that the person will not return.
5.Ask them to share some things about the deceased: how s/he interacted in the class; what they were good at; times they recall; to give you a picture of what the student was like if they were unknown to you. Include the classroom teacher in this.
6. Ask students to share aloud what they know about the grief process, either through other losses they have experienced, or through what they have read or observed. Record on the board the stages of grief: shock/denial; strong feelings of anger, guilt, sadness; realization that life will go on without the deceased; resolution of grief into acceptance. Emphasize that grief is a process with no set time schedule. Everyone proceeds through it at his or her own rate.
7. On the board, write feeling words that students connect with grief and ask them to share more about those feelings. Be sure to discuss sadness, anger and guilt. Validate all feelings as normal, but share that all expressions of our feelings are not acceptable. Discuss what happens to emotions when they are not expressed. Include that physical ailments can derive from the efforts to keep feelings inside.
8. Discuss normal physical reactions to grief which they may be experiencing: anxiety, distress, pain in chest and throat, difficulty breathing. Validate these responses.
9. Revisit the sharing of memories of the deceased as you help the class make a plan for doing something to express their feelings.
10.Give the teacher several “assignments” in front of the class. They might include: having the class decide how to treat the empty desk; deciding if/how they wish to express sympathy to the family; discussing how they will check on each other to be sure everyone is doing OK as they move through the grief process; to get information and let the class know details about services when they become available. Be sure to take some time to discuss visitation and funeral etiquette, especially in regards to making displays and placing objects in the casket without family permission.
11. Offer the support of the Guidance Department to all students for whom this might be an especially difficult time. Encourage them to see their counselor and inquire about grief support group sessions if they feel the need. 5/05