2024 Jan - Feb Extended Book Study What Happened to You?

Participants are responsible for obtaining their own copy of the book What Happened to You? by Bruce D Perry and Oprah Winfrey prior to the beginning of the book study.

Join MSTA’s “Beyond the Book” Club Extended Book Study!
Participants will discover practical solutions to deal with real-life challenges and learn ways to create a culture of resilience in their classrooms. The goal of this year’s “Beyond the Book” Extended Book Studies is for participants to learn ways to minimize behavioral issues and increase classroom instruction by using effective methods to support ALL students. Whether participating in one or all of the Extended Book Studies, participants will discuss strategies on how to engage students, build relationships, and teach students the skills necessary to be successful all with a trauma-informed mindset.

We will dive into the book, What Happened to You? to understand how trauma affects the lives of those around us, students, friends, family, and even ourselves. The premise of the book is to change our thinking from "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?" and understand that all behaviors happen for a reason. Changing this mindset will allow educators to better support struggling students. Participants will also be challenged to understand their own past and experiences to build resilience and healing.

The Extended Book Study is facilitated by MSTA member Ursulla Wadley and JAG Specialist for Cape Academy in Cape Girardeau Public Schools. Ursulla has experience in coordinating a junior high at-risk program and teaching elementary classrooms. Her passion is to offer teachers the support needed to increase instructional time by using effective, trauma-informed interventions while building meaningful relationships with students.

The Learning Management System, Teachable, is used to house discussion board conversations and group materials. Guiding questions and tasks are posted in the Teachable course. These questions provide an opportunity for participants to share and reflect on the topics and ideas.
presented in the reading. Teachable courses are by design asynchronous.

Application will be used throughout the course as participants complete Core Concept Assignments that will be reflective in nature. Assignment details are shared in the Teachable course and are intended for participants to apply concepts learned and discussed during the course to their own classroom. Once enrolled in the course, participants will continue to have access to the resources shared that support the learning in the book.