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Ana's Alarm

An Interactive Story

Meet Ana, who usually enjoys learning but due to COVID has been social distancing with her noisy family in a crowded house, turning her junior year into a real nightmare.

Read along, then YOU decide how Ana’s teacher, Ms. Bailey – who is also stressed – can best support Ana and other students, while discovering ways to support herself and staff too.

*This story shares one moment in time, based on real experiences. Marcella Maggio, Prevention Coordinator & Storyteller, conducted extensive interviews with youth and teachers to inform this story. Names have been changed to protect identities.
Start the Story
BACK
Ana is attending class remotely from her makeshift bedroom inside her family's garage.
STOP!
You’re such monsters! Get out of here!
Oldest Brother: I need the computer!
Youngest Brother: I'm hungry!
Middle Brother: Wanna hear some music?
Lola! (‘Grandma’ in Tagalog)
Ano ‘yon? (‘What?’)
They're bothering me again!
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana’s teacher, Ms. Bailey, is teaching the class from her home over Zoom.

Her son Chris, who is in 8th grade, attends remotely from the living room.
Let’s review #7? Ana? I saw you raised your hand?
Ms. Bailey notices that Ana’s camera is now off.
Ana? Okay then, if there are no questions I’ll give smaller groups time to work out the problem in breakout rooms, then we’ll return to share our final answers.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana knows she’s not ready to be seen. She just blew up at her brothers and needs to calm down, especially because math has always been her toughest subject.
Ana receives a private message from Ms. Bailey:
Kind reminder about school policy, cameras on at all times. Thanks, Ms. B!
Whatever lady.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana reads Ms. Bailey's message.
Why would she care? I need my bestie.
CONTINUE
BACK
Worst day ever. Turned off camera because of monsters and teacher freaked out, so I left.
Ms. B? Did you tell her why?
What would I say? Hey I’m living in a garage, harassed by my brothers who are watched by my Lola because our mom constantly works and our dad's deployed? She won’t care, it’s Math!
Yes she will, it’s Ms. B!
I don’t know...
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana reads Ms. Bailey’s message, scowls, exits Zoom, then grabs her cell phone to text her best friend, Gaby.
I need my bestie.
CONTINUE
BACK
Worst teacher ever!
Ms. B? What happened?
Everything! The monsters kept coming in so I turned off my camera. She freaked, I left.
What? Did you say anything?
Yeah right! In front of the whole class, like she did?
No way, Ms. B?
You mean, Ms. Bully?
CONTINUE
BACK
Who can I reach out to? What would Chris’ teacher do if his camera switched off? Am I being too strict? Too lenient? How would others approach Ana?
Hey honey, sit up – you’re going to fall asleep.
I hate this class!
You hate gym? Didn’t you say you’d live in one?
Yeah, but that was before COVID. Gyms don’t exist anymore. Neither do teams, or coaches. At least not mine.
What do you mean? Did something happen to Coach Smith?
No, nothing. People either care or they don’t.
CONTINUE
BACK
With school done for the day, Ana decides to FaceTime Gaby.
Hey you.
Hey, so did you message Ms. Bailey?
No, she won’t care.
You don’t know her like I do – believe me, she’ll care. Message her right now. Please?
I don't know, what should I say?
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana prepares a message for Ms. Bailey while Gaby dictates.
Okay.
Hey Ms. B!
I’m not calling her that.
Fine – Hey Ms. Bailey. Sorry about disappearing. I didn’t know what to say. There’s a lot going on. Maybe I could tell you about it? Ana – That’s it!
Are you sure?
Just hit send.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey receives Ana’s message and reads it while reviewing a note from her student file:
CONTINUE
BACK
Geez, not a lot to go on.
What?
Just thinking of ways I can connect and encourage communication with students.
That’s cool. Girls like that kind of stuff.
Not just girls. Boys need to talk too.
I guess.
Just like with Coach Smith, didn’t you say you enjoy talking with him?
Not anymore, he’s too busy.
I’m sorry to hear that, honey. Hey, are you hungry? Let’s order a pizza.
CONTINUE
BACK
After spending quality time with Chris, Ms. Bailey realizes the importance of building trust in relationships, no matter how busy life gets. To better connect with Ana, she re-reads her message and thinks of steps she can take:
"Hey Ms. Bailey. Sorry about disappearing. I didn’t know what to say. There’s a lot going on. Maybe I could tell you about it? Ana"
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey composes an email to Ana's Lola.
Wow, I already sent five emails in six weeks and no response? Is the email address right? I better copy Ana.
SEND EMAIL
BACK
Why’d she send this to my Lola?
Ms. Bailey sends Ana an invite to meet the next morning. Ana receives notification and accepts it, then sends a text message to Gaby.
She wants to meet tomorrow and thinks my Lola reads English! HELP!
CONTINUE
BACK
Before starting the meeting, Ms. Bailey takes a deep breath and sees that Ana's camera is on.
Good morning, Ana! Thank you for being here.
Sure.
Is everything okay?
I’m good. My brothers just started bugging me, so I turned off my camera.
How old are they? Is there anyone home to help? I emailed your grandmother, did she receive my message?
Yes and no. My Lola doesn't understand English, so I had to translate your email. She tries to help with school, especially when my brothers who are 6, 7, and 9, get bored of being online.
CONTINUE
BACK
I’m sorry, Ana, I had no idea there was a language barrier. I thought she understood English because your new student packet was completed.
Yeah, I completed it.
How about I schedule time to talk with your Lola and have an interpreter available? We can discuss resources to lessen her load and get you and your family support.
Are you serious? An interpreter? You can do that?
When I know how to help, I do my best. It helps if you tell me how. Can you do that?
Sure.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey texts her son’s teacher, Coach Smith.
Hey Coach! How are you holding up?
Oddly, I want to go back to school. How are you? How’s Chris? Miss that kid.
He misses you. Said you’ve been busy.
Ugh, not very trauma-informed of me.
Trauma-informed?
CONTINUE
BACK
Yeah, I took a training about it – meeting kids where they’re at and checking in to understand their needs. Based on Chris’ history with his father, it wasn’t trauma-informed of me to disappear.
I get it. I’ve had trouble staying connected to my kids too, including Chris.That's why I reached out, maybe we could team up?
Teamwork makes the dream work! We can collaborate on ways to check-in and support our students better. I'll start by reaching out to Chris.
CONTINUE
BACK
Please and thank you! I'll reach out to one of my students too. I fear students aren't given enough time to interact since days are focused on lectures. Most tune out! Some even started turning off their cameras.
Mine too. I only know a handful this semester.
Me too! Let's change that! Check in tomorrow at 2pm?
2PM 👍
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey sends Ana an invite to meet the next morning. Ana receives notification and accepts it, then sends a text message to Gaby.
She must’ve gotten my message, wants to meet tomorrow. Wish me luck!
CONTINUE
BACK
Before starting the meeting, Ms. Bailey takes a deep breath and sees that Ana's camera is on.
Welcome, Ana! I’m happy to see you.
Yeah, yesterday was weird.
Is everything okay?
Yeah. I was embarrassed.
Did something happen with the laptop, Zoom, at home?
It’s just that… my brothers are monsters who like to play tricks while I’m online. I had to turn my camera off or the whole class would’ve gotten a show.
Oh brothers. How old are they? Do they have supervision?
My Lola tries her best but they’re only 6, 7, and 9 and get really bored of school being online. They’d rather play video games or run around eating snacks or bugging me.
CONTINUE
BACK
Thank you for sharing all of this, Ana, it helps a lot. I don't want you to struggle. I'd like to find ways to support you and students like you. Maybe you can support me too?
How?
I don’t have a suitable check-in system and I’d like to develop one that encourages students to be honest about their needs or barriers with virtual learning. Want to team up?
With me?
With you. We can support each other.
I’d like that.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey turns to the internet and searches: How can teachers connect with students during virtual learning? She finds a blog post, “Taking Your Students’ Actions Personally? Assuming Instead of Asking? That’s Not Trauma-Informed” Ms. Bailey starts to read.
Oh no, is that what happened with Ana?
Ms. Bailey continues to explore the blog site, reading about trauma-informed tips and trainings within her school district and thinking of ways to share the resources with staff and students.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ms. Bailey sends Ana an invite to meet the next morning. Ana receives notification and accepts it, then sends a text message to Gaby.
Ms. Bailey wants to meet tomorrow, why’d I listen to you?
CONTINUE
BACK
Before starting the meeting, Ms. Bailey takes a deep breath and sees that Ana's camera is off.
Good morning, Ana! Thank you for joining. Before we get started, please let me know in the chat if your laptop is having any problems with its camera or microphone.
We’re the only ones here, right? Just you and me?
Yes, it’s just us. Is everything okay?
Yeah.
CONTINUE
BACK
Ana pauses to turn on her camera, revealing three shadows behind her that immediately run off, laughing.
Those were my brothers, the monsters. They like to attend my classes instead of theirs, so I have to turn my camera off.
I get it.
But that’s not it…
What's going on?
CONTINUE
BACK
Since my room’s in the garage, my brothers constantly sneak in through the drapes. My Lola tries to keep them inside but they’re little and move fast. She says it's not easy. I used to help her, but I'm so behind, especially in your class.
Thank you for your honesty, Ana, sounds like you’ve been managing a lot. I can send resources to lessen your Lola's load and get you and your brothers back on track.
Thank you, yes please!
CONTINUE
When Ms. Bailey messaged Ana about turning her camera on before understanding why she turned it off, she created further distance between them. Distance that was only bridged when Ana’s best friend, Gaby – a person Ana trusts – encouraged her to message Ms. Bailey – a person Gaby trusts.
If teachers can learn how to recognize stress as a trauma response and develop trauma-informed practices for their students and each other, the effects of stress can be minimized. This is especially important in helping students see teachers as less threatening and to provide them with a sense of empowerment to influence their environment to be seen and heard.
What is another way Ms. Bailey can answer Ana’s alarm?
BACK
CONTINUE