Creating Classroom Relationships that Allow Students to Feel Known

The purpose of this qualitative study was to use grounded theory and case study methodology to identify and describe the ways that an upper elementary school teacher makes students feel known and respected for who they are by creating a relationship-driven classroom community. Analyzing how a teacher uses a relationship-driven classroom community has the potential to improve upon existing classroom community models. Data were collected from a teacher questionnaire, student questionnaire, samples of student work, document collection, two formal interviews with ten students, two formal interviews the teacher, and descriptive field notes from observations. Results indicated creating teacher-student relationships that make students feel known and important has the potential to offset the issues resulting from the disconnect between teachers and students and could lead to greatly improved student achievement. The results also provide new directions in the following areas: (a) teacher-student relationships, i.e., making students feel known and important; (b) creating classroom communities that are formed around teacher-student relationships; and (c) accounting for the mismatch between teachers and students

The Classroom Ticket to Concept Retention

Classroom assessment techniques have been advocated for use in the college classroom for over 20 years. The authors of this paper formed a new teaching technique, the ticket to retention (TtR), one that changes classroom assessment techniques so that the emphasis is on student retention of concepts. This technique combines the benefits of the ticket to leave, the one minute paper, the half-sheet response, the post-write strategy, and think-pair-share strategies. During the TtR technique, a sheet with one to five target questions is distributed to students. Students write their answers to the questions, discuss their responses with two classmates,a nd listen to those classmates share their answers. The results of this mixed methods study provide the students and professors\u27 perspective of the ticket to retention and a percentage of information that students recall as a result of the implementation fo the ticket (89%)

“Read the Text, as if!” The Reading Retention Strategy

Students do not always read what is expected in college courses (Berry, Cook, Hill, & Stevens, 2010; Phillips & Phillips, 2007; Sikorski et al., 2002) or they read to cram for an exam or quiz (Clump, Bauer, & Bradley, 2004). The Reading Retention Strategy (RRS) is designed to motivate students to read and assist students in understanding the main points of the readings. The RRS includes students interacting with peers to reinforce and check their responses to prompting questions. Participants included two education professors and their 54 students enrolled in two sections of a four week summer course. The results of the study indicate that when the RRS was employed students recalled more information on essay and short answer questions than when the strategy was not implemented. In addition, only 2% of students reported that they did not complete the course readings

Planning for Middle Level Clinical Experiences During a Crisis

This article describes the trials and tribulations that a middle level education program faced during the global pandemic and recommendations that others can take away from these experiences. The provided suggestions for middle level teacher education programs are specifically for the current pandemic, but can be used for other disasters as well. We advocate that educator preparation programs develop a plan to deal with possible school closers or other disruptions to their field placements to prepare for the next disaster. Some of the recommendations include: (a) create an emergency plan, (b) cultivate relationships, (c) prepare your candidates in the best practices of online teaching and educate them about online teaching platforms, (d) focus on the well-being of the candidates and not just ensuring that they complete the requirements, (e) consider relationship building skills when hiring field supervisors, (f) include strategies that help candidates understand how to deal with stress into your curriculum, and (g) adjust to situations on a case-to-case basis

Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification of Mercury and Methylmercury in Four Sympatric Coastal Sharks in a Protected Subtropical Lagoon

Mercury bioaccumulation is frequently observed in marine ecosystems, often with stronger effects at higher trophic levels. We compared total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) from muscle with length, comparative isotopic niche, and diet (via δ13C and δ15N) among four sympatric coastal sharks in Florida Bay (USA): blacknose, blacktip, bull, and lemon. Mercury in blacknose and blacktip sharks increased significantly with size, whereas bull and lemon sharks had a high variance in mercury relative to size. Both δ13C and δ15N were consistent with general resource use and trophic position relationships across all species. A significant relationship was observed between δ13C and mercury in blacktip sharks, suggesting an ontogenetic shift isotopic niche, possibly a dietary change. Multiple regression showed that δ13C and δ15N were the strongest factors regarding mercury bioaccumulation in individuals across all species. Additional research is recommended to resolve the mechanisms that determine mercury biomagnification in individual shark species

Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) Induces Hypothermia During Acute Cold Stress.

BACKGROUND Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter drug used to treat pain and fever, but it has also been shown to reduce core temperature (T c) in the absence of fever. However, this side effect is not well examined in humans, and it is unknown if the hypothermic response to acetaminophen is exacerbated with cold exposure. OBJECTIVE To address this question, we mapped the thermoregulatory responses to acetaminophen and placebo administration during exposure to acute cold (10 °C) and thermal neutrality (25 °C). METHODS Nine healthy Caucasian males (aged 20-24 years) participated in the experiment. In a double-blind, randomised, repeated measures design, participants were passively exposed to a thermo-neutral or cold environment for 120 min, with administration of 20 mg/kg lean body mass acetaminophen or a placebo 5 min prior to exposure. T c, skin temperature (T sk), heart rate, and thermal sensation were measured every 10 min, and mean arterial pressure was recorded every 30 min. Data were analysed using linear mixed effects models. Differences in thermal sensation were analysed using a cumulative link mixed model. RESULTS Acetaminophen had no effect on T c in a thermo-neutral environment, but significantly reduced T c during cold exposure, compared with a placebo. T c was lower in the acetaminophen compared with the placebo condition at each 10-min interval from 80 to 120 min into the trial (all p  0.05). CONCLUSION This preliminary trial suggests that acetaminophen-induced hypothermia is exacerbated during cold stress. Larger scale trials seem warranted to determine if acetaminophen administration is associated with an increased risk of accidental hypothermia, particularly in vulnerable populations such as frail elderly individuals

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Insect DNA from bat faecal samples<br

Grading Smarter while Students Learn

The presenter designed assignments based on aspects of the brain that encourage students to make connections between concepts and are easy for the instructor to grade. This mixed-methods study used a questionnaire with twelve 5-point Likert scale questions and eight open-ended questions. The results of this study, which included 27 education undergraduate students, indicated that students put in a lot of effort on these assignments, were okay with receiving less feedback, learned as much (if not more) on these assignments as typical course assignments, and preferred that other professors use similar assignments. In addition, when asked about preferences on the feedback that students receive in a classes, students suggested that their grade is not more important than the feedback that they receive and would rather receive more feedback and the professor take more time to grade than less feedback with an assignment returned quickly. The objectives of the presentation are to use active teaching strategies (e.g., think-pair-share and fish bowl discussions) to: (a) share the results of the study and (b) have participants participate in this type of assignments and plan how they could implement this type of assignment in their classes

“Shocking” Students Toward Learning

A “shock language experience” is designed to provide people with a simulated experience of being an English language learner (ELL) (Kubota el al., 2000). The principles of a shock language experience were adapted to create a new teaching method called the “shock learning experience.” A shock learning experience is grounded in research from brain-based learning, emotions, constructivism, and SOTL to create classroom situations to learn concepts through frustrating simulations wherein students either do not have the necessary “tools” or the situation they are placed in is the opposite of the learning outcomes of the course. The shock learning experience for this study was designed to help pre-service teachers understand concepts of classroom management. The results of the study indicate that students (n=42) recognized that this experience was more “meaningful” than reading about or discussing the topic, and changed their view of classroom management. The objectives of this session are to have participants experience a simulated non-teacher education shock learning experience and learn how to design such an experience for their subject area by participating in a round robin activity