Physical inactivity is linked with several chronic disease. This study has a twofold purpose: first, to examine the effect bouncing feet on a band have on middle school student’s physical activity level. Secondly, to examine the relationship between fidget behavior and academic engagement. Sixth grade English classrooms (2) from a local middle school participated in the study. All students were issued a physical activity monitor to be worn on their, and during the intervention, an under-the-desk apparatus was provided to students to freely fidget. Total sedentary time increased during intervention. Use of under-the-desk band did not positively or negatively impact academic engagement. Final analysis included 19 participants. Significant increase in sedentary time and percentage of class spent in sedentary were found. As well as significant decrease in light time, percentage of light, percentage of moderate, percentage of vigorous. The use of an under-the-desk band does not negatively impact academic engagement.

No description available.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how teachers provide supervision to paraprofessionals in middle school classrooms. The numbers of paraprofessionals in school settings have continued to increase thus causing roles for both teachers and paraprofessionals to evolve. Teachers and paraprofessionals perceive the teacher's supervisory role differently (D'Aquanni, 1997; Milner, 1998; Mueller, 1997). Consequently, this descriptive case study examines how teachers provide supervision to paraprofessionals in middle school classrooms. Questions regarding the teacher's role as a supervisor are derived from Pickett's (1999) supervisory framework, which addresses five areas: planning, task delegating, role clarifying, performance monitoring, and on-the-job training and mentoring. The results of this study both supported Pickett's (1999) framework and added additional information that can enhance effective paraprofessional supervision in middle school classrooms. Results indicated that planning, formal or informal, does not exist, as it should, between teacher and paraprofessional teams in middle school classrooms. In addition, this study supported the notion that teachers are often uncomfortable delegating tasks to paraprofessionals. It also determined that roles remain unclear for both teachers and paraprofessionals. Many paraprofessionals feel they are not monitored at all by teachers, possibly due to the lack of role clarification. Finally, this study found that training for both paraprofessionals and their supervising teachers is minimal. / Ed. D.

It has been common for elementary teachers to read aloud to their students; however, it has not been so common in the middle school. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine how middle school teachers and their students describe the use of read-alouds, including the teachers’ reasons for conducting read-alouds and the students’ descriptions of their experiences with them. Individual interviews and observations were conducted with two teachers and six students to gain the essence of their experiences with read-alouds. Results from this study indicated that what students gained from read-alouds matched the reasons their teachers utilized them. The students described their experiences as enjoyable, helpful to independent reading, motivating, engaging, and a learning opportunity which were all reasons their teachers stated for reading aloud. Findings in this study also indicated the fidelity with which read-alouds were implemented by teachers was impacted by district mandates and the pressure of preparing students for state tests. Results indicated students prospered both cognitively and affectively from listening to teachers read aloud. This study can be used to inform middle school teachers and administrators of the value of using read-alouds. Keywords: Read-Alouds, Middle School Teachers, Middle School Students, Middle School Reading

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-97). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-97). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Includes tables. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Frank L. Smith Jr. Dissertation committee: Jeannette E. Fleischner. Sponsor: Frank L. Smith, Jr. Dissertation Committee: Jeannette E. Fleischner, . Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-167).

Thesis (MEd (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Since 2012, the poor literacy levels of intermediate phase (IP) learners have been a concern for officials in the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). Responding to the literacy crisis, the WCED has implemented the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), along with various other literacy interventions, but in the West Coast District, IP learners’ writing skills remain poor. Focusing on the West Coast District, this thesis sheds light on the implementation of the writing-instruction practices prescribed by CAPS: specifically, the implementation of “shared writing” as a scaffolding method for teaching writing to learners. The thesis maps the theoretical and conceptual framework of the writing process, with an emphasis on shared writing. In particular, it discusses Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s ideas on social-cognitive development and scaffolding. The gradual release of responsibility (GRR) and balanced language approach (BLA) instruction models propose that a competent adult should interactively model the writing process to learners before group writing (practice) and independent writing (assessment) are attempted. While these stages of instruction are included in CAPS, this study investigated the extent of their implementation. Current literature in the field of writing instruction foregrounds the concepts of “thinking aloud” and “shared pen”, according to which the teacher and the learner co-compose a text, allowing learners to become competent writers. In this study, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to describe and understand West Coast District IP Afrikaans Home Language (HL) teachers’ perceptions of their use of shared writing to teach the writing process. Data collection consisted of quantitative and qualitative questionnaires, as well as interviews, with results converted into percentages. Subsequent data analysis disclosed the patterns, strengths, and weaknesses experienced by IP Afrikaans HL teachers in the West Coast District. Current IP writing-instruction practices can provide the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) with valuable insights into the implementation of shared writing, and of CAPS as a whole.

Although it has been more than 20 years since the publication of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) and 10 years since the second version of standards, Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000), the research underlines the lack of essential practices for standards-based teaching (Franke, Kazemi, & Battey, 2007). The literature also emphasizes the importance of planning in standards-based teaching, although few studies focus on the direct planning of the teacher (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). The aim of the current study was to conduct a case study to extract the planning and classroom practices of an expert seventh grade mathematics teacher. The extracted practices were interpreted using the teaching-in-context theory which is based on the beliefs, goals, and knowledge of the teacher. The case study was conducted in a design experiment environment where the instructional sequence was revised based on the classroom instruction. The data were collected through different resources including videotapes of classroom sessions, teacher notes, students‟ artifacts, audiotapes of daily teacher interviews, weekly teacher meetings and classroom small groups in five weeks. Transcripts were used to observe the action patterns of the teacher during both planning and classroom practices. By triangulating the data, planning practices were separated into five categories: preparation, reflection, anticipation, assessment, and revision. These practices were interrelated in an environment of collaboration. Classroom practices also were categorized into five groups, namely creating and sustaining social norms, facilitating genuine mathematical discourse, supporting the development of sociomathematical norms, capitalizing on students‟ imagery to create inscriptions and notation, and developing small groups as communities of learners. Similar to the planning practices, these iii were also highly interrelated with social norms playing a key role in application of all other practices. The results showed that the expert teacher used a diverse set of practices with each practice comprised of multiple actions to create and sustain a standards-based environment. The results also indicated that standards-based teaching requires a rich and connected body of knowledge about students, curriculum, content, and literature. It was found that the depth of the teacher‟s knowledge allowed her to develop practices that were consistent with her beliefs and goals. Finally, the planning and classroom practices were found to be highly interrelated. While effective planning practices facilitated the application of standards-based teaching, the classroom teaching practices equipped the teacher with the data necessary to perform effective planning practices.

No description available.