The purpose of this study was to determine if the motivational profiles of male junior high weight-training students (n = 166) differ across levels of teacher and peer relatedness (high, low). The students' contextual motivation was measured using the Sport Motivation Scale II -Physical Education (SMS II-PE) pre- and post-intervention (high vs. low teacher-to-student relatedness). Situational motivation and relatedness measurements were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the Situational Motivation Scale-Physical Education (SIMS-PE), Amotivation Inventory-Physical Education Scale (AI-PE), and the Interpersonal Behavior Scale (IBS). Results revealed that situational motivation was not affected by the intervention in either group. Significant differences were observed in student's contextual motivation. That is, both within-groups contextual motivation increased. The notion of pre-existing contextual motivation and its relationship to interpersonal behavioral support and situational motivation are presented and explored.

Music is used and can be found in everyday life and throughout society. With many studies pointing towards music being a motivating stimulus for exercise, it is plausible that music would positively affect the physical activity rates of junior high school students in physical education classes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of popular music on physical activity rates, via pedometry, and enjoyment levels of junior high physical education students. There were 305 junior high physical education students that participated in the study with 151 being male and 154 being female. This was a quasi-experimental study using a two conditions, with and without music, by two activities, basketball and volleyball, cross-over design. It is found that across all grades and gender, more steps were taken with music in both activities versus without music. No statistically significant differences are noted in time in activity between activities with music than without. When comparing the level of enjoyment of the activities with music versus without across genders and all grades, the level of enjoyment is higher with music than without, though the difference is not statistically significant. While statistically significant differences can be found and attributed to the very nature of the differences between volleyball and basketball, there are also several statistical significances found that can be described and attributed to the intervention of the use of music during that activity. Therefore, if teachers are looking for a way for their students to increase step counts and increase the level of enjoyment their students feel throughout an activity, adding music to the background of the activity will help teachers to achieve those goals.

This study was conducted for the primary purpose of discovering the relationship of two personal variables to effective seminary teaching.It was hypothesized that:(1) There is no significant difference between seminary teachers whom the department considers as very effective (high-rated) and seminary teachers whose teaching effectiveness is questioned by the department (low-rated) in their ability to empathize with the self concept of their students.(2) there is no significant difference between seminary teachers who are high-rated and seminary teachers who are low-rated in their ability to sociempathise (perceive student's social status among peers).

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the relationship between the implementation of the District Professional Learning Community (DPLC) model of professional development and collective teacher efficacy and organizational trust at one middle school in a large urban school district. Data were collected from the following sources: Goddard & Hoy's (2003) CE Scale Form L, Hoy & Tschannen-Moran's (2003) Omnibus-T scale, six additional survey items used to explore teachers' perceptions of the DPLC model's influence on improving student literacy, and semi-structured focus group interviews. A series of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests were performed to analyze the survey data. Focus group interview data were examined using a priori codes, open codes, in vivo codes, and logic model analytics. The findings of this study revealed that the DPLC model has a positive impact on collective teacher efficacy and organizational trust at Central Florida Middle School. Additional statistically significant findings include: (a) increase in faculty trust in principal over time; (b) increase in faculty trust in colleagues over time; (c) greater increase in collegial trust among English Language Arts/Reading teachers as compared to other content area peers; (d) members of the DPLC Site Team report greater knowledge and utilization of learned literacy strategies as compared to non-members. Through this investigation of teacher perceptions, truths about organizational culture were revealed. The results of this study confirm and expand the research supporting the positive impact of distributed leadership practices and effective professional development on collective teacher efficacy and organizational trust.

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of sociometric groupings in bringing about improved social status of rejected girls in eighth-grade homemaking classes. Specifically, the study seeks to answer to the questions: Do significant changes occur in personal and social adjustment when pupils are placed in groups according to their choice? Is there evidence of improved social status of rejected pupils when sociometric groupings are used throughout the year?

There are about 16,000 middle schools in the United States; the half million teachers who teach in them affect the academic and emotional lives of about a hundred students while working cooperatively with an array of adult personalities and endeavoring to cover the curriculum. Although research has been conducted on many components of the middle school, an in-depth look at teachers’ experiences with the concept is missing. The purposes of this study were to explore three ideas: the complexities of the work experiences of teachers who participate on interdisciplinary teams in urban middle schools, the possible interactions of the structures and principles of the middle school philosophy with their work lives, and how the reality of interdisciplinary teams connect to the ideals in the middle school and organizational theory literature. I conducted three in-depth phenomenological interviews with 15 urban middle school teachers. Teachers shared their teaching experiences, life histories (to put their experiences in context), and how teaching fits in with their lives. Subject matters, ethnicities, ages, and years experience varied. They came from 9 schools in 5 school districts in the Northeast. I include a brief history of how the junior high morphed into the middle school. The “ideal” practices, programs, and philosophy of the middle school and teaming (as defined by middle school and organizational theory literature) are explained and then contrasted with the realities. Results indicate that the “ideal” characteristics, as described in the literature, do not exist in all urban middle schools. Teachers lamented their absence and described their frustrations with student behavior, colleagues, administrators, and state testing. They also shared the joy they find in seeing their students progress, giving back to the community, and making a difference in students’ lives. I propose that these rewards make up for the incredible difficulties they face daily. I conclude that teachers need team planning time to implement the middle school characteristics and overcome the difficulties of teaching urban students, which include transience, absenteeism, poverty, lack of familial support, and a belief that being smart is “lame.” I also propose increasing community involvement and providing alternative schools.

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A quick look into the prevalence of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) topics in children's literature and one can easily note the rarity of LGBT presence in elementary classrooms. This topic continually fails to enter the classroom curriculum due to the taboo status it has in society. Some people find it to be inappropriate for the classroom, especially the elementary classroom. However, understanding that the intention is to provide an inclusive environment for LGBT students and/or families is important--not to expose children to explicit sexual discussion, but to establish a community of tolerance and acceptance. The purpose of this thesis is to explore, collect, and synthesize the literature regarding LGBT studies in order to create a handbook for preservice teachers, teachers who are in the university program to become teachers. The handbook will provide inclusion strategies, materials to educate preservice teachers on the topic and how to include it in the classroom (via children's literature or units of study), strategies to broach the topic with parents and administrators, classroom environment ideas, and a complete resource list of books and websites with suggestions on where to use them in instruction. Choosing to share quality literature will be important; however the focus of this thesis will center upon better preparing preservice teachers. For purposes of this study, preservice teachers are defined as students in elementary educator preparation courses at UCF. This target audience is required to take children's literature classes in this preparatory program. Preservice literature classes discuss the relevance and importance of including various genres and types of literature in the classroom.

For many educators in intermediate grades, the challenge is to find ways to introduce material in an engaging and meaningful way prior to students reading the textbook. Rather than having students read solely from a textbook, some educators have begun incorporating literature in the classroom in order to introduce material, to help students connect to prior knowledge. As time has passed social studies curriculum has been Teachers have an important role and responsibility to connect students to the curriculum that they are required to learn. One of the best ways to do this is by capturing their interests and tapping their prior knowledge through the use of quality children's literature. After observing intermediate social studies instruction in local classrooms, what is being done in the classroom and what they might need to enhance this process, I developed a guide for educators that may want additional resources and ideas for using quality literature in social studies instruction. This guide included instructional strategies, sample lessons, suggested quality literature and classroom activities to assist educators in helping students make connections and understand the content of social studies curriculum.

“Music is the biggest tool of revolution – the best way to reach out [to] the youth and involve them…” (Kher, n.d.). Music has the ability to impact so many areas of life. Music is universal, and regardless of language, meaning and emotions can be conveyed. Imagine if this was harnessed and utilized as an effective teaching tool for students? Music has played a significant role in history, but is often overlooked when history is taught. Utilization of music in the social studies classroom can take the form of time period pieces, cultural music, mnemonics for memorization, films, and much more. While it can be an effective tool for educating students, are teachers actually integrating it into their lesson plans? Using a stratified random sampling procedure, a survey was sent to teachers in the Central Florida region to gain insight into the topic. It was seen, that while over half (60%) of the educators indicated music could be an effective teaching tool, almost all (95%) used it very often, often, or sometimes in some way, shape, or form. Several teachers indicated that they did not have the time, resources, or the training to integrate music into their social studies classrooms. This research is only a starting point for additional regional studies, as well as more focused studies through which resources may be developed.