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Elementary school officials have reported difficulty motivating young African American boys to read. It is important that teachers understand why these children have not been motivated to read and create classroom environments that encourage reading motivation. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore teachers' perspectives on best instructional practices for motivating 3rd -grade African American boys to read. The conceptual framework for this study consisted of critical race theory, self-determination theory, and the theory of social constructivism. The research questions focused on teachers' perspectives regarding 3rd -grade African American boys' motivation to read and best instructional practices in reading instruction for these students. Through a purposeful sampling strategy, 10 teachers were invited to participate and share their teaching experiences. The criterion for inclusion was that the participant taught reading to 3rd -grade African American boys. Data were collected from 5 teachers who agreed to participate through semistructured interviews. Recordings of the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using axial coding. Axial coding of the transcribed interview data and thematic analysis revealed 3 overarching themes: (a) best instructional practices, (b) motivation for reading, and (c) classroom resources. Results indicated that different types of instructional practices had influenced the teachers' perspectives on motivating these students to read. This study contributes to positive social change by providing school administrators and educational leaders with knowledge that may be beneficial to the initiation of policies, strategies, and procedures to motivate third-grade African American boys to read.

In the United States, approximately 26% of children will witness or experience a traumatic event before they turn 4 years old. Therefore, teachers must be prepared to meet the individual needs of children who exhibit symptoms of trauma. However, there is a gap in research regarding teachers' perspectives about how teacher preparation experiences influence teaching strategies and the creation of supportive environments for preschool children who have experienced trauma. Using Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how teachers' perspectives about teacher preparation experiences influenced their teaching strategies and the creation of supportive environments for preschool children who have experienced trauma. In-depth interviews were used to collect data from 10 preschool teachers from a southern state who had varying teaching experience, degrees, and preparation experiences. The continuous data analysis process included organizing the data, reflecting on meaning, and identifying and coding key words and themes to answer the research questions. Results indicated that teacher preparation experiences influenced the participants' teaching strategies and the creation of supportive environments. However, the results also suggested a need for more content specific teacher preparation experiences. Potential social implications of this study include (a) improving teacher preparation opportunities, (b) an increase in teacher self-efficacy, (c) an increase in child development outcomes, and (d) adding to the current literature on teacher preparation and childhood trauma.

What do we do before we eat snack? Which tower has more blocks? Will all of these toy cars fit in my bucket? Children ask questions like this all day long, and they have incredible capacity to answer them when equipped with the right tools. We will discuss how to support all children - including children with special needs - to mathematize their worlds. We will focus on three math topics that are less commonly found in preschool: ordering, comparing, and estimating. Through group discussions, video analysis, and hands-on activities, we will explore: 1) how these skills connect to other domains (e.g., retelling storybook events in order) 2) how they develop in children (e.g., what do children need to know to compare numerals?) 3) effective strategies to bring them to life (e.g., including a referent jar when estimating) Participants will leave with example activities to try in the classroom and inspiration to support children as they talk about, play with, and get excited to use math to understand the world around them.

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No description available.