“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin…” (hooks, 1994). Part of respecting and caring for students, and their “souls” as hook says, is respecting and representing all parts of their identity and culture. When looking at the marginalized LGBTQ+ community, we see little representation of their history in elementary schools. Very few LGBTQ+ history resources are available for students, and none that I could find focused on my home state, Massachusetts. This gap silences the history of a whole community. My presentation will describe my process of creating a picture book designed for late elementary school students (3rd-5th graders) that presents Massachusetts LGBTQ+ history that is accessible to them. The presentation will also describe my research process learning about Boston’s LGBTQ+ history and how I told the stories of LGBTQ+ historical figures in a way that students could understand without minimizing what these advocates did for the Massachusetts LGBTQ+ community. The point of my book was not to idolize these figures but to highlight them alongside other Massachusetts historical figures like Paul Revere, Crispus Attucks, and Tom Brady. My book and presentation will give the audience a multi-view perspective of Boston’s history and will hopefully start conversations around LGBTQ+ representation in K-12 classrooms.

The purpose of this research was to determine if incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and enjoyment. Throughout this project, an experiment was done with second graders that supported this idea that by adding dance into classroom lessons, students achieve more. These students scored higher on an assessment after including movement into the lesson. Some of them enjoyed the lessons more with dance and others did not. Previous research found that dance helps the student learning process due to its ability to meet diverse needs, its effect on the memory, and increase on student engagement. Dance also connects to Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Students with different disabilities have also shown higher academic achievement when dance is used in their classrooms. It helps with attention and stimulating the brain. Along with this research, four mini units are attached that incorporate dance for teachers to use as examples as to how to incorporate dance into their lessons. These include English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies lesson made for second graders using Massachusetts State Standards and National Dance Standards for second graders. Through the experiment, research, and creation of lesson plans, it can be said that incorporating dance into elementary school classrooms increases academic achievement and may increase overall enjoyment.

Relationships are a top priority for many people, perhaps because relationships fulfill an important human need: love. Relationships tend to be complex and have many predictors related to whether or not a relationship will be satisfying. It is important that one evaluates how satisfied he/she is with the relationship in order to decide whether to continue. If one learns early in the relationship that they are not satisfied, then they can terminate the relationship before it continues too long. Relationship satisfaction was examined in terms of positive and aversive behaviors commonly demonstrated in relationships. The positive behaviors analyzed included support/praise, affection, security, and communication, while the aversive behavior categories included exclusion, deceit, avoidant behaviors, undesirable actions, and potential competitors. A survey was administered through surveymonkey, in which participants completed demographic information, a pre-survey rating of their overall level of relationship satisfaction, questions regarding the frequency of certain behaviors, and a post-survey rating on their level of relationship satisfaction. When analyzing the pre and post survey responses, participants were more satisfied with their relationship after completing the questionnaire. Regarding the pre-survey satisfaction rating, a stepwise regression procedure indicated exclusion and support/praise as having the most significance in a relationship, where as the post satisfaction rating was most closely associated with exclusion, support/praise, deceit, and potential competitors. Therefore, the clearest correlations appear to be exclusion, deceit, support/praise, and potential competitors. Another finding is that filling out the survey changed both the satisfaction level and the predictor variables. It is likely that the behavioral categories tend to produce satisfying relationships because both people in the relationship are experiencing both generic and idiosyncratic reinforcement from the significant other. Also, participants' satisfaction ratings appear to increase as a result of completing the survey. Is is not clear why this is the case; however, it may be that "taking stock" of the positive and aversive behaviors may have led this sample to be more satisfied with their current relationship. These findings suggest that reviewing the positive and negative aspects of a relationship can be beneficial, but more research is indicated.

The K-12 student population in the United States is becoming increasingly more diverse in terms of the cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds of its students, with the racial identity of the students being of particular interest to researchers now that students of color make up around 50% of the school children population (Pennington, 2003). Numerous studies in this area have indicated that in order to meet the learning needs of a diverse student body and make their educational experience more equitable, a teacher must take on a culturally responsive teaching approach. This teaching approach to education has proven to be effective with students from various backgrounds as it builds on both the strengths and learning capacity of the individual student; and creates an expectation for teachers to take responsibility for their students` success, communicate high behavioral and academic expectations address their implicit biases, and work on relationship building and trust within their classroom (Souto-Manning, 2018). However, White people account for almost 90% of both teachers and teacher students in America (Ladson-Billings, 1999), and countless studies have reported that these teachers are ill- prepared to become a culturally responsive teacher, let along be able to address their implicit biases (Jett, 2012). Since the Massachusetts school system is currently seeing an increase in the diversity of its student population, as well as serious issues with segregation making it more likely for teachers to have a class where most of its` children identify as minority students (Rocheleau, 2017), an early childhood teacher preparation college in the area was observed, specifically Salem State University. The courses within the teacher preparations were examined, specifically for the purpose of finding how embedded a culturally responsive pedagogy was in the required courses for graduation. The study then gives recommendations about how to weave culturally responsive teaching and/or principles of culturally responsive teaching throughout the courses within the program, so pre-service teachers will be professionally trained to be culturally responsive educators in their future schools.

Cuando un libro es un espejo para el lector, como destaca Rudine Sims Bishop, este puede verse a sí mismo y su propia vida. Hoy en día en los Estados Unidos alrededor del 90% de los libros que los niños leen gira predominantemente en torno a personajes blancos. Otros niños de diferentes orígenes, ahora más de la mitad de la población infantil en Estados Unidos, no tienen acceso a ese “espejo,” simplemente están obteniendo “ventanas” a las vidas de comunidades privilegiadas. Estos jóvenes lectores que no ven ninguna representación de sí mismos en la literatura se ven afectados emocionalmente. Una mayor diversidad en la literatura infantil auténtica puede proporcionar espejos para estos niños, además de ser ventanas para los lectores blancos. En esta tesis investigaré qué dice la literatura y los maestros sobre la falta de diversidad en los libros que se les ofrecen a los estudiantes de escuela primaria en los Estados Unidos, y cómo pueden combatirla para así ayudar a sus alumnos Latinx.

Was the German public education system or the Hitler Youth more influential in the indoctrination of children in Nazi Germany? The German school system promoted a rhetoric built upon a Nazi ideological framework, with the end goal of having children passively think within that framework. In contrast, the Hitler Youth emphasized physical training and militarization as a critical component of the indoctrination process. Ultimately, both proved vital in the success of Nazi Germany’s re-education program and allowed for the full integration of youth into the Nazi State.

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that children with disabilities are educated in the "least restrictive environment appropriate” to meet their “unique needs.”-- otherwise known as an inclusive setting. How do teacher attitudes and practices correlate with effective inclusive education? Studies show that if a teacher gives students higher expectations, they are more likely to perform to higher standards. Thus, by giving a student with disabilities the opportunity to be included in a general education classroom, they are usually held to a higher standard. However, whether this motivates or discourages the student is then based on the teacher’s attitude and school’s resources. In this qualitative study, 61 hours were spent observing two second grade classrooms in the same town, but at schools with different demographics. One of the schools contained students primarily from lower socio-economic backgrounds, while the other school contained students who were predominately middle class. Data was recorded in a chart that contained instructional practices in inclusion classrooms. The results show that teacher attitudes and practices differed significantly in the two classrooms observed in that positive teacher attitudes and use of encouraging language, effective socialization, support services, and balanced exposure to flexible grouping strategies—all key factors for effective inclusive education, were much more prominent in one of the two classrooms observed. Future research should be conducted over a greater period of time and in a greater variety of classrooms for more accurate results.

This research addresses the ever growing problem of job dissatisfaction and job burnout among nurses. Job burnout is a state of “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about one’s competence and the value of one’s work” (Mayo Clinic, 2015). Job burnout has negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of the nurse, as well as his or her patients. Policies and regulations can vary depending on the union status of the establishment where the nurse is employed. A union is an association made up of a group of individuals sharing a common purpose. Staffing ratios, salary, benefits and job stability can all be seen to vary within different facilities depending on their union status. There are both positives and negatives to each union and non-union facility. This research will explore these topics in order to see if any correlation among the nurse’s job dissatisfaction and union status exist. A cross-sectional electronic survey was sent out to Salem State University School of Nursing alumni. Registered Nurses (RN) participating were asked to complete a survey containing demographic information, nursing specific questions, questions regarding union status and a modified Burnout Inventory Risk questionnaire. The dichotomous outcome variable will be union versus non-union work settings. Due to a lack of research on this topic in the United States, this research will be a positive contribution to nursing science. The purpose of this study is to better identify job burnout among the nursing profession as well as researching factors that could have an effect.

Breathing is vital to our well-being. Being attentive to our breathing and taking deep breaths can actually help our bodies relax and focus. Teaching students to pause and focus on their breath can help them handle difficult situations that arise during the school day. This technique is something students can carry with them and use as they grow up. Breathing also helps develop mindfulness, which helps improve attention skills and memory. Mindfulness also encourages compassion, kindness, and understanding. In this children's book, Bah Bah faces many difficulties on his first day at a new school. He handles his emotions discreetly by pausing and having breathing breaks throughout the day that help him relax and move on. Read along and learn to breathe like Bah Bah!