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Fall 2020, COVID-19 restrictions in place on most college campuses may have resulted in the reality of college life not aligning with student expectations. This survey study, conducted at a university in the Midwest, sought to determine the perceptions of first-year college students regarding whether there was a misalignment with their prior expectations and in which areas these misalignments existed, if they did exist. At this university, the COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes in the delivery formats of courses, and restrictions of social gatherings and on-campus activities. In addition, academic resources such as tutoring, writing center assistance, and study groups were unavailable or curtailed in scope and operating times. This study focused on student perceptions of the impact of course delivery, academics, and social opportunities. The majority of the first-year students in this study reported they were unsure if the restrictions impacted their expectations of what college would be like academically but did report their belief that blended/hybrid courses better supported their learning than either synchronous or asynchronous courses. The largest factor impacting the misalignment of prior student expectations and the Fall 2020 college campus reality was linked to social activities and interactions with 60% of participants listing this as an area where the Fall 2020 college experiences did not meet their expectations.

A critical issue in education today is that many middle and high school students are not able to read on grade level (Alvermann & Rush, 2004; Biancarosa & Snow, 2010; Heller & Greenleaf, 2007; Houge, Geier, & Peyton, 2008). In an effort to deal with the problem, many schools encourage all teachers, regardless of their subject area, to emphasize reading in their classes, because as Rasinski, Padak, McKeon, Wilfong, Friedauer, and Heim (2005) state, "if our goal is to improve student performance across content areas, then improvements in general reading abilities must be a goal" (p. 26). This is often met with a great deal of resistance because not only have most teachers not been trained in the reading process, but they also do not feel it is their responsibility to teach reading. Heller and Greenleaf (2007) state, "At the secondary level, the responsibility for teaching reading and writing often seems to belong to no one in particular" (p. 15). However, Shanahan (2012) makes the point that the "idea of disciplinary literacy is that students not only have to learn the essential content of a field, but how reading and writing are used in that field" (para. 3). He contends teachers in any field can help students read text critically in the same way professionals in the fields would read the text, instead of merely helping students learn what they need for a test. The purpose of this article is to provide a structure that any teacher, regardless of content area and training in reading instruction, can use to help students hone the literacy skills necessary to explore, develop, and expand content area knowledge. The suggested structure is based on a review of the literature that states: students need to (a) "listen to others read aloud" (Miller, 2002; Rasinski, 2003; Routman, 2003); (b) "read often" (Allington, 2006; Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985; Cunningham, 2009), (c) "practice using reading strategies" (Beers, 2003; National Reading Panel, 2000), (d) "interact with texts and each other" (Routman, 2003, 2005: Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011), and (e) "develop a word consciousness" (Harmon, Wood, & Medina, 2009; Scott & Nagy, 2004).

The self-efficacy of the 12 teacher candidates in this study was negatively impacted by student discipline and classroom management as evidenced by their concern they will not be able to manage a public school classroom. Pre-practicum conversations and planning sessions showed enthusiasm and excitement at the opportunity to teach lessons and become actively engaged in the public schools, but this was replaced by self-doubt and anxiety about classroom management as the semester progressed. Even though this was a reading course practicum, journal entries and reflections focused on classroom management, which emphasizes the impact these experiences in the classroom and these interactions with students had on this group of teacher candidates. Research has shown that student discipline and classroom management are cited as attrition factors in practicing teachers, and some researchers suggest teacher education programs are not preparing teacher candidates to manage classrooms in today's educational climate (Darling-Hammond, 2003; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 2006; Kopowski, 2008; Anhorn, 2008). As seen in this study, it appears the roots of attrition may be planted as early as the first interactions in public school classrooms when teacher candidates enter the experience with little or no training and without sufficient background knowledge to effectively evaluate and process what they are observing.

CD-ROM storybooks, often referred to as electronic texts, e-books, and interactive stories, are learning tools with supplemental features such as automatic reading of text, sound effects, word pronunciations, and graphic animations which support the development of reading skills and comprehension in beginning readers. Some CD-ROM storybooks also provide a definition of the word to aid in vocabulary acquisition. However, over-reliance on these features may hinder development of a young reader's decoding skills and use of context cues. Many CD-ROM storybooks contain incidental hotspots, such as dancing flowers and hidden characters, which distract from the storyline and take reader's attention away from comprehension. These incidental features may prolong the reading event causing fatigue and loss of focus. In sum, the features provided by CD-ROM storybooks offer valuable support for the acquisition of reading skills when coupled with supervision to monitor overuse and direct instruction in comprehension strategies.

The use of an academic notebook in an elementary music classroom is an effective way of integrating language arts into music instruction while helping students to reflect and think critically about music. Academic notebooks are student-created tools that help organize and track learning while students gain conceptual knowledge. The notebooks are designed to foster discussion, encourage reading and writing strategy development, and provide application activities to further strengthen the learning of music concepts. Combining music instruction with language arts reinforces integration of curriculum areas while providing academic support for a liberal arts program by enhancing its connection to the teaching and learning of literacy.

CD-ROM storybooks may facilitate reading comprehension for students who are struggling with reading comprehension. Therefore, the use of CD-ROM storybooks in the classroom as part of a reading instruction program, literacy center, or for independent reading time could benefit young readers. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

CD-ROM storybooks can support the development of the five essential elements of reading instruction identified by The National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Specific features inherent in these texts, audio pronunciation of text, embedded vocabulary definitions and animated graphics can be used to support readers' development of various reading skills. In addition, the International Society for Technology in Education states that computer technology should be used with young children to build their technological skill and comfort level. The use of CD-ROM storybooks for instruction in the five essential elements is an effective means of incorporating technology in a meaningful way.

Fall 2020, COVID-19 restrictions in place on most college campuses may have resulted in the reality of college life not aligning with student expectations. This survey study, conducted at a university in the Midwest, sought to determine the perceptions of first-year college students regarding whether there was a misalignment with their prior expectations and in which areas these misalignments existed, if they did exist. At this university, the COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes in the delivery formats of courses, and restrictions of social gatherings and on-campus activities. In addition, academic resources such as tutoring, writing center assistance, and study groups were unavailable or curtailed in scope and operating times. This study focused on student perceptions of the impact of course delivery, academics, and social opportunities. The majority of the first-year students in this study reported they were unsure if the restrictions impacted their expectations of what college would be like academically but did report their belief that blended/hybrid courses better supported their learning than either synchronous or asynchronous courses. The largest factor impacting the misalignment of prior student expectations and the Fall 2020 college campus reality was linked to social activities and interactions with 60% of participants listing this as an area where the Fall 2020 college experiences did not meet their expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital writing allows students to interface, collaborate, and incorporate the world in their writing through the use of multimedia approaches such as videos, music, pictures, and hyperlinks. It allows students to produce samples of writing that more closely align with the types of texts they are reading and which mirror the multimedia world they navigate. Increasingly, students will not only be expected to interpret digital texts, but will be expected to utilize digital media strategically in their own writing to meet their communication needs. A travel brochure is provided as an example of an upper elementary digital writing assignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the structure use by the teachers to help their students improve the performance and the literacy skills. It states the structure based on the literature review involving the five components including the need for students to listen to others read aloud, to practice using reading techniques, and to develop a word consciousness. It mentions the importance of five components to improve the reading performance among students.

The article presents a study aimed on the identification of the cause behind the roots of attrition in the teacher education programs. The study is undertaken among 12 teacher candidates attending a university with a population of 17,703 wherein their practicum is a co-requisite for a reading methods course. Data analysis for the study is undertaken through a qualitative computer software. The results of the study indicate that the respondents were negatively impacted by student discipline.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of peer evaluation in a performance-based, Web-enhanced undergraduate instructional technology course. The results of a survey administered at the end of three semesters indicated that learners believe the peer evaluation process helped them improve the quality of their own work, both as a result of being a peer evaluator themselves and from the quality of the feedback received from their classmate-evaluators. Higher quality final projects with fewer mistakes corroborated the students' assessment. These findings provide valuable information for instructors who are currently utilizing or considering the implementation of a peer evaluation process as a part of their instructional strategy. The results of this study indicate that including peer evaluation in the final project enhanced student performance. Significant technology integration was used to facilitate the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD-ROM storybooks can support the development of the five essential elements of reading instruction identified by The National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Specific features inherent in these texts, audio pronunciation of text, embedded vocabulary definitions and animated graphics can be used to support readers' development of various reading skills. In addition, the International Society for Technology in Education computer technology should be used with young children to build their technological skill and comfort level The use of CD-ROM storybooks for instruction in the five essential elements is an effective means of incorporating technology in a meaningful way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]