Laughing Out Loud: Humor Usage in Young Childhood Classrooms

The purpose of this honors thesis is to document the types of humorous occurrences among 2-3-yearold children and then to describe the relationship between children’s humor during circle time and teacher-child interactions, noting how teachers respond to these humorous occurrences. I conducted my observations at the Child Study Development Center in the Nursery II classroom, which included one head teacher and 19 children. I audiotaped and photographed my observations and took notes on two tables. One table included recording linguistic humor and non-linguistic humor occurrences, or humor involving words and humor involving movement, and the other table included teacher responses to humorous occurrences (Craig-Unkefer & Fitzgerald, 2008). My findings show that the majority of humorous occurrences stem from children’s incongruent body movements and group discussion during story time. Furthermore, when the teacher extends or scaffolds a humorous occurrence, there is whole-group discussion with attentive listening from children. When a teacher rejects or ignores humor, the humor either stops or the behavior is labeled as inappropriate by the teacher and the children are redirected to what is expected of them. I discuss why humor in the classroom is important for educators to use to enhance young children’s learning

Late Season Fertility to Reduce Incidence and Severity of Snow Mold and Improve Spring Turfgrass Performance

This two-year study has confirmed some initial observations associated with increased potassium fertilization from previous potassium research at Cornell University

Play it Forward: Cooperative Learning & Structured Play During Recess

Cooperative learning and structured play (CLASP) are two things that have gone unappreciated in the modern educational setting. This is an important issue for many local low-income schools as the dropout rate is so high. CLASP ideals come with a wide array of positive outcomes that look to brighten the futures of affected youth. CLASP provides an incredible number of scholarly benefits: increased school involvement, higher GPA, improved interpersonal relationships, increased ability to work as a team, etc. This capstone identifies these critical benefits and addresses the best way to properly utilize CLASP within the school setting. The three primary stakeholders chosen are the Principal/Vice Principal, teachers, and students. All three of which stand to benefit from CLASP pedagogy. This Capstone implemented a prototype program in a local elementary school. Based on the results from the program, it has been made clear that the best way to utilize CLASP in the school setting is through the incorporation of service learning activity leaders during lunch recess. Furthermore, implementation of CLASP programs is minimal while the outcomes can be monumental

Play it Forward: Cooperative Learning and Structured Play

Cooperative learning and structured play (CLASP) are two things that have gone unappreciated in the modern educational setting. This is an important issue for many local low-income schools as the dropout rate is so high. CLASP ideals come with a wide array of positive outcomes that look to brighten the futures of affected youth. CLASP provides an incredible number of scholarly benefits: increased school involvement, higher grade point average,, improved interpersonal relationships, increased ability to work as a team, etc. This Capstone identifies these critical benefits and addresses the best way to properly utilize CLASP within the school setting. The three primary stakeholders chosen are the Principal/Vice Principal, teachers, and students. All three of which stand to benefit from CLASP pedagogy. This Capstone implemented a prototype program in a local elementary school. Based on the results from the program, it has been made clear that the best way to utilize CLASP in the school setting is through the incorporation of service learning activity leaders during lunch recess. Furthermore, implementation of CLASP programs is minimal while the outcomes can be monumental

Interview with Mary Ann Rossi

In this interview with Julia Stringfellow, Mary Ann Rossi discusses her years teaching at Lawrence University (1959-1970).https://lux.lawrence.edu/oralhistories/1043/thumbnail.jp

Local Government Assistance Phase II Storm Water Rule

Discussion of how the Erie County (NY) Pollution Prevention Program and the Western New York Storm Water Coalition worked with municipal wastewater operators to use pollution prevention techniques to comply with stormwater management regulations.Ope

Mercury Pollution Prevention in Healthcare Initiative

Discusses Erie County, NY's pollution prevention outreach and assistance program with hospitals in the county.Ope

Protecting the Health of Astronauts: Enhancing Occupational Health Monitoring and Surveillance for Former NASA Astronauts to Understand Long-Term Outcomes of Spaceflight-Related Exposures

The astronaut community is unique, and may be disproportionately exposed to occupational hazards not commonly seen in other communities. The extent to which the demands of the astronaut occupation and exposure to spaceflight-related hazards affect the health of the astronaut population over the life course is not completely known. A better understanding of the individual, population, and mission impacts of astronaut occupational exposures is critical to providing clinical care, targeting occupational surveillance efforts, and planning for future space exploration. The ability to characterize the risk of latent health conditions is a significant component of this understanding. Provision of health screening services to active and former astronauts ensures individual, mission, and community health and safety. Currently, the NASA-Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Medicine Clinic (FMC) provides extensive medical monitoring to active astronauts throughout their careers. Upon retirement, astronauts may voluntarily return to the JSC FMC for an annual preventive exam. However, current retiree monitoring includes only selected screening tests, representing an opportunity for augmentation. The potential long-term health effects of spaceflight demand an expanded framework of testing for former astronauts. The need is two-fold: screening tests widely recommended for other aging populations are necessary to rule out conditions resulting from the natural aging process (e.g., colonoscopy, mammography); and expanded monitoring will increase NASA's ability to better characterize conditions resulting from astronaut occupational exposures. To meet this need, NASA has begun an extensive exploration of the overall approach, cost, and policy implications of e an Astronaut Occupational Health program to include expanded medical monitoring of former NASA astronauts. Increasing the breadth of monitoring services will ultimately enrich the existing evidence base of occupational health risks to astronauts. Such an expansion would therefore improve the understanding of the health of the astronaut population as a whole, and the ability to identify, mitigate, and manage such risks in preparation for deep space exploration missions

Exploring how practitioners support and protect adults at risk of harm in the light of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007

This was a joint academic and practitioner research project that interviewed practitioners and people about their experience of assessment and intervention under the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. Findings include: the complex and interconnected nature of harm, the value of skilled and open minded practitioners, the need to build and maintain respectful relationships; that thresholds not as clear cut as we might like them to be, protecting means supporting, interagency work was variable in its quality and opportunities for justice through court might still be limite