A polyphasic study was undertaken to clarify the taxonomic position of endospore-forming strains 433-D9, 433-E17 and 121-X1. BOX-PCR-generated fingerprints indicated that they may be members of a single species. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity demonstrated that a representative of this group, 433-D9, is affiliated closely with Bacillus arvi DSM 16317T (100 %), Bacillus arenosi DSM 16319T (99.8 %) and Bacillus neidei NRRL BD-87T (97.1 %). Sequence similarities revealed Bacillus pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T and several Kurthia species as the next nearest relatives. DNA–DNA hybridization results showed that strain 433-D9 is a member of B. arvi. Detection of l-Lys–d-Asp-based peptidoglycan in strain 433-D9, B. arvi DSM 16317T and B. arenosi DSM 16319T was in agreement with their close relationship, but differentiated these strains from B. neidei NRRL BD-87T and B. pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T, for which l-Lys–d-Glu was reported. A similar quinone system was detected in strains 433-D9, 433-E17, 121-X1, B. arvi DSM 16317T, B. arenosi DSM 16319T and B. neidei NRRL BD-87T. This system, unusual for bacilli, consisted of the major compound menaquinone MK-8 (69–80 %) and moderate amounts of MK-7 (19–30 %). This observation was in contrast to the predominance of MK-7 of the closest relative B. pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T, as also reported for representatives of the closely related non-endospore-forming genus Kurthia. Strains 433-D9, B. arvi DSM 16317T and B. arenosi DSM 16319T exhibited homogeneous and discriminative polar lipid profiles and fatty acid profiles consisting of major acids i-C15 : 0 and ai-C15 : 0 and moderate amounts of i-C17 : 1 ω10c and i-C17 : 1 I/ai-C17 : 1 B that discriminated them from closely related strains such as B. neidei NRRL BD-87T. On the basis of clear-cut discriminative chemotaxonomic markers, we propose strains 433-D9, 433-E17 and 121-X1, B. arvi DSM 16317T, B. arenosi DSM 16319T and B. neidei NRRL BD-87T to be reclassified within a separate genus. For this new taxon, we propose the name Viridibacillus gen. nov., and we propose the reclassification of Bacillus arvi, Bacillus arenosi and Bacillus neidei as Viridibacillus arvi gen. nov., comb. nov. (the type species of Viridibacillus, with the type strain DSM 16317T =LMG 22165T), Viridibacillus arenosi comb. nov. (type strain DSM 16319T =LMG 22166T) and Viridibacillus neidei comb. nov. (type strain NRRL BD-87T =DSM 15031T =JCM 11077T).

Natural disasters affect millions of lives each year devastating educational institutions and their communities. This case study identifies lessons learned by school leadership in the aftermath of a devastating tornado that destroyed one‐third of the city, injured over 1,000 people, and took the lives of 158 people including members of the school community. The data were collected through personal interviews with 10 district administrators and educators who were directly affected by the crisis. The findings presented identify a set of lessons learned that may guide other educational institutions to be more prepared in a crisis situation including the importance of hiring expert help, creating a plan to receive resources, and establishing practices of communication that support communities in crisis situations.

Learning logs, or reading response logs, are an effective reading strategy that helps students learn from text. This article reports the use of such logs, with an added element of social interaction in which students were asked to share one entry from their logs with the class. Two studies were conducted to ascertain students' perceptions of the learning value of the strategy. The first consisted of 123 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in education courses. The second study consisted of 547 middle and high school students. After using the strategy three times, students were given a 12‐question survey. One hundred percent of the college students and 98% of the middle and high schoolers reported they read at least some of the assigned text. Ninety‐two percent of college students and 72% of middle and high school students reported they understood and remembered the text better when reading for interest rather than reading for a test. Ninety‐four percent of college students and 65% of the middle and high school students reported they gained new perspectives from the discussions.

This article provides a simple, research‐based idea for how teachers can promote reading through performance by using sign‐up sheets on which each student signs up to read aloud to the class. The sign‐up‐for‐reading strategy gives students a reason to read; provides opportunities for oral reading, rereading, practice reading, and selecting reading materials; and helps develop prosody. When teachers provide opportunities for performance reading and structure it with a reading sign‐up sheet, all students participate and have a chance to grow enthusiastically as readers.

In my search for my identity as an online teacher, I did an informal self-study to determine if my online classes are equivalent to my face-toface classes. I compared student work and student evaluations from 14 courses: seven online and seven face-to-face. When I compared the quality of student work from both formats, I found it indistinguishable. When I compared the type of comments on student evaluations, they were indistinguishable as well. There seemed to be no discernible difference between me as a face-toface teacher and me as an online teacher. Based on the students' perceptions and coursework, their learning and enjoyment of learning did not seem to be tied to whether I was in the room with them or not. This handbook is intended for graduate students, professors, instructional designers and researchers in educational communication and technology. Now in its fourth edition, the Handbook has becomesynonymous with excellence in providing cutting edge research on educational communications and technology to the information and communication technology community. This Handbook is written for researchers in educational communication and technology, professors of instructional design and instructional technology as well as professionals working in the fields of ICT.