I'm Larry Ferlazzo and here you will catch me talking about websites that will help you teach ELL, ESL and EFL!
Mayor Bloomberg Insults Parents — Again
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in the news for once again insulting parents (you can read about his multiple previous efforts at New York City Mayor Insults Parents — Again). I learned about Boomberg’s newest comments from blogger Walt Gardner, with whom I usually agree. Not this time, though. Gardner supports the Mayor’s [...]
“Parents sign petition against use of FCAT”
“Parents sign petition against use of FCAT” is the headline of a Miami Herald article today. The article begins: The petition, gaining traction in parts of Florida and around the country, urges education administrators to rely less on standardized tests and use other measures to evaluate students, schools and teachers.
“Changing the Approach to Parent Involvement”
Changing the Approach to Parent Involvement is a useful article appearing in Fox Latina. It’s a good reminder of the importance of looking at parents through the lens of “assets” and not “deficits” (which is something I recommend for ELL students,too). Here’s an excerpt: The same concept can be applied to a school by looking [...]
PTA Wisdom Shines Through Cloud Of Privatization At Congressional Hearing Today
Today, the Congressional Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing on “Exploring State Success in Expanding Parent and Student Options.” In the midst of parent trigger and voucher advocates, Dr. Maria Fletcher, president of the New York State PTA, provided some important wisdom. Here’s an excerpt from her testimony: Perhaps we’re [...]
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition Unveils New Website
The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) has just unveiled a newly-designed website. Here’s how it describes the site: NCELA is proud to present our newly designed website (still at www.ncela.gwu.edu) that combines high-quality and oft-requested information about the … Continue reading →
“A Twenty-One Protest Song Salute”
Bill Moyers has just published a collection of twenty-one historical protest songs, including videos of artists performing them. There are also many additional suggestions included in the comments on his post. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning … Continue reading →
May’s Best Tweets — Part One
Every monthI make a short list highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. Now and then, in order to make it a … Continue reading →
Memorial Day Resources
Memorial Day is coming up in the United States. I’ve gotten a chance to update most, but not all, of the resources at The Best Websites For Learning About Memorial Day. Additional suggestions are welcome.
New Study: Exercise Helps Learning & Memory
There has been a lot of research on the role of exercise in helping learning, and I’ve gathered much of it in The Best Resources On How Exercise Helps Learning. And, now, there’s one more study to back up the … Continue reading →
Some Posts On Motivation
Here are a few recent posts/articles on motivation: Dan Pink on Why “Passion” Doesn’t Matter appeared in The Huffington Post. Hospital pay incentives fail to help patients: study appeared in Reuters. My Colleague, My Paymaster appeared in The Wall Street … Continue reading →
Texting Becomes New Marshmallow Test
I’ve often written in this post and in my books about how I use the “marshmallow test” in lessons on self-control (see The Best Posts About Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control). Today, Sarah Sparks at Education Week has … Continue reading →
“The Benefits of Being Bilingual”
The Benefits of Being Bilingual is a new column by Jonah Lehrer at Wired that provides a good overview of recent research on the topic. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual. By … Continue reading →
Slide.ly Looks Looks Good & Looks Very Similar To Animoto
Slide.ly is a brand new site that is still closed to the public (but you can find an invite if, as I did, you just search for “Slide.ly + invites” on the Web and you’ll find a number of tech … Continue reading →
Just Updated “The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web”
I’ve just updated The Best Map-Making Sites On The Web. Feel free to suggest others not on the list.
“Summer Slide” Resources
We only have four more weeks of school, and I’ll be doing a short lesson with my students on the “summer slide” and what they can do to prevent it. I’ve updated The Best Resources On The “Summer Slide,” and … Continue reading →
“Round-Up” Of Recent Good Articles & Posts On School Reform
Here’s a collection of recent education policy articles and posts: Deepening the Debate over Teach For America is from Anthony Cody at Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Raising Concerns About Teach For America. Charter … Continue reading →
Google Announces “Knowledge Graph”
Today, Google announced a new feature they’re calling “Knowledge Graph.” I’m still having a little bit of a hard time understanding why it’s such a big deal. Basically, it seems that if you search for a popular topic (like “George … Continue reading →
“What’s Going On In Ontario Schools?” Redux
What’s Going On In Ontario’s Schools? is the newest “question of the week” for my Education Week Teacher column. I added “Redux” to the title here because I asked the same question last month on this blog — What’s Going … Continue reading →
“Fostering Relationships in the Classroom”
Edutopia just published “Fostering Relationships in the Classroom,” another excerpt from my upcoming book on teaching English Language Learners. The book (“The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels” ) … Continue reading →
Venngage Is The Latest Way To Easily Create Infographics
Venngage is the newest easy tool for creating online infographics. Like several other sites on The Best Resources For Creating Infographics list, it has a number of templates where you just add your info, click publish, and you get an … Continue reading →
Research Studies Of The Week
I often write about research studies from various field and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies … Continue reading →
The Best Sites For Learning To Write A Story
I’m doing a unit on writing a story with my Beginning English Language Learners, and, since I’m taking them to the computer lab tomorrow, I wanted to see if I could pull together some useful online interactives for them. I’m … Continue reading →
Goal-Setting Video From The Youngest Person To Climb Everest
Here’s a good and short video from the youngest person to ever climb Everest =- he talks about setting goals. I’m adding it to both The Best Sites For Learning About Mount Everest and to The Best Posts On Students … Continue reading →
It’s Sure Easy To Build A Website With The New “Zoho Sites”
Zoho just announced Zoho Sites, a super-easy “drag-and-drop” website builder. It doesn’t get much easier to create a nice-looking website. You can read more about it at TechCrunch, and you can watch the video below. I’m adding it to The … Continue reading →
Two Excellent Videos For World History
Here are two excellent videos called “Epic time-lapse map of Europe.” The first one is shorter and doesn’t have dates and other annotations while the second one is longer and has both:
“Helping Long-Term ELL’s & Evaluating ELL Teachers Fairly”
Helping Long-Term ELL’s & Evaluating ELL Teachers Fairly is my newest Education Week Teacher column. I think it includes a lot of useful information…
Most Popular Articles In The Guardian Newspaper
I periodically post “most popular” lists of websites (and books) that I think educators might find useful. Of course, there are a number of ways to gauge “popularity.” I just view these lists as opportunities to check-out some new sites, … Continue reading →
Great Storytelling Advice
Storytelling advice from Joss Whedon, Stephen King, Salman Rushdie, Doris Lessing, Scott Simon, Damon Lindelof and a machine is a collection of videos offering good…storytelling advice. I’m adding it to The Best Digital Storytelling Resources, where I also have a … Continue reading →
“Bilingualism Across The U.S.”
Bilingualism Across The U.S. is a useful infographic I’m embedding below (I’m not sure if it will show up in an RSS Reader, so you might have to click through). I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning The … Continue reading →
There Are Now 900 “The Best…” Lists
There are now exactly 900 “The Best…” lists — categorized and regularly updated. That’s a lot of lists
Every Day I Discover How Little I Know — Here’s Another Example
I periodically post about examples of my own ignorance, and now have another opportunity to do so…. As a self-styled quasi-expert on intrinsic motivation (see my book “Helping Students Motivate Themselves” and my list, The Best Posts & Articles On … Continue reading →
Study: Will Reading Regularly Keep You Thin?
The Pacific Standard reports on a study that suggests there is connecting between being a regular reader and staying thin. Here are some excerpts: A scale that measures interest in ideas, art, and knowledge—by surveying the amount of time spent … Continue reading →
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
I’ve recently started a regular feature where I share a few posts from around the Web related to ESL or EFL that have caught my attention: TEFL Geek recently posted about a new resource for teachers called English Agenda. It … Continue reading →
My Best Posts On Metacognition
Helping students strengthen their understanding of metacognition — thinking about their thinking — is an important goal of my teaching. And I’ve written a lot about it. I thought it would be helpful to gather all of those posts in … Continue reading →
New Google+ iPhone App
Google just unveiled a new iPhone app for Google+ , and TechCrunch likes it — With Its New Google+ App, Google Finally Gets It Right. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning What Google+ Is All About.
Grant Wiggins’ Critique Of Value-Added Measurement To Assess Teachers
Author Grant Wiggins’ recently published a lengthy critique of the use of Value Added Measures for teacher evaluation — Value added – why its use makes me angry (OR: a good idea gone bad, again, in education). I learned about … Continue reading →
Share Your Ideas On How You Have Involved Parents In Classroom Lessons
I was looking through the California Department of Education website to see their parent engagement resources, and found that they had “Parent Handbooks” for each class content area. Each one is full of ideas about how parents can help their … Continue reading →
“Celebrating Motherhood in Pictures”
Celebrating Motherhood in Pictures is a slideshow from Smithsonian Magazine. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Mother’s Day.
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (see The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more … Continue reading →
Infogr.am Looks Like A Nice Tool For Creating Infographics
Infogr.am looks like a pretty easy tool for creating infographics that can be linked to or embedded. The selection of templates is pretty limited, but the site is still in beta. The main problem with the site is that you … Continue reading →
“Paws In Jobland”
Paws In Jobland is an excellent interactive site for young people to explore careers. It’s designed for younger students, and is also very accessible for English Language Learners of all ages. I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Students … Continue reading →
Pinside Looks Like A Good “Bulletin Board” But…..
Pinside is a very easy to use online “corkboard” or “bulletin board” where you can “pin” notes with text and images and then mix them around on the board. The problem, though, is that there is no way (or, at … Continue reading →
“Self-Persuasion” — A Good Addition To Lessons On Self-Control & Blame
My book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves (and its sequel, which is my summer project), is full of lessons to help students…motivate themselves, including ones on self-control and taking personal responsibility. I’ve just figured out something that I think might be … Continue reading →