Teachers To Visit Homes Of 7,000 Students — In One Day!
The homes of all 7,000 students in Henderson County, Kentucky will be visited by the District’s 1,000 teachers (I assume that number also includes other staff) in one day. It sounds pretty impressive, and you can read more about it in this article. Appointments won’t be made in advance, and, ordinarily, I don’t think that’s [...]
“Two-Way Communication Ideas for Teachers, Leaders & Parent Groups”
Joe Mazza has compiled an impressive list of Two-Way Communication Ideas for Teachers, Leaders & Parent Groups on a Google Doc. It comes out of last night’s Parent-Teacher Chat on Twitter.
“Family Engagement Summer Reading List”
Michele Molnar just posted a very useful Family Engagement Summer Reading List over at her Education Week blog. It’s got some good picks!
California PTA Makes Huge Political Mistake
As regular readers know, I’m a big supporter of the PTA and the role it plays, and the potential role it can play, in helping families, schools and neighborhoods. Unfortunately, as I’ve written before (see Molly Munger, The PTA & The Shoe Button Complex), the California PTA has made a huge political miscalculation by becoming [...]
This Week’s Parent-Teacher Chat (#ptchat) on Twitter
Guest post by Joe Mazza This Week’s Parent-Teacher Chat (#ptchat) on Twitter Creating a Bank of 2-Way Communication Offerings Between Home & School On this week’s #ptchat our conversational goal is to provide educators with as many classroom and school-based two-way (home-school) communication offerings as possible. At the end of the chat, we’ll use those [...]
“What Really Happens When Parents Pull the “Parent Trigger?”"
What Really Happens When Parents Pull the “Parent Trigger?” is a good article from The Center For Media and Democracy. It gives a nice overview of the trigger’s origins and its problems. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools. Thanks to Leonie [...]
The Joy Of Discovery
When you watch a game on TV, someone else — the producers and commentators — do the work for you. They tell you what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. They digest the reality on … Continue reading →
Making “Choose Your Own Adventure” Videos
The History 2.0 Classroom has a great video tutorial on making “Choose Your Own Adventure” videos and then has another post with student examples. I’m adding them to The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories.
“Where are you on the global fat scale?”
Where are you on the global fat scale? is the name of an interactive just posted by the BBC. I sort of wish they could have come up with a different name, but it provides some fascinating, if depressing, information. … Continue reading →
Making “Real World” Infographics
I post a lot about infographics — see A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics. Through Silvia Tolisano, I recently learned about a very creative idea of using concrete objects to make infographics. You can find out more about … Continue reading →
London Olympics Update
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics: Securing the London Olympics is a Wall Street Journal slideshow. Are you over the hill for Olympic sports? is a neat interactive from The … Continue reading →
Two Really Neat (& New) Higgs Boson Resources
Here are two neat and new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About Higgs Boson, The “God Particle”: Here’s What the Higgs Boson Sounds Like is from The Atlantic. Interactive Panorama: Step Inside the Large Hadron Collider is from … Continue reading →
I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This: “Next Up in Teacher Evaluations: Student Surveys”
Education Week Teacher has just published a report titled Next Up in Teacher Evaluations: Student Surveys (Learning First also has a good post on the same topic). It discusses the growing interest in using student survey results as a part … Continue reading →
“The Dreamers’ dreams: young immigrants tell their stories”
The Dreamers’ dreams: young immigrants tell their stories is a great interactive about the impact of President Obama’s recent change on his immigrant policy. Ironically, it’s from The Guardian, a UK newspaper. Here’s how they describe it: Thanks to President … Continue reading →
How Did I Not Know You Can Turn A Storify Into A Slideshow?
Regular readers know that I often use Storify to collect useful links or describe certain events, primarily through curating tweets. You can see all my “Storifies” here. Storify is a great tool, but it its length can sometimes been annoying … Continue reading →
Most Memorable TV Moments Of The Past Fifty Years
Sony and Nielson have just announced the results of a survey of U.S. viewers to determine the most memorable TV moments from the past fifty years. Here’s how The Telegraph described their process: The survey, by Sony Electronics and the … Continue reading →
You Can Now “Search Inside” My New Book On ELL’s Over At Amazon
My upcoming book (co-authored by my extraordinary colleague, Katie Hull Sypnieski), The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels, will be published by Jossey-Bass next month. However, just today they … Continue reading →
Guest Post From ISTE: PowerPoint Karaoke For ELL’s
Guest Post by Alice Mercer, my very talented Sacramento colleague. Cool Tool sessions abound at a conference like ISTE. I even attended one. These can be great for finding a new online tool for using with EL students, but as … Continue reading →
“40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken”
40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken is a pretty interesting collection from BuzzFeed. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To See “Photos That Changed The World.”
ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival Update
Three pieces of important information related to the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival: * As regular readers know, Sharon Turner posted the 29th edition of the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival on July 1st. It’s theme is to represent future visions, perspectives and warnings … Continue reading →
Frozen Water & “Miracle” Schools
As I’ve written in The Best Posts About Attrition Rates At So-Called “Miracle” Schools: Periodically, President Obama, Secretary of Education Duncan, or various newspapers will highlight so-called “miracle” schools (often charters) that have made quick and dramatic gains in test … Continue reading →
“Real change requires listening”
Source: shareasimage.com via Larry on Pinterest Abdul Kassim is a community organizer and educator in Africa. The above quote is from another “try-out” video for TED Talks (you can see all of them here). I’ve embedded it below. … Continue reading →
“Deeper Learning” Report
The National Research Council of the National Academies of Science have just published a report titled Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Here’s a short summary from ASCD SmartBrief: A 21st-century education … Continue reading →
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity”
Source: shareasimage.com via Larry on Pinterest That quote is a famous one from the last commencement speech giving by Horace Mann, the father of free, universal public education in the United States. You can read more of what he said … Continue reading →
“An Abridged History of Western Music in 16 Genres”
The music video, An Abridged History of Western Music in 16 Genres, lets you hear Louie Armstrong’s famous “It’s A Wonderful World” song, a favorite of ESL teachers and students, in a way you’ve never heard it before. Below that … Continue reading →
Powtoon Looks Like An Easy Way To Create Cool-Looking Presentations
I just received my invitation to try-out Powtoon, a new site (still requires you to request an invite) that lets you create very dynamic-looking presentations. In just a few minutes of playing around with it, it seems to me that … Continue reading →
“We live in a country where those who know the most about education have the least say & those who know the least have the most say”
Source: shareasimage.com via Larry on Pinterest The above quote comes from a “try-out” video for a TEDx Talk by Pedro Noguera from New York University (I’ve previously shared many of his speeches and articles). There are thirty-one of these … Continue reading →
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2012 — So Far
I usually just do a year-end list on Web 2.0 Applications For Education and many other topics, but it gets a little crazy having to review all of my zillion posts at once. So, to make it easier for me … Continue reading →
Veedlist Lets You Create YouTube Playlists
It’s not like the world needs another web tool that lets you create video playlists, but a new one has just come online called Veedlist. It joins a big list of similar sites at The Best Ways To Create Online … Continue reading →
July’s Best Tweets — Part One
Every month I 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 →
“Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity’s Seven Minutes of Terror”
Here’s a video from NASA they call Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity’s Seven Minutes of Terror. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity:
Most Popular Articles On “Yahoo News”
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 →
Free Web Resources For ELLs From #ELLCHAT
Judie Haynes coordinates #ELLCHAT on Twitter every Monday evening. Tonight’s topic was “Free Web Resources For ELLs” and I thought readers might find it useful to see what people shared. I’ve collected many of the tweets into a “Storify” below: … Continue reading →
Two More Nice Resources On The London Olympics
Here are two new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics: USA Today has a special site with just about everything you want to know about the London Olympics and just about any Olympic Games … Continue reading →
“South Sudan since independence: timeline of the Guardian’s coverage – interactive”
Today’s the first anniversary of the independence of South Sudan, a rough year, indeed. South Sudan since independence: timeline of the Guardian’s coverage – interactive reviews this past year, and I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About … Continue reading →
The Best Sites For Smartboard Resources (& For Other IWB’s)
Last month, I asked for suggestions from readers about good resources for Interactive Whiteboards. The response was so positive that I’ve now converted that post into The Best Sites For Smartboard Resources (& For Other IWB’s). Feel free to continue … Continue reading →
All My Ed Week Columns On Instructional Strategies In One Place…
Over at Education Week Teacher, I just posted First Year Highlights: Instructional Strategies, a compilation of all my columns on…instructional strategies. It’s a pretty good list, if I say so myself
“Duck’s Alphabet”
Duck’s Alphabet is a phonics site that’s part of WorldWorld on PBS. It’s designed for very young learners, but would also be appropriate for English Language Learners. It’s key feature is that when users sign-up, they list their parents email … Continue reading →
Prof. James Heckman Says Adolescence Is Key Time To Teach (& Learn About) Self-Control & Perseverance
James Heckman is an American economist and Nobel laureate best know for his research about and advocacy for investment in supporting early childhood interventions (thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip about his website). I was surprised, though, to learn … Continue reading →
Just Updated “The Best…” List On Clipping Online Videos
I’ve just updated The Best Tools For Cutting-Out & Saving Portions Of Online Videos (Or Annotating Them). Additional suggestions are welcome, especially if you know of a tool that will work with Vimeo videos. .
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a … Continue reading →
California Releases Draft ELD (ESL) Standards
The Common Core standards don’t include ones specifically for English Language Learners, though they will obviously have some impact on them (see The Best Resources For Learning About Common Core Standards & English Language Learners). The State of California has … Continue reading →
Video: “How Does The Internet Work?”
I’m adding this video to The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet. It was created by the World Science Festival: