Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:
White House Honors 12 PTA Members as “Champions of Change”
Earlier this week, I posted about 150 PTA members going to the White House on Friday. One of the things that will be happening is that the White House will honor twelve of them as “Champions Of Change”: “President Obama knows how important parent involvement is in education, and we are excited to welcome PTA [...]
Words Of Wisdom On Parent Engagement
Jose Vilson sent out a wise tweet this morning: Parents and teachers are natural partners in a child’s education, not enemies. We can come up with better solutions together. — Jose Vilson (@TheJLV) August 9, 2012 You might also be interested in The Best Reasons Why Parents Should Be Looked At As Allies & Not [...]
“National PTA Heads to the White House”
National PTA Heads to the White House is the headline in this announcement from the PTA. Here’s how it begins: Parent Teacher Association (PTA) leaders representing 41 states, Washington, D.C., and Department of Defense schools in Europe will head to the White House on Friday, August 10th for a day-long briefing with top Administration officials [...]
What’s In Your Back to School Letter for Parents? This Week’s Parent-Teacher Chat on Twitter
Guest post by Joe Mazza What’s In Your Back to School Letter for Parents? This Week’s Parent-Teacher Chat on Twitter Many educators around the world are currently drafting their first communications out to school families. This week on #ptchat, we’ll discuss what to include in these letters to get families excited about the new year, [...]
“25 Education Blogs Perfect For Parents (And Just About Anyone Else)”
25 Education Bogs Perfect For Parents (And Just About Anyone Else) is a post from Edudemic that is worth a look. It’s a good list of blogs, and I’m not just saying that because this blog is on it
“Shattering Barriers To Parent Involvement”
“Shattering Barriers To Parent Involvement” is a short, but useful, article that appeared a few years ago over at the National Association of Elementary School Principals website. Here’s an excerpt: Barrier: Lack of true, two-way, respectful partnership communication between parents and school personnel. Solution: Parents know their children better than anyone else and can be [...]
It Would Be Hard To Find A Better One-Minute Video Than This One To Use With ELLs
We Are All Connected is a great one minute film from The World Wildlife Fund. You could have English Language Learners say/write what is happening in the film, compare the two screens, and explain how they are similar.
My Blog May Look A Little Weird Right Now (But It’s Fixed Now)
NOTE: It took Sue Waters and Edublogs seven minutes to respond and fix the problem. Why would anyone NOT use Edublogs? If you visit my blog, it might look a little weird right now. I don’t know what might be … Continue reading →
The Best Posts On The “Flipped Classroom” Idea
I’m a bit wary/skeptical about this whole “Flipped Classroom” idea and how it works in practice. Diana Laufenberg spoke for me, also, in some of her tweets about the concept: My issues with the concept of flipping is that I … Continue reading →
Turtle Diary Has Some Nice “Talking Books”
Turtle Diary is designed for very young children, and its fifteen talking stories would be very accessible to Beginning English Language Learners. It has a number of other tools on the site, but the stories really stand-out. They seem to … Continue reading →
Learn About The Tuskegee Airmen In This “Choose Your Own Adventure” Interactive
The Smithsonian has a relatively new “Choose Your Own Adventure” interactive where you play the role of a Tuskegee airman escorting bombers on a mission (scroll down to the bottom of the page). I’m adding it to The Best Places … Continue reading →
First Week’s Twitter Discussion On “ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide”
Katie Hull Sypnieski and I co-authored “The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide,” published by Jossey-Bass in early August. Each day for the next few weeks, we are tweeting 2 sentences from the book using the hashtag #eslsg & responding to questions/comments. … Continue reading →
Two More Funny Clips Of Bad Teachers
Here are two more funny clips I’m adding to The Best Funny Movie/TV Clips Of Bad Teachers: Jennfer Martin suggested these from a show called “Good Luck Charlie”: This next one has a good clip right at the beginning, but … Continue reading →
The Best Online Learning Games Of 2012 — So Far
I usually just do a year-end list on learning games 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 — and perhaps, … Continue reading →
More Funny TV/Movie Clips Of Bad Teachers
Thanks to contributions from readers (keep ‘em coming!), I’ve turned my earlier post on this topic into The Best Funny Movie/TV Clips Of Bad Teachers (as I explained there, I need them for a lesson I’m doing) and have added … Continue reading →
Boy, Do They Know How To Protest In Spain — “Flamenco-Ins” At Banks!
A group in Spain has been organizing protests against the policies of banks by dancing the flamenco in their lobbies to disrupt business. I’d encourage you to learn more about it at the Pacific Standard. Here’s an example: I’ve just … Continue reading →
Watch 400,000 Galaxies In Less Than Two Minutes
Check out this 3D “Flight Through The Universe” created by the Adler Planetarium, and read more about it here and at YouTube: I’m adding it to The Best Images Taken In Space.
“How Can We Get The New Year Off To A Good Start?”
How Can We Get The New Year Off To A Good Start? is the first “question of the week” kicking-off the second year of my Education Week Teacher blog. Please contribute your suggestions here or there.
“Big IQ Kids” Looks Like A Good Spelling Site
Though I wish they had a different name (I’m not fond of focusing attention to IQ tests and scores), Big IQ Kids does look like a good free site for students to practice spelling. It provides the word in the … Continue reading →
Create A Personalized Online Newspaper With “Pulse”
Pulse is apparently a very popular mobile news reading app, and it just became available on the Web. Like most of these kinds of tools, you can identify your interests and it will show related stories in an engaging interface. … Continue reading →
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Educational Policy Posts & Articles
Here are some recent good posts and articles on school reform issues: Carol Burris, a New York principal, wrote an excellent piece in The Washington Post about an unusual teacher training program and a rather unfortunate online video they use … Continue reading →
Hilarious Modified Music Video
David Deubelbeiss, the genius behind EFL Classroom 2.0 and one of the brains behind
The Best Funny Movie/TV Clips Of Bad Teachers
Thanks to recommendations from readers, I’ve now turned this post into a “The Best…” list A lesson I’m developing (which I’ll ultimately post here) needs a few short funny video clips showing bad teachers in action. I’ve previously posted The … Continue reading →
You Can Now Join Pinterest Without An Invitation
Pinterest has just announced that now anybody can join it — you no longer need an invitation. You might find The Best Guides To Figuring Out Pinterest. You can follow me here at Pinterest. Also, note that Pinterest is off-line … Continue reading →
What Can We Learn About Education From The World’s Tallest Tree?
The world’s tallest tree, a redwood right here in Northern California, was recently discovered to be the world’s tallest tree. Robert Krulwich, one of my favorite commentators, wrote a must-read article about it at NPR this morning and included this … Continue reading →
The Most Popular Posts Of The Year From My Ed Week Blog
I’ve just posted a list of the ten most popular posts of the year from my Education Week Teacher blog, if you’d like to check them out…. On Friday, I begin the “second season” for that blog, taking and answering … Continue reading →
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 organized … Continue reading →
“investors of all stripes are beginning to sense big profit potential in public education”
Source: shareasimage.com via Larry on Pinterest The above is a quote from Public Schools Are The Next Big Thing For Private Equity And Venture Capital. You might also be interested in: A Beginning “The Best…” List On The … Continue reading →
Here’s A Great Video Showing The Dangers In Asking The WRONG Questions
As readers know, I’ve been collecting videos that show the benefits of asking good questions over at The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions. Jennifer Marten came up with a great idea — why not also show … Continue reading →
Excellent Video On The Importance Of Asking Questions When You’re Interviewed For A Job
Applicants Should Ask Good Questions During Job Interviews is the title of a short video news report from NY1. Its not embeddable, but a nice bonus at the site is the transcript is right below the clip. I’m adding it … Continue reading →
The Best Resources On Using Drama In The Classroom
Using drama in the classroom, especially for English Language Learners, can be a great instructional strategy (I’m not talking about the everyday drama we encounter ). Here are some previous “The Best…” lists that also relate to drama: The Best … Continue reading →
More On The Mars Rover Curiosity
Here are more additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity: Robotic Explorer is a Wall Street Journal interactive. Curiosity Touches Down on Mars are photos from The New York Times. Rover Curiosity Lands on Mars … Continue reading →
Here’s A Star Wars Scene Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions
Here’s a good scene from one of the Star Wars movies that I’m adding to The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions:
Two Nutrition Infographics
Here are two infographics I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety: Via: Term Life Insurance
NY Times Publishes Most Creative Olympic Interactives….
The New York Times has published three extraordinarily creative interactives – they compare Olympic gold winners from throughout the year in running, swimming and long-jump events. I’m adding them The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics.
New Study Reaffirms Marshmallow Experiment Findings On Self-Control
I often write about strategies to help students develop more self-control and how important that is to their future (and my book shares specific lessons on how I do that). Dr. Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow experiment is integral to lots … Continue reading →
The Best Education Week Posts From My First Year Blogging There…
I’ve just posted First Year Highlights: All Of Them In One Place! over at Education Week Teacher. It included organized thematic links to all my posts there over this last year — student motivation, classroom management, parent engagement, assessment, instructional … Continue reading →
Amazing Photo Of Curiosity Landing On Mars
Source: wired.com via Larry on Pinterest A NASA satellite orbiting Mars snapped this picture of Curiosity landing on Mars. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity.
The Best Resources On Punctuation
I just saw a clip of Victor Borge’s apparently famous “Phonetic Punctuation” performance, and it’s prompting me to pull together a short list of resources I’ve posted about punctuation in the past (along with Borge clip) Feel free to contribute … Continue reading →
Twitter Experiment With Our Book Begins Today!
As I’ve previously posted, our new book, “The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels,” (co-authored by Katie Hull Sypnieski), was published last week. Beginning today, Monday, we’re trying an … Continue reading →
Even MORE Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions
I’ve found a few more clips I’m adding to The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions, and am still looking for more: Was there anyone ever better at asking questions than Peter Falk as Detective Columbo? This … Continue reading →
New Mars Rover Curiosity Resources
Curiosity has successfully landed on Mars. Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity: Curiosity Rover Lands Safely on Mars is from The New York Times. All Mars photos will be shown … Continue reading →
Lots Of Resources On Advertising
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites To Learn About Advertising: BAM! is from The Centers For Disease Control. Analyzing Persuasive Techniques in Advertising is from Class Zone. Recognizing Types of Propaganda in Advertising is from The High … Continue reading →
Write A Message On Virtual Placards Held Up By Virtual Fans In A Virtual Stadium At A Virtual Olympics
Yup, the tile of this blog post says it all — go to London 2012 and write a message on virtual placards held up by virtual signs in a virtual stadium at a virtual Olympics. You can do it without … Continue reading →
More On The Mars Rover Curiosity
Here are a few new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Mars Rover Curiosity: Curiosity Lands on Mars: Know What You’re Watching When You’re Watching ’7 Minutes of Terror’ is from The Atlantic. Nasa’s ‘untried’ technology to … Continue reading →
More Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions
I’m still looking for videos showing the importance of asking good questions. In The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions, I began with several movie courtroom cross-examination scenes. I’m hoping readers will help me find clips of … Continue reading →
“Watch 131 Years of Global Warming in 26 Seconds”
NASA has created this video titled “Watch 131 Years of Global Warming in 26 Seconds” and you can read more about it here (I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change):
Google Unveils Wild-Looking Interactive On Global Arms Trade
Yesterday, Google unveiled a wild-looking visualization of the global arms trade. You can read an explanation of it at the Google Blog. I tend to think it’s a little too wild to easily understand, but it sure looks neat….
How Cool Is This? NASA Has A Site For Their Infographics & Lets You Create Your Own!
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA has a site called JPL Infographics where you can find a bunch of great…infographics. But what’s even better is that it’s set up for people to create their own, too. I’m adding it to … Continue reading →
More On Oscar Pistorius
Here are new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Oscar Pistorius: Oscar Pistorius: let’s put it to rest the controversy and celebrate his achievement is from The Washington Post. Oscar Pistorius finally gets to seize his Olympic moment … Continue reading →
Sequel To “Helping Students Motivate Themselves” Almost Done
I’ve now completed 52,000 words for the sequel to Helping Students Motivate Themselves. Only 10,000 more words to go! Of course, once it’s “done” and submitted, I’m sure there will be a lot of editing left to be done. But … Continue reading →
“Good Bread”
Here’s how the filmmaker describes this short video, “Good Bread” Bread can be considered many things: warm; delicious; sustaining. It’s also slang for money. This literal slice of life, which follows the typical day of an ex-gang member on his … Continue reading →
The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Asking Good Questions — Help Me Find More
I’ve previously posted The Best Posts & Articles About Asking Good Questions and now I’m starting to compile videos of movie or TV scenes that demonstrat the importance of asking good questions. I’m hoping that readers will point me in … Continue reading →
The Grim Reaper Understands How To Design A Good PowerPoint Slide
From The New Yorker: Source: newyorker.com via Larry on Pinterest I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Advice For Making Good Presentations.
The Best Sites For Learning About Oscar Pistorius
I’ve previously posted a lot of resources about Oscar Pistorius in The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics. I’m bringing those together and adding a lot more in this new “The Best…” list. I’ve used his story … Continue reading →
Today’s Resources On The Olympics
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics: This is probably going to be the best photo from this Olympics, if not the best sports photo of the year (thanks to Ed … Continue reading →
My Newest Ed Week Post: “Technology, Relationships & Getting A Teaching Job”
I’ve just published my latest post over at Education Week Teacher: First Year Highlights: Technology, Relationships & Getting A Teaching Job Today’s post includes sort of a “grab-bag” assortment — pieces on using technology, relationships between teachers and students and … Continue reading →