Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 8-25-12 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL



Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL



Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Problems.



“Teachers tell parents how to help their kids be better students”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 10 hours ago
Teachers tell parents how to help their kids be better students is from The Washington Post and, even though I’d prefer if the headline wasn’t “teachers tell parents,” it still has some good information. I’m adding it to The Best Ideas On How Parents Can Help Their Kids Succeed Academically.

“Home Visits Help New Families; Support School Readiness”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 10 hours ago
I post a lot about home visits, but not often about a practice that seems to be growing in popularity — early childhood home visits by non-school staff. Education Week recently posted a useful article on the practice, Home Visits Help New Families; Support School Readiness. Here’s how it begins: Kindergartners across the country are [...]

The Best Posts & Articles On Parent Trigger Movie “Won’t Back Down”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago
“Won’t Back Down” is the upcoming theatrical movie made by the producers who brought us “Waiting For Superman.” It’s about a fictitious version of the parent trigger idea (see The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools. Here are my choices for the best posts and articles [...]

European Parents Association

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 3 days ago
The European Parents Association seems to be an organization of all the PTA-like groups in Europe. I hope someone out there will correct me if I’m wrong. It seems to have some useful information. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Parent Engagement In Countries Other Than The U.S.

Review Of Parent Trigger Film, “Won’t Back Down”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
I’ve written a lot about the upcoming pro-parent trigger film, Won’t Back Down. Check out a review by someone who has seen it, Rita Solnet, which appeared in The Washington Post.

“The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home is a new blog post at Edutopia by one of my favorite bloggers, Elena Aguilar. I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers.

Adelanto Parent Trigger Saga Continues

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
I’ve written a lot about the saga of the parent trigger campaign in Adelanto, California. Here’s the latest from Education Week (it has plenty of details beyond these two first paragraphs): A California school board has approved a plan to restructure a school at the center of a closely watched “parent-trigger” dispute, but it’s not [...]

This Week’s Parent/Teacher Chat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 days ago
Guest Post By Joe Mazza This week’s chat brings the most important lens to the table – our students. Students from StuVoice.org will join us as “experts” to talk about the ways family engagement impacted their own education growing up. Student Voice is a grassroots effort that is comprised of caring students and individuals that [...]


Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 10 hours ago
I’ve finally gotten around to “cleaning-up” and reorganizing my The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories. Additional suggestions are welcome….

The Best Multimedia Resources For Introducing Students To The Advantages Of Charts, Graphs & Infographics

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 20 hours ago
This is a short and simple list of multimedia resources that would be useful for introducing students to the value of charts, graphs and infographics and what they mean. I’m hoping readers will suggest other resources. There are many examples … Continue reading →

The Best Video Collages Of Natural Disasters

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 22 hours ago
We begin our ninth-grade English classes with a unit on natural disasters — students always find it very engaging. The first lesson in the unit is a “world splash,” where we introduce important vocabulary without us teachers actually providing the … Continue reading →

Interview With John Norton From The “New” Middleweb

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
John (Croft) Norton is the founder and co-editor of MiddleWeb.com. John also co-founded the national Teacher Leaders Network and works as an education writer, editor and virtual community developer. See his LinkedIn page for more background. There are very few … Continue reading →

“What to do — and not do — for growing number of English Language Learners”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
What to do — and not do — for growing number of English Language Learners is the title of a guest piece that Katie Hull and I wrote and was published in The Washington Post today. It’s a partially an … Continue reading →

More Resources On “Deferred Action” Program

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources On The Obama Administration’s Plan To Partially Implement The DREAM Act: Which illegal immigrants will benefit most from Obama’s deportation relief? is from The Washington Post. High School Teachers Are Key … Continue reading →

The Best Posts/Articles On This Year’s Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup Education Poll — 2012

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Every year for the past 44 years, Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup have done a Poll On Education issues. This year’s poll results were just released. I’ve been out of town for the past couple of days, and haven’t had … Continue reading →

“The Best Posts & Articles On Parent Trigger Movie “Won’t Back Down””

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
I’ve just published The Best Posts & Articles On Parent Trigger Movie “Won’t Back Down” over at my Engaging Parents In School blog. You might find it useful/interesting…..

9/11 Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
I’ve got a huge “The Best Sites To Help Teach About 9/11” list. I have to confess that, though I went through and updated it all last year, I just don’t have it in me right now to check to … Continue reading →

Labor Day Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Labor Day is coming-up in the United States, and I’ve just updated The Best Websites For Learning About Labor Day. Additional suggestions are welcome….

“How many alien civilizations exist?” Is Neat BBC Interactive

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
How many alien civilizations exist? seems like a pretty neat BBC interactive. I’m not sure if I really understand it, but it looks cool

Several Very Useful Resources From The Wall Street Journal Today

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
I often write about useful articles and interactives The Wall Street Journal publishes. Today, though, they featured four very useful resources that deserve their own individual post: Ten Tips and Tricks Every iPhone and iPad User Should Know is a … Continue reading →

Online Safety Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning Online Safety: Should I Change My Password? tells you if your email security has been breached. You can read more about it at LifeHacker. How Secure Is My Password? … Continue reading →

“Should We Teach “Character” In Schools?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Should We Teach “Character” In Schools? is the new “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to share your ideas there or here…..

Third Week’s Twitter Discussion On “ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Katie Hull Sypnieski and I co-authored “The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide,” published by Jossey-Bass in early August. Each day for three weeks, we tweeted 2 sentences from the book using the hashtag #eslsg & responded to questions/comments. Each week we … Continue reading →

“VoiceGem” Looks Like A Good Place To Record Audio

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
VoiceGem lets you easily and quickly make an audio recording (I’m not sure for how long, but it certainly went on for awhile during my experiment) without having to register. You record and then email it to yourself or someone … Continue reading →

The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2012 — So Far

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m doing mid-year “The Best…” lists to make it easier for me to do my end-of-the-year ones. You might also be interested in: The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2011 — Part Two … Continue reading →

More Samples From The Next Generation Of Standardized Tests

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Last week I posted samples of questions for the next generation of standardized tests from the SMARTER consortium. Today, I learned from Alan Sitomer that the other consortium, PARCC, released their samples today. I’m adding this info to The Best Resources … Continue reading →

“Live From Mars: Interactive 360 Panorama from the Curiosity Rover”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
TIME has published an “Interactive 360 Panorama from the Curiosity Rover” that’s pretty amazing. I’m adding it to The Best Images Taken In Space.

Groopt Is A New Tool For Creating Private “Social Networks”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Though I’m not sure the world needs yet another way to create a private social network, it has one with Groopt. I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Social Network Sites. Thanks to TechCrunch for the … Continue reading →

“textivate” Has Potential, But…..

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
You can copy and paste any text up to 500 words into textivate and get, in return, multiple different exercises using that text, ranging from “scrambled sentences” to “Fill-in-the-blanks.” In fact, you can automatically try twenty-seven different variations. You can … Continue reading →

“U.S. court bans Ala. from checking kids’ immigration status”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
U.S. court bans Ala. from checking kids’ immigration status is the headline of a USA Today article today: A federal appeals court has ruled it is unconstitutional for Alabama to check the immigration status of schoolchildren when they enroll, or … Continue reading →

“2011 Japanese Tsunami Video Map”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
2011 Japanese Tsunami Video Map is a Google Map with geo-located videos showing the 2011 Japanese — generally, as it happened. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Japan Earthquake & Tsunami. Thanks to Google Maps … Continue reading →

The Best Videos For Educators In 2012 — So Far

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m doing mid-year lists to make it easier for me to do my end-of-year final lists. You might also be interested in: The Best Videos For Educators In 2011 Part Two Of The Best Videos For … Continue reading →

Must Watch Video: “What Not to Say to a Teacher”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer, shared this video from Kathy Collins of Choice Literacy: I’m adding it to A Collection Of The Best “Laugh While You Cry” Videos — Contribute More!

Did You Know That Today Was Declared By The UN To Be “World Humanitarian Day”? Beyonce Did

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Today was declared World Humanitarian Day by The United Nations. You can learn more it at the UN’s website and at The Atlantic. Beyonce created this video for it:

The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2012 — So Far

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
I usually just do a year-end list of The Best Social Studies Sites 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 →

Quotation In NY Times Pinpoints The Issue I Have With “School Reformers”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote a column today headlined Teachers on the Defensive that has potential for being a relatively decent commentary on school issues, but he let it get away from him a bit and got fairly … Continue reading →

Creating An Internet Meme With Makr.io

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Makr.io is a new site that probably could make creating an Internet meme any easier. It lets you grab anything off the web, or remix other memes on the site. I didn’t see anything high school classroom inappropriate there, but … Continue reading →

“Camouflage robot”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Check out this “Camouflage robot.” I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Robots: