Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
LOOK FOR MY BOOK IN MARCH, 2013
"Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation"
will be a sequel to"Helping Students Motivate Themselves"
Resources For The Hindu Festival of Holi
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 9 hours ago
The Hindu Festival of Holi begins on March 27th of this year. You might want to check-out The Best Sites To Learn About The Hindu Festival Of Holi. Additional suggestions are welcome….
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 11 hours ago
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 →
Infographic: “Mad about St. Patrick’s Day”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 14 hours ago
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day (& April Fools Day):
World Water Day Resources
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 15 hours ago
The United Nations has designated March 22nd as World Water Day. I haven’t gotten a chance to review all the links in The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About World Water Day, but I’m sure most, if not all, … Continue reading →
“The Knotted Line” Is A Cool Interactive On The Struggle For Freedom
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
The Knotted Line is a pretty cool interactive on the struggle for freedom in the United States over the years. It also provides opportunities for people to leave comments in answering questions. It’s a bit hard to describe — just … Continue reading →
One Sentence Project Video
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Here’s one of several videos my ESL students did for our One-Sentence Project. I’ll be adding it to The Best Resources For Doing A “One-Sentence Project”
Easily Create Your Own Hitler “Downfall” Video
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Many people have seen some of the hundreds, if not thousands, of satirical versions of the “Downfall” movie scene where Hitler rants in German and people come up with their own English subtitles. Here’s one about standardized testing that you … Continue reading →
“Never Forget a Useful Phrase Again – Introducing Phrasebook for Google Translate”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Never Forget a Useful Phrase Again – Introducing Phrasebook for Google Translate is the title of Google’s new post about a neat new feature they’re adding. It basically allows you “save” frequently used phrases. It seems to me they’re overhyping … Continue reading →
“The 10 most popular TED-Ed lessons so far”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
TED has just published The 10 most popular TED-Ed lessons so far. I’m adding it to The Best Teacher Resources For “TED Talks” (& Similar Presentations).
Part Two Of My ASCD Article On Using Ed Tech In The Classroom
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
ASCD just published my article, Giving Teachers the Opportunity to Say “Yes” to Ed Tech, which is basically the second part of an article I wrote for ASCD Educational Leadership earlier this month. Here’s a quote from it:
Cesar Chavez Resources
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Cesar Chavez Day is recognized as a holiday by eight states in the U.S., and falls on March 31st — his birthday (or a Monday/Friday that is closest to a weekend). I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About … Continue reading →
Video: “Little kids who can’t play hide and seek”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Here’s another video that English Language Learners could watch and describe:
The Best Resources For Doing A “One-Sentence Project”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
One of the many great ideas that Daniel Pink has shared is having people come up with one sentence that they hope other people will use to describe thems in the future. He writes about it in his books and … Continue reading →
Resources On The New Pope
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Here are some new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The Next Papal Election: Change Agent: Examining How and Why the Pope Can Make a Global Difference is from The New York Times Learning Network. New Pope: An … Continue reading →
Big Data is “not a replacement for the classic ways of understanding the world”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Little Big Data is by Emanuel Derman. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven.”
“What Are The Best Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary?”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
What Are The Best Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary? is the new “question of the week” at my blog at Education Week Teacher. Feel free to leave your responses there or here in the comments.
Murdoch Company, Which Just Unveiled Tablet To Sell To Schools, Gets Contract From Testing Consortium — I Don’t Have A Good Feeling About This
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Amplify, the NewsCorp division that just unveiled a pedagogically questionable tablet and strategy to enter the school market, has just been granted a contract to develop “formative assessments” by the SMARTER Balanced consortium. SMARTER is one of two groups developing … Continue reading →
The Best Alternatives To Google Reader Now That It’s Being Shut Down
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Check the comments for even more alternatives Google has just announced they are shutting down Google Reader, many people’s favorite RSS Reader, on July 1st. This does not make me a happy camper. There are alternatives, however, that make it … Continue reading →
Twitter Now Lets You Create A Tweet Widget For Your Website Or Blog
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
I’m not sure how new this is, but it’s certainly new to me. I just went to my Twitter profile and saw a message saying Embed Your Timeline In Your Website. I clicked on it and it took me to … Continue reading →
How Did I Not Know About This National Academy Of Sciences Report On Student Motivation?
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Today, Forbes published a rather odd article on student motivation that kept on getting confused between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In my eyes, though, what was really important about the article is that it linked to a report from the … Continue reading →
Video: “Digital Paper”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
This could be a fun video to show English Language Learners and have them describe what they saw — verbally and in writing:
St. Patrick’s Day & April Fools Day Resources
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day (& April Fools Day). Additional suggestions are always welcome…
“Wave” Is Yet Another Smartphone App For Providing Audio Photo Captions
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Wave joins the list of several free Smartphone apps that let you record an audio caption for a photo. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English and to The Best Online Tools For Using Photos In Lessons.
Very Thoughtful Column On Bullying
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Defining Bullying Down is a column in The New York Times by Emily Bazelon, the author of “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy.” There are a lot of reader comments … Continue reading →
“They didn’t come in and try to say that we needed to do everything differently”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
I, and many others, have been critical of the strategies demanded by federal School Improvement Grants (see The Best Resources For Learning About The Four School Improvement Grant Models). These kinds of sweeping changes are seldom the most constructive ways … Continue reading →
March’s Best Tweets — Part One
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
NOTE: For some reason, not all of the tweets I’ve included in my Storify are showing up in this post. If you’re here through a direct link to the post, you might want to click on the embedded Storify to … Continue reading →
What A Great Piece In “The New Yorker” About Standardized Tests
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
The New Yorker has just published a great piece titled Seattle’s Low-Stakes Testing Trap. Here’s a quote:
“Draft” Looks Like A Good Collaborative Word Processor
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Draft is a new free collaborative word processor that looks pretty useful. You can read a lengthy post about it at TechCrunch. I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools For Collaboration — NOT In Real Time which, by the … Continue reading →
Video: “New York Day”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
I’m adding this video to The Best Sites For Learning About New York City: New York Day from motionkicker on Vimeo.
Collections Of Good Movie/TV Scenes For English Language Learners
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
TIME Magazine periodically puts together slideshows that include thematically-based video clips. I’m adding these to The Best Movie Scenes To Use For English-Language Development: Hot Pursuits: 10 Awesome Non-Car Chase Scenes 10 Memorable Movie Breakfast Scenes Love Always: Top 10 … Continue reading →
Updates On Wealth & Income Inequality
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Here are some important new additions to The Best Resources About Wealth & Income Inequality: Research ties economic inequality to gap in life expectancy is from The Washington Post. Growing Inequality of Life Expectancy—but Why? is a follow-up to that … Continue reading →
Even More On The Papal Election
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Boy, media outlets are certainly developing some nice and accessible resources for people to understand the Papal Election. I wish they put the same resources into developing materials for other issues. Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources … Continue reading →
More On The Next Generation Of State Testing
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing: Commission Calls for ‘Radically Different’ Tests is from Education Week. Assessment Group To Begin Testing Common Core Platform is also from Ed Week. … Continue reading →
Nice Review Of My New Book
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Teacher Elizabeth Stein has some nice things to say about my new book, Self-Driven Learning. Check out her piece at MiddleWeb called Motivating All Our Learners.
What’s Going On With North Korea?
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Here are new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Korean War (& Tensions Since Then, Too): AP Interactive: North Korea North Korea: Tests and Threats is from CBS News. North Korea’s Nuclear Program is a New York … Continue reading →
“Teachers & Superintendents Must ‘Work To Understand Each Other’”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Teachers & Superintendents Must “Work To Understand Each Other” is my new Education Week Teacher column. Three Superintendents share their thoughts….
“Ethical & Effective Test Prep” Is Another Excerpt From My New Book
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Middleweb has just published an excerpt from my new book, Self-Driven Learning. The excerpt is called Ethical & Effective Test Prep.
“Spree Games” Is A Collection Of Learning…Games
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Spree Games has a collection of nearly 300 learning games. I learned about it through Richard Byrne’s blog, and you can read more at his post. It looks like an impressive collection. Note, though, that the games are not actually … Continue reading →
The Most Reasonable & Understandable Piece I’ve Ever Read About The Federal Budget Deficit
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Many bad decisions affecting millions are being made, and may be made in the future, in the name of reducing the federal budget deficit. Today, Paul Krugman in The New York Times has written the best and most understandable piece … Continue reading →
Dubbler Is Another Smartphone App to Record Audio Captions For Photos
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Dubbler joins the list of several free Smartphone apps that let you record a sixty second audio caption for a photo. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English and to The Best Online Tools For Using … Continue reading →
The Best Resources On Teens & Hearing Loss
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
I just read a New York Times review of Katherine Bouton’s new book on hearing loss, and it got me thinking that my students could benefit from learning about the potential consequences of listening to loud music in their earbuds. … Continue reading →
Infographic: “History of the English Language”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Here’s a pretty impressive infographic I learned about from A Clil To Climb: Source: Uploaded by user via Greg on Pinterest
How Did I Not Know About This? “Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership is an exceptional piece from TIME that appeared in 2008. Thanks to Jessica Cuthbertson for tweeting it. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela.
Fake “Stuff” For Learning
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
I’ve just revised and updated The Best Tools For Creating Fake “Stuff” For Learning. Yes, I know it has a strange name. But it has some pretty engaging tools.
Response: We Need “Fewer John Waynes & More John Deweys”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Response: We Need “Fewer John Waynes & More John Deweys” is my new post at Education Week Teacher. It responds to the question: How can teachers best relate to Superintendents — and vice versa? Guest responses come from Randi Weingarten, … Continue reading →
“Unit Overview Sheets” — Do You Do Anything Similar?
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Bill Ferriter has written a post, including samples, of one-page “unit overview sheets” that he gives to students at the beginning of a course of study and revisits each day. It looks intriguing, and helpful. We provide a “Word Splash” … Continue reading →
Two Good John Hattie Videos
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Rick Wormeli shared these two very useful videos of education researcher John Hattie:
Irritation Vs. Agitation
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
Here’s an old community organizing concept applied to the classroom:
Media Coverage Of Mayo Clinic’s Research On Paying People To Lose Weight — Not Seeing The Forest For The Trees
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
As regular readers of this blog and my books now, I’m not a believer in regularly using rewards as a motivating tool. As a result, I’m always looking for research on the topic. This week, the media has been awash … Continue reading →
Video: African Men & Stereotypes
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
I’m adding this excellent video on how African men are stereotyped in Hollywood movies to The Best Geography Sites For Learning About Africa. It’ll be a great way to also get my ESL students to start talking about how they … Continue reading →
Resources On Daylight Savings Time
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
It’s that time of year again… You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Daylight Savings Time.
The Best Posts & Articles On MOOC’s — Help Me Find More
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
I’m fairly skeptical about the value, future, and hype related to MOOC’s, massive open online courses. My feelings are that they could be useful for the most highly-motivated learners, but, even with that constituency, I have concerns. Here are some … Continue reading →
“Cats Can Be Jerks” Is A Great Video For ELLs (& Everybody Else)
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
This is a great video for English Language Learners to watch and then describe verbally and in writing:
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
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 →
Update On The Papal Election
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
The Cardinals have announced that balloting for a new Pope will start on Tuesday. Selecting a pope is a new comprehensive feature from CNN, and I’m adding it to the already abundant resources on The Best Resources For Learning About … Continue reading →
Quizdini Looks Like A Nice Way To Create A Quiz
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
Thanks to Lisa Johnson, I recently learned about Quizdini. It’s a simple and free tool for creating multiple-choice or “drag-and-drop” quizzes. There is no way right now to monitor student results, but they are working developing such a system. I’m … Continue reading →
“Skype Announces Free Group Video Calling for Teachers”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
Skype Announces Free Group Video Calling for Teachers is an article in the School Library Journal describing a new program Skype has for teachers (thanks to Justin Baeder for the tip). I’m adding the info to The Best Online Tools … Continue reading →
More Geography Videos
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
Here are some more videos I’m adding to a couple of geography “the Best…” lists: I’m adding these to The Best Geography Sites For Learning About Europe: How Stuff Works has a nice collection of videos about Europe, including: Here … Continue reading →
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
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 →
“Lesson Tracking in Edcanvas”
Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week ago
I’ve previously posted about Edcanvas. It’s now added some features that let teachers track a bit more of what students are doing on it. Here’s a video describing their new capabilities, and you can also read a post about it … Continue reading →