Big Education Ape: Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 3-23-13 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

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

LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY

"Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies for Student Motivation"

will be a sequel to"Helping Students Motivate Themselves"

“English Language Learners and Parental Involvement”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

English Language Learners and Parental Involvement is a new report from The National Education Policy Center. It’s a short and sweet report the contains a number of good recommendations, and is worth a read….

This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Image credit: mobilismobili.com #PTchat hosted by Dana Sirotiak When you picture a positive learning environment, what comes to mind? “A positive learning environment is one in which school staff, students, and parents build safe and peaceful environments where people are accepted and respected and where learning is the main focus” (Schauffele, 2007). Research has [...]

“Deadly trigger for public schools”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

The campaign for a parent trigger in Florida is back after having been defeated last year. Deadly trigger for public schools is a Miami Herald column opposing it, and is worth reading.

Chicago Mayor Remains Clueless On Parent Engagement

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Even though Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had shown a brief glimmer of understanding about parent engagement at one point last year, it appears he has reverted to previous cluelessness. In a rant blaming parents for student learning difficulties, he states his newest idea: Emanuel wants to tie after-school program enrollment to parents picking up report [...]

“Things parents, teachers say to each other”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

A couple of years ago, teacher/author Ron Clark wrote a public letter titled What Teachers Really Want To Tell Parents, which I thought was really off-base. Here’s a recent follow-up article from a newspaper which I think is more useful — it’s solicited ideas on the topic from a variety of sources.

Providence Wins Grant For Project That May Hold Promise, But Also Sounds A Bit Creepy

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

The City of Providence has just been awarded a $5 million grant from Michael Bloomberg’s foundation. They are going have small children carry recording devices that are attached to specially designed clothing and record all conversations they have during the day. They’ll then analyze the content of the conversations and use them to counsel parents [...]

Video: “Parent Triggers: Another Reform Backfires”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

The Campaign for America’s Future just released this new video on the parent trigger. You can read more at its accompanying blog post: The National Education Association has also released this state-by-state update on parent trigger laws.

This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Guest Post by Joe Mazza Knapp Main Office Tiki Bar – Image credit: @gpescatore25 The following excerpt is from The Community of School (2001) published by the Academic Development Institute. Another area in which the school could be different, according to some parents, was to be more welcoming and more “family friendly.” Parents, too, [...]

Florida Education Commissioner Comes Out Against Parent Trigger

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Conservative Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett has announced his opposition to a proposed parent trigger law because: the proposal gives the state too much power and creates too much red tape for parents. It’s a very interesting article. Here’s another excerpt: But Bennett wrote that the proposal “seems to require an overly burdensome process for [...]

“Engaging ESL/ELL Families” #PTchat Archive

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Here’s the archive of the recent #PTchat archive that Joe Mazza compiled on “Engaging ESL/ELL Families.” All the past chats are treasure troves of information, and you can find them here. [View the story "Engaging ESL/ELL Families w/ @JudieHaynes - #PTchat Archive 3/6/13" on Storify]

“Latino Parents Shifting Black-White Paradigm in Memphis-Area Schools”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

Latino Parents Shifting Black-White Paradigm in Memphis-Area Schools is an article about a recent town hall meeting in Memphis designed to bring together Latino, White and African-American parents in the context of a controversial school district merger. It’s worth a read….

Chart: Useful Summary Of The Differences Between Parent Involvement & Parent Engagement

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago

The Library Media Connection has just published a useful excerpt in chart form from my book, Building Parent Engagement In Schools. It’s a one-page chart clearly highlighting the differences between parent engagement and parent involvement, and you can see it here.

Hmmmmmm….PTA & Amazon Kindle Launch Partnership

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

The National PTA has just announced a partnership with Amazon Kindle: The National PTA® today announced Amazon Kindle will be the exclusive sponsor of a new Family Reading Experience program to be hosted by local PTAs in cities across the United States. Throughout 2013, the National PTA and Kindle will work together to encourage family [...]

This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

Guest Post by Joe Mazza everythingesl.net This week on #PTchat we will be sharing strategies on how to involve the diverse families of English language learners (ELL) in order to foster the partnership between the home and school. @JudieHaynes Schools must constantly seek ways to improve the communication with ELL families and recognize how it [...]

Seems Like This Canadian “Parent Academy” Has Some Good Ideas

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

I’ve posted often about my reservations about typical school “parent academies” (see My Best Posts On Parent “Academies” & “Universities”). This parent academy in Canada, though, seems like it has the right idea: The After-school Scholars Program started as extra support for children in grade 3 to 6 who were struggling with reading. Then the principal [...]

Now This Is Interesting: Parents Helping Other Parents Their Languages

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

I certainly haven’t heard of this kind of parent engagement before today — parents helping each other to learn their languages. It’s a little unclear to me exactly how this works beyond sitting next to each other using a computer language-learning program, but I’m assuming their is more to it than that: But little Navajo [...]

“Five Resources for Parent-Teacher Conferences”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

Matt Davis at Edutopia has published a nice post titled Five Resources for Parent-Teacher Conferences. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Parent/Teacher Conferences.

This Week’s #PTchat On Twitter

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

Guest post by Joe Mazza Image credit: stuvoice.org This week’s chat hosted by Stuvoice.org Founder Zak Makamed. The Student Voice movement strives to create an international network of empowered students by providing them with the tools they need to use their voice in policy discussions. While we are students working for students, the support of adult stakeholders [...]

My Best Posts On Parent “Academies” & “Universities”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

Parent “universities” or “academies” seem to be all the rage these days, with school districts organizing these trainings typically to help parents understand how the school works. I’ve written plenty of posts about these types of programs, and have been critical of many of them. They tend to fall on the parent “involvement” side of [...]

“Connecting Parents and Schools Via Social Media Initiatives”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 weeks ago

Joe Mazza is co-leading an upcoming Ed Week Webinar on Connecting Parents and Schools Via Social Media Initiatives. Here’s the description: Connecting Parents and Schools Via Social Media Initiatives This event takes place on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, 12 to 1 p.m. ET. From using Skype to run parent-teacher conferences to live streaming PTA meetings, [...]

Fascinating Research On Importance Of Students Knowing Their Family History

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 minutes ago

The Stories That Bind Us is a New York Times article sharing some fascinating research. Here’s an excerpt:

March’s Best Tweets — Part Three

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 16 minutes ago

Every month I make a few short lists 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. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new … Continue reading →

Easter & Passover Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 7 hours ago

I’ve just reviewed and updated most, thought not all, of the resources on The Best Sites For Learning About Easter And Passover list. Additional suggestions are welcome….

More On School Closings

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 8 hours ago

Here are two new additions to The Best Posts & Articles On The Impact Of School Closures — Suggest More!: Press Release: New Study from CReATE: School Closures will Negatively Impact Academic Performance, Destabilize Communities Instead of closing schools, how … Continue reading →

Chinua Achebe On Needing “a balance of stories”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 8 hours ago

Chinua Achebe’s Legacy, in His Own Words is an Atlantic reprint of a great interview with Chinua Achebe, who died today. Here’s a quote:

More World Water Day Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 10 hours ago

Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About World Water Day: World Water Day 2013 is a photo gallery from The Boston Globe. Water Availability and its Impact on Global Agriculture infographic by DanforthCenter. … Continue reading →

The Best Posts & Articles On Student Engagement

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 12 hours ago

The question of the week at my Education Week Teacher blog is What Does “Student Engagement” Look Like? In preparation for the response I’ll be posting on Sunday, I thought it would be useful to publish a related “The Best…” … Continue reading →

See What The Poor Can Buy Around The World In “The Poverty Line”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

The Poverty Line is a brand new interactive that, as the BBC says: …calculates how much money people living at the poverty line have to spend on food each day. It’s very interactive and visual. I’m adding it to The … Continue reading →

Resources On Taxes

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Tax Day, April 15th in the United States, is approaching. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Taxes.

Create An RSS Feed For Your Google+ Posts

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Maybe there are lots of ways to do this, but until I learned about Googomi today I didn’t know it was possible to create a RSS feed for your Google Plus posts. Then I learned you could do the same … Continue reading →

The Best Posts & Articles On The Impact Of School Closures — Suggest More!

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

The Chicago Public Schools have just announced they are closing fifty-four schools. Here are some useful resources on what’s happening there, along with info on the issue of school closures in general. I hope readers will recommend more: Chicago Says … Continue reading →

The Latest Updates On The “Next Generation” Of State Testing

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Here are a couple of useful additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing: Are Schools Prepared for Online State Assessments? is by Peter DeWitt at Education Week. WIDA Forges Ahead With New English-Language … Continue reading →

New Effort To Get Internet & Computers Into Hands Of Low-Income People

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I’ve written a lot about programs at our school and by other groups to get internet connections and computers into the hands of low-income people (see The Best Resources For Learning About Schools Providing Home Computers & Internet Access To … Continue reading →

A Treasure Trove Of Knowledge Issues For Theory Of Knowledge Classes

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I’m pretty confident in saying that I’m not the only IB Theory of Knowledge teacher who sometimes has difficulties helping students understand what a “Knowledge Issue” is, especially when it comes time for them to develop their Oral Presentation topics. … Continue reading →

Another Positive Review Of My New Book

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

Another nice review of my new book, Self-Driven Learning, was published today. Here’s how Winifred Kehl concludes her review at the Getting Smart blog: Reading it felt like a friendly tour through a toolbox of techniques teachers (and educators of … Continue reading →

Video: “Imagine a World Without Hate”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

The Anti-Defamation League has just launched an “Imagine a World Without Hate” video and action campaign with the posting of this pretty amazing video. It can be used in many ways, including as part of a “what if?” history lesson. … Continue reading →

New TED-Ed Video About TED-Ed — It’s A Little Strange

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago

I’ve previously posted several times about TED-Ed, the useful relatively new “arm” of TED Talks (see Using TED-Ed Videos, where I describe how I use them, and The Best Teacher Resources For “TED Talks” (& Similar Presentations). To celebrate their … Continue reading →

Nice iPad Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

Here are two new additions to The Best Resources For Beginning iPad Users (thanks to Michelle Henry for both of them): 17 Pros and Cons of Using iPads in the Classroom is from Teachers With Apps. A Video Tour of … Continue reading →

Another Example Of Mentoring Success

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

Teen mentors inspire healthier choices in younger children is a report on a new study demonstrating the effectiveness of older students mentoring younger ones. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On The Value & Practice Of Having Older Students … Continue reading →

The Best Resources For Learning About Ability Grouping & Tracking — Help Me Find More

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

I’ll be doing a column on ability grouping & tracking over at my Education Week Teacher blog, and thought I’d start compiling some useful materials here to share. This is just a beginning list, and I hope that readers will … Continue reading →

Nice & Free ESL Downloadable Worksheets

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago

Teach-This.com is a new addition to The Best Sites For Free ESL/EFL Hand-Outs & Worksheets. It’s free, and no registration is required to download the materials. I’ve also just updated that “The Best…” list. I also explain there my thoughts … Continue reading →

“What Does “Student Engagement” Look Like?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

What Does “Student Engagement” Look Like? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher blog. Feel free to leave your responses there or here….

This Week In Web 2.0

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth sharing, I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth … Continue reading →

The Best Places To Create Funny Subtitles For Silent Movies

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

With the unveiling today of Google’s “Peanut Gallery” (which I’ll discuss in a moment), I thought it would make sense to create a new “The Best…” list sharing a few tools that let you create subtitles for silent movies. Well, … Continue reading →

Excellent Post On The Different “Levels” Of Listening

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

For Real Influence, Listen Past Your Blind Spots is an excellent post at the Harvard Business Review and discusses research related to different “levels” of listening. I’ll definitely be adding it to the lesson on listening that’s in my new … Continue reading →

More Iraq War Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

It’s been ten years since the beginning of the Iraq War. Here are some new additions to The Best Web Resources On The Iraq War: Iraq: Looking Back After Ten Years is an interactive from The Associated Press. Iraq invasion: … Continue reading →

What Are Your Thoughts, & What Has Been Your Experience, With Ability Grouping/Tracking?

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

Greg Toppo’s article yesterday in USA Today, More teachers are grouping kids by ability, has gotten a lot of attention over the past twenty-four hours. And it got me thinking that I’d like to explore it further in this blog … Continue reading →

Immigration Reform Updates

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago

Here are a couple of important additions to The Best Resources About The New Push For Immigration Reform: A Senate Plan Alters Waiting Periods for Immigration is from The New York Times. Five reasons why immigration reform is moving forward … Continue reading →

Illustrate Quotes Attractively With “QuotesCover”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago

QuotesCover is a new online tool that lets you either search for quotes or insert your own text and make it look uniquely attractive. No registration is required. Here’s an example of a finished product, though there are many choices … Continue reading →

This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days 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 →

Washington Post To Create Paywall With Exceptions For Teachers & Students

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago

The Washington Post has announced that they will be creating a paywall for their articles this summer. However, teachers and students accessing the site from a school won’t be affected. You can read more about it at: The Washington Post … Continue reading →

Our Students Are Not Supermen & Superwomen

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago

Photo Credit: Gioia De Antoniis via Compfight A few minutes ago I published a post that repeated my admiration for Carol Dweck’s work, one of numerous posts I’ve written sharing that perspective. However, I did publish one a couple of … Continue reading →

Two Excellent Posts On Giving Effective Feedback

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago

I read two excellent posts today on giving effective feedback, and I’m adding both of them to The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students: How To Give Good Feedback is by Annie Murphy Paul. This … Continue reading →

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts On Education Policy

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

Here are some relatively recent good posts on education policy: Massachusetts professors protest high-stakes standardized tests is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad). Does … Continue reading →

A Few Final St. Patrick’s Day Links

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

Here are a few final additions to The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day (& April Fools Day): St Patrick’s Day celebrated around the world – in pictures is from The Guardian. In pictures: millions celebrate St Patrick’s … Continue reading →

Could A Student-Created Limerick Be a Fun Formative Assessment Task?

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

Most teachers are familiar with the idea of “found poems,” where students have to use words and phrases from a previously read text to demonstrate understanding (it certainly has other uses as well). It also forces students to make multiple … Continue reading →

” Adopt an Immigrant Mindset….”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

All our tenth-graders took the California High School Exit Exam during this past week, and I was the proctor for all our ESL students over two days (it would be nice if the state considered eliminating that test, as they … Continue reading →

A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Game Designed To Reduce Violence Against Women

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

Breakaway is an online game where players are virtual members of a previously-all boys soccer team react to a girl joining it. The United Nations Population Fund helped create it. Here’s how it’s described: Breakaway is a free online game … Continue reading →

“Many Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago

Many Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary is my new post over at Education Week Teacher. I share my suggestions, as do several other educator/authors….

Video: “10 Surprising Facts About Saint Patrick’s Day”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago

I’m adding this to The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day (& April Fools Day):

“Earth Hour” Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago

In 2013, Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, March 23rd, 8:30 PM. You can find more information at The Best Sites To Learn About “Earth Hour.”

Two Wise Comic Strips

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago

This comic strip shows how important relevance is to student engagement: Source: m.arcamax.com And this one emphasizes the value of asking questions: Source: gocomics.com

March’s Best Tweets — Part Two

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 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 →

Resources For The Hindu Festival of Holi

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week 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... - 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 →

Infographic: “Mad about St. Patrick’s Day”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 week 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... - 1 week 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 week 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 week 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 week 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 week 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 →

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 3-23-13 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY

LOOK FOR MY BOOK IN MARCH, 2013