Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
YESTERDAY
“Radio Keeps Latino Parents in Tune With Their Kids’ Education”
Radio Keeps Latino Parents in Tune With Their Kids’ Education is the title of an article in TakePart about: a one-hour talk show sponsored by the Denver Public School District that airs on a Spanish-language commercial music station. The show is geared towards parent engagement and schools. It sounds like it’s going well, though I do wonder how much it costs the District….
Family Engagement Bill Introduced In Congress Today — Again
The Family Engagement in Education Act of 2013 was introduced in the House and the Senate today, which is becoming a regular occurrence (I’ve written about its introduction in 2011 and 2010). Of course, that’s what typically happens with many bills and doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. With luck, the stars will eventually align and it will move forward, but don’t hold your breath…..
What Is It With School District Attorneys This Week?
First, an attorney for a New York school district is videotaped cursing at parents after a meeting (see The School District’s Attorney Cursing At Parents In Parking Lot Probably Won’t Make Them Feel Welcome). Now, today, here in Sacramento, our School District’s attorney told a judge that a lawsuit parents were bringing against recent school closures in low-income communities was “silly.” Parents
JUL 11
“What Makes a Healthy Family”
What Makes a Healthy Family is a new article at the Pacific Standard that goes along with my previous post, Single Parents Aren’t The Problem. Here’s an excerpt: Lamb explains that, despite their high rates of poverty, “the majority of children raised in single-parent or divorced families are well-adjusted,” even if outcomes are slightly more negative overall than for kids raised in “traditional”
JUL 10
Making College Readiness Home Visits
As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project. They’ve just put out a short description of an effort recently begun at our school — college readiness home visits. You can read it all here, and here’s an excerpt (I’m adding this to The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits): In a low-income neighborhood in Sacramento, CA, Luther Burbank High School
Home Visiting With HIPPY
I read that the Dallas school district just voted to put a large amount of money into HIPPY which, because of my ignorance, I had never heard of prior to today. HIPPY stands for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, and you can read more about its home visiting program here. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Pre-School Parent Engagement.
JUL 09
News From The UK: “Meet the Parents starts a welcome grassroots movement: local people speaking up for their schools”
Meet the Parents starts a welcome grassroots movement: local people speaking up for their schools is an article in The Guardian about parents organizing in the United Kingdom to help people see the good things that are happening in regular public schools in an effort to encourage them not to enroll in the UK’s equivalent of charters (at least, that’s my reading of what they’re doing — let me know
The School District’s Attorney Cursing At Parents In Parking Lot Probably Won’t Make Them Feel Welcome
USA Today reports that a New York school district has changed law firms after an attorney was videotaped giving a several-minute curse-laden tirade against parent critics of district policies in the parking lot after a meeting. It sounds like the district the made the right decision, though parents were upset (rightfully so, if you ask me) that the firing wasn’t done even more quickly….
JUL 08
“Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents”
Twenty Tips for Developing Positive Relationships with Parents is an older Edutopia blog post from Elena Aguilar which I just discovered. It’s a good one. I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers.
“Single Parents Aren’t The Problem”
Single Parents Aren’t The Problem: Show Me the Numbers: Who’s at home doesn’t affect a child’s education as much as you may think is one of the more interesting article I think you’re going to see on this topic. It’s written by Professor Ivory A. Toldson and appeared in “The Root.”
“Flipping” Parent Communication
“Flipping” classroom instruction is pretty popular these days, and Peter DeWitt has two posts over at Education Week suggesting ways to apply the concept to parent communication: Flipping Parent Communication? Take a Risk…Flip Your Parent Communication! I’m adding both to A Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Using Technology To Help Engage Parents.
“What You Should Know About IEP Plans For Special Needs Students”
As I said last week, I’m going to start collecting resources that could be helpful for parents of children with special needs. Here’s another one: “What You Should Know About IEP Plans For Special Needs Students” I hope readers will make suggestions for more related resources.
JUL 07
Video: “President Obama on Parents & Schools”
Here’s a short clip from what I believe is President Obama’s first State of The Union address. It could be a useful video to show at the beginning of parent meeting to initiate a discussion — perhaps parents could introduce themselves and share their experience of doing one of the things the President mentions. I have the transcript below the video. In the end, there is no program or policy that
“‘Pay teachers more instead of free laptop’, Kenyan parents say”
‘Pay teachers more instead of free laptop’, Kenyan parents say is the headline of an interesting newspaper article. The Kenya National Association Of Parents opposes the $700 million dollar government deal with Microsoft to give free laptops to students because of the present shortage of teachers, the bad working conditions of present teachers, and the lack of preparation for the technology progra
JUL 06
Helpful Advice To Teachers & To Parents On Providing Feedback To Young People
I’ve just published a post titled Excellent PowerPoint On Feedback Promoting A Growth Mindset over at my other blog. It talks about, and links to, a very useful PowerPoint presentation on helpful ways to provide feedback to young people, and it’s geared to both teachers and parents. I’m adding it to The Best Ideas On How Parents Can Help Their Kids Succeed Academically. Whether you show it at a pa
This Blog Is Now Four Years Old — Here Are Its Most Popular Posts During That Time
I began this blog four years ago, shortly after my book, Building Parents In Schools, was published. I thought it would be interesting, and perhaps helpful, to share its most popular posts during that time. You might also be interested in: My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts Of The Year — 2012 My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts Of The Year — 2010 Here are my most popular parent engagement
YESTERDAY
Standardized Tests & Student Motivation
I’ve written a lot about the problems with standardized tests and how I ethically prepare my students for dealing with them (see The Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad) ) — since they are a reality for us and, for more and more of us educators, student scores will affect our formal evaluation. In fact, I have an entire chapter in my latest book, Self-Driven L
Video: Trailer To Movie Adaptation Of Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography
It was news to me, but a movie adaptation of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography is coming out in the fall and it has “Oscar-buzz” already. Here’s the trailer that was just released: You might also be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela.
Video & Transcript Of Malala Yousufzai’s United Nations Speech Today
Malala Yousefzai, who was shot by Pakistani Taliban last year, spoke to the UN Youth Assembly on her 16th birthday today. Here’s a link to the transcript, here’s a quote from her talk, and it’s followed by a video of the speech itself — pretty amazing:
Useful Nutrition Links
Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety: The healthiest regions in the United States is an impressive interactive infographic from The Washington Post. Please include attribution to InsuranceQuotes.org with this graphic.
More Ramadan Resources
Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites To Teach & Learn About Ramadan: Photos Of Ramadan 2013 is from The Atlantic. The Associated Press has a video explainer.
JUL 11
Two Good Infographics About Creating Good Infographics
Here are links to two good infographics with advice on creating infographics. They’d be very accessible to students, and I’m adding them to The Best Resources For Creating Infographics: What Infographics Are Robin Richards – What Makes an Infographic Cool?
Quote Of The Day: David Brooks Hits A Home Run On Immigration Reform
I’ve had many issues with what New York Times columnist David Brooks writes about education issues, but he certainly hit a home run today with his column on immigration reform. It’s headlined “Pass The Bill!” Here’s how he ends it: I’m adding it to The Best Resources About The New Push For Immigration Reform.
July’s Best Tweets — Part Two
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 resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twit
“Urban Observatory” Is The Coolest Map Site I’ve Seen In Awhile….
Urban Observatory lets you compare three major cities of your choice from around the world and map data about them in a number of areas (population density, open space, etc.). You can read more about it at Wired. Here’s an example showing traffic at the same time of day: I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography.
Infographic: “Languages of America”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best “Language Maps”: Languages of America infographic
Could The Most Ridiculous Trailer For The Most Ridiculous Movie Of The Year Be Used For Language Development?
Sharknado, the movie appearing on the Syfy Channel tomorrow, I think qualifies for the most ridiculous movie of the year — a tornado filled with sharks terrorizes people. Since it’s so ridiculous, I think I’m putting it trailer on my list of video clips that that English Language Learners can watch and describe. I think they’d find it hilarious. You might also be interested in The Best Fun Videos
Good Grammar & Vocabulary Interactive Exercises
I’ve previously posted about the excellent British Council Learn English Teens website. Today, I’ll like to particularly highlight two of its features. Grammar Snacks are a series of animations about…grammar, followed by interactive exercises. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Grammar Practice. Vocabulary Exercises contains a lot of thematic interactives on….vocabulary. I’m adding it to The Best
JUL 10
The Best Video Clips On Goal-Setting — Help Me Find More
I have a good lesson on goal-setting in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, and I’m beginning to organize another one. As part of that process, I’ve begun to collect video clips on goal-setting, and I’m hoping readers will help me out. This list is a companion one to The Best Posts On Students Setting Goals. Here’s an initial list. What I’d really like are sever very short video clips
See Through A Dog’s Eyes
The WolframAlpha search engine has a widget that lets you pretty much choose any object and see it through a dog’s eyes (you can read about why they have such poor vision here). I’ve embedded the widget that lets you do it here: I’m adding this to The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes.
Find Public Domain Images With Bing
Richard Byrne has discovered an easy way to search for public domain images on the Bing search engine, and he’s got a simple screenshot on his blog that shows you how. I’m adding this info to The Best Online Sources For Images. Personally, my favorite place these days to find images for this blog is Wylio. It’s super simple to use and works very well giving you the appropriate attribution within
The Best Resources For Learning About Scotland’s Schools – Help Me Find More
I hadn’t heard anything about schools in Scotland until recently, when I’ve read two fascinating articles about what’s going on there. I’m starting off by posting those two articles, and I hope readers will contribute more. You might also be interested in The Best Resources To Learn About Finland’s Education System and my two part Ed Week series on the Ontario school system. Here are my choices f
Four Ways To Visually & Musically Chart Global Warming
Here are four ways that show global warming over the years. I’ll be adding them to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change. I also wonder, though, if these might serve as models for another kind of assignment. At the end of a semester, sometimes I’ll ask students to envision their time metaphorically and have them draw themselves at the beginning of the year and then draw themselves now. It’s
Three Great Videos To Start The Day….
Here are three great videos that English Language Learners can watch and describe or that anyone can enjoy. I found them all at Michelle Henry’s wonderful website. You might also be interested in The Best Fun Videos For English Language Learners In 2013 — So Far. Film English has a good lesson that goes along with this last video….
“Interactive US Obesity Data Visualization”
I’m adding this interactive infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety: Interactive US Obesity Data Visualization infographic
“Qwant” Search Engine Has Unique Useful Feature
Qwant is a search engine that offers a unique useful feature: With a click of your mouse, it lets you save, tag, and organize sites into public or private lists. This can be useful for students who are researching information on the Web (I’m particularly thinking of my IB Theory of Knowledge students). It can also be useful for any of my students who are creating “picture data sets.” That’s an in
JUL 09
Wonderful Video: Brazilian Kids Learn English By Correcting Tweets From Celebrities
This is a wonderful video, and great, engaging English practice!
Infographic: How Much Of Their Own Funds Do Teachers Spend In The Classroom?
This amount looks low to me. What do you think? Teachers Spend Hundreds of Own Funds to Keep Up With Classroom Needs infographic by ginatomko.
Two New Videos From RSA — Carol Dweck & Ken Robinson
RSA from The United Kingdom is particularly knows for their “graphic recording” of talks that take place there (the one they did of Dan Pink talking about “Drive” is my favorite). They just released a short one of those animated videos, this one a short snippet of a talk by Ken Robinson. I’ve embedded it below — it’s nice, but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure there’s much “there there,” unlike
Infographic: “Hottest Decade On Record”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change:
Importance Advice For Anyone Who Wants To Be Effective At Making Change
One of the key concepts that any good community organizer knows is that people who are “formal” leaders (presidents, pastors, CEO’s) may not really be the genuine leaders who have a following and influence. Those genuine leaders might include a custodian, a quiet teacher, and/or other people who have the confidence and respect of others — in other words, a following. During my nineteen year commun
Malcolm Gladwell’s New Story On The Importance Of Being A Good Listener
Photo Credit: James Vaughan via Compfight In my books, I have useful classroom lessons on helping students become better listeners, and I also have The Best Ideas To Help Students Become Better Listeners here on this blog. The newest addition to that list is the transcript of a talk journalist Malcolm Gladwell gave on BBC radio. The BBC just published it, and its title is Viewpoint: Could one ma
This Week In Web 2.0 – June
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 noting, but maybe not necessarily worth a separate post and generally — though not always — not worthy of being on a “The Best…” list (let me know if you think I’m wrong in my assess
JUL 08
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” — July
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 few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful
You Can Read & Download The Entire First Chapter From Our ELL Book For Free
Perhaps this has been available for quite awhile, but I just noticed that Jossey-Bass makes the first chapter of our ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide available for free. Just go to this link and on the right of the page it lists three excerpts. Excerpt 1 is the entire first chapter. Excerpts 2 and 3 show the index. Of course, you can find tons of other free resources from the book here, too.
This Looks Pretty Cool: “Maker Camp 2013″
As Read Write Web writes, today: MAKE Magazine is kicking off Maker Camp, aimed at kids and teens but free and open to anyone who can access Google+. According to the Google blog, last year’s inaugural instance of the summer camp saw 1 million participants, thanks to the camp’s free and flexible curriculum. As the description below this embedded video says: Maker Camp is a 6-week virtual summer ca
JUL 07
Infographic: “What Is Malaria?”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day: What is Malaria? infographic by ernestoolivares.
World Population Day Resources
World Population Day is July 11th and is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme. It seems to have a different theme each year in some way related to population. You might find The Best Resources For Learning About Our World’s Population Of 7 Billion helpful.
Good Research On Using Graphic Organizers
I’m adding these two pieces of research to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers: Enhancing Learning Through the Use of Graphic Organizers:A Review of the Literature is an excellent recent review. Thanks to Bjørn Helge Græsli for the tip. The National Center On Accessible Instructional Materials has an older review.
Quote Of The Day: Hannah Arendt & The Origin Of Evil
I’ve previously posted about how much I admire the work of Hannah Arendt, and how I’ve used it to help my students discover the importance of self-reflection (it’s also made-to-order for IB Theory of Knowledge classes). Her work was also very important to me during my nineteen year career as a community organizer and our wariness, which I continue to have, of any and all ideologues (particularly t
Useful Posts On “Vine”
Here are two new additions to The Best Resources For Learning To Use The Video App “Vine”: Vine Fights Instagram With Biggest App Update Yet is from TechCrunch. 3 Ways To Use Vine In The Project-Based Learning Classroom is from Teach Thought.
Video: “How Big Is The Ocean?”
How Big Is The Ocean? is a TED-Ed video and lesson plan. I’m adding it to The Best Web Tools That Show You Objects To Scale.
All My “Best Of 2013 – So Far” Lists In One Place
I’ve published quite a few mid-year “The Best…” lists, and thought readers might find it helpful if I put them all together in one place. Look for the year-end lists in November and December: “My Best Posts On Parent Engagement In 2013 — So Far” The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2013 – So Far The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2013 – So
All My Ed Week Posts On Teaching Math & Science In One Place!
I just published a post at Education Week Teacher bringing all my posts on teaching math and science together in one place. It’s quite a collection of advice, including a piece from a Nobel Prize winner!
JUL 06
Video: Carol Tomlinson On “Planning For The Unpredictable”
Here’s a very good video I’m adding to The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction:
Video: Charlotte Danielson — “We Better Hold Off On Making High-Stakes Decisions” Based On Student Test Scores
Here’s a short video shared on Twitter by Arthur Goldstein showing Charlotte Danielson, the present “guru” of teacher evaluation for many districts, saying that student test results should not be used in teacher evaluations: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.
Excellent PowerPoint On Feedback Promoting A Growth Mindset
The Pajarao Valley Unified School District has an excellent collection of resources on Professor Carol Dweck’s work, and it’s been on The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset” list for quite awhile. However, they created another related resource that, for some reason, I discovered is not on that list. It’s an exceptional PowerPoint presentation on how to provide feedbac
More Good Resources On Nelson Mandela
Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela: Nelson Mandela’s Prison Adventures is from NPR. Obama Visits Prison Cell That Helped Shape Modern South Africa is from The New York Times. Here’s a good NY Times video on Robben Island:
The Best Posts & Articles About Why High School Exit Exams Might Not Be A Good Idea
I’ve never been thrilled with requiring high school exit exams, and a new study that came out this week provides even more reasons why they aren’t good ideas. I’m sharing some posts about it here, along with previous articles I’ve shared pointing out their problems. Feel free to share additional resources and thoughts: High School Graduation Exams Are Bad For Students is by Paul Bruno. Exit Exams
My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts Over The Past Four Years
I began the Building Parents In School blog four years ago, shortly after my book, Building Parents In Schools, was published. I thought it would be interesting, and perhaps helpful, to share its most popular posts during that time. You might also be interested in: My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts Of The Year — 2012 My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts Of The Year — 2010 Here are my mos