Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
“Parents Add Heft to Bond, Tax-Measure Campaigns”
Parents Add Heft to Bond, Tax-Measure Campaigns is an Education Week article worth reading. Here’s an excerpt: Though the specifics may differ from community to community, parents throughout the country are increasingly becoming advocates for bond and tax measures needed to fill budget holes and better the quality of schools. Their outreach often goes beyond knocking on doors, posting on Facebook,
“New School Funding Formula Mandates Parental Involvement”
New School Funding Formula Mandates Parental Involvement is an article from Public Radio that points out an important point in California Jerry Brown’s potentially revolutionary new school funding formula — it requires that parents reviews plans to spend the extra money that low-income districts will be receiving. The key, of course, will be if schools take it seriously and view it as an opportuni
“Parental involvement in education leads to successful students, stronger schools”
Parental involvement in education leads to successful students, stronger schools is a few months old, but is still worth reading. It’s a column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about parent involvement. I’d skip the first part, which is about a charter school and solely focused on test scores. But the last two-thirds of the piece is pretty good.
Quite A Round-Up Of Pre-School Parent Involvement Research
Head Start recently published quite a compilation of recent research related to parent involvement and pre-school youth. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Pre-School Parent Engagement.
Video & Infographic On The Advantages Of Being Bilingual
Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual: Here’s a video from ABC News (that might not be able to be viewed in an RSS Reader): Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Breaking News | Celebrity News | More ABC News Videos Learn English with Kaplan
Infographic: “Decoding Nutrition”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety (I think you’ll have to click through to see it if you are reading this on an RSS Reader):
Infographic: “Moon Phases Explained With Oreo Cookies”
I’ve got to add this infographic to The Best Resources For “Moon Day”:
Quote Of The Day: “When Can You Trust A Data Scientist”
When Can You Trust a Data Scientist? is a very thoughtful article that I’d recommend to all teachers and, particularly, to anyone doing research in the education field. It includes several criteria to consider when deciding if one should trust a “data scientist” or anyone who does research. Here are two: I’m adding this info to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Resea
Ask A Classroom Question, Any Classroom Question….
I’m organizing questions and answers I’ll be covering at my Education Week Teacher teacher advice blog next school year. I’ve received plenty, but could always use more. What questions might you have about classroom management, instructional strategies, ed tech, school reform, assessment — you name it! Some of the most thoughtful folks in the field of education contribute guest responses to ques
A Site For Teaching ELLs About Adjectives & TOK Students About Perception
Place Pulse is a site from MIT that shows you two Google Street View images from around the world, and then asks you to “vote” on which one looks “livelier”; “safer” or any number of other comparative adjectives (you can switch them by clicking on the question mark). It’s an intriguing way to teach comparative adjectives to English Language Learners, as well as having IB Theory of Knowledge stude
Resources For The First Days Of School
It’s getting close to that time…. I’ve just updated The Best Resources For Planning The First Days Of School. And look for a new series of related posts at my blog at Education Week Teacher. I’ll be publishing them in mid-August.
All My Ed Week Pieces On Education Policy in One Place!
Q & A Collections: Education Policy Issues is my newest post over at Education Week Teacher. It brings all my posts on ed policy together in one place….
AUG 01
More On Tony Bennett Scandal
Here are new additions to The Best Posts & Articles On The Tony Bennett Scandal: Florida’s Education Chief Quits Amid Report That He Changed a School’s Rating is from The New York Times. After resignation, Tony Bennett’s rising star in school reform movement begins to fade is from The Indianapolis Star. Tony Bennett: Songs in the Key of C, No Wait, A is by Rachel Levy.
Walls That Separate Us Even In Death…
New York Times columnist Charles Blow sent this image on Twitter of the still segregated cemetery where his family is buried. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Walls That Separate Us. Satellite image of the segregated cemetery. Chain link fence runs next to horizontal paved walk. Whts abv, blks below pic.twitter.com/PwM2i83wxm — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) August 2, 2013
Excellent Teaching Resource: “16 useless infographics”
The Guardian has published a slideshow of 16 useless infographics which also includes short explanations about what is wrong with each one. It’s a perfect teaching tool to use prior to having your students create an infographic, which is why I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Creating Infographics. One caution, however — the second slide is pretty gross, so I’d skip over that one quickly.
Resources On Atomic Bombings of Japan
Next week are the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Japan. You might find The Best Resources For Learning About The Atomic Bombings Of Japan useful.
Video: “Great Life Lessons From Famous Teachers”
This is a fun and short video including clips from teachers in the movies. Roxanna Elden shared it on Twitter earlier today. I could see showing it to students and asking them to pick out one or two scenes they liked, share why they liked it and how they might apply it in life:
Infographic: “Global Wealth Distribution”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources About Wealth & Income Inequality: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
August’s (2013) Best Tweets — Part One
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
“Using Music and Songs in EFL Classes” Is The New Blog Carnival That Has Just Been Posted!
Using Music and Songs in EFL Classes is the theme of the 33rd ELT Blog Carnival, and it’s a good one! Eva Buyuksimkesyan has gathered contributions from English teachers throughout the world on the topic, and it’s so good that I’m adding it to The Best Music Websites For Learning English. At the same time, Carissa Peck has announced the next Carnival will be published in early September and the t
The Best Posts & Articles On The Tony Bennett Scandal
I just saw this tweet from a respected reporter in Florida: MT @stevebousquet: Ed Commissioner Tony Bennett talked w/Gov. Rick Scott & plans 2 resign Thurs following Indiana schl grading controversy. — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) August 1, 2013 (Here’s a little more info) It prompted me to come up with a quick “The Best…” list about this scandal: I’d say Sherman Dorn’s post is the best o
Interactive Infographic: “The Incredible Rise Of Migrants’ Remittances”
I’m embedding below a pretty interesting interactive showing the impact of migrants’ remittances (the monies they send back to families in their native countries) around the world. It’s based on World Bank data. Even though it doesn’t quite fit, I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Immigration In The United States.
“The Best Education Blogs For Parents”
I’ve just posted “The Best Education Blogs For Parents” over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. You might find it useful…..
JUL 31
Very Interesting & Useful Infographic: “The World’s Muslims”
I’m adding this very well-done infographic — from a very respected source — to The Best Websites To Learn About Various Religions (& English): Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
Chaplin & Keaton Silent Movies For English Language Learners
I think the old silent movies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are great for English Language Learners. I remember when I first played a scene from a Chaplin film years ago, all the Hmong refugees in my class started yelling, “Charlie! Charlie!” His silent films were played a lot in refugee camps. As with practically all videos, I never play a full one — just a scene, and typically one that t
Draw Virtual Graffiti Anywhere With “Graffit Map”
Graffit Map lets you choose a Google Street View from anywhere in the world, draw graffiti on it, and then save and share the image. I think it could have been a useful tool for students studying geography or planning a field trip so they could label things, and it could also be helpful to English Language Learners for learning new vocabulary (sort of like a freehand “Thinglink” that doesn’t requi
Special Edition Of “Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL”
(I usually just publish one of these posts each week, but I’m trying to get caught-up, so I’m doing two to finish out July) I’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: The Institute On Community Integration has published a special report on Educating K-12 English La
The Most Important Info On The D.C. Test Score Increase
The media is awash in stories about standardized test score increases in Washington, D.C. As I’ve repeatedly said, I think test scores are useful small parts of a school culture that should be data-informed, not data-driven. The most important part of The Washington Post story on the test scores, though, was buried near the end. Here it is: Some experts cautioned that standardized testing doesn’t
Video: Atul Gawande On The Colbert Report
I’ve previously posted about Atul Gawande’s excellent article in The New Yorker (see If You Want To Influence People To Change, Then You Want To Read Atul Gawande’s New Article). He appeared on The Colbert Report last night, and I’ve embedded the interview below. I don’t think it’s the greatest interview, but I think it is worth skipping to the three minute mark and watching the last part. The C
JUL 30
Interactive Infographic: “How Green Is My State”
How Green Is My State? is a pretty cool interactive infographic giving assessments for each U.S. state on a number of environmental factors: Produced by MPHOnline.org
Quip Is New Online Word Processing Tool Useful For Collaboration
Quip is a new online word processing tool that is free to non-business users, adapts its look to the kind of device you’re using (tablet, desktop, smartphone), and lets you collaborate with others on your document. You can read more about it at TechCrunch. I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration.
Now This Is The Classroom Management Mindset I Need To Have….
This tweet provides the kind of classroom mindset I want to have and remember: Nice mantra bouncing around parenting blogs: “My child isn’t giving me a hard time; s/he is *having* a hard time” — Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) July 30, 2013 I’m adding it to Best Posts On Classroom Management.
I’m Sorry, I Just Can’t Help Myself: Bennett Scandal Is A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Yesterday, I posted about the Tony Bennett scandal (see Priceless, Amazing & Disappointing: “GOP donor’s school grade changed”). Today, I see that in one of his emails he wrote: I hope we come to the meeting today with solutions and not excuses and/or explanations for me to wiggle myself out of the repeated lies I have told over the past 6 months. What’s also amazing to me is the gyrations th
Video: “Disconnect To Connect”
Joe Dale shared this video on Twitter. It’s worth all of us taking a look, and I can see showing it as part of a lesson in class on self-control, too:
Best and Worst Education News of 2013 — So Far
I need to add one more “Best Of 2013 – So Far” list to the ones I’ve posted so far, and that’s my annual “The Best And Worst Education News Of 2013 — So Far.” As usual, I don’t presume to say it’s all-encompassing, so I hope you’ll take time to share your own choices in the comment section. I’ll list the ones I think are the best first, followed by the worst. It’s too hard to rank them within tho
JUL 29
Priceless, Amazing & Disappointing: “GOP donor’s school grade changed”
I’m just going to publish the beginning of the Associated Press’ big story today, AP Exclusive: GOP donor’s school grade changed: Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold “failing” schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett’s educat
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here’s the latest batch of good pieces on educational policy issues: How much time do school districts spend on standardized testing? This much. is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing. Is Common Core failing the test? is from Politico. The MOOC Racket is from Slate. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles O
More Useful Advice On Writing A Book
Here are new additions to So, You Want To Write A Book? Here’s The Best Advice…: 10 Visual Steps To Self-Publishing Your Book On Amazon is from Read Write Web. Five Things Busy Teachers Need to Know about Writing a Book is by Bill Ferriter.
Quote Of The Day: “Status & Stress”
Status and Stress is a column from The New York Times that reviews the long-term impact of childhood poverty in the United States. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Why Improving Education Is Not THE Answer To Poverty & Inequality. Here’s an excerpt: