Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
“Advice For Aspiring Principals: ‘Shadow, Connect & Dream’”
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
“Advice For Aspiring Principals: ‘Shadow, Connect & Dream’”
Advice For Aspiring Principals: “Shadow, Connect & Dream” is the final post in my three-part Education Week Teacher series offering advice to aspiring principals. Scott McLeod, Kelly Young (who I consider a mentor and from whom I’ve learned more about teaching than anyone else), John Gabriel and Paul Farmer all offer their advice. In addition, I’ve included comments from readers.
Infographic: The Cost Of Natural Disasters
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Websites For Learning About Natural Disasters: Image source: www.emergency-management-degree.org
Wonderful Illustrations Of Logicial Fallacies
An Illustrated Book Of Bad Arguments is a freely available online book that has wonderful illustrations of logical fallacies. It’s perfect for IB Theory of Knowledge classes, and I’m adding it to The Best Multimedia Resources For Learning About Fallacies. Here are some examples from it: Slippery Slope: Straw Man: Appeal To Bandwagon:
TIME’s “50 Best iPhone Apps, 2013 Edition”
TIME recently published the new edition of their annual list: 50 Best iPhone Apps, 2013 Edition. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Beginning iPhone Users Like Me.
Quote Of The Day: “The problem with philanthropy”
I’ve often been critical of the role of private foundations (see The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Policy). A short piece at Al Jazeera is worth reading. It’s titled The problem with philanthropy. Here’s an excerpt:
Many More Questions For Class-Closing Activities….
I’ve turned my popular post from earlier this week sharing and inviting questions to use as class-closing activities into The Best Questions To Use For Class Closing Activities — What Are Yours? Many suggestions from readers are now included, and more are welcome!
Reviews Of Diane Ravitch’s New Book
As you probably know, Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign Of Error, has just been published. I have it on my nightstand, and am looking forward to reading it (and looking forward to hearing her speak in Sacramento this week). In the meantime, though, here are some links to what I think are a few thought-provoking reviews of it: Education Week has a nice round-up, including many links to a variety of
Guest Post: Teaching Fifth Graders About A “Growth Mindset” & “The Brain As A Muscle”
Matthew Becker is a fifth grade teacher in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He taught two of the lessons in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, and has written this short guest post about his experience. You can also find more information about those topics at The Best Resources For Showing Students That They Make Their Brain Stronger By Learning and at The Best Resources On Helping Our Student
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Articles & Posts On Education Policy
Here are some relatively recent good posts and article about education policy issues: Forever young: the new teaching career is by Mike Rose. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Raising Concerns About Teach For America. There Joel Klein goes again… is by Richard Rothstein, and is an excerpt from his commentary on a recent NY Times article on computer tablets (see Two Important Quotes F
YESTERDAY
Fun Video: Animals Squeezing Into Small Places
I think this video would be entertaining and useful in ESL classes — students could describe what they are seeing in writing and verbally:
Experience Being An Eagle & A Dementia Patient In These Two Videos
I’m adding these three videos to The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes (if you’re seeing this on an RSS Reader, I think you’ll have to click-through to see the first one on the dementia experience): See Second Wind for more information about the dementia experience.
SEP 19
Quote Of The Day: “Why Paying Kids to Do Homework Can Backfire”
Why Paying Kids to Do Homework Can Backfire is an article published today at TIME. It doesn’t offer anything particularly new to longtime readers of this blog or my books, but it does provide a good summary of research. Here’s an excerpt:
The Late Educator Paulo Freire Was Born On This Day
Image via Wikipedia The late educator Paulo Freire was born on this day in 1921. You can read more about him at The Zinn Education Project’s Facebook page. You might also be interested in a New York Times post I wrote that includes a lesson building on his work, and a post that appeared on this blog awhile back, What Would Paulo Freire Do If He Was A School Superintendent?
Learn Spanish Through Music With Qlipo
Qlipo is a brand-new site that helps English-speakers learn Spanish through the use of music videos. It’s definitely a different approach from what you see at the other sites on The Best Sites For Learning Spanish Online list. Because of its newness, it’s also a little buggy. But it’s still worth checking-out.
Here Are Some Questions I Use For Class Closing Activities — What Are Yours?
I’ve previously written about research on the importance of “good endings.” It’s a priority for me to end my classes on an upbeat note, but I’ve been thinking lately that I might be able to enhance its benefit to students if I’m a bit more intentional about it with a regular formal closing activity that might take a minute or two. I’ve certainly often done this, but I’m going to try doing it more
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” – September
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
SEP 18
September’s (2013) Best Tweets — Part Three
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
Guest Post: “IB TOK: Making Claims and Seeking Truth Lesson”
Earlier this month, I posted about a lesson I was planning to do with my IB Theory of Knowledge class related to the potential bombing of Syria by the United States (see First Draft: My Theory Of Knowledge Lesson About Syria Next Monday — Help Me Make It Better). In summary, students looked at the reasons and evidence being used by President Obama to justify it, and evaluated it using Reuben Abel
Tennessee Using Portfolios To Evaluate Teachers In Non-Tested Subjects – Why Not In ALL Subjects?
Last year I wrote about a pilot program in Tennessee, praised by Arne Duncan, using portfolios developed by arts teachers as part of their evaluation process (see Arne Duncan Supports Using Student Portfolios To Evaluate Teachers?). , Education Week published an extensive, and laudatory, story about its expansion and future expansion to other non-tested subjects in that state and in others (see Cl
SEP 17
“So, You Want To Be A Principal?”
So, You Want To Be A Principal? is Part Two of my Education Week Teacher series providing advice to educators who are considering becoming a principal. Justin Baeder, Allan R. Bonilla and Josh Stumpenhorst are share their reflections
A Collection Of Useful Infographics On Food & Nutrition
Here are several infographics (and one article) I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety: See Full Size of above infographic here. Source: WeightTraining.com – Burning Calories 11 Kinds Of Junk Food That Cost Almost Twice As Much As Something Healthier is from Buzz Feed. Why BMI Isn’t The Best Measure for Weight (or Health) is an article from TIME. Explore m
A Collection Of Useful Infographics On Food & Nutrition
Here are several infographics (and one article) I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety: Source: WeightTraining.com – Burning Calories See Full Size of above infographic here. 11 Kinds Of Junk Food That Cost Almost Twice As Much As Something Healthier is from Buzz Feed. Why BMI Isn’t The Best Measure for Weight (or Health) is an article from TIME.
“Income Upshot” Is A Very Interesting Interactive
Income Upshot comes from Marketplace, the group that produces a number of financial-related programs for public radio. You input your income and area code, and then it feeds back a lot of interesting information about what people with your income — both locally and nationally — do. It’s simple, yet intriguing.
Christopher Columbus Resources
Columbus Day is coming up in the United States on the second Monday of October. You might be interested in The Best Online Resources About Christopher Columbus.
Washington Post Republishes My Most Popular Blog Post Of The Year
In case you missed it when it originally appeared, Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post has republished my most popular blog post of the year (so far): Getting students to engage — not just comply
SEP 16
Video: “Map of Europe 1000 AD to present with timeline”
This is one impressive video, and I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Teaching & Learning About World History: Thanks to Chart Porn for the tip.
Infographic: “Mexican Independence Day”
I’m adding this infographic (and a couple of links to other articles) to The Best Resources For Learning About Mexico’s Independence Day: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. Here’s a photo gallery from The History Channel. Mexican-Americans celebrate Mexican Independence Day, El Grito! is from NBC Latino.
Kaplan International Interviews…Me
ESL Teacher Interviews: Larry Ferlazzo comes from Kaplan International, and you might find it interesting. Even more interesting, though, is the interview they did with my friend, colleague, and co-author Katie Hull Sypnieski a few months ago.
My Newest Lesson At The NY Times Is On Teaching “Grit”
My newest lesson at The New York Times for English Language Learners is on “grit” & includes a student interactive & teaching ideas. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of “Grit.” You can see all my NY Times posts here.
SEP 15
Quote Of The Day: “Lifelines For Poor Children”
James Heckman has a powerful column in today’s New York Times titled Lifelines For Poor Children. Here’s an excerpt: You can see my previous posts about his work: Prof. James Heckman Says Adolescence Is Key Time To Teach (& Learn About) Self-Control & Perseverance Quote Of The Day: Dr. James Heckman On The “Worst Fallacy In This Business” I’m adding this post to The Best Social Emotional
The Best Resources For Learning About The Birmingham Church Bombing
Fifty years ago today four African-American girls were killed when their church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama. I thought readers would find it helpful to have a short list of related resources. You can find all my “Best” lists connected to the Civil Rights Movement here. Most of these links have many multimedia resources: Birmingham remembers 4 little girls 50 years after infamous church bomb
Video: “Giving”
I think this would be a good video to show to English Language Learners and have them describe what is happening. Thanks to Michelle Henry for the tip:
September’s Infographics & Interactives Galore — Part One
There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’m starting a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but y
Another Study Shows The Benefits Of Reading For Pleasure
Thanks to Michelle Gunderson, I’ve learned about yet another study showing the importance of students reading for pleasure. Here are some excerpts from a report on it appearing at Centre for Longitudinal Studies: The research was conducted by Dr Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown, who analysed the reading behaviour of approximately 6,000 young people being followed by the 1970 British Cohort Study, wh
Guest Post: Commentary On New Theory of Knowledge Guide
As regular readers know, in addition to sharing my thoughts on the new International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge Guide, I’ve been publishing guest posts from TOK textbook authors and educators from around the world. You can see them all at The Best Commentaries On The New IB Theory Of Knowledge Teaching Guide. post is by Michael Dunn, creator of theoryofknowledge.net. Michael Dunn is the cr
“Advice for Educators Wanting to be Principals — Part One”
Advice for Educators Wanting to be Principals — Part One is my newest post over at Education Week Teacher. This week’s guest responses come from Lyn Hilt, Joe Mazza, and Cheryl James-Ward, along with a few thoughts of my own.
SEP 14
Infographic: School Bullying
I’m adding this infographic to A Very, Very Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Bullying: via USC Rossier Online
“Latino Americans” Looks Like A Great PBS Series
Latino Americans is a PBS: landmark six-hour documentary featuring interviews with nearly 100 Latinos and more than 500 years of History. The first episode will be shown on September 17th, and the website has some very useful resources. The San Francisco Chronicle published a review of it today. Here are sample clips: I’m adding this info to The Best Resources For Hispanic Heritage Month.
Important Commentary On New TOK Guide From Course Companion Author
As regular readers know, in addition to sharing my thoughts on the new International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge Guide, I’ve been publishing guest posts from TOK textbook authors and educators from around the world. You can see them all at The Best Commentaries On The New IB Theory Of Knowledge Teaching Guide. Today, Eileen Dombrowski has agreed to share her commentary. Eileen is the lead a
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
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: EFL teacher Carissa Peck shares Ways to Keep in Touch with parents at her blog. Stanford University’s Understanding Language announces a free MOOC, Constructive Classroom Conversations: Mastering the Language of the Common