Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
Supporting Resources For My 2013 K-12 Online Conference Keynote
I’ll be giving a keynote at the K-12 Online Conference, and here are supporting resources for my presentation. You’ll be able to view my keynote there in late October. The title of my presentation will be “Developing Leadership in Classrooms, Schools and Communities.” Here are supporting resources: Dancing Guy: Why teachers should ignore his advice The Best Resources For Doing A “One-Sentence Pro
“Writing Instruction & the Common Core – Part Three”
Writing Instruction & the Common Core – Part Three is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. It’s the final post in my three-part series on writing and CCSS, and includes guest responses from Amy Benjamin and Alice Mercer.
Second Quote Of The Day: “David and Goliath”
I’ve previously posted about Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath. This morning, I was listening to an interview that Dan Pink did with Gladwell and, while he was talking about the battle between David and Goliath, he made an important point that’s known and used by community organizers, and is also something worth remembering by those of us fighting against many of the harmful efforts o
Video: “Sesame Street: Usher’s ABC Song”
I’m adding this fun video to The Best Sites For Learning About The Alphabet: Thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip.
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: The Top 10 Reasons To Use Songs In The Classroom is by David Deubelbeiss. I’m adding it to The Best Music Websites For Learning English. How To Teach English Using Music is from English Lane. I’m adding it to the same list.
Quote Of The Day: “The Sham & Shame Of Best Practices”
Larry Cuban has just published an important post titled The Sham and Shame Of Best Practices. He discusses how the concept of “best practices” is adapted from the medical world, where it has also been criticized. Here’s a key paragraph where he describes an analysis done of the concept in health care: According to Groopman, experts who recommended “best practice” treatments (and their advice becam
October’s Infographics & Interactives Galore — Part One
There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun 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 you
See Where All Your Food Comes From With “Map Your Recipe”
As the site says: Map your Recipe does a simple thing: enter the ingredients of a recipe and it will show you where the vegetables that went into it were first domesticated. It’s pretty neat — you’re shown a world map with the original sources are identified. It could make for a nice geography lesson. Thanks to Google Maps Mania for the tip.
Halloween Resources
I’ve just updated The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween. Feel free to offer additional suggestions…
Infographic: “Twitter For Teachers”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For Beginning To Learn What Twitter Is All About: Twitter for Teachers
OCT 03
Excellent Video On Having A “Growth Mindset”
Daniel Coyle shared this video on Twitter. Even though it has a sports focus, it can very easily be applied to any area of learning. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset.”
34th ELT Blog Carnival Just Published!
David Deubelbeiss at EFL Classroom 2.0 has just published the 34th ELT Blog Carnival (also known as the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival). It’s theme is “Best Lessons,” and teachers from around the work have contributed posts. The next edition will be hosted by Vicki Hollett and its about video lessons! Submit your entries by Oct. 31st HERE. You can see all the previous Blog Carnivals here. And you can
Talk With Me Online Friday Night!
As part of Connected Educators Month, Steve Hargadon is organizing a nightly “cafe” with with education bloggers and anybody else who would like to join in! You can read more about it at Steve’s blog and see a complete schedule for the month here. Friday night (tomorrow at the time this post was published), I’ll be on with Angela Maiers from 4:30-5:30 PM Pacific Coast Time (7:30 – 8:30 PM Eastern
“Trippin” Is An Innovative Site For Learning English
Trippin is an engaging and innovative site for English language-learning that combines “edgy” videos (classroom appropriate — just “hip” enough to be particularly attractive to teenage learners), quizzes, and geography. Though I obviously didn’t view all the videos and try-out all the interactives, they seem to be laid-out sequentially (and, I assume, with graduated levels of difficulty) — in oth
Special Edition Of This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Important Posts & Articles On Ed Policy
Usually, I just publish one “round-up” of good articles & posts on education policy each week, but there have been quite a few lately. Here’s a second, extra edition: PISA Learning, Not PISA Topping is by Andy Hargreaves and appears in Education Week. High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics is from The Atlantic, and makes some important points that can be applied to other areas beyond ath
Video: “Our Story In 2 Minutes”
I’ve previously posted about a Robert Krulwich NPR column, “Let’s Play History As A List” and how I’ve applied it in my Social Studies classes. Simply put, students list a few words, along with their rationale, to describe an historical era. I’ve also previously posted about a video produced by Melody Sheep, Our Story in 1 Minute, which makes me think that a version of “history as a list” could b
OCT 02
October 4th Is World Animal Day & Here Are Tons of Resources For Learning About Animals
October 4th is World Animal Day, and I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About Animals. There are zillions of accessible resources there…
More Resources On The Federal Government Shutdown
Here are new additions to The Best Resources To Help Understand The Federal Government Shutdown: Visual Resources To Teach About The U.S. Government Shutdown is from The ASIDE blog. Government shutdown:What’s closed, what’s open? is from CNN. ABC News has an interactive infographic on the shutdown. Fox News has an interactive on the effect of the shutdown. Government Shuts Down is a slideshow from
October 5th Is World Teachers Day
World Teachers’ Day, held annually on October 5th since 1994 – when it was created by UNESCO – celebrates teachers worldwide (in the United States, National Teacher Day is Tuesday in the first full week of May). You might be interested in The Best Resources To Learn About World Teachers Day.
More On LA’s iPad Fiasco
Here are some new additions to A Very Beginning List Of The Best Articles On The iPad Debacle In Los Angeles Schools: The L.A. schools’ excellent iPad adventure is a very good piece from The Los Angeles Times. Students Are ‘Hacking’ Their School-Issued iPads: Good for Them may be the best piece written on so far on what’s going on. It’s written by Audrey Watters, and appears in The Atlantic. Here’
“Chatbots” & “Command Sites” For English Language Learners
Chatbots and sites that let users issue “commands” (in English) to virtual animals and people can be very good tools for language instruction. I’ve just updated The Best Online “Chatbots” For Practicing English, as well as The Best “When I Say Jump” Online Sites For Practicing English. Feel free to offer additional suggestions.
I’ll Be Giving Keynote At National Parent/Teacher Home Visit Conference
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project (see The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Home Visits). The 7th National Parent/Teacher Home Visit Conference will be taking place from October 24th-26th. I’ll be giving the keynote that Saturday, as well as leading a break-out session afterwards. I hope to see you there!
Education Week Releases My Newest Book
Education Week has just released my newest book — it’s an Ebook compilation of posts on classroom management and student engagement that have appeared in my Education Week Teacher column, along with some new materials I’ve added. Contributions from many educators from around the United States are featured. Its title is Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching. The cost is $8.
October’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
OCT 01
October Is National Bullying Prevention Month — Here Are Some Useful Resources
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. I discovered this infographic, along with a number of other useful resources on bullying, at Shelly Terrell’s blog. You might also be interested in A Very, Very Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Bullying. Bullying Prevention Infographic October 2013 Provided by:Liahona Academy
“Preparing Students To Write Is ‘About Our Own Collaboration’”
Preparing Students To Write Is ‘About Our Own Collaboration’ is Part Two in my Education Week series on teaching writing in the context of the Common Core. Today’s post highlights the ideas of Heather Wolpert-Gawron, Kathy Glass, and Carol Jago.
Easily Create A “Portrait” Of Your Twitter Connections
I’ve previously used Vizify to make a thirty-second “greatest hits” animation of your time on Twitter You can read about it at Read Write Web, and check mine out below: Just made a movie of my twitter: vizify.com/mrferlazzo/twi… What do you think? #FollowMe #Vizify — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) June 13, 2013 Now, it lets you create an interactive “circle of Twitter connections.” I can’t embe
The Best Resources For Connected Educators Month
October is Connected Educators Month. Here’s a description: Connected Educators is an initiative of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education and is conducted by the American Institutes for Research in collaboration with several partner organizations and a technical working group. Numerous other organizations and individuals have contributed to its success as organi
SEP 30
U.S. Dept. Of Ed Announces Not One, Not Two, But Three Studies Show NY Performance Pay Generally Makes Things Worse
Three strikes, yer out! The Institute Of Education Sciences has announced that out of three approved studies of a New York performance pay program, one showed across the board negative effects on student achievement; another showed negative effects in some areas and no effect in others; and a third one showed no effect at all (thanks to Morgan Polikoff). The first study was conducted by Roland F
Video: Malcolm Gladwell On The unheard story of David and Goliath
Malcolm Gladwell’s new books has just been published, and here’s a TED Talk that was released today. You might also be interested in my previous posts on his work, including videos of other talks he’s given:
The Best Resources To Help Understand The Federal Government Shutdown
It’s ridiculous, but the federal government has just shutdown (see Republican Strategy On Debt Ceiling Is Ridiculous, But Provides Perfect Classroom Lesson On “Compromise”). Here are a few of resources to understand what it actually means: Here’s a video from The New York Times, A Government Shutdown By The Numbers, that may not be viewable through an RSS Reader: Who Goes to Work? Who Stays Home
A Very Beginning List Of Articles On The iPad Debacle In Los Angeles Schools
I’m looking — granted, from afar — at the unfolding debacle of the iPad program in the Los Angeles schools. Based on what I know, I’m almost viewing it with awe — the district has seemed to make every mistake imaginable. It’s almost laughable, if you didn’t think of the huge amounts of money involved, the thousands of classroom hours lost to the fiasco, and the fear that it will instill in other
Video: “K-12 Online Conference”
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ll be giving one of the keynotes at this year’s K-12 Online Conference, a free professional development opportunity for educators. You can see the entire schedule here. My keynote presentation will be viewable at the end of October, the same time Education Week publishes a related commentary. The title of my presentation will be “Developing Leadership in Classrooms, Sc
The Best Online Resources For Teaching The Difference Between Correlation & Causation
The difference between correlation and causation is an important concept in IB Theory of Knowledge, and I thought readers might find it useful to see some simple fun ways I use to teach the concept. I’ve used the first two, and the last one — a video — is one I just learned about . I haven’t decided if it’s helpful or just weird, though. Let me know what you think… Here’s a great comic from xkcd:
Useful Resources On Natural Disasters
Here are a variety of useful resources related to natural disasters: First, here are a couple of new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Forest Fires: Is Living With Extreme Wildfires The New Normal? is from NPR. Into The Wildfire is an ambitious piece from The NY Times. This next article is going on The Best Sites For Learning About Hurricanes list: Al Gore and ‘Category 6 hurricanes’
My Latest NY Times Post Is On Cultural Significance Of Colors
My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is on the cultural significance of colors, and includes a student interactive and different teaching ideas. You can see all my previous NY Times posts here.
SEP 29
Research Studies Of The Week
I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a “round-up” of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature: Here’s an interesti
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
New Kindle Edition Of “Helping Students Motivate Themselves” Is Available
I’m happy to say that a new Kindle edition of my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, is now available and you can find it here. The original Kindle edition of the book was pulled a couple of of months ago after Routledge bought its original publisher, Eye On Education. They made revisions to all the EOE books, and now, as of today, it’s back! The new Kindle edition of Self-Driven Learning
Using Vine/Instagram In The Classroom
I do a lot of videotaping in my classes, primarily in IB Theory of Knowledge and in my ELL ones, and have been thinking about experimenting with Vine or Instragram’s stop motion clips. Though I posted The Best Resources For Learning To Use The Video App “Vine,” I haven’t used it much other than to try it out with videos of my pets . A new post by Amy Erin Borovoy over at Edutopia, however, has f
More Videos On Brazil
Here are new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Brazil: The BBC has a collection of Brazil videos.
Great Graphic: “The Ed Tech Troubleshooter”
Here’s another great ed tech graphic from Bill Ferriter. I’m adding it to The Best Advice On Using Education Technology: . @MrBrettClark and I whipped up an #edtech troubleshooter for y'all. Hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/eUhbrlEfGQ — Bill Ferriter (@plugusin) September 29, 2013
This Week In Web 2.0
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
“Developing Student Writers By Letting Them Talk…”
Developing Student Writers By Letting Them Talk… is my new post over at Education Week Teacher. It’s the first post in a three-part series focusing on teaching writing in the context of the Common Core Standards. Today’s commentaries come from educators Mary Tedrow, Ray Salazar and Tanya Baker.
SEP 28
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: PARCC’s Common Math Tests to Be Translated Into Spanish is from Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing. Getting to Know Your ELLs: Six Steps for Succes
Useful Resources On Copyright
Here are new additions to The Best Resources To Learn About Copyright Issues: So… You Want (Have) To Create Something? is from Langwitches. So…You Want to Declare Fair Use is also from Langwitches. by floydworx. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
The Best Sites For Learning About Brazil
As regular readers know, in addition to teaching English to ELLs, I always teach a Social Studies class to them, too. This year, I’m teaching Geography to a multi-level class, and am using many of the resources at The Best Geography Sites For Beginning & Intermediate English Language Learners. One of those resources links is to another list, The Best Sites For Learning About Mexico, Central &a
Two Videos On Mount Everest
I’m adding these videos to The Best Sites For Learning About Mount Everest:
New Resources On The World’s Different Cultures
One of my most popular posts is The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures. Here are several new additions to that list: 7 Diverse Children’s Cartoons (where the main character isn’t the standard white one) is from In Culture Parent. Kids these days: A portrait of childhood around the world is from The Telegraph. Hungry Planet: What The World Eats is a photo gallery from TIME
The Best Interactives Showing How Obamacare Works
The federal marketplace for health care insurance opens up on October 1st. I have a very extensive The Best Online Resources For Learning About Health Care Reform list (which covers how the new law works, the history of health care reform, and medical costs around the world), but thought readers might find it useful to have a list that just shares new interactives on how the law will work. I’ll b
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Articles & Posts On Education Policy
Don’t miss the first link in this post Here are some recent useful articles on education policy issues: Reliability and Validity of Inferences About Teachers Based on Student Test Scores by Edward H. Haertel from Stanford University was published by The Education Testing Service (ETS). Though I’ve only had a chance to skim it, it appears to be an extraordinary critique of the use of Value Added M
Republican Strategy On Debt Ceiling Is Ridiculous Strategy, But Provides Perfect Classroom Lesson On “Compromise”
I learned about the importance of compromise in my nineteen year community organizing career prior to becoming a teacher, and I’ve shared a fair amount about it at The Best Posts & Articles About Compromise. In fact, Republicans in the House could probably learn something from reading the articles collected there. Ezra Klein writes a great blog at The Washington Post (except, however, when he’