Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Articles & Posts On Education Policy
Here are some recent useful articles and posts on educational policy issues: The New York Performance Standards Consortium has been recognized by The American Federation of Teachers by its prize for Solution-Driven Unionism. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing. I’m adding this next series of Ed Week articles on The Gates Foundation to The Best Resourc
Here Is Who I Recommend You Follow On Twitter
Over the years, I’ve posted two “Best” lists for who I recommend people follow on Twitter: The Best Twitterers For Sharing Resource Links The Fifteen “Twitterers” Whose Tweets I Read First Many, if not most, of those recommendations still hold true. However, here is “latest and greatest” list of my recommendations that I’ve collected in a Storify. I’ll also be adding to it over the coming months:
The Best Online Resources For Learning About The Gettysburg Address
November 19th will mark the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln delivering The Gettysburg Address. You might also be interested in: The Best Sites For Learning About The Battle Of Gettysburg The Best Sites For Learning About The American Civil War The Best Resources About President’s Day Here are my choices for The Best Online Resources For Learning About The Gettysburg Address: I’ve got to star
“Using ‘Self-Compassion’ to Recover From a Bad Day”
Using ‘Self-Compassion’ to Recover From a Bad Day is the last post in my Education Week Teacher series on recovering from a bad day in the classroom. Educators Amy Benjamin and Dina Strasser, and many readers, post their thoughts.
No, L.A. School Reformers, Grit Does Not Equal Giving Students Rewards & Being Data-Driven
Anyone who has read my blog or my books knows that I’m a big supporter of Social Emotional Learning, including helping students develop “grit” (see The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of “Grit” and the grit lessons and strategies in my books). I’ve also been critical of “school reformers” who try to hijack Social Emotional Learning to further objectives that I don’t believe are h
YESTERDAY
Finding Similar Images To Use For Compare/Contrast Prompts
I wrote a fairly popular post yesterday titled The Best Ways To Modify The Picture Word Inductive Model For ELLs. One of the ways I mentioned was: teachers can find a comparable photo to the main one, have students label those words, and then create Venn Diagram and ultimately a compare/contrast essay. I also linked to an example. However, today, I realized I had neglected to mention the easiest w
Resources For American Indian Heritage Month
November is designated American Indian Heritage Month in the United States. You can find lots of related resources at The Best Sites For International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People.
Ways To Support Students Setting Goals
I’ve written a lot about student goal-setting in this blog (see The Best Posts On Students Setting Goals) and have included lesson plans in my books. Last month, I wrote about how our school has decided to explicitly emphasize Social Emotional Learning, and how our Small Learning Community had chosen to focus initially on student goal-setting (see Supporting School-Wide Social Emotional Learning)
Infographic: “End Genocide”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For Learning About Genocide: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
The Best Resources For Learning About Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan is being called by the media as the biggest cyclone in history as it hits the Philippines. We can keep victims in our thoughts and prayers and donate to relief efforts. We’re studying natural disasters now in ninth-grade English, so we’ll be using some of these resources in class on Tuesday: Videos show Typhoon Haiyan’s charge across Philippines is an interactive from The Washingto
NOV 07
November’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
Video: Multiple Optical Illusions In One Short Video
I’ve written in my New York Times column about how I use optical illusions with English Language Learners, and I certainly use them when teaching perception in my Theory of Knowledge class. You can many that I’ve previously posted here. Here’s a new neat one created by Honda and puts many different illusions into one short video:
The Best Ways To Modify The Picture Word Inductive Model For ELLs
As regular readers know, I’m a huge fan of using the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM) as a primary instructional strategy for Beginning English Language Learners. I’ve described it in my books as an: “inductive learning process where students first brainstorm twenty words related to a picture, then put those words into categories and add new ones that fit those categories. Next they complete a
The Best Sites For Learning About France
We’re just beginning a unit on France in my ELL Geography class. I have a number of related resources in The Best Geography Sites For Learning About Europe, but wanted to supplement it with this more specialized list: France Geography is from KidPort. France Facts World Fact Book — France Global Trek France is from Scholastic. National Geographic For Kids — France France Homework Links France: A
The Best Ways To Use Mistakes When Teaching Writing
This is sort of an odd “The Best…” list. I’ve written a lot in this blog and in my books about using student mistakes as an opportunity and not as a problem, and have an extremely long The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures list. This list, however, has a different take on the subject. I’ve only got three related resources now, but I’m hoping readers wil
NOV 06
Image: Useful For Teaching Perception
Here’s a good image useful for teaching Perception in IB Theory of Knowledge classes: Perspective! pic.twitter.com/PwsMDW82m6 — Fascinating Pictures (@Fascinatingpics) November 6, 2013
Student-Created Prompts As A Differentiation Strategy
I’m very good at differentiating instruction to make lessons more accessible to students facing learning challenges. Differentiating the other way, however, is another story. And one of my goals this year is to get better at providing a more intellectually stimulating environment for some of my students who want it and/or who I think need it. As our principal, Ted Appel, succinctly put it, these
English Language Learners Using Screentastic For Folktale Presentations
This year, our School District loosened our Internet filter, so there are now many more options for tools we can use (though, of course, our antiquated tech does create some barriers). Because of this new freedom of access without having to battle for individual sites to be unblocked, I’ve been pretty aggressive in experimenting with Web 2.0 tools to determine which ones provide the most benefit
Infographic: “National Teacher’s day around the world”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources To Learn About World Teachers Day: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
Literably Is An Excellent Reading Site — If Used With Caution
Reader Erika Chapman tipped me off to an excellent site called Literably. It allows students to read a text and have it automatically assessed for accuracy and words-per-minute speed. Plus, and this is what was most surprising to me, it also provides a fairly accurate indentification of student errors — in other words, what word they said instead of the word in the text. You’re able to provide th
NOV 05
Getting A Special Wristband Is Not The Best Road To Greater Student Motivation
An article about a Florida high school providing special wristbands to academically eligible students which lead to special privileges is getting a lot of attention this week: Tyler Minnick showed off his school-issued yellow rubber bracelet with pride. It bore just two words — “on track.” To Minnick, it represented more than a wrist accessory. It meant he had earned enough credits to be on the w
Find Popular — & Potentially Useful — Videos At “Digg Video”
I periodically post places to find resources that are supposedly the “most popular” of something or other. I might or might not agree with the criteria used to determine that popularity, but I nevertheless find some useful pieces of information. You can find a collection of these sites at The Best Places To Find The Most Popular (& Useful) Resources For Educators – 2013 (So Far). Today, I wan
“Response: A Bad Day In The Classroom ‘Will Pass’”
Response: A Bad Day In The Classroom ‘Will Pass’ is the second post in my Education Week Teacher series on dealing with bad days in the classroom. It includes contributions from Terry Thompson, Renee Moore and Cindi Rigsbee, and I share some more ideas, too.
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent posts and articles on education policy issues that are worth reading: The WOW! factor of CCSS is by Alice Mercer. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Sharing Concerns About Common Core Standards. State Board executive director optimistic conflict with feds over testing can be resolved is from Ed Source, and gives an update on the tension between California and Arne Duncan. Su
Google Adds Etymology Feature
If you’ve ever been curious about the roots of a particular word, Google now has you covered. Just type “etymology” followed by the word you’re curious about and you’re then provided with a lay-out similar to the one above (I looked up “reason”). In addition, the first link after its visual representation you’re always shown the link to my favorite etymology site, The Online Etymology Dictionary.
NOV 04
The Best Hans Rosling Videos
You may, or may not, be familiar with Hans Roslings famous videos explaining world demographics and their economic and social implications. He just published a new one, and I figured I’d take the opportunity to share his previous videos that I’ve shared in this blog: Here’s his newest one: His latest TED Talk is called Religions and Babies: A PBS News Hour report about him is embedded here. You
Video: “How Many Times Should You Try Before Success?”
Even though students may not recognize a number of the examples, I’m still adding this video to The Best Video Clips Demonstrating “Grit”:
Thanksgiving Day Resources
It’s that time of year, and I’ve just updated The Best Sites To Learn and Teach About Thanksgiving. Additional suggestions are welcome…
Teaching Intuition With Star Trek
For teachers of the International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge course, I thought I’d how I introduce the concept of “intuition” (as I’m sure you’ll know if you’re a TOK teacher, intuition used to be taught as part of the “emotion” Way of Knowing, but has now “graduated” to being its own WOK). An episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is our entry point…. First, I show a clip introducing th
Updated List On Tools Students Can Use To Make Virtual Travel Plans
A few hours ago, I published a post making a nice addition to The Best Resources For Finding And Creating Virtual Field Trips. I took this opportunity to also update The Best Sites Where Students Can Plan Virtual Trips. A nice geography lesson is to have students plan a trip to some location (or locations). There are several web tools on that list which make doing this pretty easy — it’s just a m
Google Unveils Great Resource For Virtual Field Trips
Google has just announced a new initiative, Connected Classrooms, that will begin offering some pretty exciting virtual field trips through Google+. Here’s an excerpt from their announcement: Today we’re launching a new initiative on Google+ called Connected Classrooms that enables students around the world to take “virtual field trips” through Google+ Hangouts, visiting places they would otherwi
My NY Times Post On Using Music With ELLs
My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners focuses on using music for language development and includes a student interactive, video, and teaching ideas. One of those ideas relates to using West Side Story to initiate a discussion of gangs. I’m adding it to: The Best Music Websites For Learning English The Best Sites To Learn About Street Gangs
NOV 03
This Year’s Shipment Of Stress Balls For Students Has Arrived!
Every year, right about this time, I get stress balls for two-to-four of my students who have a lot of energy and self-control challenges. Research shows that clenching muscles can be helpful for self-control, but since I don’t feel comfortable recommending that action, I give them stress balls. I give it to certain students after asking them to commit to never throwing it or giving it to another
What A Great Series Of Videos “Uncle Drew”
Wendi Pillars (you can read her blog here and follow her on Twitter here) sent me this great series of videos. Here’s what she wrote: They’re rich for material! Perception, bias, expectations, “acting one’s age”, advertisement as persuasion…etc…. I agree. They’d be particularly good for a Theory of Knowledge class when discussing perception, and, as Wendi mentions, great for any class studying adv
“My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts In 2013″
I’ve just published My Most Popular Parent Engagement Posts In 2013 over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. I thought readers of this blog might find it interesting….
Quote Of The Day: “Close Reading and Far-Reaching Classroom Discussion”
Close Reading and Far-Reaching Classroom Discussion: Fostering a Vital Connection is a paper written by Catherine Snow and Catherine O’Connor for the International Reading Association. It offers some important warnings for all educators. Here’s an excerpt: Thanks to my colleague Lara Hoekstra for passing the article along. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On “Close Reading”
Helpful Infographic For Job Interviews: “There Are No Stupid Questions”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Websites For Students Exploring Jobs & Careers: by NowSourcing. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
This Month’s ASCD’s “Educational Leadership” Is Now Online — Here Are My Recommendations
Tackling Informational Text is the theme of this month’s ASCD Educational Leadership, and it’s now online. Here are the articles there I’d particularly recommend: One to Grow On / Invitations to Read is by Carol Ann Tomlinson. Here’s how she ends it: You Want Me to Read What?! is by Timothy Shanahan. Points of Entry is a typically excellent piece by Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher. I’m adding these
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
“Recover From Bad Days by Seeing ‘Disasters as Opportunities’”
Recover From Bad Days by Seeing ‘Disasters as Opportunities’ is my new Education Week Teacher post, and it’s a good one. It includes a response from Roxanna Elden, who is one of the most engaging and entertaining education writers around. Her contribution is followed by guest responses from two other exceptional educators and authors — Allen Mendler and Julia Thompson. I also share some advice. I’
NOV 02
Three Useful Common Core “Cheat Sheets”
Here are three useful short and visual summaries of important things teachers should know and remember about the Common Core. I’m adding them to The Most Useful Resources For Implementing Common Core: I really like the chart you’ll find at the Hechinger report titled Six ways Common Core changes English and math classrooms. CCSS 2013 Annual Conference from Center for Public Education Explor
Special Edition Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Usually, I just post one “round-up” of articles on ed policy issues each week, but I’ve got a big backlog. Here’s a special edition: The State of California has rightfully decided to bypass most state standardized tests this year as we prepare for the new Common Core assessments. Arne Duncan is not pleased: Feds set price of defiance on standardized tests: at least $15 million is from Ed Source.
EDpuzzle Is An Innovative Video Site
EDpuzzle is a new innovative site that lets you take just about any video off the web, edit it down to the portions you want, add audio notes and questions for students, and create virtual classrooms where you can monitor individual student work. For free. Though I’m not a big fan of the flipped classroom (see The Best Posts On The “Flipped Classroom” Idea), I would imagine the site might be an i
Important Article — ” Ninth Grade: The Most Important Year in High School”
The Atlantic just published what I think is a pretty important article titled Ninth Grade: The Most Important Year in High School (and I’m not just saying that because I primarily teach ninth-graders). Here’s how it begins: Educators are increasingly focusing on the ninth grade as the year that determines whether a young person will move on or drop out of school. According to research published i
My New Book Is The Most Popular Classroom Management Book On Amazon
I just noticed that my new book is the most popular classroom management book on Amazon:
Education Books In One Sentence — Part One
Earlier this morning I posted Can You Boil Down Well-Known Education Books To One Sentence? and encouraged people to either leave their responses in comments or send a tweet using the hashtag #edbksinonesentence. Here is what has come in so far. Feel free to join in and I’ll included new responses in Part Two: [View the story "Education Books In One Sentence -- Part One" on Storify]
Can You Boil Down Well-Known Education Books To One Sentence?
15 Famous Business Books Summarized In One Sentence Each was just published by Business Insider, and it got me wondering if the same could be done with well-known education-related books. So, if you can think of some, leave it in the comments of this post or send it on twitter using the hashtag #edbksinonesentence. I’ll post a collection of contributions… Funny and or “snarky” summaries are welcom
November’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
A Good Quote Describing Our School’s IB Program
Today, The Sacramento Bee ran a lengthy article headlined In bid to keep students, Sacramento districts launch IB programs. Though our inner-city school’s program is over ten years-old, it only got a tiny mention, but that mention definitely shows how we are different: Elsewhere in Sacramento City Unified, Luther Burbank High School began offering IB courses to students in the graduating class of
35th ELT Blog Carnival Just Published!
Vicki Hollett has just published the 35th ELT Blog Carnival (formerly known as the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival) and it’s a great one focusing on Teaching and Learning with Video. Teachers from around the world have contributed posts. It’s so good that I’m adding it to The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows For ESL/EFL (& How To Use Them). The next edition will be hosted by Eva Buyuksimkesyan and its
The Best Videos Of Tom Lehrer’s Songs
Readers may or may not know about Tom Lehrer, the mathematician turned songwriter and performer who was particularly popular in the 1960′s (and who is still around today). His satirical songs poked fun at many topical subjects, and I still remember hearing my parents playing his records when they had friends over and laughing uproariously. Some of his songs are a bit dated now, or perhaps not ent