Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
Chart: “Most States Have Cut K-12 Per Student Funding Since 2008″
A Collection Of My “Best” Lists On The Common Core
The Best Resources On The Sandy Hook Tragedy
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts On Education Policy
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
British Library Makes One Million Public Domain Images Available Online
Wow! The British Library has just uploaded one million public domain images online. You can read all about it at Boing Boing. I’m adding this info to The Best Online Sources For Images.
This Week In Web 2.0
In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth , I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” (you might also be interested in The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2013): 25 Sites For Creating Interesting Quote Images is from Edudemic. I’m adding it to The Best Tools For Creating Visually Attractive Quotations For Online Sharing. Class
Chart: “Most States Have Cut K-12 Per Student Funding Since 2008″
This chart is from The Center On Budget And Policy Priorities. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning That Money Does Matter For Schools.
The Best Infographics Of 2013 – Part Two
Infographics show data in a visual way, and make the information much more accessible for English Language Learners — and everybody else. Interactive infographics are especially engaging because they allow users to customize the data they see. You’ll find both kinds in this list. You might also be interested in: The Best Infographics Of 2013 – So Far The Best Infographics Of 2012 — So Far The Bes
EVO Is One Of The Best Opportunities For Free Online ESL Teacher Professional Development
The Electronic Village Online is an annual event that’s on The Best Places For ESL/EFL/ELL Teachers To Get Online Professional Development list, and it’s that time again. Here’s the announcement: For five weeks in January and February, TESOL experts and participants from around the world engage in collaborative online discussions or hands-on virtual workshops of professional and scholarly benefit
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I’ve published several “Best” lists related to the Common Core, and thought that readers might find it useful if I brought them all together. I was prompted to do this tonight after reading a good post: Five myths about the Common Core by Valerie Strauss in The Washington Post. Here they are: The Best Articles Sharing Concerns About Common Core Standards The Most Useful Resources For Implementing Common Core Q & A Collections: Implementing The Common Core is one of my posts over at Education Week Teacher. It brings together all my posts there on…the Common Core. The Best Resources For Tal
Saturday is the one-year anniversary of the terrible shootings at Sandy Hook school. And, of course, today there was another in Colorado. Here are some useful resources: Alexander Russo has a good collection of anniversary coverage. Newtown: One Year Later is a Mother Jones special feature. “Sandy Hook Promise Launches ‘Parent Together’ As Tragedy’s One Year Mark Approaches” is from my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. Quote Of The Day: “A Sandy Hook Parent’s Letter to Teachers” A Collection Of Resources On The Sandy Hook Shooting (Including Video Of President Obama’s Speech) The Best R
Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: The Teacher Gap: More Students and Fewer Teachers is from the Economic Policy Institute. The Meaning of PISA is by Marc Tucker at Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On 2012 PISA Test Results. Attention OECD-PISA: Your Silence on China is Wrong is by Tom Loveless. I’m adding it to the same list. “PISA Day”—An Ideological and Hyperventilated Exercise is by Richard Rothstein. I’m adding it to the same list. After Setbacks, Online Courses Are Rethought is from The New York Times. I’m adding it to The
YESTERDAY
Great Website “Into The Book” Updated
I’ve ranked the great website Into the Book as the number one site for Intermediate readers. Here is how I describe it at The Best Websites For Intermediate Readers: This is an absolutely incredible resource designed to help students learn reading strategies — visualize, predict, summarize, etc. For the past couple of years it had only been partially completed. In the course of examining sites fo
Another Response: Teaching Knowledge Questions
Two weeks ago, I published a post headlined: Attention, IB Theory Of Knowledge Teachers! How Do You Teach “Knowledge Questions” (Formerly “Knowledge Issues”)? As I said in the post, I think helping students understand knowledge questions is one of the most challenging tasks I have in class. I’ve invited a number of people to respond to that question, and will be posting their responses over the ne
“PixiClip” Is A Neat Drawing Tool For English Language Learners
PixiClip is a neat drawing tool I just learned about at Richard Byrne’s blog. I’d strongly encourage you to go there and read more details about the site and see his example but, basically, it lets you make a drawing and record either audio-only or a video to go along with it. It also lets you upload an image from the web and “mark it up,” but I think there are plenty of other web tools that let
DEC 12
“Unusual” Art….
I’ve just updated The Best Examples Of “Unusual” Art. Feel free to offer additional suggestions….
All Of My “Best Of 2013″ Lists In One Place!
Here are my nineteen end-of-the-year “Best…” lists. I do have three more to do — one highlighting infographics, another listing Theory of Knowledge resources, and other one listing my personal favorite posts — but I might not get to them for a week or two. I thought readers would find it helpful to gather all of the rest in one place: The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly In
The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly In 2013 – Part Two
This list (a not particularly long one) brings together what I think are this year’s best ways to create online content easily and quickly — at least, the ones that have become available since Part One of this list was published six months ago. These web tools are excellent ways for English Language Learners, and others who might not be very tech-savvy, to have a good experience working with tech
Resources On New Year Celebrations
I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About New Year Celebrations. Feel free to make additional suggestions for the list….
DEC 11
December’s Best Tweets — Part Two
Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already 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 Twitter, you can a
“How Can We Close The Gap Between New Ideas & Implementation?”
How Can We Close The Gap Between New Ideas & Implementation? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. You might want to read the entire question over at that post. Then feel free to leave your responses here or there…
Video: Wild Cycling!
Show English Language Learners this video and have them describe what they see — but be sure to warn them to try this at home!
DEC 10
The Best Year In Review Features — 2013
I’ve usually done two different types of “year in review” annual posts — one focusing on photo collections and the other on non-photo galleries. This year, though, I’ve decided to just do one list combining both, and will continue to add them as new ones become available. You might be interested in these previous posts: NON-PHOTO COLLECTIONS: The Best “Year In Review” Features That Aren’t Photo C
A Few More Exceptional Nelson Mandela Resources
Here are a few more really exceptional additions to The Best Resources Honoring Nelson Mandela At His Passing….: From Rebel to Statesman: Teaching About the Life of Nelson Mandela is from The New York Times Learning Network. In Defense of Mandela’s Defense of Tyrants is from TIME. Honoring Mandela is a photo gallery from The New York Times. Here are videos from the Memorial Service/Celebration:
“Flowchart For When A Day Goes Bad In Classroom Management”
As regular readers of this blog and my books know, I love teaching at our school. Nevertheless, it is not a “walk in the park.” One hundred percent of our students receive a free breakfast and lunch, and many face other challenges inherent in the inner-city. Sometimes those challenges play-out in the classroom. One of my classes has been a bit challenging classroom management-wise for me recently
“Male Teachers ‘Walking A Tight Rope’”
Male Teachers ‘Walking A Tight Rope’ is Part Two in my series at Education Week Teacher on the challenges of being a male teacher. It features guest responses from New York City teacher José Vilson and Sacramento educator Alice Mercer.
Nelson Mandela’s Memorial Service
Nelson Mandela’s memorial service is still going on at the time of my writing this post. I’m sure I’ll be adding more reports on it as videos become available, but here are some resources I’m adding to The Best Resources Honoring Nelson Mandela At His Passing….: Crowds Mass in South Africa to Bid Farewell and Honor Mandela is from The New York Times. World leaders join singing crowds for Mandela
DEC 09
The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2013 – Part Two
This list focuses on sites that ELL students would use directly. Of course, many other sites on my other lists can also be used effectively with ELL’s. You might also be interested in: The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2013 – So Far The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2012 — Part Two The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students In 2012
Excellent Pie Chart On What Influences Student Test Scores
The finding that at least two-thirds of the factors influencing student test scores are outside of a teacher’s control is well-researched and pretty commonly accepted. You can find all that research at The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher & Outside Factors Have On Student Achievement. Today, I saw this tweet that provides an excellent visual of those findings: @AnthonyCody Why VAM is
“Spanish-Resources” Looks Like A Good Site For Learning…Spanish
Spanish-Resources has quite a number of good interactive exercises for learning Spanish that are leveled by ability. In addition, it appears that teachers can create passwords for students and follow their progress. And, even better, it’s free. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning Spanish Online.
Telling Jokes As A Language-Learning Activity
My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is about telling jokes as a language-learning activity. It includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. You can also seen all my previous Times posts here.
DEC 08
The Best Articles (And Blog Posts) Offering Practical Advice & Resources To Teachers In 2013 – Part Two
I continue my year-end “The Best…” lists… The title of this “The Best…” list is pretty self-explanatory. What you’ll find here are blog posts and articles this year (some written by me, some by others) that were, in my opinion, the ones that offered the best practical advice and resources to teachers this year — suggestions that can help teachers become more effective in the classroom today o
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” — December
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
Response: Teaching Knowledge Questions
A week ago, I published a post headlined: Attention, IB Theory Of Knowledge Teachers! How Do You Teach “Knowledge Questions” (Formerly “Knowledge Issues”)? As I said in the post, I think helping students understand knowledge questions is one of the most challenging tasks I have in class. I’ve invited a number of people to respond to that question, and will be posting their responses over the next
Does Anyone Know What Happened To Voice Of America’s “GoEnglish.me”?
I’ve posted several times about the great English-language-learning activities on the Voice of America’s site (see Voice Of America Redesigns & Enhances Their “Learning English” Site — Again!). Last week, though, Lynne Weintraub, the director of the great website Citizenship News, contacted me asking if I knew what had happened to the VOA site “GoEnglish.me” — it had gone off-line. GoEnglish h
The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2013
I do an annual “The Best…” list on the “words of the year” that various organizations name at about this time of the year. Groups have begun their announcements, and I’ll add to this list as more do the same. You might also be interested in: The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2012 The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2011 The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2010 Oxford Dictionari
Infographic: Christmas Meals Around The World
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Places To Learn About Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. by Gourmandia
Even More Excellent Resources On Mandela
Here are the latest additions to The Best Resources Honoring Nelson Mandela At His Passing….: The Mandela Playlist: A Life And Legacy, Told In Music is from NPR. How Nelson Mandela became the man we knew is from CBS News. Mandela and The Politics of Forgiveness is from The New Yorker. The CBBC Newsround has a very accessible page with many features on Mandela.
DEC 07
The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2013 – Part Two
Another day, another “The Best…” list….. You might also be interested in: The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2013 – So Far The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2012 — Part Two The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2012 — Part One The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’
Infographics On Nelson Mandela
Here are infographics I’m adding to The Best Resources Honoring Nelson Mandela At His Passing….: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. by Ad-Rank Source: BestMSWPrograms.com ABC News has an interactive infographic on his lif
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2013
It’s time for my most popular post each year — the one on new Web 2.0 applications. There are over 1,200 lists now that are categorize and updated regularly. You can see them all here. As usual, in order to make this list, a site had to be: * accessible to English Language Learners and non-tech savvy users. * free-of-charge. * appropriate for classroom use. * completely browser-based with no dow
Video: Maya Angelou’s Tribute To Nelson Mandela — With Subtitles
You may have already seen or heard about “His Day is Done: A Tribute Poem for Nelson Mandela by Maya Angelou,” which was produced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs in December 2013. Here’s a version of it with English subtitles. You can access videos of it with subtitles in numerous other languages here. Unfortunately, the only transcript of the poem I’
Wondering ‘How Gender Influences a Teacher’s Struggles & Successes’
Wondering ‘How Gender Influences a Teacher’s Struggles & Successes’ is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. It features a guest response from Chicago educator Ray Salazar.
Pearly Harbor Resources
Today is Pearl Harbor Day in the United States. You might find The Best Sites For Learning About Pearl Harbor useful.