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 Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: Will Arne Duncan leave a legacy of teacher leadership? is by Barnett Berry. You might also be interested in my article and video, Developing Teacher Leadership for the Long Haul. Amplify Curriculum Release Highlights New Questions for Districts is from Education Week. I’m adding this tweet to The Best Posts About The Kh
Just Updated My “Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills” List
I’ve just revised and updated The Best Sites For Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills list. In addition to cleaning-up dead links, I made one new additions: Gen i Revolution is a series of financial games. Teachers can create virtual classes and monitor student progress. You can learn more about it at Richard Byrne’s blog. I’m also adding it to The Best Sites That Students Can Use Inde
The Best Sites For Learning About Japan
We’re going to be studying Japan next week in my Geography class for English Language Learners. One of our art teachers is going to come in and show students how to use origami as part of our unit, so it should be an engaging few days. I’ll be adding this to A Beginning List Of The Best Geography Sites For Learning About Asia & The Middle East. Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Lear
English Language Learners Design Their Own “Ideal” Neighorhoods
I’ve written a lot about my annual favorite lesson of the year for English Language Learners — students first identify what neighborhood qualities are most important to them; they then analyze their neighborhood and the wealthiest one in Sacramento (including through field trips and statistical analyses); next they decide which one they think is the best; and then they write a persuasive essay sha
Ask A Question, Any Question…
My Classroom Q & A column over at Education Week Teacher continues to grow in popularity as it nears the end of its third year. I’ve already begun collecting new questions for the next school year, so feel free to contribute on — either by leaving it in the comments section or by sending it to me using this contact form. As you probably know, a wide-ranging group of educators provide guest re
‘Start By Matching Student Interests, Then Build From There’
‘Start By Matching Student Interests, Then Build From There’ is my latest post at Education Week Teacher. Educators Diana Laufenberg, Jeff Charbonneau, Ted Appel and special guest John Hattie share their suggestions for the five best teaching practices that educators can implement. Here are some excerpts:
March’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part Four
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
YESTERDAY
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: Lost in translation? Do foreign jokes work in English? – video is from The Guardian. You might also be interested in my New York Times post on using jokes as an English language-learning activity. Language learning: what m
March’s Best Tweets — Part Four
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 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 post. If you don’t use Twitter, you can
MAR 20
Different Teachers, Different Classrooms, “but the thinking & learning going on inside students’ heads is the same”
Ted Appel, the principal at our school, made that comment when we were discussing that we can’t “fire our way to the Top or test our way to the Top” but, instead, we need to focus on “practicing to the Top.” In other words, we need to emphasize helping teachers hone their craft. At the same time, we discussed how there is not necessarily universal agreement on what those “best practices” should b
This Is The Best Piece I’ve Seen On The Role Of Social Media In Making Social Change
Three years ago, Malcolm Gladwell’s article in The New Yorker, Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted, created a fair amount of controversy. He poked some holes in what was, at the time, a celebration of the role of Twitter and other social media tools in Arab Spring. Now, the New York Times has published an even better, and more succinct, column on the same topic which hits the nai
Today Is “Character Day”?
Apparently, today is “Character Day” — whatever that means. I believe (though may be wrong) that the film-maker behind the eight-minute video I’ve embedded below, came up with the idea and unveiled her film today. It’s called “The Science Of Character” and seems like a nice enough video — I could see presenting it as an introduction to a Social Emotional Learning lesson (see The Best Social Emoti
Learning About The Spring Season
Today’s the first day of Spring, and I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning About The Spring Season. Additional suggestions are welcome.
MAR 19
I’m Interviewed In Podcast “Parent Involvement Versus Parent Engagement: Is There Really a Difference?”
I was a guest during #PTchat on Twitter last week discussing the difference between parent engagement and parent involvement (you can see the tweets here). As a follow-up to that conversation, I was a guest on PTchat Radio, and you can listen to it here.
Updated Resources On Missing Malaysia Plane
Here are new additions to The Best Resources On The Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Australia says possible objects in Indian Ocean is from CNN. You can find lots of other related multimedia at the same link. Questions Over Absence of Cellphone Calls From Missing Flight’s Passengers is from The New York Times. The Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is a series
New Resources On Ukraine Crisis
Here are the latest additions to The Best Resources On The Protests (& Crisis) In Ukraine: Crisis in the Crimea: The Showdown Between Ukraine and Russia is a GREAT interactive from Smithsonian Magazine. The U.S. has treated Russia like a loser since the end of the Cold War is a very interesting piece from the former ambassador to the USSR. Former U.S. Ambassador to USSR: Let Russia Take Crime
“What Are Five Best Practices Teachers Can Implement? “
What Are Five Best Practices Teachers Can Implement? is the new “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Of course, feel free to share just one or two ideas, too! You can leave a comment there or here….
The Best (Or, At Least, The Most Interesting) Posts On Teacher Attire
I’ve worn a sport coat and tie everyday during my ten year teaching career (except for when we go on field trips to San Francisco and to Yosemite), and have explained my rationale for doing so in previous posts that have garnered many comments (I’ll link to them later in this post). Recently, the topic of teacher attire has been in the news lately, and I thought it would be useful for me to bring
My New Podcast: “How Can We Get All Students in Our Classes Thinking & Learning All the Time?
How Can We Get All Students in Our Classes Thinking and Learning All the Time? is the topic of my latest nine-minute BAM! Radio podcast (it will also be a topic next month in my Education Week Teacher column). My guests are Bill and Pérsida Himmele, and Jim Peterson.
The Best Sites For Learning About India
We’re going to be studying India next week in my Geography class for English Language Learners. I’ll be adding this to A Beginning List Of The Best Geography Sites For Learning About Asia & The Middle East. Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About India (additional suggestions are welcome): National Geographic For Kids: India TIME For Kids: India Snaith Primary School: India
Videos About China
We’re studying China in my Geography class for English Language Learners. Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About China: Top Attractions of China is a series of good videos.
Infographic: “The Global Guide to Hand Gestures”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.
MAR 18
I’m Not Sure How Effective It Will Be, But Sugata Mitra’s New Online Tool Definitely Looks Interesting
I’ve previously published two fairly popular posts about Professor Sugata Mitra and his famous “holes in the wall” experiments where he placed computers in impoverished Indian communities and students “self-organized” their instruction. The first post was one where I shared a number of concerns I had about his work (see Questions About Sugata Mitra & His “Holes In The Wall”) and then a guest
White House Unveils New Climate Change Website, Though It’s Nothing To Write Home About — Yet
Today, the White House is unveiling a new website on climate change called climate.data.gov. It’s not particularly impressive now but, according to The New York Times, they have big plans for it in the future. For now, though, in pales in comparison to another new site I posted about last month (see Very, Very Impressive New Interactive Site On Climate Change). Nevertheless, since I assume the s
New Cesar Chavez Film To Have Screening At White House Tonight
The new Cesar Chavez film is being screened at the White House tonight. It stars Michael Peña, who did such a great job in the HBO movie “Walkout,” as the union leader. The trailer, which I’ve embedded below, looks great! You can read more about the film here. As regular readers may remember, I began my lengthy community organizing career working on the UFW grape boycott. And every December I pr
Two New Twitter Apps — One Very Useful, But I’m Not Sure About The Other One
Today, I learned about two new Twitter apps. The first one, which I think could be very useful, is called Nuzzel. Once you log-into the site using your Twitter (or Facebook) account, you’re shown a list of the articles that the people you follow on Twitter are sharing the most. The link is shown first, and then the tweets from the people you follow about it. I think it could really save a lot of
“To Help ELLs, We Need To Understand ‘How Language Learning Works’”
To Help ELLs, We Need To Understand ‘How Language Learning Works’ is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. Today, staff from Stanford’s “Understanding Language,” Mary Cappellini and Paul Boyd-Batstone share their thoughts. I’ve also included comments from readers. Here are some excerpts:
MAR 17
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: How ‘platooning’ and data walls are changing elementary school is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven.” I’ve previously posted about a series of excellent posts Marc Tucker has been writing at Education Week (see Several Excellent
My Parent Engagement Blog Has Been Growing In Popularity — You Might Want To Check It Out
I publish one new post everyday at my Engaging Parents In School blog, and it’s been rapidly-growing in popularity. In comparison to this blog, of course, it’s tiny, but I do think that blog is a one-of-kind resource on the Web. You might want to check it out if you get a chance…
“The Long Reach Of Reason” – It’s A Safe Bet That This New TED Talk Animation Will Be Shown In Every TOK Class
TED Talks has just unveiled a new animation titled “The Long Reach Of Reason.” Here’s how Chris Anderson at TED describes it: Two years ago the psychologist Steven Pinker and the philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, who are married, came to TED to take part in a form of Socratic dialog. Steven Pinker and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein: The long reach of reasonSteven Pinker and Rebecca Newberger
Here’s One More Small Thing I’m Doing To Help Students See The Importance Of Social Emotional Learning
As an advocate of helping our students develop Social Emotional Learning skills (as well as a critic of SEL manipulation), I’m also looking for new ways to reinforce them. Today, I tried something new and it seemed to go pretty well. I invited students in my mainstream ninth-grade English classes to do an extra credit (yes, I’m not a total believer in intrinsic motivation) project researching up
Learn English By Reading About Eating Bugs At My Latest NY Times Post
Learn about eating bugs, categorizing words, and using online tools to create “word webs” in my latest New York Times post for English Language Learners. It includes a student interactive and teaching ideas. You can see all my previous NY Times posts here.
MAR 16
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: Next Blog Carnival Announcement from David Deubelbeiss: On April 1st, Sylvia Guinan will be hosting the 40th edition of the ELT Blog Carnival. It will be about “Ideas For Teaching With Technology”. A great topic! Share
Excellent (& I Mean EXCELLENT!) Post On Asking Questions
MindShift has published an absolutely great post titled Why It’s Imperative to Teach Students How to Question as the Ultimate Survival Skill, written by Warren Berger. My colleagues and I were just discussing different strategies to help students value the importance of asking thoughtful questions — we’re teaching lessons on the difference between literal and interpretative questions now (I’ve wr
Will It Ever Be Possible For A Teacher To Trust Bill Gates?
I posted Gates Foundation Makes Its Move In California — And It Looks Like Somebody Is Giving Them Good Advice a couple of months ago, and I still believe what I wrote. However, I’ve just got to say that every time Bill Gates speaks in public, he makes me question whether I should…. Rolling Stone just published an interview with him. Here’s an excerpt: Come on, Bill. Perhaps you should read The B
Videos Of The Week
In yet another effort to get at my backlog of resources to share, I recently began this feature to share useful videos. I’ll still periodically highlight certain ones on their own, but the rest will be found on this regular post: Here’s an interesting video with Neil Degrasse Tyson that might, or might not, be viewable on an RSS Reader: I’m adding this next from The Wall Street Journal to The Be
MAR 15
The Best Resources On The Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane
The missing Malaysia Airlines plane continues to be a mystery, and a tragic one. I can only imagine what the families of the passengers must be going through… It can also be a a topic for classroom study — ranging from geography lessons to writing prompts. Here are some useful related resources if you want to discuss it with your students: Dozens of Planes Have Vanished in Post-WWII Era is an inf
More Ukraine Resources
Here are new additions to The Best Resources On The Protests (& Crisis) In Ukraine: ‘Believed to Be Russian Soldiers’ is a photo gallery from The Atlantic. Thousands March in Moscow to Protest Crimea Vote is from NBC News. Crimea crisis: Explore the flashpoints is a CNN interactive.
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). I also sometimes include tech tools that might not exactly fit the definition of Web 2.0: Resurrect is a cool Google Chrome extension that automatically seeks out old
‘Respecting Assets That ELLs Bring To A School Community’
Response: ‘Respecting Assets That ELLs Bring To A School Community’ is my latest post over at Education Week Teacher. Four educators — Karen Nemeth, Judie Haynes, David Deubelbeiss and Julie Goldman — provide suggestions on how we can better support English Language Learners in the classroom. Here are some excerpts:
More Resources On St. Patrick’s Day
Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day (& April Fools Day): Irish Culture on Saint Patrick’s day! is from Informed Teachers. Quiz Your Noodle: St. Patrick’s Day is from National Geographic. The Real Irish American Story Not Taught in Schools is by Bill Bigelow.
The “All-Time” Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of English Language Learners
I’ve been posting annual lists of The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers of ELLs for a number of years. In addition, I’ve also been publishing separate lists of The Best Websites For English Language Learner Students, which mainly focuses on self-access student sties. I thought it would be useful for readers, my students, and me to review them all and identify my choices for t
March’s Best Tweets — Part Three
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 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 post. If you don’t use Twitter, you can
March’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part Three
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