Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
A Video For Teacher Appreciation Week
In the United States, National Teacher Day is Tuesday in the first full week of May. Amy Erin Borovoy just shared this video, a collaboration between Soul Pancake and Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Resources To Learn About World Teachers Day.
May’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
Video: Bob Hoskins Teaches Literacy
I always liked Bob Hoskins in his movies, but never knew he launched his acting career in a popular BBC series designed to teach literacy to adult learners. Hoskins played an adult who had difficulty reading and writing in a series called “On The Move.” You can read more about it at this BBC article, On the Move: How Bob Hoskins helped adults learn to read. I’ve embedded one of the episodes below
This Month’s ASCD “Ed Leadership” Is Out — Here Are 3 Articles I Recommend
Most months, I highly recommend two-to-four articles that appear online in ASCD’s “Educational Leadership,” one of the best ed journals that are out there. You can see my recommendations from previous months here. The May issue on “Professional Learning: Reimagined” just came online. Here are my recommendations: Rethinking Classroom Observation by Emily Dolci Grimm, Trent Kaufman and Dave Doty is
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some relatively recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: Jack Schneider has written a good piece titled The High Stakes of Teacher Evaluation. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments. EPI Stands By the Rigorous Methods and Findings of Its Report on Privately Run Charter Schools and the Rocketship Company is
‘The Grading System We Need to Have’
‘The Grading System We Need to Have’ is my latest Education Week Teacher post. It features Rick Wormeli and others. Here are some excerpts:
Oops — May Day Was Yesterday & I Forgot To Share My Updated “Best” List
Yesterday was May Day, or International Workers Day, and I forgot to post my updated “Best” list on the holiday. You might still find The Best Resources For Learning About May Day useful…
Just Updated List Of Best Online Teleprompters
When you, or your students, are making a videocast, having a script or notes appear on your screen could come in handy. I’ve just updated The Best Online Teleprompters, and people might find it handy.
New Writing Prompt For My U.S. History Class
It’s that time of year, so today I’m preparing writing prompts as part of semester finals for my classes. For my United States History for English Language Learners class, I will be showing students the video embedded below and giving them the first page of this PDF on why we study history, along with this list from School History on the same topic. They’ll need to use those resources to respond
Here’s The Writing Prompt I’m Using For My Geography Class
As regular readers know, I teach a Geography class for English Language Learners (and will be teaching similar U.S. History and World History courses next year). Here’s the simple writing prompt I’m using as part of my semester final (you can download it here): Geography Final Essay “I was not sorry for loving Charleston or for leaving it. Geography had made me who I was.” ― Sue Monk Kidd, The I
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May’s Best Tweets — Part One
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
Quote Of The Day: “Why Are Teachers Of Color Missing In Teacher Of The Year Selection?”
Melinda D. Anderson wrote an important article titled Why Are Teachers Of Color Missing In Teacher Of The Year Selection? Here’s an excerpt:
Ta-Nehisi Coates On “Elegant Racism”
I would encourage everyone to read This Town Needs a Better Class of Racist by Ta-Nehisi Coates. You might also be interested in The Best Posts, Articles & Lesson Plans On The Jordan Davis Tragedy & Verdict: Our “Classrooms Are Full Of Him” and The Best Resources For Lessons On Trayvon Martin .
TED-Ed Video: “Not all scientific studies are created equal”
I’m adding this video to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Research:
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Mother’s Day Resources
Mother’s Day is celebrated in the United States and in many other countries on the second Sunday of May. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Mother’s Day.
Long, But Good, Infographic: “Secrets of a Killer Blog Post: Images”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sources Of Advice For Teachers (And Others!) On How To Be Better Bloggers: Secrets of a Killer Blog Post: Images – Via Who Is Hosting This: The Blog” width=”100%” /> Source: WhoIsHostingThis.com
Very Useful Infographic: “A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Research: Thanks to Compound Interest
My New BAM! Radio Show Is On “How Can We Help Students (And Ourselves) Stay Organized?”
My latest ten minuted BAM! Radio segment is on “How Can We Help Students (And Ourselves) Stay Organized?.” Check out the conversation I had with educator/authors Julia Thompson and Ariel Sacks. They both also have made a written contribution to an upcoming Ed Week column on the topic.
Just Updated “Best” List Of Video Sites For Learning English
I’ve just updated The Best Online Video Sites For Learning English. Readers might find it useful…
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San Francisco Symphony Unveils Must-See Redesigned Website
The San Francisco Symphony has just unveiled a newly redesigned website that’s pretty extraordinary. There’s so much there, and it’s so accessible — music, instruments, and you can even compose your own, play it, and share your creation with the world. The text is probably at a high-Intermediate English level. About the only way they could have made it better is if they had provided a feature to
Discovery Channel Cancels “Bad Teacher” Immediately In Response To Complaints
Thanks to the efforts of educators around the United States, and because of the work done by Steve Dembo from Discovery Education, the Discovery Channel has immediately canceled its insulting program “Bad Teachers” (see Discovery Network Launches Absolutely Awful Show On “Bad Teachers”). See that earlier post to learn how truly awful the show was. If that doesn’t give you enough info, you can rea
“What Are The Best Types Of Grading Practices?”
What Are The Best Types Of Grading Practices? is the latest “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave a response there or in the comments here….
Want To Know Why Our School’s Drop-Out Rate Plummeted By 50%?
Here’s an excerpt from a Sacramento Bee story this morning: High school dropout rates fell significantly last year across the Sacramento region, according to figures released Monday by the California Department of Education… In Sacramento City Unified, Rosemont, Hiram Johnson and Burbank high schools saw dropout rates fall around 50 percent last year. Burbank is the school where I teach. I asked
App Puts You In The Shoes Of A Person Suffering From Dementia
A British non-profit has created a Facebook app that puts you in the shoes of a person suffering from dementia. Here’s how the BBC describes it: The FaceDementia app, by Alzheimer’s Research UK, “takes over” personal Facebook pages, and temporarily erases important memories, mimicking how dementia affects the brain. Users can watch their personal photos, important details and status updates disap
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This Week In Web 2.0
In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth blogging about, 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: Appear.in seems like a super-simple video conferencing site fo
Class Activity: Setting A Goal For The Last Six Weeks Of School
I’ve written in my books and here on this blog about student goal-setting lessons and activities (see The Best Posts On Students Setting Goals). I’ve previously written about my typical end-of-year goal-setting activities and how students announce and publicly display them (along with research supporting that strategy). I decided to put a couple of different twists on it this year. I had students
Using Dance To Teach English Is Topic Of My Latest NY Times Post
My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is focused on dance as a language-learning activity. It includes a new type of student interactive, as well as teaching ideas. You can access all my many NY Times posts here.
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Discovery Network Launches Absolutely Awful Show On “Bad Teachers”
The Discovery Network has launched an absolutely awful show called “Bad Teachers.” Here how it’s described: There are some teachers who don’t play by the rules, who ruin lives instead of changing them for the better. They’ll go dangerously beyond the lesson plan to fulfill their youthful fantasies and selfish desires, often dragging students down with them into a WORLD of deceit and danger. The
Just Sent-Out Free Monthly Email Newsletter
I’ve just mailed out the March issue of my simple free monthly email newsletter. It has about 2,000 subscribers, and you can subscribe here.
April’s “The Best” Lists — There Are Now 1,294 Of Them!
Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 1,294 of them categorized here): Apparently, Today Is Both “World Book Night” & “UN English Language Day” – Here Are The Best Resources For Both The Best Resources For Learning About The Blood Moon “The Best Posts On Involving Fathers In Schools” The Best Movies For IB Theory Of Knowledge Classes – What A
May Is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
April’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part Six
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
An Interesting Exchange With Sugata Mitra
I’ve published a fair number of posts about the work of Sugatra Mitra (see The Best Posts & Videos About Sugata Mitra & His Education Ideas), and he’s participated in the comment discussions. He recently left a comment on a post I originally wrote three years ago, titled Is This The Most Important Research Study Of The Year? Maybe. I think the post itself is worth reading, but here’s how
Sacramento Makes Correct Decision In Withdrawing From CORE NCLB Waiver
I’ve previously posted about the excellent decision made by the Sacramento City Unified School District to withdraw from an NCLB Waiver granted to a consortium of nine California school districts (see Big News! Sacramento Withdraws From NCLB Waiver Granted CORE Districts). Former Superintendent Jonathan Raymond, whom I liked personally but with whom I had a number of policy and strategy difference
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: Lizzie Pinard recounts a question/answer session with Sugatra Mitra at a recent language conference in this post. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Videos About Sugata Mitra & His Education Ideas. Teaching mixed ab
Updated Resources On Everest
The Everest climbing season has now ended because of the avalanche resulting in the tragic deaths of so many Sherpas. Here are new additions to the extensive The Best Sites For Learning About Mount Everest: Fear For Sherpas’ Future Grows With Each Climbing Tragedy is from NPR. Who Are Nepal’s Sherpas? is also from NPR. Sherpas Move to Shut Everest in Labor Fight is from The New York Times. Himala
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This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent interesting posts and articles on educational policy issues: L.A. Unified doesn’t have to release teachers’ names with performance ratings is from The Los Angeles Times. I’m adding it to The Best Posts About The LA Times Article On “Value-Added” Teacher Ratings. A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools is from The New York Times. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Le
Cool NY Times Interactive Lets You Create “Blackout” Poetry With Their Articles
The New York Times has just unveiled a week-long interactive that lets readers create “blackout” poetry with some articles, which you can then share. Here’s how they describe it: Popularized in recent years by writer and artist Austin Kleon, blackout poetry encourages readers to create poems by redacting words from ordinary texts. During the last week of National Poetry Month, we will feature snip
Yesterday Was Arbor Day — Here’s Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Trees
Arbor Day celebrates the importance of trees, and takes place on the last Friday of April in the United States. I’m a day late, but readers might be interested in The Best Sites To Learn About Trees.
Very Good TED-Ed Lesson For Holocaust Remembrance Week
Holocaust Remembrance Week starts tomorrow, and TED-Ed has published a very good timely lesson: Lessons from Auschwitz: The power of our words – Benjamin Zander. Here’s the video from it: You might also be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About The Holocaust.
Best Onion Article Ever For TOK Classes: “Top Theoretical Physicists, R&B Singers Meet To Debate Meaning Of Forever”
The Onion humor magazine has just published a wonderful piece titled Top Theoretical Physicists, R&B Singers Meet To Debate Meaning Of Forever. It’s perfect for IB Theory of Knowledge classes. In fact, it would be a fun model to use and then challenge students to come up with their own parody on TOK topics. You might also be interested in The Best Education Articles From “The Onion.”
The Hubble Telescope Is Twenty-Four Years Old This Week — Here Are Great Resources
The Hubble Telescope turned twenty-four this week. Check out The Best Sites To Learn About The Hubble Telescope for great resource, including lots of photos.
Yes, It’s Authentic: School Cancels Kindergarten Play Because It Doesn’t Prepare Kids “For College & Career”
Yes, this letter from Harley Avenue Primary School is not a parody — it’s authentic. RT @1BATMom: School cancels Kindergarten show. Gotta make em college&career-ready! . pic.twitter.com/LDtlS6d0UX — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) April 25, 2014 It’s another one for the “Truth is Stranger Than Fiction” department, joining Video: Though It Seems Like A Parody, It’s A Real Professional Developm
Animated Video: George Saunders’ Commencement Speech On “The Importance of Kindness”
I’ve previously posted the video and links to the full text of George Saunders’ well known commencement speech on “The Importance of Kindness.” Now, this animation of part of it has been created….
Video: “Action Movie Kid – Volume 01″
I’ve previously posted about The Action Movie Kid and how they are great clips to show English Language Learners and have them describe what they see. Their creator has just put all of them into one video. Here it is:
Excellent New TED-Ed Video & Lesson: “How Tsunamis Work”
I’m adding this new excellent TED-Ed video and lesson to The Best Sites To Learn About Tsunamis:
Video: “Canada & The United States: Bizarre Borders”
I’m adding this video to The Best Geography Sites For Learning About The United States & Canada: