Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL
LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY
The Best Videos For Educators In 2014 – So Far
Another day, another mid-year “Best” list (you can find all 1,300 Best lists here). You might also be interested in: The “All-Time” Best Videos For Educators The Best Videos For Educators In 2013 – Part Two The Best Videos For Educators In 2012 — Part Two The Best Videos For Educators In 2012 — Part One The Best Videos For Educators In 2011 Part Two Of The Best Videos For Educators — 2010 The Ten
Summer Solstice Resources
The Summer Solstice will arrive on June 21st of this year. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About The Summer Solstice.
Oops, I Missed Posting About World Environment Day Last Thursday
“World Environment Day (‘WED’) is celebrated every year on 5th june to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environmental action. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).” You might be interested in The Best Resources For World Environment Day.
Video: Cat Demonstrates Importance Of Teacher Modeling
I’ve written a fair amount about the importance of teacher modeling. This cat definitely gets the idea!
Videos, Interactives & More On The World Cup
My The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil list is getting pretty massive. Here are even more additions: World Cup dream team: Pick your all-time XI is from The Guardian. A 2014 World Cup Special is from The New York Times. The Goal of Life is an interactive from The Associated Press. Here’s another AP interactive. Most Brazilians think the World Cup is a waste of money
“Ways To Develop a Culture of Success in Schools”
Ways To Develop a Culture of Success in Schools is Part One in a series I’m publishing over at Education Week Teacher. Educators Jeffrey Benson, Christopher Lehman, and Barbara Blackburn share their responses,and I contribute some of my own thoughts, too. Here are excerpts:
The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2014 — So Far
Here’s one more in my series of mid-year “Best” lists (you can see all 1,300 of the lists here). You might also be interested in these previous posts: The “All-Time” Best Social Studies Sites The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2013 – Part Two The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2013 – So Far All My 2013 “The Best…” Lists (So Far) Related To Social Studies In One Place The Best Social Studies Sites Of
The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2014 – So Far
It’s time for another of my mid-year “Best” lists (you can see all 1,300 “The Best…” lists here). You might also be interested in: The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2013 — Part Two All My 2013 “The Best…” Lists (So Far) On Education Policy In One Place All My 2012 “The Best…” Lists On Education Policy In One Place The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Pol
JUN 05
The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2014 – So Far
It’s that time of year again when I start posting mid-year “The Best….” lists. There are over 1,300 lists now. 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 download required. It’s possible that a few of the
June’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
D-Day Resources
Tomorrow is the seventieth anniversary of D-Day. You can find a lot of related resources at The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II (Part Two). You might also be interested in The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II (Part One).
New World Cup Resources: Fun Commercial & Very Useful Google Street View Expansion
Google has just announced a big expansion of Street View images from Brazil, and you can see all their highlights here. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Brazil. And here’s a fun World Cup commercial I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil:
JUN 04
“Kids who get health insurance are more likely to finish high school and college”
Kids who get health insurance are more likely to finish high school and college is the headline of an article in Vox about a new study that doesn’t provide any surprised to experienced teachers in low-income communities — students having access to health care results in increased academic achievement. Here’s an excerpt: Two things could cause access to health insurance to influence educational ac
Just Revised & Updated “Best” List On Creating Online Slideshows
I’ve just revised and updated The Best Ways To Create Online Slideshows. Let me know what I’m missing….
Updated iPhone “Best” List
I did a quick run-through of my The Best Sites For Beginning iPhone Users Like Me list, and deleted a number of dead links. I did keep a number of resources that are older, but I think, still useful. The most recent links are near the bottom, as they are in all my lists.
“How Can We Develop a Culture of Success in Schools?”
How Can We Develop a Culture of Success in Schools? is the latest “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. You’re welcome to leave your responses there or in the comments section here…
My New BAM! Show: “How Can Teachers Meet the Common Core Requirement for Complex Reading?”
How Can Teachers Meet the Common Core Requirement for Complex Reading? is the title of my new ten minute conversation with Amy Benjamin and Wendi Pillars at my BAM! Radio show. It’s also a topic for my Ed Week column later this month.
“slidebean” Looks Like A Good Way For Creating Online Slideshows
slidebean is a new free tool for creating online slideshows. It provides multiple formats and the ability to search the Web, within the application, for images. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Create Online Slideshows. Here’s a video that describes how it works: Thanks to TechCrunch for the tip.
JUN 03
Here Are Some Instagram Videos My Theory Of Knowledge Students Created
I’ve previously posted about my plans to have students created Instagram videos as part of their finals (see Using Instagram, Bloom’s Taxonomy & Student Interest As A Fun Part Of A Semester Final). And I’ve also shared some early examples from my English Language Learners (see Geography Instagram Videos By English Language Learners). They’ve made a lot more since that post, but I’m way behind
Resources On The Tiananmen Square Protests
Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Chinese military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protesters. Here are new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History about what happened: Remembering Tiananmen Square is a TIME slideshow. Tiananmen Square remembered 25 years later everywhere around the world except China is from The News in Australia. Tiananmen Square 198
Photo Galleries Of The Week
Obviously, photos can be great educational tools with English Language Learners and with any students (see The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons). I post about many photo galleries, also called slideshows. To do it in a little more organized way, though, I recently began this weekly feature called “Photo Galleries Of The Week.” This post is a “round-up” of online slideshows I’m adding to various
JUN 02
Very Useful World Cup Resources
Here are some very useful additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil: How to teach … the World Cup 2014 is a treasure trove from The Guardian. Rio Grapples With Violence Against Police Officers as World Cup Nears is from The New York Times. World Cup Resources is from EFL Classroom 2.0
Long, But Well-Worth Viewing, Video: Ezra Klein Interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates
Over at Vox, Ezra Klein interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates about his article, “The Case for Reparations.” I’ve embedded the video below, but Vox has a nice interactive table of contents that might make it more useful — especially if you don’t have an hour to watch the whole thing. I’m adding it to A Collection Of Useful Posts, Articles & Videos On Race & Racism.
What A Great Idea! – “Use #edublogs to Share Your Best Posts”
Edublogs, my favorite blogging platform, has just made an announcement encouraging Edublogs users to tweet their favorite posts using the #edublogs hashtag on Twitter and they’ll share a number of them on Twitter. It’s a great way to get exposure for your posts (since, at this writing, Edublogs has over 31,000 followers). You can read all about it here. It’s somewhat similar to how the Teaching
“Teaching History By Not Giving ‘The Answers’”
Teaching History By Not Giving ‘The Answers’ is Part Two in my Ed Week series on teaching history. Today, Bruce Lesh, PJ Caposey, and Dave Orphal share their thoughts, and I’m also including comments from readers. Here are some excerpts:
JUN 01
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. By the way, you mi
My Latest NY Times Post For ELLs Is On Sentence & Paragraph Scrambles — Plus More!
My latest NY Times post for English Language Learners includes a sequencing interactive; ideas on how students and teachers can create their own; and a teaching idea for students to create persuasive essays for an authentic audience by coming up with school improvement ideas. You can see all forty-one of my previous NY Times posts — most which include student interactives, as well as teaching ide
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: Chatterpix is an app for the iPhone/iPad that: …can make anyth
Three New Mount Everest Resources
Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About Mount Everest. The first two are very accessible interactive pieces about the tragic accident resulting in the death of many Sherpas: Mount Everest in 3D is from The Discovery Channel. Sherpas, Fate and the Dangerous Business of Everest is from The Wall Street Journal. The Business of Everest: What It Pays to Risk It All is from Bus
Photo Galleries Of World War One
It’s the one-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War I. Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About World War I: Astonishing Photo Collection Of Life In WWI Trenches Has Just Been Unearthed. Absolutely Gripping! is from Viral Spell. World War I: Unseen Images from the front is from The Boston Globe. World War I in Photos: Aerial Warfare is from The Atlantic. World
More Good Resources For Discussing Race & Racism
Here are new additions to A Collection Of Useful Posts, Articles & Videos On Race & Racism: Does It Matter if Schools Are Racially Integrated? is from NPR. You can be a beneficiary of racism even if you’re not a racist is from Vox. Six times victims have received reparations — including four in the US is from Vox. Why white folks shouldn’t fear reparations is from The Week. For Black Kids
Three Good Links On Student & Teacher Assessment
Here are a few good resources related to student and teacher assessments: What Are Education Tests For, Anyway? is from NPR, and gives excellent short and sweet definitions of terms related to assessments. I’m going to add it to A Collection Of “The Best” Lists On Assessment. In Kentucky, Students Succeed Without Tests is from NPR. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To Hig
Ramadan Resources
Ramadan is a month-long observance by Muslims. The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, so it changes in relation to the Gregorian calendar. Ramadan in 2014 will start on Saturday, June 28th and will continue for 30 days until Monday, July 28th. You might be interested in The Best Sites To Teach & Learn About Ramadan.
Resources For World Oceans Day
The United Nations has officially recognized June 8th as World Oceans Day since 2008. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Oceans.
MAY 31
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: Common-Core Test Experts Explain ELL and Special Education Supports is from Education Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On ELL’s & Standardized Tests. Proposal to Restore Bilingual Education in California Advan
May’s Best Tweets – Part Five
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
May’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
Fun Video With Potential Use In Geography Class: “3 guys Irish dancing around the world”
“3 guys Irish dancing around the world” is the latest video showing travelers doing the same thing in different countries. The genre was begun by “Where The Hell Is Matt,” which continues to be the best. You can see them all here.
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Education Policy
Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues: Mark Zuckerberg has contributed a new bunch of money to schools — this time in California — but who knows if he has learned anything from his Newark debacle (see The Best Posts & Articles For Learning About Newark’s $100 Million From Facebook ). Here are some posts/articles on his recent contribution: Zuckerberg’s ph
What A Disappointment — Khan History Videos Continue To Be Awful
I’ve had lots of issues with the Khan Academy, and have collected a number of resources about those concerns at The Best Posts About The Khan Academy. However, I’m not a math teacher, so I’ve always deferred to those educators whose judgment and experience I respect. Two years ago, though, I saw a Khan video about history that was just awful (This Khan Academy History Video Is Just Awful). That p