Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007




Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 
 The latest news and resources in education since 2007



Lists Of Museums Going “Open Source” & Letting Their Collections Be Used For Free

TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay More and more museums are going “Open Source” and letting large portions of their collections be available for download and reuse free-of charge. The Cleveland Museum of Art is the latest major museum to take this step . Here are three posts and lists sharing links to other museums doing taking the same action: Museums that Give Away Open Access Images of Public Domain
Video: Wild Rube Goldberg Machine

ElisaRiva / Pixabay I’m adding this video to The Best Resources For Learning About Rube Goldberg Machines :
Video: “Festival of Freedom: 6 facts about the Passover holiday”

I’m adding this new video from USA Today to The Best Sites For Learning About Easter & Passover :
A Fun Video To Show The Importance Of Good Pronunciation

mcmurryjulie / Pixabay Here’s a fun video I’m adding to The Best Websites For Practicing English Pronunciation:
Video: Nice Video On Failure Featuring Warrior’s Star Klay Thompson

TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay The Golden State Warriors have been a great source of Social Emotional Learning lessons (see The Best Ways To Use Stephen Curry & The Warriors For Teaching Social Emotional Learning Skills ). Here’s another addition to that list – a new video of guard Klay Thompson “talking” to Failure: I’m also adding it to The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes
Cinco de Mayo Is Coming Up – Here Are Related Teaching Resources

darrellperry / Pixabay Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, commemorates the defeat of the French by the Mexican Army in 1862. It’s a holiday in some parts of Mexico, and is celebrated by Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the United States. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Teaching & Learning About Cinco de Mayo .

APR 18

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON CLASS INSTRUCTION IN 2018 – PART TWO. Here are this week’s picks: How to Map a Controversy appears at ASCD. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On How To Teach “Controversial” Topics . Clarif
Pins Of The Week

I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated 17,000 resources there that I haven’t shared on this blog. I thought readers might find it useful if I began sharing a handful of my most recent “pins” each week (I’m not sure if you can see them through an RSS Reader – you might have to click through to the original post). You might also be interested in My Seven Most Popular Pins In 2018
Video: “School Dress Codes: When Do They Go Too Far?”

geralt / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from San Francisco public television to The Best Resources For Learning About School Dress Codes :
Most Popular Posts Of The Week

I’m making a change in the content of the regular feature. In addition to sharing the top five posts that have received the most “hits” in the preceding seven days (though they may have originally been published on an earlier date), I will also include the top five posts that have actually appeared in the past week. Often, these are different posts. You might also be interested in IT’S THE TWELFT

APR 17

“What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing Native American Students?”

What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing Native American Students? is the new question-of-the-week at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave responses in the comments section there or here…
Video: “Top Countries by GDP Per Capita Over The Past 200 Years”

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay I’m adding this new video to The Best Websites For Teaching & Learning About World History :
Video: “Saving Languages From Extinction”

geralt / Pixabay I’m adding this new video to The Best Resources For International Mother Language Day:
New Video From Google: “Innovate with Google Translate”

200degrees / Pixabay Google has just published this new video on Google Translate and, though there’s nothing earthshaking in it, I still found it pretty interesting. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Google Translate & Other Forms Of Machine Translation:
The Best Tools For Students To Create Tutorials Online

kreatikar / Pixabay Online tutorials are great opportunities for students to create presentations for an authentic audience (see The Best Places Where Students Can Create Online Learning/Teaching Objects For An “Authentic Audience” ). Obviously, anyone can create tutorial and put it online. However, this list contains some easy and scaffolded tools for creating them, which will also automatically
“‘There Is No Silver Bullet’: Dana Goldstein on ‘The Teacher Wars'”

‘There Is No Silver Bullet’: Dana Goldstein on ‘The Teacher Wars’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. This post is the latest in one in “A Look Back” series, where I re-visit exceptional posts from previous years. Today, New York Times reporter Dana Goldstein discusses her book, “The Teacher Wars.” Here is an excerpt:
“What the Constitution Means to Me” Sounds Like A Great Play With Lots Of Teaching Potential

wynpnt / Pixabay Vox just wrote a lengthy piece on a new play called “What The Constitution Means To Me” and it sounds terrific. Check out their article, What the Constitution Means to Me lets teen girls inject hope into democracy. It’s great. , as well as the videos embedded below… You might also be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About The Constitution Of The United States .
“New” Library Of Congress Project To Have The Public Transcribe Historical Papers

jarmoluk / Pixabay I’ve shared many cool sites that let you and your students transcribe historical texts (see The Best Sites Where Students Can Transcribe Historical Texts ). Last year, I wrote about a new Library of Congress project called Crowd invited viewers to transcribe their materials. Now, however, they’ve rebranded this site as “By the People.” I’m not sure if they’ve made any other cha

APR 16

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

BiljaST / Pixabay Five years ago I began this 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. You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2018 – So Far and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2018 – PART TWO . A
May Day Is Coming Up – Here Are Related Resources

satyatiwari / Pixabay Though May Day is an ancient celebration , since the late nineteenth century it has primarily been recognized as a time to celebrate workers’ rights. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About May Day .
May Is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month – Here Are Related Resources

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.
Charlie Chaplin Was Born 130 Years Ago Today – His Films Are Great For ELLs

Gellinger / Pixabay Charlie Chaplin was born 130 years ago today. As most teachers of ELLs know, his films (or, to be honest, short clips from them) are great to use in class. He (Buster Keaton is another favorite) made so many movies, there’s usually a funny or action-packed scene that I can connect to anything I’m teaching. You can read about how I use them in The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows F
April 20th Is The Twentieth Anniversary Of The Columbine Mass Shooting – Here Are Related Resources

The 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting is coming up, and there will certainly be more articles and videos on the topic (which I will add to this list). I have many other “Best” lists related to gun violence, which you can find here . Here is a beginning list of Columbine-related resources: 20 Years After Columbine, What Have We Learned? is from The NY Times. The Children of the Children o
Ed Tech Digest

Six years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “Ed Tech Digest” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in The Best Ed Tech Resources Of 2018 – So Far , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . You
‘Tech Tools Have the Power to Enhance Academic Work’

‘Tech Tools Have the Power to Enhance Academic Work’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, Jeryl-Ann Asaro, Sean Ruday, Dr. Carolyn Brown, Dr. Jerry Zimmerman and Sarah Thomas offer their ideas on tech in the English classroom. Here are some excerpts:

APR 15

The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2019 – Part One

As regular readers know, for the past twelve years I’ve been publishing about twenty-five different bi-annual lists highlighting the best educational resources around (along with tons of other “Best” lists). You can see them all here. It takes a lot of time to compile those lists, and I’ve decided to make it easier on myself by now posting them three times each year. I’m starting off by focusing
Video: Bloom’s Taxonomy According To The Big Bang Theory

Over on The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom list, I have a lot of videos that use scenes from movies and television shows to teach the different questioning levels. I also have a Prezi that uses scenes from the Big Bang Theory, which I’ve also embedded again at the bottom of this post. Today, though, I found a video using scenes from that show to teach Bl
My New BAM! Radio Show Is On The Challenges Facing Native American Students

Understanding the Challenges Native Americans Face in Public Schools is the topic of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show. I’m joined in the conversation by Mandy Smoker Broaddus and Gregg Castro, who have also contributed written commentaries to my Ed Week Teacher column. You can also now listen to the show on Google Play and Stitcher , in addition to iTunes. I’m adding this show to All My BAM R
The Titanic Sank On This Day In 1912 – Here Are Related Resources

pixel2013 / Pixabay The Titanic sank on this day in 1912. You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About The Titanic . TODAY IN HISTORY: On this day in 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic foundered in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg. 1,514 people died. https://t.co/zrUeNghlkl pic.twitter.com/1ou6EL7Czy — ABC News (@ABC) April 15, 2019 The Titanic
Infographic: Income Taxes Around The World

jarmoluk / Pixabay I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About Taxes : You will find more infographics at Statista
Here’s What I’ll Be Up To During The Rest Of 2019

geralt / Pixabay This week is our Spring Break, and as I said in a popular tweet on Friday: It is not a contradiction to love teaching and love students AND love the fact that Spring Break began one minute ago. — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) April 12, 2019 In addition to relaxing, writing and playing basketball, I’ll be doing some planning. Here’s what is coming up for me professionally during

APR 14

Student-Created Summary Videos Of U.S. History Units – Handouts Included

jp26jp / Pixabay Having students complete a project reviewing several chapters of a unit from a textbook isn’t particularly innovative, but I had students in my ELL U.S. History class try doing it in video form and included some reflective questions. We have access to Brainpop this year, so they used that site to make their projects. It has the ability to record audio. However, our tech equipment
“Ways to Use Tech Effectively in English Classes”

Ways to Use Tech Effectively in English Classes is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, Jennifer Casa-Todd, Jenny Vo, Maggie Verdoia, Sarah Acosta Landry, Ingrid Nelson, and Stephanie Affinito share suggestions on how to use tech in English classes. Here are some excerpts:
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in THE BEST ARTICLES, VIDEOS & POSTS ON EDUCATION POLICY IN 2018 – PART TWO ):’ A day after strike, Sacramento City Unified teachers union offers to meet with district is from The Sacramento Bee. I’m adding it to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT OUR SACRAMENTO DISTRIC
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 mig

APR 13

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON CLASS INSTRUCTION IN 2018 – PART TWO. Here are this week’s picks: The New York Times Learning Network has just announced The 10th Annual New York Times Summer Reading Contest: June 14-Aug. 23, 2019
World Malaria Day Is On April 25th – Here Are Related Resources

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay World Malaria Day is on April 25th. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day .
April 23rd Is Both English Language Day & World Book Day – Here Are Related Resources

990609 / Pixabay Both the UN and UNESCO says April 23rd is apparently both “World Book & Copyright Day” and “UN English Language Day.” You can find related resources at Apparently, Today Is Both “World Book Night” & “UN English Language Day” – Here Are The Best Resources For Both .
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

BiljaST / Pixabay Five years ago I began this 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. You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2018 – So Far and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2018 – PART TWO . A


Useful Article On What’s Needed To Enter A State Of “Flow”

I’ve written a lot in my books about how to create an environment that would encourage students to enter a “flow” state, and shared a lot on this blog about it (see The Best Resources For Learning About “Flow” ). The Washington Post