Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, December 14, 2019

This Week With 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

This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 

 The latest news and resources in education since 2007



The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2019

Each year I invite readers to share their favorite education-related book of the year. Feel free to add yours in the comments section! You can see previous lists here: The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2018 The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2017 The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2016 The Best Education-Related
Three Good Education-Related “Decade-In-Review” Features

dbderuiter / Pixabay Here are three new education-related additions to The Best “Decade In Review” Compilations: 10 pieces of education journalism that defined the past decade is from Alexander Russo. Timeline: How Teaching Has Changed Over the Decade is from Ed Week. Teaching in 2020 vs. 2010: A Look Back at the Decade is from Ed Week.


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YESTERDAY

The Best Videos For Learning About The Dangers Of Vaping

lindsayfox / Pixabay I have a good The Best Sites For ELL’s To Learn About The Dangers Of Smoking list, and figured it was time for one specifically on vaping. Here are resources that I think would be accessible – and engaging – to ELLs and other young people (let me know of other suggestions):
A Look Back: 2019’s Best Posts From This Blog – Part Two

Each year, I re-post my favorite blog posts, and then collect the links into one. This post is for my favorites from the last six months of 2019. You can see my choices for each of the past twelve years here. And you can also see a list of my My All-Time Favorite Posts! I’ve also been highlighting some of the “best-of-the-best” in the “A Look Back” series. Here are My Favorite Posts In 2019 — Par
Video: “The 10 Most Important Gadgets Of The Decade”

stokpic / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from TIME to The Best “Decade In Review” Compilations:
Sandy Hook Massacre Happened Seven Years Ago Tomorrow – Here Are Related Resources

Tomorrow will be a sad day. You can find many related resources at NOT VERY “BEST” LISTS OF THE WEEK: GUN VIOLENCE .
Google’s New “Interpreter Mode” Makes It Easier For Teachers & Parents To Talk If They Don’t Speak Each Other’s Languages

Google has just added what they call “Interpreter Mode” to the mobile Google Assistant app. Download the free app, say something like “Be my Spanish translator,” and it will automatically translate in writing and in audio what you say in English to Spanish, and then what the other person says in Spanish into English. It can do this in forty-four languages. Obviously, the translation is not even n

DEC 12

“What Can Teachers Do to Highlight Student Assets & Not Their Deficits?”

What Can Teachers Do to Highlight Student Assets & Not Their Deficits? 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…
A Look Back: Not Sure If You’ll Find A Better Guide For Making Good Presentations Than This One….

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. There are a lot of good guides out there for how to speak in public, and you can find many of them at The Best Sources Of Advice For Making Good Presentations . I’m not sure, though, if you’re going to find a better one – for teachers or for students – than the recent Harvard Busin
A Beginning List Of The Best “Test-Prep” Ideas For California’s English Language Assessment

eslfuntaiwan / Pixabay Early next year schools around California will begin administering the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) , which must be given to all English Language Learners . Though I am no stranger to ethical test prep for standardized tests (see Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad) and, in particular, my article on “Et
Pins Of The Week

I’m fairly active on Pinterest and, in fact, have curated 20,000 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 MOST POPULAR PINS OF 2019 The f
Video: Trailer For Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In The Heights” Looks Terrific

geralt / Pixabay The trailer for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In The Heights” came out today, and it looks terrific! It’s coming out in June. I was lucky enough to see a great stage production of it earlier this year. You might also be interested in The Best Teaching/Learning Resources On The Musical, “Hamilton”
My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On Using Writing To Support Reading Instruction

Double Dipping: Using Writing to Support Reading and Reading to Support Writing is the title of my latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show. I’m joined by Mary Beth Niklaus, Tony Zani and Mary Tedrow, who have all contributed written commentaries to my Education Week Teacher column. I’m adding this show to All My BAM Radio Shows – Linked With Descriptions .

DEC 11

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 “” 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 2019 – PART TWO , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this we
A Look Back: “Three Ways To End The School Year Strong” Is My British Council Post – Lots Of Student Hand-outs Included!

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. geralt / Pixabay Three Ways To End The School Year Strong is the headline of my latest British Council post. It includes lost of student hand-outs. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Finish The School Year Strong . You can see all my past British Council posts here .
“Everything You Wanted to Know About Student Motivation, But Were Afraid to Ask”

Tumisu / Pixabay Everything You Wanted to Know About Student Motivation, But Were Afraid to Ask is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. This post includes four videos Katie Hull Sypnieski and I did with Education Week on the topic of student motivation, and it includes many other related resources.
Wash. Post Published My Education Predictions For 2020

nvodicka / Pixabay As it has done for the past eight-or-nine years, The Washington Post published my education-related predictions for 2020. Check out A teacher makes 10 predictions for education in 2020 — some of them rather hopeful . I’m adding it to the list of articles I’ve written (you can find two-hundred or so others there) and to All My 2019 “Best” Lists In One Place!
Video: “Google — Year in Search 2019”

377053 / Pixabay Google just released their annual “Year In Search” video, and I’m adding it to Best Year-In-Review Features For 2019. Speaking of “search,” you might also be interested in The Best Search Engines For ESL/EFL Learners.

DEC 10

Interesting & Useful NY Times Video: “Is Your Plastic Actually Being Recycled?”

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay This is a pretty interesting new video from The NY Times:
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
A Look Back: My BAM! Radio Show On What’s The Problem With “I Don’t See Color?”

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay We’re kicking-off a new season of my radio show this week with a show featuring Terri Watson, Chris Emdin and Shannon Waite examining the issue of what’s wrong with teachers saying “I don’t see race” or “I don’t see color.” Shannon is also guest-hosting a fiv
“Instructional Coaches Should ‘Center on a Strengths-Based Approach'”

Instructional Coaches Should ‘Center on a Strengths-Based Approach’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. The five-part series on instructional coaching is “wrapped up” today by Cathery Yeh, Amy Sandvold, Tamara Hewlett, Becky Corr, and LaChawn Smith. Here are some excerpts: I’m adding the series to The Best Resources On “Instructional Coaching”

DEC 09

Al Jazeera Begins Impressive “Explainer” Video Series Called “Start Here”

geralt / Pixabay Al Jazeera is a Qatari government broadcasting service. That said, I’ve always been pretty impressed by the quality of its English service. They’ve just begun a new video series called “Start Here,” which are brief “explainer” videos which I think are pretty accessible to students. You can see the YouTube video playlist here . Anytime I use Al Jazeera videos in the class (which i
A Look Back: What Impact Will Trump Administration Policies Have On Future ELL Numbers? Here Is My Guess, & I Would Love To Hear Yours

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay The number of English Language Learners in U.S. public schools has been growing steadily over the years (see The Best Ways To Keep-Up With Current ELL/ESL/EFL News & Research ). Those numbers have been expected to grow. Some statistics have said that b
Video: “The science behind the northern lights (aurora borealis)”

Free-Photos / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from Canadian public television to The Best Sites For Learning About The Northern Lights :
Here Are Our Four New Ed Week Videos On Student Motivation!

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay Education Week just published four short videos Katie Hull Sypnieski and I did on encouraging students to develop intrinsic motivation in school. I’m adding them to: My Video page , where you can see quite a few other useful ones. A Collection Of My Best Resources On Student Motivation Best Posts On “Motivating” Students
ASCD Educational Leadership Publishes My Article Describing Our School’s Support For Long-Term ELLs

Research in Action: Ramping Up Support for Long-Term ELLs is the headline of my article in the new issue of ASCD Educational Leadership. It describes the efforts our school are taking to support LTELLs. It’s not behind a paywall. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Supporting Long-Term English Language Learners .
Neat Video: “Every Kind of Thing In Space”

geralt / Pixabay I learned about this neat video from Flowing Data :

DEC 08

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 CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION IN 2019 – PART TWO. Here are this week’s picks: Photos Can Trigger Change in a Town is from The Atlantic. It shares some ideas on using photos in community projects created by
A Look Back: Guest Post – New Study Highlights Success Of High School Black Male Achievement Class – Here’s What We Are Doing At Our School

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. Editor’s Note: Yesterday, a study was released finding that classes supporting African American males resulted in reducing their drop-out rates. Following links to articles about that study, Antoine Germany, the head of our school’s English Department, writes about his experience t
The Best “Decade In Review” Compilations

Aldertree / Pixabay As regular readers know, I’ve been publishing “Best” lists of “year-in-review” features for a long time (You can see them all here ). Now that we’re coming to the end of a decade, there are quite a few “decade-in-review” features being published, and I think they might be handy in the Social Studies classroom. So here they are (I’ll be adding more as the month progresses): Her
“Instructional Coaching Conversations Must Be ‘Built on Relationships'”

Instructional Coaching Conversations Must Be ‘Built on Relationships’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Today’s post includes answers from Kris Allen, Stephanie Affinito, Barry Saide, Diane Sweeney, Ann Mausbach, Dr. Jenny Grant Rankin, and Wendy Murawski, Ph.D., on how instructional coaches and teachers can best work as a team. Here are some excerpts:
SEL Weekly Update

I’ve recently begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. You might also be interested in THE BEST SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES OF 2019 – PART TWO Finally, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources . Here are this week’s picks: How to Break Up with Your B
Video: “Hong Kong Protests | Start Here”

StockSnap / Pixabay Al Jazeera just published this video that gives a history and overview of the Hong Kong protests. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History .

DEC 07

“Freckle” Provides Hundreds Of Articles In “5 or more different reading levels”

I learned about Freckle this week when I was participating in a #together4els chat on Twitter. It’s an “adaptive” platform where teachers can set up free virtual classrooms (it looks like it’s free to individual teachers, but schools and districts can pay for more features) and is supposed to differentiate in English, Math and Social Studies content. It was particularly struck by it having “hundr
A Look Back: The Headlines You See About NAEP Scores Don’t Tell The Whole Story….

I’m beginning to republish posts that made it onto my A LOOK BACK: 2019’S BEST POSTS FROM THIS BLOG – PART TWO list. geralt / Pixabay Scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress came out today, and lots of people, as usual, are using the results to pump up their own policy agendas. The most publicized results show that reading scores went down, and Betsy DeVos is saying that more
The UN Recognizes Dec. 9th As A Day To Remember The Victims Of Genocide – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

tiffffney / Pixabay December 9th is International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime . You might be interested in: The Best Resources For Learning About Genocide The Best Sites To Learn About Genocide In Rwanda The Best Sites For Learning About The Holocaust
The Best Resources For Teaching Science To ELLs – Please Contribute More!

Peggy_Marco / Pixabay I’m going to be leading a professional development session for our school’s science teachers on working with English Language Learners, and I asked teachers on Twitter to share their recommendations for online tools. I received a number of suggestions, and hope people will share more! First, I’ll start with the related “Best” lists I already have. Next, I’ll share links to t
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 “” 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 2019 – PART TWO , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . Here are this we
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 2019 – PART TWO ): The Gates Foundation has enormous impact. Its CEO leaving could have an enormous impact, too. is from Recode. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Role Of Private Foundations In Education Poli


UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List Is Impressive – & New To Me!

Many of us are familiar with UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites . However, until I read a NY Times article about Italian espresso , I had never heard of UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It includes : oral 


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