Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, January 25, 2020

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



Ed Tech Digest

Eight 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
“House On Mango Street” To Be Made Into TV Show

Sandra Cisneros’ novel “The House on Mango Street,” popular in classrooms for years (and great for English Language Learners), is going to be made into a television show. Read all about it in the NBC News story, ‘Narcos’ producer to adapt Sandra Cisneros’ ‘The House on Mango Street’ for TV. Speaking of Sandra Cisneros, you might be interested in these previous posts: PBS NEWS HOUR VIDEO: “SANDRA
New USA Today Video: “The science behind earthquakes and what makes them so dangerous”

Angelo_Giordano / Pixabay I’m adding this new USA Today video to The Best Sites For Learning About Earthquakes :
A Look Back: What Were The Number One Websites For Learning In 2007 & 2008?

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . I first began publishing “Best” lists in at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 (there are now 2,200 of them! ). Here are the sites I identified as the best in their respective categories for that year, along with my original com
A Beginning List Of The Best Resources For Learning About The Coronavirus

Mojpe / Pixabay I know I’ve heard concerns from some students who have heard about the Coronavirus in the news, and thought I’d put together a quick list of accessible resources. I’ll be adding to them as new ones become available. You might also be interested in: The Best Resources For Learning About The Zika Virus The Best Resources For Learning About The Ebola Virus Here’s what I have so far:

JAN 23

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: Accurate and Equitable Grading is by Joe Feldman. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Grading Practices . A Strategy for Boos
Every Teacher Should Watch This Video: “How to Use Wikipedia Wisely”

geralt / Pixabay This new – and short – video from the Stanford History Education Group suggests what I think many of us have been telling students for years to do – yes, go to Wikipedia, and immediately go to the bottom and find its sources. I’m adding it to The Best Tools & Lessons For Teaching Information Literacy – Help Me Find More .
Three New Resources For Learning About Auschwitz

carlosftw / Pixabay Here are three new additions to A Beginning List Of “Best” Resources To Learn About Auschwitz – 75 Years After It Was Liberated: Holocaust Survivor Returning To Auschwitz: ‘It’s Like Going To The Family Cemetery’ is from NPR.
A Look Back: Sister Classes Around The World

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . In 2008, I worked with six other English teachers in different parts of the world to create simple and easy projects where our English Learner students taught each other about their respective countries. The Sacramento Bee wrote an art
How Can We Connect Current Events To What We’re Teaching In The Classroom?”

The next question-of-the-week at my Ed Week Teacher column is: What are the best ways to connect current events to what we’re teaching in the classroom? Feel free to leave your responses in the comments section…
This Is Pretty Interesting: An Online Historical Archive Of Notebooks Used By Schoolchildren Around The World

The Exercise Book Archive is an online archive of children’s notebooks from around the world. Some are actual “exercise” notebooks, with pre-printed exercises designed to help children learn, and containing their completed notes and doodles. Others were blank notebooks that were used by teacher-created exercised filled-in by students. Many are translated, as well as being transcribed. I’m adding
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

JAN 22

‘Prevention Is the Best Way to Support Long-Term English-Learner Students’

is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, four educators provide recommendations on how to support Long-Term English-Learners, including providing more support to them earlier and identifying whether they have other special needs earlier, too! Here are some excerpts:
I Will Never Teach Another Lesson on “Grit” Without Including This NY Times Piece On The Value Of Quitting

Conmongt / Pixabay I’ve certainly taught my share of lessons on “grit” over the years (see The Best Resources For Learning About “Grit” ). In them, I’ve generally included a very short piece on how grit isn’t everything and that sometimes it’s good to quit. However, that’s never been an important part of the lesson. That’s going to change now that I’ve seen this Have You Ever Quit Something? less
A Look Back: When A “Good” Class Goes “Bad” (And Back To “Good” Again!)

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . This one appeared in 2008. A revised version was published by ASCD. More About Maintaining a “Good” Class is a follow-up post I wrote, as is “Why Do You Let Others Control You?” I also published a related post in 2009 titled Have You E
Here’s How My ELL Beginner Students Will Evaluate Our Class AND Me – How Can I Make It Better?

As regular readers know, students in all my classes complete anonymous evaluations of the class – and of me – at the end of each semester. I always share the resorts – warts and all – with our school’s principal and on this blog. You can see the many different forms I’ve used over the years and their results at Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers) . I think telling students th
Three Thoughtful Reflections On The “Reading Wars”

The so-called “Reading Wars” have been heating-up lately (see The Best Resources For Learning About Balanced Literacy & The “Reading Wars” ). I tend to think that some phonics advocates are doing more of the “heating-up” by arguing against a “straw-man” by saying their opponents don’t support phonics. I don’t know any teachers who are actually against phonics, including myself. I’m against phonic
Jan. 24th Is The Second Annual United Nations’ International Day Of Education – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

According to the United Nations : On 3 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with consensus a resolution proclaiming 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. The adoption of the resolution 73/25 “International Day of Education”, co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other Member States, demonstrated the unwaverin

JAN 21

Four New Videos On Climate Change

GoranH / Pixabay Here are new additions to The Best Sites To Learn About Climate Change :
The Best Resources For Learning About The Supreme Court Case That Could Allow Public Funding For Religious Schools

The Supreme Court is hearing a case today that could – or could not – have wide-ranging implications for school funding. Here are some resources to help clarify what it’s all about: This Supreme Court case could deliver a win for school choice advocates. What might happen next? is from Chalkbeat. An Under-The-Radar SCOTUS Case Could Obliterate The Line Between Church And State is from The Huff Po
A Look Back: Providing Computers & Home Internet Access To Immigrant Families

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . In 2006, we began a family literacy project by providing computers and home internet access to fifty immigrant families of our students. The project was the winner of the 2007 International Reading Association’s Presidential Award for
A Beginning List Of “Best” Resources To Learn About Auschwitz – 75 Years After It Was Liberated

ChristopherPluta / Pixabay January 27th is the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation. There will be a fair number of new learning resources shared over the next week, and I’ll add them to this list. You might also be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About The Holocaust . Here’s what I have so far (please suggest more!): The official Auschwitz Memorial Museum has a number of lesson p
Five Relatively Accessible Texts Explaining How The Impeachment Trial Will Work

mary1826 / Pixabay Yesterday, I shared several video explainers of how President Trump’s impeachment trial will work and added them to THE BEST TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES ABOUT IMPEACHMENT . Here are some relatively accessible text explainers of what’s going to happen (they probably aren’t accessible to ELLs who aren’t more advanced without heavy revision, though): Your Senate Impeachment Tria
My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On The Biggest “Dangers” Facing Schools Today

My latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show considers what might be the biggest “dangers” facing schools today . I’m joined in the conversation by Meg Riordan, Marian Dingle, and Deana Simpson, who have all also contributed written commentaries to my Ed Week Teacher column. I’m adding this show to All My BAM Radio Shows – Linked With Descriptions .

JAN 20

‘Make It Clear to Long-Term English-Learners That Their Voices Matter’

is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, ix educators share advice on how to support Long-Term English-Language Learners, including emphasizing vocabulary development and academic language. Here are some excerpts:
Ed Tech Digest

Eight 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
January’s “Best” Lists – There Are Now 2,128 Of Them!

Here’s my regular round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 2,128 of them categorized here ): THE BEST RESOURCES TO HELP EDUCATORS TEACH ELL NEWCOMERS THE BEST TOOLS THAT SHOW “PARALLEL TEXT” – SAME SENTENCES TRANSLATED INTO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES SIDE-BY-SIDE THE BEST VIDEOS FOR TEACHING ABOUT IRAN-U.S. TENSIONS THE BEST RESOURCES TO LEARN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHE
January’s Most Popular Posts From This Blog

As regular readers know, at the end of each week I share the five most popular posts from the previous seven days. I thought people might find it interesting to see a list of the ten most popular posts from the previous thirty days. You might also be interested in IT’S THE TWELFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG – HERE ARE THE FORTY ALL-TIME MOST POPULAR POSTS. Not to mention THE MOST POPULAR POSTS FROM
A Look Back: The Best Piece Of Classroom Management Advice I Ever Read

TeroVesalainen / Pixabay I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . My first year in teaching was spent with a self-contained class of retained seventh-graders. Right above the whiteboard in our classroom I wrote this question on a poster: “Is what you’re doing, or is what you’
Four New Videos Explaining The Impeachment Trial

QuinceMedia / Pixabay I’m adding these new videos to THE BEST TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES ABOUT IMPEACHMENT :
Just Sent-Out Free Monthly Email Newsletter

geralt / Pixabay I’ve just mailed out the February issue of my very simple free monthly email newsletter . It has over 3,000 subscribers, and you can subscribe here . Of course, you can also join the eighteen thousand others who subscribe to this blog daily. Here Are 8 Ways You Can Subscribe For Free…
My Favorite Posts That Appeared In January

I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here ). You can also see my all-time favorites here . I’ve also been doing “A Look Back” series reviewing old favorite
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

JAN 19

A Good “Frame” For When Older Students Speak To Younger Ones

geralt / Pixabay I’ve previously written a couple of posts that have included references to the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini, who has done research on influencing others (see Do You Want To “Build Influence”? and What Worked For The Obama Campaign Can Work For Us & Our Students In The Classroom ). Guy Kawasaki just did an interview with him , and I thought one portion was particularly useful. Many
A Look Back: “Teaching Is Organizing (Or Should Be)”

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . Teaching Is Organizing (Or Should Be) is an article I co-authored with my good friend Craig McGarvey in 2005. We discuss community organizing and how it relates to my first years of teaching. For me, the most memorial sentence in the p
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 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO.
“Ways to Support Long-Term English-Language Learners”

Ways to Support Long-Term English-Language Learners is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Eight educators offer their recommendations about how schools and their teachers can best support Long-Term English Language Learners, such as keeping expectations high for students. Here are some excerpts:
“Drabbles” Are Cool Writing Assignments – Here Are A Ton Of Models

Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay Laura Gibbs contributed a great lesson on folktales to one of the books Katie Hull and I have written, and she’s very creative. One of the assignments she gives to her students is to write microfiction “drabbles” (no more than 100 words) from folktales. You can read her student instructions here , and read all the drabbles they’ve written here . She also plans t

JAN 18

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
New Growth Mindset Videos

Tumisu / Pixabay I’m adding the first video to The Best TV/Movie Scenes Demonstrating A “Growth Mindset” – Help Me Find More and the other two to The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset” :
A Look Back: “Getting English-Language Learners to Thrive”

I thought that new – and veteran – readers might find it interesting if I began sharing my best posts from over the years. You can see the entire collection here . Today, I’m featuring a piece I wrote for Education Week Teacher several years ago. It’s titled Getting English-Language Learners to Thrive. Here’s an excerpt:
Project Zero’s “Thinking Routines Tool” Is An Excellent Resource

I’ve written many posts and shared many links about Project Zero’s Thinking Routines (I’ll list a number of them at the end of this post). I don’t know if they recently redesigned their website, or I’ve just been clueless over the years, but I just discovered that they have them all very clearly organized in an accessible way on their website . You can search for them by school subject and/or by


My Most Popular Tweets Of The Month

PhotoMIX-Company / Pixabay I used to post weekly collections of my best tweets, and used Storify to bring them together. Unfortunately, Storify went under. Fortunately, however, Wakelet was a new tool that was able to import all 
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007