American poet Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902. One lesson that I’ve used for years with Intermediate English Language Learners is reading his poem, The Ballad of the Landlord as part of our unit on Problem-Solution essays. After studying the poem, students write a letter to their own landlord (though we obviously don’t send it). Here’s a video reading of that poem: The second lesso
President Trump will be giving the State Of The Union address next week. You might be interested in The Best (& Most Intriguing) Resources For Learning About The State Of The Union Message .
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 2009, I was able to do a pretty interesting ed tech experiment and teach one ELL United States History class with students using computers every day and another U.S. History class that almost never used computers. Here is the final
The new US News story, More Students Are Homeless Than Ever Before , shares a depressing story. You can read previous posts on this topic here . Here’s a useful related video:
Mapping Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) from Harvard is an interactive map of protests around the world over the past seventy years, and concludes that nonviolent ones were more effective than those using violence. Google Maps Mania writes a useful summary of the project , and includes additional links. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History .
WikiImages / Pixabay It would be interesting to show this video to students and ask them what changes they notice over the years. I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Learning About Natural Disasters .
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
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 wrote this post in 2009 and a version of it was published in Education Week Teacher a year later under the headline of Giving Classrooms a Purpose . I read, hear, and even write a lot about “techniques” that are supposed to improve s
Thisabled / Pixabay February 1st is the sixtieth anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins. You might be interested in The Best Sites To Learn About The Greensboro Sit-Ins .
Thanks to Pedro de Bruyckere , I learned about a new study – that reinforces a zillion others – which finds that praise is more effective than punishment with children. You can read about it at Praise, rather than punish, to see up to 30% greater focus in the classroom . And you can read about the other previous studies at The Best Posts, Articles & Videos Explaining Why Punishment Is Often Not T
A new study – that reinforces previous ones that reached the same conclusions – finds that high school GPA is a much better predictor of college graduation than an ACT score. You can read a summary of the new study here , or actually read it here (it’s not behind a paywall). The new research provides even more reason for California public universities to dump the SAT and ACT as an admission requi
The next question-of-the-week at my Education Week Teacher column is: What are the best ways to respond to educators who say they “don’t see race” when they teach? Feel free to leave responses in the comments section…
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 published this post in 2009, and it received a lot of positive feedback. I later dramatically expanded on the topic in my The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven” list. Two very talented educat
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
Making Current Events Connections to Lessons is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Seven educators discuss multiple ways to bridge current events with their classroom lessons, including applying learning transfer and information-literacy strategies. Here are some excerpts:
OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay The New York Times has offered lots of great resources to schools over the years, including The New York Times Learning Network (I’d say that even if they hadn’t published a lot of my posts – see All My NY Times Posts For English Language Learners – Linked With Descriptions ) and the amazing “1619 Project” (see Get A Free PDF Of The NY Times’ “1619 Project” ). Now, t
Allen Gathman via Compfight 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 published this post in 2009 after I developed this tool to help out my class, and the teachers who substituted for me when I was sick or at a meeting/training. It was so popular that I also included it in
I’m adding these new resources to various “Best” lists. You can find links to all of those many lists that relate to race and racism at “Best” Lists Of The Week: Resources For Teaching & Learning About Race & Racism: California’s Forgotten Slave History is from The L.A. Times. I’m adding it to USEFUL RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF BRINGING ENSLAVED AFRICANS TO AMERICA . A C
Author Interview With Dr. Gholdy Muhammad: ‘Cultivating Genius’ is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. By the way, all of Ed Week’s blogs, including mine, were off-line for a day because of a technical issue, but they are all available again now. For the 100th book-related post in my Ed Week blog, Gholdy Muhammad agreed to answer a few questions about her new book, “Cultivati
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 . Back in 2008, I published a post headlined Incredible Website Launches Today! It was about U.S.A. Learns , which was – and continues to be – one of the best free sites around for learning English. In fact, it unveiled a completely rede
Over the past few months I’ve been sharing about the new rule the Trump Administration has been trying to enforce that would negatively affect the chances of immigrants gaining permanent residency status or visa extensions if they use public benefits that they are legally entitled to, such as food stamps, Medicaid, and Section 8 housing vouchers (see THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING HOW THE TRUMP
Tomorrow, we’re doing a professional development session for teachers at our high school which will include a panel of English Language Learner students explaining what teachers do that helps them learn English and feel motivated, and what they do that doesn’t help them learn English and not feel motivated. This panel will actually present several times this year, and we’ll be videotaping them (w
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
WikiImages / Pixabay President’s Day celebrates the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (though there is some confusion about the day itself ). You might be interested in The Best Resources About Presidents’ Day
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 ): Philadelphia Teachers Sue Over Hazardous Buildings is from NPR. Introducing: A New Series on the Practical Takeaways From Research is from Ed Week. Diane Ravitch Declares the Education Reform Movement Dead is a NY
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 the final year of my community organizing career, I was honored to receive The Ford Foundation’s “Leadership For A Changing World” Award. One of the benefits of the award was that I was able to work with colleagues on a multi-year r
bunzellisa / Pixabay Last week, I shared the form my Beginning ELL students were going to use to anonymously evaluate our class (see Here’s How My ELL Beginner Students Will Evaluate Our Class AND Me – How Can I Make It Better? ). It’s an activity I’ve used for many years (see Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers) ) in all my classes. And it’s importance was recently highlighte
I’m sure that, by now, everyone has heard of Kobe Bryant’s death. First, we teachers should keep this in mind: Teachers, If the news is confirmed of Kobe Bryant…be ready. Read up. Learn. Kids, parents, teachers idolize this incredible man. With Lebron just passing Kobe's scoring record days before this tragedy…there is a LOT of emotion. This is huge. Be ready. Be compassionate. #Kobe — Dorina Ebu
Seven Ways to Bring Current Events Into the Classroom is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Project-Based Learning and student-created podcasts are among the techniques six educators employ to bring current events into the classroom and engage students. Here are some excerpts:
WikiImages / Pixabay Google just published this intriguing video. You can learn about the people they highlight at an accompanying website . I’m adding this info to The Best Sites To Teach About African-American History .
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: Promoting Prosocial Behavio
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, I wrote an article for Language Magazine headlined Are We Making Bricks Or Building Cathedrals In The ESL Classroom? Here’s an excerpt from that article – using a different metaphor from the title:
Discussions of “intent” versus “impact” often related to issues of race and racism, but they also need to happen in many other areas. The Mindset Scholars Network just showed that with their new short and accessible study that has an incredibly long title: Mindsets and the Learning Environment: Learning mindsets, teacher practice, and school organizations: Becoming Effective Learners Survey and 5
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.
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
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
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
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
