1-5-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Interesting Infographic: “The Most Important Developments In Human History”

Have students create their own list, along with their justifications, might be a useful project…. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min hide  //  save

Chinese New Year Resources

Chinese New Year will begin on January 31st, 2014 and marks the start of the Year of the Horse. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Chinese New Year.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

From The Archives: “The Michigan Fish Test and school reform”

I’ve recently re-started an effort I’ve tried to do previously by regularly highlighting previous posts and articles I’ve shared in previous years that I think might be worth a second look. Today, I’m highlighting a piece I wrote for The Washington Post about three years ago titled The Michigan Fish Test and school reform. Here’s an excerpt:

by Larry Ferlazzo / 2min 

Special Edition: This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts & Articles On Education Policy

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on education policy issues (usually, I just post one of these collections each week, but several good ones have appeared since I published a “round-up” a few days ago): Arguing Vergara on Twitter is a summary of a Twitter discussion on a pending court case that could end teacher seniority protections here in California. John Thompson has written a pi

by Larry Ferlazzo / 6min 

This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” — January (Part One)

I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful

by Larry Ferlazzo / 56min 

37th ELT Blog Carnival Just Published!

Andrea Wade has just published the 36th ELT Blog Carnival (formerly known as the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival) and it’s a great one on “Resolutions.” Teachers from around the world have contributed posts. The next edition will be hosted by Anita Jankovic and its about “Blogging With Your ClassSubmit your entries by Jan. 30th. You can see all the previous Blog Carnivals here. And you can express you

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4min hide  //  save

“‘Failure Is A Critical Part Of Learning’: An Interview With Art Markman”

‘Failure Is A Critical Part Of Learning’: An Interview With Art Markman is my latest post at Education Week Teacher. Art Markman, PhD is a professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.  He is the author of Smart Thinking (Perigee Books), which he discussed at a post at my Ed Wk blog last year. His latest book is titled Smart Change: Five Tools To Create New and Sustainable Habits I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4min 

From The Archives: “Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do”

I’ve recently re-started an effort I’ve tried to do previously by regularly highlighting previous posts and articles I’ve shared in previous years that I think might be worth a second look. Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do is an article I wrote for ASCD Educational Leadership in October, 2012. ASCD stopped listing their most popular articles in September of last year, but for the e

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8h hide  //  save

January’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part One

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

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… 1-4-14 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY“How Teachers and Parents Work Together for Student Success”How Teachers and Parents Work Together for Student Success is a useful article from NEA Today. Here’s an excerpt: If you show a willingness to learn more about your students from their parents, then they’ll be more willing to work

by mike simpson / 11h 

1-5-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

The Carmen Farina Files

Her management took the form of a Machiavellian benevolence — the kind of approach you imagine is taught to aspiring executives in certain classes at Wharton, whereby the party about to be demoted or fired is encouraged to believe that what is happening is the best possible result for him or her. At P.S. 6, Ms. Farina got rid of only three teachers outright, she told me. The rest she counseled out

by ed notes online / 2h hide  //  save

MORE Supports OTs and PTs in Quest for Equal Pay

...experienced OTs and PTs are paid 38 percent less than teachers and speech therapists with the same levels of education. A variation of this article will appear on the upcoming MORE newsletter. Occupational and physical therapists are an unseen part of New York City’s education community. But without OTs and PTs, thousands of the city’s promising – yet disabled – students would fall through th

by ed notes online / 10h 

 

1-4-14 Ed Notes Online Week

Ed Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineThe Hero Superintendent DebunkedSupt Miles, the dancing queenMiles’ first year in Dallas was a nasty one. One-quarter of the district’s principals were gone after that year, including some favorites in South Dallas and Oak Cliff, where schools earned high marks from the state. Their departures sparked a fight with black community leaders like Dallas County Commissio

by mike simpson / 11h 

teacherken at Daily Kos 1-5-14: One Marine's Dying Wish

Daily Kos: One Marine's Dying Wish:

One Marine's Dying Wish

is the title of this must-read column by Frank Bruni in today's New York Times It is about Hal Faulkner, a 79 year old who is dying of cancer. Faulkner enlisted in the Marines in 1952 and was discharged in 1965, having served more than 3 years and risen from private to sergeant, showing how highly he was regarded. There were no real blots on his record. No complaints of incompetence or laziness or

by rss@dailykos.com ... / 2h 

teacherken at Daily Kos This Week 1-4-14

teacherken at Daily Kos:teacherken at Daily Kos This Weekinfidels are deserving of your enmity, not your empathyThose words end a column by Charles M. Blow titled Indoctrinating Religious Warriors.   He uses the data from the recent Pew Poll on Public views on Evolution that shows increasing numbers of Republicans rejecting evolution while increasing numbers of Democrats accept it. Blow quotes Gre

by mike simpson / 11h 

1-5-14 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE:

Joanne Yatvin: The Common Core Standards May Be Harmful to Children

The following article was written by Dr. Joanne Yatvin, who does a great job of pointing out problems with specific standards, and how easy it is to tell that the Common Core Standards were not created by educators or child learning specialists.  Such specialists, such as Dr. Yatvin, have determined that they are harmful to […]

by Kris Nielsen / 19min hide  //  save

Collectable and eventually playable education activism game cards, courtesy of UOO

The activist organization United Opt Out, that little gaggle always does things a little differently. Well, in advance of their annual spring event, taking place in Denver, CO March 28th-30th, 2014, UOO is releasing a collection of activist game cards that will include the organizers and the guests who will be in attendance. Now, these […]

by Shaun Johnson / 43min 

Another warm welcome to a new author, Dr. Denisha Jones (@denisha_jones)

Denisha and I go back a few years. We were both graduate students at Indiana University. And oddly enough, we found our way there from DC, and now back again. Denisha’s at Howard University. Great institution with a Dean who’s said some very hopeful things about education reform. Dr. Jones is in this fight with […]

5 by Shaun Johnson / 1h 

A new blog for you to check out from Canadian educator Tobey Steeves

It’s called ReMapping Education.  I’ve always had very insightful chats with Mr. Steeves on Twitter. Hopefully we’ll cross paths in person sometime down the road soon. Hopefully fatherhood doesn’t keep his thoughts away from us for too long. Wish him luck on that one, @symphily on Twitter.

1 by Shaun Johnson / 31min 

I wonder if Secretary Duncan heard their stories?

Last spring, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited my school. Following the unfortunate tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook, the purpose of his visit was to meet with students, and staff, to discuss school and gun violence. The video below (4:23 minutes) is a condensed version of the hour-long discussion. The full video (51:36 minutes) […]

by Angel Cintron Jr. / 0min hide  //  save

Disproportionate Evaluative Rigor and the Three Laws of Data

I promised in a recent post called The Tyranny of the Datum to write about some guiding standards for appropriate data usage, in the spirit of Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, and I will do that here today. Before I get to that, though, I’d like to briefly discuss–in a general sense–what I see […]

by johnkuhntx / 7min 

All Week 1-4-14 @ THE CHALK FACE

@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: All Week @ THE CHALK FACE CCSS: The Black Hole of EducationStop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Common Core is “Obamacore.” No? If you haven’t, then you’ve been living under a rock, somewhere. Yes, the infamous Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has drawn criticism from the political left, and the right. It’s fascinating to witness both sides of the p

by mike simpson / 11h 

SKrashen: The Spectacular Role of Libraries in Protecting Students from the Effects of Poverty

SKrashen: The Spectacular Role of Libraries in Protecting Students from the Effects of Poverty:

The Spectacular Role of Libraries in Protecting Students from the Effects of Poverty

Stephen Krashen

Published in: iLeader: Journal of School Library Association of New South Wales 1(4): 3-6 (2012)

Poverty is by far the most powerful predictor we have of school performance. This has been established in study after study over several decades.  One of the best studies showing the impact of poverty comes from Australia: Perry and McConnery (2010) reported that both individual levels of poverty (socio-economic status, or SES) and the poverty level of the school have strong effects on performance, and the combination of the two is overwhelming.  Table one presents the impact of both of these factors on performance on the PISA 2003 test of reading comprehension given to 15 year olds (math and science tests show a similar pattern). Note that students living in the worst poverty score 70 to 90 points lower than the most privileged students, and students attending low SES schools score about 50 to 60 points lower than those in wealthier schools.  But low SES students in low SES schools score nearly 150 points lower than high SES students in high SES schools.

Table One: Influence of individual levels of socio-economic status and the socio-economic status of the school

	SCHOOL SES
INDIVIDUAL SES	1st (lowest)	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st (lowest)	459 (n=984)	466 (n=690)	472 (n=490)	503 (n=231)	516 (n=88)
2nd	486 (n=591)	496 (n=681)	503 (n=596)	531 (n=425)	544 (n=195)
3rd	498 (n=416)	504 (n=492)	515 (n=639)	542 (n=568)	561(n=348)
4th	520 (n=213)	525(n=377)	530 (n=516)	557 (n=682)	577 (n=693)
5th	548 (n=99)	543 (n=199)	549 (n=362)	576 (n=602)	602 (n=1212)

SES = social economic status, based on parental occupational status, parental education, economic and cultural resources in the home.

The average PISA score is 500, standard deviation = 100.

From: Perry and McConnery (2010)

SES includes a number of factors that influence school performance. On the individual level,  

Stephen Krashen Blog 1-4-14

SKrashen: Academic JibberishStephen Krashen, RELC Journal. 43 (2): 283-285, 2012. “Some scholars have slipped so far into the stylized talk – excuse me, discourse – of academia that important ideas are rendered virtually incomprehensible to most people. Because it sometimes seems that scholarship is valued by other academics in direct proportion to its inaccessibility, some individuals may have an

by mike simpson / 11h 

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure: What Came First: The Chicken, the Egg or the Altruism of a Charter School CEO?

V.A.M.: Value Added Measure: What Came First: The Chicken, the Egg or the Altruism of a Charter School CEO?:

What Came First: The Chicken, the Egg or the Altruism of a Charter School CEO?

I only knew two Kip’s ever, one was the real hairy lead singer of Winger and the other was that strange kid in my 8^th grade Algebra class. Now there is a new, well somewhat old KIPP in town. Just try and guess what KIPP actually stands for; give it a shot. My three personal favorite KIPP’s, by the way, are: Knee Injury Prevention Program (Sports Medicine), KomiteIndependen Pemantua Pemilu (The Indonesian Independent Committee for Election Monitoring), and lastly Kancelaria Inwestycyjna Property Project (The Polish Law Firm of Proerty Investment Projects in Warsaw). The real KIPP is a noble and damn fine non-profit corporation that wraps itself within a sheath of wholesome goodness. But alas, KIPP is just some cheesy acronym for another publicly supported leech of the charter school movement. KIPP, or Knowledge Is Power Program (see, if that ain’t a bite out of the ‘ole anti-climactic bucket, what is?) has managed to gain such a stronghold in the world of “public education” (get it, b/c they’re like private, but they get public funds – Diggin’ your tax dollars hard at work!?!) due to their very influential friends.

 The charter school movement is the final straw, the last nail… No more clichés. Charter schools are the pathway to fully privatizing the public school system, and they have some seriously imperious peeps that fully support their agenda. Now, here’s where we find ourselves mired in one of them there philosophical D-Lemmas, as Hegel would say. Why are there charter schools? Did they arise to service the needs of the disenfranchised? Has the charter school frenzy become a gateway that allows for the corporate toehold into the vast billions of tax dollars used to run the public school system? Does the charter school 

Finding Her Teaching Voice - NYTimes.com

Finding Her Teaching Voice - NYTimes.com:

VOCATIONS: THE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER

Finding Her Teaching Voice

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Elizabeth Solis says the “teacher-student evangelical style” of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, became “the foundation of my teaching ability later in life.”

By PERRY GARFINKEL

Published: January 4, 2014

Elizabeth Solis, 30, is an assistant principal and history teacher atArise, a charter high school in East Oakland, Calif.

Q. You teach high school students from non-English-speaking homes. What got you interested in that?

A. For starters, I was one of them. I was born in San Jose, Calif.; my parents were immigrants — Dad from Nicaragua, Mom from Guatemala.

My mother, a Jehovah’s Witness, taught me the alphabet early, using biblical texts. Yet I did poorly in school since there was no expectation at home to achieve academically, mainly because Jehovah’s Witnesses in my congregation at the time discouraged pursuing secular higher education. Ironically, though, the teacher-student evangelical style of Jehovah’s Witnesses was the foundation of my teaching ability later in life. Through first-person narrative writing and interviewing family members, I came to know and better appreciate myself and my heritage. It gave me a voice that had been only a whisper till then. That’s when I got engaged with learning, and it sparked my desire to teach.

How do you try to engage your students?

I use strategies I developed from my own experience and added many new ones I picked up as a summer fellow of the Bay Area Writing Project at the University of California, 

History Content and Teaching: A Historic Struggle | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

History Content and Teaching: A Historic Struggle | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

History Content and Teaching: A Historic Struggle

The past two posts have made the point that content and pedagogy are joined at the hip. Yet in science and math, too often, policymakers and reformers have focused on content rather than the art and craft of teaching that content in the mistaken belief that one is far more important than the other. Like the left foot or right foot–yeah, the body metaphor works for me–which one you step off with first is the question that curriculum developers and teachers need to answer not whether one is more important than the other.

So now I turn to the subject of U.S. and world history where the issues that arose in science and math reform (e.g., periodic battles between “traditionalists” and “reformers,” struggles over which purposes should drive the study of the content, and the wide variation among teachers in responding to each swing of the reform pendulum) appeared repeatedly in the century-long saga of doing something about the subject of history in schools.

In the early 20th century, history professors and teachers worked together