Saturday, April 18, 2020

SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 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


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


“INFOGRAPHIC: ‘7 TIPS FOR PARENTS SUPPORTING REMOTE LEARNING’” | ENGAGING PARENTS IN SCHOOL… 

- https://engagingparentsinschool.edublogs.org/?p=6327

TODAY

Harriet Voices The Feelings Of All Of Us Teachers These Days

Check out this cute video:
Video: “Earth Day 1970 – 2020: 50th Anniversary”

purwakawebid / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from the American Museum of Natural History to The Best Earth Day Sites :

Join Me On April 30th For A Webinar On “Distance Learning & ELLs: What Have We Learned So Far?”

DarkWorkX / Pixabay I do lots of professional development sessions for our school, but I don’t often do webinars or professional development elsewhere because of all my teaching and writing commitments (and my usual basketball-playing responsibilities when we’re not under stay-at-home orders ). However, I could never refuse a request from the extraordinary American Federation of Teachers leader G

“Infographic: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning'”

My latest Education Week Teacher column is headlined Infographic: ‘7 Tips for Parents Supporting Remote Learning.’ In it, Lindsay Kuhl shares a great infographic she created illustrating the seven key points I spoke about in a recent video (which I’ve embedded below her infographic): And here’s the video:
The Math, Science & Social Studies Toolbox Books Are Out!

The three books that Katie Hull and I have been editing, and that are modeled after our book, The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox , are out! They were some of the last, of not the last, books published before the printing plant shut down as a result of COVID-19. Congratulations to the authors! You’ll see lots of excerpts around next month. You can order them at Amazon (it says the books have not been publi
Statistic Of The Day: Not That Any Of Us Haven’t Learned This Fact, But Planning For Online Lessons Takes Longer

This was an interesting research finding in Ed Week’s article, Exhausted and Grieving: Teaching During the Coronavirus Crisis . I was a little surprised, though, by the idea that it takes longer to plan asynchronous lessons. It takes far more time and energy for me to plan my live lessons than my non-live ones. I feel I need to maximize every second for engagement. After all, it’s very easy for s
New Collection Of Studies About What Works In Long-Distance Education

Pexels / Pixabay Thanks to a new article in Ed Week (see National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance ), I just learned about a new collection of research studies on what works in distance learning. The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance put it together this week. The site is simply called Studies of Distance Learning . I’m adding it to THE BEST S
“I Can’t See A School District That Won’t Be Looking At Budget Cuts…”

We all know it’s coming (and I talked a bit about it in Five Great Ideas For Supporting Students Next School Year – Too Bad Only One Of Them Is Going To Happen . Ed Week’s new article, Draconian Cuts to Schools Could Come As Soon As This Summer , though, puts it in pretty stark terms: Cuts are coming, and they’re going to be big…

APR 16

“Ways to Handle Student Absences in Remote Teaching & When We’re Back in School”

Ways to Handle Student Absences in Remote Teaching & When We’re Back in School is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Four educators share advice on dealing with student absences. These include trying to find out the real reasons behind the lack of attendance and building positive teacher/student relationships. Here are some excerpts: I’m adding it to The Best Resources On St
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

BiljaST / Pixabay Six 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. A
Video: “Pandemic Comparison: Probability and Number of Deaths”

leo2014 / Pixabay I’m adding this video to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS :
April 25th Is World Malaria Day – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

41330 / Pixabay April 25th is World Malaria Day. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day ,
Five Great Ideas For Supporting Students Next School Year – Too Bad Only One Of Them Is Going To Happen

Wokandapix / Pixabay Students will go back to school eventually. Here are 5 concrete ideas for helping them catch up, readjust, by Matt Barnum and Kalyn Belsha is a typically well-written Chalkbeat piece. It highlights five great ideas, well-backed with research: Extend the school day or year Provide extra tutoring, particularly for students who are most behind ‘Loop’ elementary school teachers w
This Week’s Resources To Support Teachers Coping With School Closures

Wokandapix / Pixabay I have a number of regular weekly features (see HERE IS A LIST (WITH LINKS) OF ALL MY REGULAR WEEKLY FEATURES ). It’s time for a new addition to that list, and this post introduces a weekly compilation of new and good resources to support those of us dealing with school closures. Some will be added to The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coron
What Teachers Are Facing Right Now, & It Ain’t Pretty – Check Out How Many Are Feeling

I sent out the above tweet yesterday afternoon. Lots of teachers are not doing well.Check out some of the scores of replies: Oh my gosh. It’s endless. There is no escape. — Elisabeth Johnson (@ElisJohnsonEDU) April 15, 2020 We are barely making it. Husband is a principal and our 2 and 5 year olds DO NOT CARE A LICK ABOUT OUR FULL TIME JOBS. — Lorena doesn't want to meet Rona (@nenagerman) April 1

APR 15

Earth Day Is On April 22nd – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

Wild0ne / Pixabay Earth Day is on April 22nd. Public events recognizing the day will obviously be different this year, but we can still teach about it. I’ve just revised and updated The Best Earth Day Sites .
Pretty Neat Video: “What Social Distancing Looks Like Across the World”

geralt / Pixabay This is a pretty neat video from The Atlantic. Here’s how they describe it: People from more than 30 countries share joyous moments from their lives in quarantine. A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures
“Helping ELLs Succeed in Distance Learning”

Helping ELLs Succeed in Distance Learning is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Teacher Sarah Said offers suggestions about how teachers can better communicate with English-language learners when teaching online, including by modeling and offering empathy. Here’s an excerpt:
Two VERY Disturbing Statistics About The Teaching Profession

The Institute of Education Sciences just came out with Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey. Education Week wrote a good summary of it at Still Mostly White and Female: New Federal Data on the Teaching Profession. I’ve highlighted two of the most disturbing statistics in
CBS News Video: “Students fear lack of internet access could leave them behind with online learning”

janeb13 / Pixabay This new CBS News video holds no surprises to those of us who are teaching, but it’s still worth watching:
ASCD Educational Leadership Publishes Great Open-Access Issue On Distance Learning

ASCD Educational Leadership has just published a great open-access issue on distance learning . Here’s just a portion of the Table of Contents: I’m adding it to THE “BEST OF THE BEST” RESOURCES TO SUPPORT TEACHERS DEALING WITH SCHOOL CLOSURES .
Interesting Video: Denmark Reopens Elementary Schools

cromaconceptovisual / Pixabay This was a surprise to me:

APR 14

Infographic: ‘7 Tips For Remote Teaching’

is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, teacher Wendi Pillars shares a visual representation of the key points from my video of the same name. You can see it here, too: And, here’s the video again in case you haven’t seen it:
Google Creates Ton Of New Interactives At “Family Fun with Arts & Culture”

Google has unveiled a ton of new interactives at Family Fun with Arts & Culture . It looks like there’s something there for just about every subject and every age. Though it is apparently geared towards “family,” they all could certainly be used in lessons. You can read more about it at Google’s post . However, I’d encourage you just to go there and click around….
My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On “Grading ELLs Fairly: What Works, What Doesn’t”

My latest ten-minute BAM! Radio Show is on Grading ELLs Fairly: What Works, What Doesn’t . I’m joined in the conversation by Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., Becky Corr and Kristin Spears, who have all also contributed written commentaries to my Education Week Teacher column. It was actually recorded prior to the school closure crisis – my apologies for the the posting delay. It shares a lot of great advic
The Best Videos For Teaching & Learning About – Yes – “Poop”

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay TED-Ed just published an animated video and accompanying lesson about….poop, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to pull together various other resources I’ve shared over the years on the topic. It’s actually a great subject for student engagement – despite protestations of “Ewww!” Here’s what I got (let me know if you have other additions): Today’s T
Here’s What The Next Fall Could Look Like For Students & Teachers In California

California Governor Newsom talked today about what the fall school year might look like here in California. Check it out at the Sacramento Bee article, How life in California schools will look different this fall due to the coronavirus crisis . It actually reflects a lot of the ideas in Could These Be Visions Of What Our School Year Might Look Like In The Fall?
Must Watch Video: “You Clap For Me Now…”

Clker-Free-Vector-Images / Pixabay You’ll want to watch this amazing video, and I hope someone makes an U.S. version. I couldn’t find it on YouTube, so am only embedding a Twitter and Facebook version: #YouClapForMeNow pic.twitter.com/1Dm2hZb6kc — Tez (@tezilyas) April 14, 2020
Video: “How Quarantines Are Enforced Around the World”

congerdesign / Pixabay ’m adding this new Wall Street Journa video to: A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures
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 THIRTE
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

APR 13

“Four Ways to Help Students Feel Intrinsically Motivated to Do Distance Learning”

Four Ways to Help Students Feel Intrinsically Motivated to Do Distance Learning is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. I share four ways to help students feel intrinsically motivated to participate in virtual learning, including by teachers’ developing positive relationships with students and by creating opportunities for small-group independent work. Here’s an excerpt:
New TED-Ed Video: “The hidden life of Rosa Parks”

Library of Congress I’m adding this new TED-Ed lesson and video to Best Resources For Teaching About Rosa Parks & 60th Anniversary Of The Montgomery Bus Boycott :
Video: “How countries have informed the public about the coronavirus”

enriquelopezgarre / Pixabay I’m adding this new CBS News video to: A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures
New Article Nails It By Listing “What Teachers Need to Make Remote Schooling Work”

Prettysleepy / Pixabay What Teachers Need to Make Remote Schooling Work is a new Atlantic article by KRISTINA RIZGA that really nails it. I think every policy-maker and administrator should read it (teachers should, too, but we already know what it says ). You’ll definitely want to read the entire piece, but here are the points she lists: Free, High-Speed Internet for Students Peer-to-Peer Profes
Two Helpful Overviews Of Equity Issues Around Remote Teaching

I think two recent articles provide good overviews of the broad equity issues challenging our shift to online learning: Millions of public school students will suffer from school closures, education leaders have concluded is from The Washington Post. The shift to online learning could worsen educational inequality is from Vox. They’re both useful. However, even though I believe there will be nega
“Responding to Absenteeism – During the Coronavirus Pandemic & Beyond”

Responding to Absenteeism – During the Coronavirus Pandemic & Beyond is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher. Four educators share strategies for responding to absenteeism – whether from remote learning or from the physical school. They include a reduced emphasis on negative consequences and a renewed focus on relationship-building. Here are some excerpts:

APR 12

The Value Of Oral Reading In Partners For ELLs & Others

I am a big advocate of having English Language Learners – and all students – partner up to read text (see A Look Back: Twelve Ways ELLs – & Anyone Else – Can Read & Demonstrate Understanding Of A Textbook Chapter – Add To The List! ). Plenty of research has shown that this kind of activity improves fluency and comprehension, and reading researcher Timothy Shanahan has regularly highlighted it. He
Video: “4 Ways Humans Are Still Evolving”

Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay I’m adding this new video from The SciShow to The Best Sites For Learning About Human Evolution :
New PBS NewsHour Video Segment: “A glimpse of a second-grade class during the outbreak”

geralt / Pixabay Check out this short new video segment from the PBS NewsHour:
“Strategies to Support Some of Our Most Vulnerable Students Through Distance Learning”

Strategies to Support Some of Our Most Vulnerable Students Through Distance Learning is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. Three educators share advice on how to connect to some of our most vulnerable students, including English-language learners and those with no internet access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some excerpts:

APR 11

iSLCollective Makes Their Worksheets Interactive So Students Can Complete Them & Send To Their Teacher

I have often sung the praises of the iSL Collective . It’s on my list of The Best Three Sites On The Web For ESL/EFL/ELL/ELT Teachers. The benefits it offers – all free – are numerous. You can read about them here: iSLCollective Appears To Be A Jackpot For ELL Student Hand-Outs & Interactive Videos iSLCollective’s Video Lessons Are A Huge Asset For Any ELL Teacher A Look Back: Another Reason iSLC
StoryCorps Unveils New Tool To Let Users Interview People Remotely – Will Immediately Become Great Class Assignment For Thousands Of Students

I have posted about StoryCorps a lot over the years, including about their great app that encourages users to interview loved ones and others, and then shares it with the Library of Congress (see StoryCorps Unveils Searchable Archive Of 400,000 Interviews ). Today, they unveiled an online version of their app that lets users do these kinds of interviews virtually through video conferencing. It’s
Timely New Study Finds Not A Whole Lot Of Learning Happens In Last Part Of School Year

A couple of time when I’ve been interviewed this month, I’ve tried to put school closures in a bit of context: Seventy percent of the school year had already been completed by the time we closed. Of the remaining thirty percent, one week was going to be spring break and two weeks were going to be devoted to state testing, and not much learning happens during that time with all the disruption. The
April is “Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month” – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources

tiffffney / Pixabay Several states recognize April as “Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month “: The anniversaries of many genocides occur in April, including the Holocaust and the catastrophes in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the Darfur region of Sudan. You might be interested in: The Best Resources For Learning About Genocide The Best Sites To Learn About Genoc


The Importance Of Telling Stories When Teaching Or Presenting

My IB Theory of Knowledge students are doing an incredible job preparing their Oral Presentations, which they’ll be doing online in early May. This year, as I do every year, I am sort of a “broken record” as I constantly “harass” them to illustrate concepts with stories. Some years I do a good job explaining what 
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007