Saturday, March 26, 2022

THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION 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 IN EDUCATION
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... 
The latest news and resources in education since 2007



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 INSTRUCTION IN 2021 – PART ONE . Here are this week’s picks: This is an interesting post by Dan Meyer: We Should Wish PhotoMath All The Success In The World . I’m adding it to The Best Apps, Online
A Look Back: 26 Places To Get The “Same” Text At Different Levels
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. geralt / Pixabay I originally posted The Best Places To Get The “Same” Text Written For Different “Levels” in 2014, and have been revising and updating it since that time. It’s consistently been one of my most popular posts. The list includes sites like Newsela , News In Levels , Tween Tribune , and 23 more,
Day Three Of Our Strike & The State Superintendent Of Public Instruction Intervenes
After a third day of picketing at our schools, and then holding a massive protest and march in downtown Sacramento, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has called for a negotiation session of all parties (see video below). Assuming this happens later today, it will be the first time in several years our district’s superintendent has actually participated in a bargaining sessi

MAR 24

Friday’s New Articles & Videos On School Reopenings
(Note: This on-going series is about reopening schools around the country in light of the pandemic. We are presently on strike, resulting in the closing of schools in our district because our district leadership is not taking seriously the changes that need to be made to deal with effects of the pandemic on our students and teachers. See other posts on this blog for up-to-date reports on our job
A Look Back: 18 Tools For Creating Online Tests
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. Memed_Nurrohmad / Pixabay I originally posted The Best Ways To Create Online Tests in 2008, and have been revising and updating it since that time. Of course, Google Forms is the one used the most by teachers, but this list also includes Classmarker , Image Quiz , Riddle and fifteen more. Check them all out
Look For A “Slow Twitter Chat” On Our New Book Next Week #eslsg
The second edition of our book, The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels , will be out any day now. Next week, we’ll lead a “Slow Twitter Chat” on the book. This means we’ll be sharing short excerpts from the first two chapters, and at least some of the other ELL teachers who contributed chapters will
Second Day Of Our Strike Is In The Books – Our Union Has Never Been In A Stronger Position
Day two of the Sacramento teachers’ and classified staff strike is in the books. We began the strike with district administrators expressing no confidence in our Superintendent, after teachers and classified had done so previously. Today began with the Superintendent’s staunchest ally, the Sacramento Bee, abandoning him. See the link to the column appearing there in one of the tweets below. See p

MAR 23

Thursday’s New Articles On School Reopenings
viarami / Pixabay Ordinarily, I’d add these new articles and videos to The Best Posts Predicting (& Showing) What Schools Look Like During The Pandemic . However, that list is just getting too massive. So, in the future, if you want to find these in one place, click here: ‘I Still Just Worry’: 3 Teachers on Covid’s Long Shadow Over American Schools is from The NY Times. Mask or no mask? Californi
A Look Back: 23 Online Geography Games
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. dapple-designers / Pixabay I originally published The Best Online Geography Games in 2013, and have been revising and updating it since that time. It includes games like GeoGuessr , Game On World , Seterra Online and twenty more. Check them all out at the “Best” list and let me know what I’m missing!
Google Unveils New Manga Site That Will Be Big Hit With Students Everywhere
Today, Google unveiled a new Google Arts and Culture site called Manga Out Of The Box . Not only does it have a zillion multimedia features where you can learn about manga, but it also has a feature that allows you to create manga figures with the help of Artificial Intelligence. As any teacher knows, Manga is hugely popular among many students, so we teachers should be able to use this site for
The First – And Not The Last – Day Of Our Teachers’ & Classified Staff Strike Is Over
The first day of our strike is over, and the solidarity of teachers, classified staff, students and families was in full force! Unfortunately, our district’s leadership is still not serious about negotiating with us. You can read more about the issues related to the strike at this California Teachers Association article , and at previous posts I’ve shared: OUR TEACHERS’ UNION ACCEPTS FACT FINDING

MAR 22

The Best Strategies For Using Picture Dictionaries With ELLs
rapplw / Pixabay All ELL teachers use Picture Dictionaries, and I’ve been thinking lately about different strategies about how to use them in the classroom. I recently put out a request on social media for ideas. Here are some of them (please share more): This is a simple sequence I’ve sometimes been having peer tutors use with my students: Teach ten words and how to say them – point to image, sa
“Practical Ways Schools Can Support Student Learning Now”
Practical Ways Schools Can Support Student Learning Now is the headline of my latest Education Week column. Instead of engaging in unrealistic solutions, schools should focus on those that will make students’ lives better immediately. Here are some excerpts:
A Look Back: 17 Tools For Creating Online Polls & Surveys
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay I originally posted The Best Sites For Creating Online Polls & Surveys in 2008, and have been revising and updating it since that time. Obviously, Google Forms has to be a top choice, but the list also includes tools like The Answer Garden , MetaSurvey , Get Acquainted and thirt
Our Strike Begins Tomorrow – Wednesday
I’ll be walking the picket line tomorrow with my @SacTeachers colleagues. Teachers, classified, and now administrators have given our Supt a no-confidence vote. One would think the School Board would get the message that there is a serious problem with our district leadership https://t.co/Tg9WaBxK7k — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) March 23, 2022 Read more here (no deal was reached): Sacramento

MAR 21

We Received Advance Copies Of Our New Book!
We just received advance copies of the second edition of The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide ! You can order it here on Amazon . It should be available by the end of this month. Look for excerpts at Middleweb , and a slow Twitter chat we’ll be doing at the beginning of April.
New Resources On Race & Racism
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: How California districts seek to recruit, retain Black teachers amid shortage is from Ed Source. I’m adding it to New & Revised: The Best Resources For Understanding Why We Need More
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 2021. Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners. In additi
A Look Back: 21 Tools For Creating Online Presentations
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay I originally posted The Best Ways To Create Online Slideshows in 2008, and have been revising and updating it since that time. Of course, it includes Google Slides, but also twenty more, such as Adobe Spark (yes, I know it’s called something different now, but I think many of us
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 seeing all my “Best” lists related to education policy here ): Op-Ed: How can we make more students fall in love with math? is by JO BOALER. Unprecedented federal funding is on the way. High-poverty schools are starting to reckon with how to spend it. is from Chalkbeat. "10,000 students do
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-to-ten 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
A Look Back: This Is Interesting: Hattie Says Jigsaw Strategy Hits a Homerun
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 post originally appeared in 2017: Katrina Schwartz has written an excellent article over at MindShift headlined How Do You Know When A Teaching Strategy Is Most Effective? John Hattie Has An Idea. She’s done a masterful job of exp
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 INSTRUCTION IN 2021 – PART ONE . Here are this week’s picks: Creating Authentic Writing Opportunities in the Science Classroom is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Writing In Sc

MAR 19

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
A Look Back: 14 Tools For Easily Creating Charts & Graphs Online
I’m continuing my “A Look Back” series by looking at past “Best” lists and updating them. janjf93 / Pixabay I originally posted The Best Tools To Make Simple Graphs & Charts Online in 2008, and have been revising and updating it since that time. It includes tools like Chartle , Chart Go, Kids Zone , Pie Color , and ten more… Check them all out at the “Best” list and let me know what I’m missing!
Statistic Of The Day: Parents With Kids In School Say Schools Are Doing Fine; Others Appear To Disagree
Who’s Unhappy With Schools? The Answer Surprised Me. is a must-read column in today’s NY Times. Here are a couple of other excerpts from the piece: …according to Gallup , which has tracked school satisfaction annually since 1999, in 2021, “73 percent of parents of school-aged children say they are satisfied with the quality of education their oldest child is receiving.” All of this at least raise
How Our ELL Students Received More Support This Year Than Ever Before
geralt / Pixabay Our school, Luther Burbank High School, has always provided strong support to English Language Learners. This year, however, that support has reached an entirely different – and higher – level, and the progress being made by our students shows that it is paying off. Here are the changes we have made this year: 1. Added as many as nine peer tutors to Beginning and Intermediate lev

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