Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… 9-29-12 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF


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


Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day
Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Problems.

More Articles On “Won’t Back Down”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 hours ago
Here are new additions to The Best Posts & Articles On Parent Trigger Movie “Won’t Back Down”: ‘Won’t Back Down’: Film critics pan parent-trigger movie — update is from Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post. Reaction to “Won’t Back Down” Shows Critics Have Learned Something is by Anthony Cody at Education Week Teacher. ‘Won’t Back [...]

Ed Week Post On “Parent Organizing” By Reform Groups Demonstrates Fatal Flaw In Strategy

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 1 day ago
[education reform advocacy organization] leaders are increasingly realizing that the successful enactment, implementation, and protection of the education policy reforms on their agenda—and public perception of the agenda’s legitimacy—necessitates the development of a new, more active approach to parental engagement. This new approach will need to build a permanent, coordinated network of organizations engaged in [...]

“Engaging Every Secondary School Family”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 2 days ago
Engaging Every Secondary School Family is a useful post by Steve Constantino. Here’s an excerpt: At the secondary school level, the plan to engage families should emanate from the families themselves. Understanding their perspectives and needs and then crafting a plan based on that information helps to make engagement efforts more meaningful and relevant to [...]

Will PTA Step-In To Stop “Murder-Suicide Pact” That Could Devastate California Schools?

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 3 days ago
I’ve written extensively about the potentially devastating impact actions being taken by billionaire Molly Munger, supported by the California PTA, could have on our schools. Munger and the PTA refused to step away from their ballot measure to raise funds for schools and support one pushed by Governor Brown. I think the PTA’s move is [...]

“Mentoring becomes as much about parents as it is about kids”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
Mentoring becomes as much about parents as it is about kids is an article on NBC’s website about a very impressive “mentoring program” sponsored by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago. Here’s a very short excerpt from the lengthy article: The year-long program places parents into a classroom in their child’s school for two [...]

“Parent Trigger Laws: Why It’s Better to Embrace Collaboration”

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 4 days ago
Parent Trigger Laws: Why It’s Better to Embrace Collaboration is a post over at Edutopia written by Anne O’Brien. Here’s how it ends: Passionate and active parents are a critical component of a successful education system. And while parent trigger laws can provide an avenue for parents to engage, their energy might be better directed [...]

Tweets From “Parent” Panel At Education Nation

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 days ago
NBC’s Education Nation had a parent engagement discussion today with a questionable panel. I’ve brought together some tweets from the event using Storify: [View the story "Tweets From \"Parent\" Panel At Education Nation" on Storify]

Latest Version Of Parent Trigger Has Wealthy Parents Wanting To Secede From Nashville District

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 days ago
A new article in The Tennessean describes the latest version of a parent trigger law that wealthy parents in Nashville are hoping to use to create their own charter. Why am I not surprised?

What Engaged Means – Do Engaged Families Need Support?

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 5 days ago
Guest Post by Joe Mazza This week’s Parent-Teacher Chat on Twitter Wed., 9/26/12 – 9PM EDT / 6PM PST #ptchat – Tweetchat Link Image credit: csmonitor.com You can find quizzes like the one above all over the Internet. The questions refer to the balancing act of “Tiger Mom” vs. “Dolphin Mom.” While these words are [...]

“Parents As Partners” New Season Of Webcasts Is Starting

Larry Ferlazzo at Engaging Parents In School... - 6 days ago
Parents As Partners has regularly organized webcasts on parent engagement issues for years, and it’s starting its new season on Monday Sept 24, 2012. You can read all the details here. Here’s how they are describing it: Our first show will star you! We are starting off with a brainstorming session and you are invited [...]


September’s Best Tweets — Part Two

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 hours ago
Every month I make a short list highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. Now and then, in order to make it a … Continue reading →

The Best Articles I’ve Written

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago
I’ve just revised and updated The Twelve Best Articles I’ve Written About Education. Feedback is welcome.

New Resources On The Presidential Election

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 hours ago
Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election: Understanding and Hosting a Post-Presidential Debate is from the PBS News Hour. To tell the truth, I’m not really impressed with most of … Continue reading →

Columbus Day Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 8 hours ago
Columbus Day in the United States is coming up soon, and I’ve just updated The Best Online Resources About Christopher Columbus. Additional suggestions are welcome….

Important New Resource For Immigrants

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 11 hours ago
Two new sites — UneteAlSueno.org in Spanish and WeOwnTheDream.org in English — have just been unveiled to help immigrants considering applying for the Obama Administrations “Deferred Action” program. It looks like these two sites are the “go to” ones for … Continue reading →

Here’s The Infographic ASCD Made For My Article On Responding To Challenging Students

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 12 hours ago
Here’s the infographic ASCD made for my article Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do, which appears to be quite popular: Source: ascd.org via Larry on Pinterest

Video: “Voting Early Style”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
I’ve previously posted ideas on how to use the “Gangnam Style” video as a language acquisition activity. Even I have limits to the levels of public embarrassment I can endure, so will not post the video that our class developed. … Continue reading →

This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
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 … Continue reading →

Participate In A Free Online Chat With Us About Our New ELL Book

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Katie Hull Sypnieski and I will be participating in an Education Week Teacher-sponsored free online chat in Thursday, October 11th, 4:00 PM Eastern Time. It’s titled Strategies for Working With English-Language Learners. You can sign-up for an email reminder at … Continue reading →

“Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do is the title of my new article in ASCD “Educational Leadership.” It offers suggestions on how to respond to challenging students. It even comes with its own infographic! (The infographic right now … Continue reading →

“Ideas for English Language Learners | Election 2012″

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 1 day ago
Ideas for English Language Learners | Election 2012 is my new post at The New York Times Learning Network. I think teachers of non-ELL’s might find it useful, too. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The … Continue reading →

” How Americans Spend Their Money” Is A Useful Infographic

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
How Americans Spend Their Money is a useful infographic from The Wall Street Journal. It also charts changes from the year 2000 until now.

“What Are The Best Ways To Use Interactive White Boards?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
What Are The Best Ways To Use Interactive White Boards? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave your responses there or here….

Useful Resume Infographic

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
This is a useful resume infographic. I’m adding it to The Best Places For Students To Write Their Resumes: by CareerBuilder.Browse more data visualizations.

Nice PBS Interview With “Teacher Of The Year”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Last night, the PBS News Hour had a nice interview with the 2012 National Teacher Of The Year, Rebecca Mieliwocki. She has a lot of good things to say. I’ve embedded the interview below, and you can also access it, … Continue reading →

“Using Games in the ELL Classroom, Part II”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Using Games in the ELL Classroom, Part II is a new excerpt from the recent book Katie Hull Sypnieski and I have written. It appears in Education Week Teacher. They’ll also be sponsoring a free online chat with us on … Continue reading →

Great Immigration Infographics — For Each State!

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Thanks to Judie Haynes and Rusiana Westerland, today I learned about fifty immigration infographics — one for each state — from the Immigration Policy Center. First to this link and click on the state on the U.S. map. Each state … Continue reading →

“Hubble captures extraordinary view of Universe”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
Hubble captures extraordinary view of Universe is an article from the BBC. Here’s an excerpt, and a video: The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has produced one of its most extraordinary views of the Universe to date. Called the eXtreme Deep … Continue reading →

Video Addition To Marshmallow Lesson On Self-Control

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 2 days ago
I’m teaching my lesson on self-control and the famous marshmallow experiment this Friday (you can see an early version of it here and I have the full lesson plan in my student motivation book). Near the beginning of the lesson … Continue reading →

“Teaching Science By Asking Questions”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Teaching Science By Asking Questions is the fourth and final post in my series on teaching science over at Education Week Teacher. It includes guest responses from Marsha Ratzel and Paul Bruno, along with many suggestions from readers.

“Interactive: how much water is used in the production of different foods?”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Interactive: how much water is used in the production of different foods? is a useful….interactive from The Guardian. It’s design is somewhat unique. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About World Water Day.

“La Vida Latina: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month With The New York Times”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
It’s Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States, and The New York Times Learning Network has just published a very useful resource, La Vida Latina: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month With The New York Times. I’m adding it to The Best … Continue reading →

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

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Here are some relatively recent good posts and article on education policy: Can Teacher Evaluation Improve Teaching? is from Education Next. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments. More Evidence of Statistical … Continue reading →

“The American Family Through Time” Is A Fascinating Interactive

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
The American Family Through Time is a fascinating interactive “board game” that takes you through each census since the founding of the United States and shows you key results from that era. I’m adding it to The Best Tools For … Continue reading →

Going Underwater With Google Maps

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Google Maps can now take you on underwater tours! It sounds like it’s not quite yet ready for prime-time, but you can read all about its expansion to well-known areas beneath the sea. I’m adding it to The Best Sites … Continue reading →

“RealtimeBoard” Looks Like A Decent Collaboration Tool

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
RealtimeBoard is a new online whiteboard that seems like a decent tool for real-time collaboration. It’s easy to use, and lets you upload images from your computer or by its url address. I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools … Continue reading →

Update On The “Next Generation” Of Standardized Tests

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 3 days ago
Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing: Smarter Balanced, PARCC Team Up To Fund Future Operations is from Education Week. Two Versions of ‘Common’ Test Eyed by State Consortium … Continue reading →

Word Lovers Will Love “Mysteries of Vernacular”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
Mysteries of Vernacular is site that will eventually display many of the kinds of videos that are displayed below. They’re generally not going to be accessible to many English Language Learners. However, they could be nice models for students to … Continue reading →

Reading And The Brain

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
I’m preparing a lesson plan on Reading and the Brain, and thought I’d share the resources I’m using for it. I’m adding them all to The Best Resources For Showing Students That They Make Their Brain Stronger By Learning: The … Continue reading →

Using The New York Times Learning Network

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 4 days ago
I have an obvious bias in favor the resources offered by The New York Times Learning Network since I write a monthly column for them on teaching English Language Learners (look for my new one this Thursday on teaching about … Continue reading →

Students Encouraged To Create Election Videos By “Engage2012″

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Students are encouraged to ask people in the community about the election and post their video to YouTube by the site Engage2012. You can read more about it in an article by educator Esther Wojcicki. I’m adding it to The … Continue reading →

Research Studies Of The Week

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
I often write about research studies from various field 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 … Continue reading →

Guest Post From Rick Wormeli: “Fair Isn’t Always Equal: $5 Bills on the Wall Technique”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Well-known educator and author Rick Wormeli sent some tweets out last week describing how to use an analogy in the classroom to help students understand differentiation. I thought it was useful (though one would have to be very careful to … Continue reading →

More IWB Resources

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Here are the newest additions The Best Sites For Smartboard Resources (& For Other IWB’s): TESiBoard has a nice selection of IWB resources. Thanks to Vicki Davis for the tip. Interactive Whiteboards #101 : A short primer is from The … Continue reading →

Use “Nulu” To Learn Spanish

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Nulu is a relatively new site for learning Spanish. You can pick a variety of news stories to have read to you, and the English translation is shown. You can also easily create flash cards for words that you want … Continue reading →

“Patterns Of Deception” Is An Extremely Useful Tool For Analyzing Campaign Ads

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Patterns Of Deception is a page from the site Flack Check, sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. This is how it describes their feature: The Patterns of Deception page identifies recurrent deceptive techniques in … Continue reading →

Teaching Science By “Becoming A Learner”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Teaching Science By “Becoming A Learner” is the title of Part Three in my four-post Education Week series on teaching science. It includes guest responses from Frank Noschese, Paul Cancellieri and Steve Spangler.

“What 100 Years Of Voting Looks Like”

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 5 days ago
Salon has just published this video, along with an analysis of what it shows. It’s pretty interesting, and I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election.

Series Of Good Dan Pink Videos To Use With Students

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
I’ve written a lot about Daniel Pink’s writings on motivation over the years. Thanks to Pam Moran, I recently discovered a series of short videos Dan did for the Patterson Foundation that would be good to use with students. Actually, … Continue reading →

More Info On Why Inductive Learning Is So Effective

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
I have written tons in my books and in this blog about the effectiveness of inductive learning. It’s the idea of pushing students, and ourselves, to see patterns and concepts in a list of examples, as opposed to telling students … Continue reading →

What A Great Interactive For Geography Class!

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
The New World is an interactive from The New York Times. Here is how it describes itself: …we appear on the brink of yet another nation-state baby boom. This time, the new countries will not be the product of a … Continue reading →

Using “Gangnam Style” As A Language Acquisition Activity

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
The New York Times has published Gangnam Style, Original and in Imitation, which includes the original video that started the worldwide craze and a nice fun selection of imitations. It offers so many different options for language acquisition: * Showing … Continue reading →

Here’s Why We Humans Can “Celebrate” Our Mistakes

Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... - 6 days ago
I’ve posted a few times about the importance of, to borrow from Carol Dweck, “celebrating” our mistakes. You can find those posts at The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures. We humans should take advantage … Continue reading →