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"Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day…" - 5 new articles
Sentences Of The Week geralt / Pixabay
I thought readers might, or might not, find this new regular post useful. Each week, I highlight several sentences, with links to their sources, that I find interesting/concerning/useful. And they may, or may not, be directly connected to education. I may also include my own comments or related links. This regular post will join my other regular ones on teaching ELLs, education policy, Artificial Intelligence, infographics, and Pinterest highlights, not to mention sharing of my regular Education Week posts. Here are this week’s sentences: There’s not going to be a program, an app, a curriculum, a test, a gadget, a chatbot, an algorithm that is going to “fix” children because children aren’t little machines you can tinker with until you’ve optimized their engines. Anytime you hear the label “the science of…” — like, say “the science of reading” (or “computer science” or “political science”) — you should recognize you’re being marketed a kind of scientism that not only wants to elevate the field or practice to the realm of Real Knowledge but denigrate competing practices as “folk” or “bunk.” In my many conversations with students over the last several years, they have consistently expressed a desire to learn, but also convincingly argued that often the systems they are working within do not seem to value learning for its own sake. The most important capacity we should be fostering students is agency, the ability to make choices consistent with their own interests and goals. Accordingly, “the core challenge of managing our limited time” is figuring out “how to decide most wisely what not to do, and how to feel at peace about not doing it.” Never coach a person for who they are today; push them to who they should be someday. Dylan Wiliam, an emeritus professor of educational assessment at the UCL Institute of Education, said: “Technology may well be harming student achievement but the correlational studies that we currently have cannot support such causal claims. “And there are many well-designed studies that show that technology can have a positive impact on student achievement. So the question, ‘Does edtech have a negative impact on learning?’ does not have a simple yes/no answer: sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. “The question we need to be asking is, ‘when does edtech help learning?’ And the answer is, ‘it’s complicated’.” When you see a school district put out guidance saying “Fridays are screen-free, that’s an instance of them trying to make decisions based on [concern] about technology in the classroom, instead of helping an individual [teacher] figure out how can we be more intentional about using screens. When Cassady Tondorf, 17, learned how chatbots produced writing, she realized their utter lack of originality. “The entire internet is open to it,” she said. “It’s just regenerating the same things, over and over.” I think that teaching another human being how to do something—that is one of the highest and best expressions of humanity that there is. Research has found that fiction is linked to better social cognition — our ability to think about and interact with other people — and an increased understanding of the world as a complex place.
     Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
Ten 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 all my Best lists on teaching ELLs. Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners. In addition, look for our latest book on teaching ELLs, The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox 2.0. Here are this week’s choices: Timely Research Evidence to Support Federal Assistance for English Learners is from the Ed Law Center. Using Graphic Organizers for Language Skills Development is from Emily Bryson. I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers. Kristof Abrath shares ten writing games.
What English Learners Need from Edtech: Insights from Educators and Communities is from New America. As Trump Pushes English Only, New Polling Shows Families Embrace Bilingualism is from The 74. ELLs could watch this video and then talk/write about what they saw:  What New Research Reveals About Grouping English Learners Together is from Ed Week. Here’s more on that research. Here’s another video to show ELLs. Awhile back, I created this related interactive lesson for The NY Times Learning Network on using dance with ELLs.  When Temporary Protected Status Ends: What Schools Need to Know is from Colorin Colorado. What Head Start’s English-Only Rule Could Mean for English Learners is from Ed Week.  A Look Back: How In The World Am I Just Learning About “Teaching Books”?!For the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful. This post first appeared in 2020.
Every year, my Beginning/Intermediate English Language Learner class begins as a pretty stressful experience for me. I’m never really sure what level of English-proficiency my students will have – state English test scores are notoriously useless, and the pandemic eliminated the tests even being given in the spring. Every year I have to have a number of alternative plans for the class based on proficiency levels and, this year, on top of that, I had to have strategies in place on how to teach them all online (our district’s “standard” ELL textbook has an online set-up that can be said to have a lot to be desired). Two weeks into the year, I now know what my plan needs to be. For example, I’ll be able to use a lot of my unit on story (see Here’s My Entire ELL Beginners Seven-Week Unit On Writing A Story (Including Hand-outs & Links) ). But I think I need to start with a story that has a more complex text than the book I usually use (The Story of Ferdinand). I’ve been asking for suggestions on social media, and have gotten a lot of good ones. However, to get started, just to make things easier on me, I decided to find a book on Epic! since our district is broke (see A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT OUR SACRAMENTO DISTRICT’S FINANCIAL FIASCO), and I’m just up to figuring out how to get actual books to our students. I found a good one, The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes. Then, I began searching for high quality teaching materials that have already been created for the book. And I found Teaching Books. I still can’t believe I had never heard of it before. The free site has tons of teaching materials for many books, and the ability for teachers to easily modify any of them for posting to Google Classroom. And, it’s been around for years! I’m adding this info to The Best Sites For Learning To Write A Story.  A Look Back: Goldmine Of Printables For Primary Source Analysis, Including Versions For ELLsFor the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful. This post first appeared in 2019.
The National Archives has a collection of eighteen different sheets that can be used by students for analyzing primary sources, including versions specifically made for use with ELLs. The worksheets could also be used with non-primary sources, and include ones targeting maps, documents and photos. I’m adding them to The Best Resources For Using Primary Sources.  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):
Sacramento-area schools grew teacher count by 11% amid recent wave of new hires is from KVIE. Back to School: August 2026 is from The Census Bureau.
The Science of Education is by Paul Kirschner. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Understanding How To Interpret Education Research. Evidence-informed teaching should not mean evidence-dictated is from From Experience To Meaning. I’m adding it to the same list.   More Recent Articles |
