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"Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day…" - 5 new articles
Do We Need More Metaphors When Organizing For Education & Political Change?
I thought the recent Harvard Business Journal article, The Power of Metaphors When Introducing Change Initiatives, made some good points about the potential powerful role of metaphors. Immediately after reading the article, I saw this post about a study finding how mangrove forests protect homes:
It got me thinking how that could be used as a metaphor in education – what are the equivalent to mangrove fields that protect our students? And the article reminded me of another metaphor I’ve written about at What Can We Learn About Education From The World’s Tallest Tree?. What are some metaphors you think could be helpful in organizing for change in our schools or in organizing against the destructive efforts of the Trump administration? I’m adding this post to The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change.      SEL Weekly Update
I’ve begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. Also, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources. Here are this week’s picks: How expressing gratitude can transform your work and life is from The Associated Press. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On “Gratitude” I’m adding this post to Best Posts On “Motivating” Students:
Dare to Act Differently and Be Happier is a good article from The Atlantic (it’s behind a paywall, but there are other ways to access it). It describes four ways to be… happier based on research, and encourages readers to experiment by doing one each for a week and see how they feel after a month: 1. Gratitude: Think about someone who you are grateful for, and write them a note.
I’m adding this info to The Best Sites To Learn About…Happiness? Our Favorite Management Tips on Dealing with Conflict is from The Harvard Business Review. I’m adding it to Best Posts On Classroom Management.  A Collection Of The Best Resources To Help Content Teachers Make Their Lessons More Accessible To ELLs – And Everybody Else, Too!
As you can see from the above image, I’ll be co-hosting a short webinar for Seidlitz Education about different strategies content teachers can use to not only make their lessons more accessible to English Language Learners, but to their English-proficient students, too! With the decreasing numbers of ELL Newcomer students due to xenophobic Trump administration policies, more and more content teachers will be having ELLs placed in their classes since there won’t be the numbers needed for separate ones (see What Should Schools Do As The Numbers Of ELL Newcomers Decrease?). Personally, my three favorite strategies for content teachers to use are: Peer tutors (see THE BEST RESOURCES ON PEER TUTORS) Jigsaw (THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE JIGSAW INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY) Writing Frames and Writing Structures (The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students) I’ll be talking more about them, and Carol Salva will share her favorite ones, in the second half-hour of the webinar (which I don’t think will be recorded) after our initial conversation with Merica Clinkenbeard. She’ll be talking about her choices in the first part. In addition, here are additional resources on the topic: The Best Sites For Learning Strategies To Teach ELL’s In Content Classes The Best Videos For Content Teachers With ELLs In Their Classes – Please Suggest More The Best Advice To Content Teachers About Supporting English Language Learners THE BEST RESOURCES TO HELP ELL STUDENTS WITH SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION IN THE CLASSROOM The Best Places To Get The “Same” Text Written For Different “Levels” Ways A “Mainstream” Teacher Can Support An ELL Newcomer In Class
 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 can also see all my “Best” lists on instructional strategies here. Here are this week’s picks: 10 Ideas for Reflecting at the End of the School Year is updated from The NY Times Learning Network. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Finish The School Year Strong. Math is creative? Yes! 4 ways to encourage creativity in math class is from Teach Learn Grow. I’m adding it to The Best Apps, Online Tools & Other Resources For Math.
From Superheroes to Taylor Swift: Using Students’ Passions to Ignite Learning is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Ideas For Helping Students Connect Lessons To Their Interests & The World. I’m adding this tweet to The Best Rubric Sites (And A Beginning Discussion About Their Use):
I’m adding this video to The Best Questions To Use For Class Closing Activities — What Are Yours?:   A Look Back: Teachers Might Find My “Concept Attainment – Plus” Instructional Strategy UsefulFor the next several months, each day I’ll be republishing a post from the past that I think readers might still find useful. This post first appeared in 2016.
As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of using Concept Attainment as an instructional strategy for writing. You can see examples at Here Are Some Examples Of Using “Concept Attainment” In Writing Instruction. As I explain in that post, teachers using this strategy place examples, typically (though not always) from unnamed student work, under the categories of “Yes” and “No.” The class then constructs their own understanding of why the examples are in their categories. It’s a great tool for many lessons, and I like it especially for grammar and other writing. Last week, though, I had a brainstorm, and came up with a revised strategy that I’m calling “Concept Attainment – Plus,” and it has worked very well. I think teachers of English Language Learners and non-ELLs alike might find it useful and, I hope, offer suggestions on how to improve it further…. “Concept Attainment – Plus” has three steps: STEP ONE I pick an example of student writing that especially illustrates one writing error and put it under the “No” column. In this case, I’m focusing on the tendency for many ELLs to have very long run-on sentences, along with the frequently made mistake of how to write “the United States.” Parallel to that passage, under the “Yes” column, I re-write the paragraph correctly. Student have to compare the two passages, identify the errors in the student’s writing, and explain why they are mistakes. After students have completed their review, I call them up to the overhead individually to identify one mistake at a time.
STEP TWO The second sheet contains a short humorous passage in the “No” column that I write and which mimics the errors in the first student passage. Students have to identify the errors and re-write it correctly on the left under the “Yes” column. Again, I call students up to the overhead frequently.
STEP THREE I then give students a simple and engaging prompt where they need to write a passage demonstrating their understanding of the writing feature we have learned in the first two sheets.
Students always like “regular” Concept Attainment, but they have loved this more intensive scaffolded process. It takes about one full class period to do from start-to-finish, and takes me about an hour to prepare it. It’s definitely worth the time. Let me know what you think of the strategy and, importantly, how you think it can be improved…. I’m adding this post to The Best Resources About Inductive Learning & Teaching and to The Best Posts On Writing Instruction.  More Recent Articles
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