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The “Best” Ideas For Teaching About The U.S., Israeli/Iran Conflict Pavellllllll / Pixabay
This morning’s attack on Iran is costing lives, and is creating global instability. I’m sure lots of teachers are trying to figure out how they’re going to talk and teach about it on Monday. Here are a few ideas (and I’ll be adding more to the list): Facing History has some generic lesson ideas for current events that I think are usable, as does The Teaching Channel. You can find more ideas at The Best Resources & Ideas For Teaching About Current Events, and I’ll continue to add to this list. Though PBS doesn’t have a lesson plan at the moment that is appropriate, I’d bet dollars to donuts that they’ll have one up soon at the NewsHour Classroom. The NY Times Learning Network has an extensive resource on the Israel/Hamas war, much of which is not going to be helpful to teachers right now. But, they do offer three questions that I think could be used on this topic after teachers provide basic info on what’s going on:
Speaking of providing basic info on the attack, this Al Jazeera Explainer seems pretty good: Why are the US and Israel attacking Iran? What we know so far You might also be interested in The “Best” Resources For Learning About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.      February’s “Best” Lists – There Are Now 2,572 Of Them! Prawny / Pixabay
Here’s my regular round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 2,540 of them categorized here – you might also want to check out THREE ACCESSIBLE WAYS TO SEARCH FOR & FIND MY “BEST” LISTS). Here are the lists from this month: The Best Ideas For Teaching About Bad Bunny & His Super Bowl Halftime Show The Best Resources For Helping Teach About The 250th Anniversary Of The American Revolution The “Best” Lesson Ideas For Teaching About The Protests & Killings In Minneapolis  Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
Eight 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: Slate has begun an online word game called “Pears” that may or may offer an idea adaptable to the ELL classroom. First, you’re given six letters and have to create as many words as you can from then. Next, you’re given a two letter combo, and you have to use that combo and the other six letters to create a longer word. Here’s a video ELLs can watch and write and talk about what they saw:  I’m adding this video to The Best Resources For Using “If This Animal Or Image Could Talk” Lesson Idea In Class:  The ten cornerstones of effective listening instruction is from The Language Gym. From Idea to Draft: Scaffolded ESL Writing with Writing Sparks and Kiddle is from FLTMag. Questions to Ask About Your Multilingual Students is from Edutopia.
Here’s another video that ELLs can watch and then talk/write about what they saw:  Here’s another video for ELL students:  How to Teach Listening, Step-by-Step is from The Barefoot TEFL Teacher.  My Best Posts That Appeared In February
I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here). You can also see my all-time favorites here. I’ve also been doing “A Look Back” series reviewing old favorites, too. Here are some of the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written during this past month (not in any order of preference) – also note that I group many updates on the Trump administration’s current attack on education and democracy in weekly posts you can find here): “Time Travel App” Is A Cool Tool For Visualizing World History Shocking (NOT) Research Result – SEL Can’t Mitigate The Affects Of Poverty On Academic Achievement “The Globe Of History” Is An Intriguing Tool For Learning About…History Sentences Of The Week This is a new cool weekly feature I’ve begun publishing. Great Free Curriculum For ELL Newcomers “Vocab.top” Seems Like A Particularly Good Multilingual Dictionary Wow! How Have I Never Heard Of These Videos For English Language Learners From Chasing Time English? “Odyssey” Is An AI-Powered Video Tool That Could Be Useful To English Language Learners “LineSpeak” Is An AI Tool To Assess Pronunciation & It Seems To Have A Generous Free Plan “LingoLingo” MIGHT Have A Lot Of Potential For English Language Learners New Study Finds Learning Another Language Slows Down Ageing Of Your Brain Google Just Created A New AI Tool That Is Perfect For Teachers Of ELL Newcomers Recommendations For Teachers From A Study On How To Enhance Student Motivation “Uttered” Might Become A Decent Video Option For English Language Learners Another Article On Using Visualization To Help Further Success The National Center for Civil and Human Rights Offers Great Lesson Materials For Free Some Studies Say That AI Tutors Are Supposedly Effective, But For Whom? If I Was Still Teaching, I’d Use This Writing Prompt As Part Of My Unit On Artificial Intelligence I Benefited A Lot From Reading This Piece About AI In Education, & I Think All Educators Could, Too Must Watch Video: “ICE Took Their Classmate. They Started Writing Letters.” Here’s My One Idea For How To Be An “Education Governor” Or Even An “Education Leader” In 2026 Take A Chill Pill On “Grade Inflation,” Please “Why Do I Have to Learn About Science? Tips for Helping Students See Why It Matters” “AI Is Different From Other Ed Tech. Here’s How” “If You Avoid Conversations About Race and Gender, You’re ‘Abandoning’ Students” “What Should SEL Look Like in the Classroom?” “In These Troubled Times, Chris Emdin Urges Educators to Restore the Sacred Art of Teaching” “Teaching Students How Today’s Events Parallel History” “How Can Educators Teach in These Turbulent Times?” “How to Stop Hemorrhaging Teachers”  Research Studies Of The Week Mohamed_hassan / Pixabay 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. You can see all my “Best” lists related to education research here. Here are some new useful studies (and related resources): The Extent of Student Mobility Among Vulnerable Groups in California is from EDWorkingPapers.
The Work of Raj Chetty is from Homo Economicus, and contains useful commentary on his education studies. I’ve shared a fair amount about those studies over the years.
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