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“Mock Talk” Looks Like A Good – And Free – Tool Where ELLs Can Practice Speaking
Mock Talk provides eleven different scenarios English Language Learners can role-play speaking, and then AI provides suggestions and feedback. It’s free – at least, for now. I’m adding it to The Most Useful Free Or VERY Low Cost AI Tools For Supporting English Language Learners.      My Three Holiday Gifts To You! BiljaST / Pixabay
Here are three Holiday Gifts To Readers (that I give every year!): First, He understood not only what we did but what we were supposed to do is from The Los Angeles Times, and I think it’s the best newspaper story ever written about Christmas. Second, here’s one of my favorite education-related videos. It’s a great example of differentiated instruction. In the video, some ducklings were able to get over the curb on their own. However, several found that it was just too high. Look at how someone provides assistance to those having trouble, and how he doesn’t tell them what to do. Instead, he offers it as an option, as a choice they can make. It’s an example of an old community organizing axiom, “If you don’t give people the opportunity to say no, you don’t give them the opportunity to say yes, either.” 
It was an older copy of a very small book titled “Axioms For Organizers” by Fred Ross, Sr. Fred Ross, Sr. was a legendary community organizer. While working for the Industrial Areas Foundation (which I worked for during most of my organizing career) he became Cesar Chavez’s key mentor and adviser. Ross was the author of an extraordinary book that is still available titled Conquering Goliath: Cesar Chavez at the Beginning. In fact, three years ago, he was selected for the California Hall Of Fame and two years ago a great biography was published, America’s Social Arsonist: Fred Ross and Grassroots Organizing in the Twentieth Century. You can also see a new film about him: Video: “American Agitators” Film Is Complete & I Think Anyone Interested In Making Our World A Better Place Should Watch It Even though the little book that Mary sent me is long out-of-print, a quick Internet search found that it’s still available on a free online PDF. The book is directed towards organizers, but all of Fred’s axioms offer important advice to teachers, as well. I’d encourage you to review the entire PDF, which is very short, and here are a few of my favorites: Short-Cuts –Short-cuts usually end in detours, which lead to dead ends. Social Arsonist –A good organizer is a social arsonist who goes around setting people on fire. People – It’s the way people are that counts, not the way you’d like them to be. Organizing Is –Organizing is providing people with the opportunity to become aware of their own capabilities and potential. Questions –When you are tempted to make a statement, ask a question. Enjoy the holidays!  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: Scaffolding Strategies to Teach Challenging Text is from Middleweb. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Providing Scaffolds To Students. Don’t be difficult: Tackling difficulty and complexity in K–12 education is from Teach Learn Grow. 6 Active Reading Strategies to Engage Students (DOWNLOADABLE) is from Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On Reading Strategies & Comprehension – Help Me Find More! 3 Ways to Help Students Overcome the Forgetting Curve is from Edutopia. Do students actually read your feedback? is from InnerDrive. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students.  This Week’s Free & Useful Artificial Intelligence Tools For The Classroom geralt / Pixabay
At least, for now, I’m going to make this a weekly feature which will highlight additions to THE BEST NEW – & FREE – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS THAT COULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM. Here are the latest: Concept Mash looks like the best AI-powered mind map tool I’ve seen so far, and it’s free. I’m adding it to Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Mindmapping, Flow Chart Tools, & Graphic Organizers. I’m not so sure this is the best way to use AI with ELLs: Emergent Bilingual Students Find Their Voice With Real-Time Translation This post describes what I think is the easiest way to determine if AI is used – much more effective that AI text detectors:
Peer and AI Review + Reflection (PAIRR): A human-centered approach to formative assessment Britannica now has a chatbot, for what it’s worth. I’m not quite sure what Write Like A Human does, but it might be worth a look by teachers.
 8 ways to make the most out of Slide Decks in NotebookLM is from Google.  New (& Veteran) Superintendents Could Do Far Worse Than Reading This Article TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay
I’ve got to say that, over the years, I’ve met very few school district superintendents who I’ve felt have been up to the task. Maybe you’ve had better luck. Fixing Urban Schools: Sprinters or Marathoners? by Larry Cuban is a piece of recommended for reading to some of them. I also think they could benefit from If The CEO Of Lyft Drives Every Six Weeks, Could Principals, Central Office Staff & University Teacher Credential Professors Periodically Teach A K-12 Class? And I’ve also suggested some of the pieces at A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES ON LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP – SHARE YOUR OWN list. The Harvard Business Review recently published a lengthy article that I would add to that reading list. The Surprising Success of Hands-On Leaders highlights the practice of several CEOs (some of whom, like Jeff Bezos, have some other obviously terrible qualities). But they all seem to model good practices on how to run organizations: They are not inserting themselves into every decision or displacing their teams. Instead, they act as teachers and system builders: They’re present in the work not to control it or make every decision themselves but to model standards, sharpen problem-solving, and establish behavioral norms that enable others to act with autonomy and discipline. They don’t meddle—they coach. They don’t override—they elevate. They don’t hoard decision rights—they teach others how to make sound decisions on their own. Their involvement is not disempowering—it is energizing. And it is purposeful: to build a system that performs reliably even when they’re not in the room.
It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you are a school leader or superintendent.  More Recent Articles
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