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A Look Back: Amazing New Video Created By Smithsonian Will Probably Be Used In A Zillion ELL ClassesFor 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 2017.
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center published this amazing short film today. Here is how they describe it: “America is in the Heart” is a novel written by Carlos Bulosan in the 1940’s to capture his Filipino American experience, but its words still resonate with the greater immigrant experience today. This film, created by Frank Chi and presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, features a passage read by comedian Hasan Minhaj, community organizer Ivy Quicho, and writer Junot Díaz – and features footage from throughout the United States of some of the 45 million immigrants who have become Americans since the publishing of the book in 1946. You can read more about it in the NBC News story, ‘America Is in the Heart’: Smithsonian video spotlights U.S.’s immigrant history. The text of the video will make a great centerpiece for a lesson. Since it’s so short, it will be easy to transcribe or copy from the book itself. I just haven’t had time yet to do either. It even includes shots of students learning in an ESL class!       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:  How to Handle Large Classes Without Losing Your Mind is from The Barefoot TEFL Teacher. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Teaching Multilevel ESL/EFL Classes.
4 Strategies to Foster a Sense of Belonging for Multilingual Learners in K-12 Schools is from Support Ed. I’m adding it to THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING HOW TO PROMOTE A SENSE OF “BELONGING” AT SCHOOL. As I’ve written before, I think AI translation tools might cause a complete revaluation of how we teach ELL classes, but studies like this new one show that ELLs will misuse ChatGPT just as much as everybody else. See Apple’s new AirPods Pro 3 live language translation feature is from CNN. I’m adding it to THE BEST RESOURCES TO HELP ELL STUDENTS WITH SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION IN THE CLASSROOM. This is a new study on the use of formative assessment specifically with ELLs. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Formative Assessment. Types of Writing for Secondary Students: A Practical Chart is from On The Same Page. Empowering Voices: A Three-Year Intervention to Reduce Public Speaking Anxiety among ESL Learners shares some interesting ideas. Enhancing Reading Skills in ESL Learners through Google’s Read Along: A Study is more useful research. This could be a good video to show ELLs and have them talk/write about what they saw:  I hadn’t seen this 2012 Mr. Bean performance before, and it would be another good one to show ELLs, especially since many are already familiar with him:  Here’s yet another good video to show ELLs:  Why Do L2 listeners Struggle? Watching the Difficulties Evolve from Beginner to Intermediate level is from The Language Gym.  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: AI chatbots’ tendency to flatter users can make people more convinced they are right, less willing to consider other people’s perspectives, and less willing to repair relationships after a disagreement, according to a new study in the journal Science. America does not know how to exist in a world it does not control. While vulnerability takes courage, it is important for leaders and mentors to admit to young people that they were once firmly convinced of something that later seemed like the dumbest thing they ever heard. “You would be asking school personnel to now act like they are Department of Homeland Security officers checking for immigration status, collecting and recording immigration status, and then reporting that information” Rodriguez Kmec said. It is that culture has increasingly ceded authority to systems that mistake information for understanding and speed for judgment. Every school year, about 1 in 7 public school teachers moves schools or leaves the profession—a higher turnover rate than in the 1990s… “Since we don’t have our Chromebooks in front of our face,” she said, “most people now interact with their, like, peers and stuff.” Across three states, access to special education services changed students’ academic trajectories for the better. RAND’s 2024 State of the American Teacher Survey asks teachers about the most stressful part of their jobs, and the most common answer is managing student behavior, given by 45% of teachers. “When students are enjoying themselves,” Mitchell said, “the learning happens much quicker.” Unlike traditional observations, which teachers often view as critical, the coaching model was explicitly collaborative. LGBTQ youth report that their school climate felt more hostile during the 2024–2025 school year due to an anti-LGBTQ+ political climate, with trans and gender-expansive students disproportionately affected by harassment and discrimination, according to Glisten’s National School Climate Survey. Perhaps consuming a few dozen book pages a day should become the new 10,000 daily steps — a basic foundation of activity to maintain cognitive fitness.
 April Is Arab American Heritage Month – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources viarami / Pixabay
April is Arab American Heritage Month, and this is a post sharing related resources: I’ve published several connected Ed Week columns. Arab American Heritage Month is from The Smithsonian. The Arab American Foundation has many related resources. New York City Public Schools also have many resources. The History Channel also has resources.     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): Self-management interventions for reducing challenging behaviors among school-age students: A systematic review is a useful study. I’m adding it to Best Posts On Classroom Management. I’m adding these next two posts to The Best Resources For Learning About Retrieval Practice:
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