Click here to read this mailing online.
"Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day…" - 5 new articles
I Like These Strategies For Dealing With AI When Students Are Writing Essays TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay
Though I still think my favorite AI resistant strategy for essay writing is to have students do everything in class, I am impressed with how National History Day is dealing with it. NHD is a national contest where students submit essays. I first learned about their AI strategy from a post by Stephen Fitzpatrick, who examined several national writing competitions and how they handled AI. Here is how he summarized what NHD does: NHD built something practical – a process paper, an annotated bibliography, and an interview – a pedagogical methodology that was never designed for AI but turned out to be perfectly suited to it. You can learn more about what they looks like in practice at Stephen’s blog post, and from NHD’s Get Started on Your Project. They also have an excellent AI Guidance For Students infographic. I’m adding this info to The “Best” Strategies For Creating AI-Resistant Assignments.
     Does History “Rhyme” For Student Test Scores As It Does For Many Other Events
Mark Twain has been credited with the above comment, but he never said it. I was thinking about the comment as I thought about reduced student test scores (see Yes, A Big Study Came Out Today Highlighting Plummeting Test Scores But, No, I Don’t Think It Tells The Whole Story). So, I asked both Google Gemini and ChatGPT if there had been similar upticks and declines in student test scores in the past and, if so, what were their supposed causes. You can read both of their responses in PDFs here: I don’t necessarily think there are any magical answers there, but I do think educators would find them interesting. I did not check their references for accuracy. There do appear to be a myriad of reasons behind the falling scores (including ones not typically identified by education researchers – like growing economic disparities). Of course, this also begs the question of if these test scores are really accurate indicators of student academic success?  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):
 Reimagining the Public High School in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Part 1) is by Larry Cuban. Four Unexpected Ways Schools Are Addressing Housing Instability is from Ed Policy Hub. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher (& Outside Factors) Have On Student Achievement. Black teachers improve outcomes for all students, but the profession remains largely white is from The Conversation. I’m adding it to New & Revised: The Best Resources For Understanding Why We Need More Teachers Of Color.
‘It’s a family’: How a California tribal college is opening doors for Native students is from Cal Matters. Trump’s Education Department is backing away from addressing civil rights for Black students is from the AP. FCC Launches Review of E-Rate Program Amid Screen Time Debate is from Ed Week.  District Superintendents, Principals & Teachers Might Want To Consider Emulating Coach Mike Brown
Firing Mike Brown was one of the many terrible decisions the Sacramento Kings owner has made over the past several years as we local basketball fans suffer the consequences. Today’s NY Times article, Mike Brown and the Knicks found redemption together on magical NBA Finals run, gives you a good sense of why he’s such a great coach. And it also gives clues, perhaps, to practices superintendents, principals, and teachers might want to consider implementing in their professional lives. One of them is highlighted in the text box at the top of this post. I never had the luck to work under a particularly competent superintendent, but one who consults with their principals and teachers, along with their parents and students, I bet would have a better-than-average chance of success. Fortunately, I always worked under principals who did just that. And I often had leadership teams of students in my classes who I regularly consulted. The Times article also highlights Brown’s other qualities, including his willingness to risk and fail, and his willingness to support others to do the same. I can think of role models who would be far worse. I’m adding this info to A BEGINNING LIST OF THE BEST RESOURCES ON LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP – SHARE YOUR OWN.  The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About The 2026 World Cup RosZie / Pixabay
The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19 of this year, and I thought I’d get a head start on putting together related resources. I’ll obviously be adding to it as time progresses. I’ll begin with relevant ones from these previous World Cup “Best” lists: THE BEST SITES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE 2022 WORLD CUP IN QATAR The Best Sites For Learning About The 2018 World Cup In Russia The Best Sites For Learning About The 2014 World Cup In Brazil The Best Sites For Learning About The World Cup
Here are links useful for this year’s World Cup:   I’ve published two posts at The New York Times for English Language Learners that focus on soccer: one on Lionel Messi and the other on a Mexican girls soccer team. Learn about synonyms and the World Cup in my third New York Times post for English Language Learners on soccer. Of course, there’s the official World Cup site. A Brief History Of The World Cup is a TIME Slideshow. Here are three interactives from The Guardian: The World Cup’s top 100 footballers of all time – interactive World Cup kits through the ages – interactive guide How to teach … the World Cup 2014 is a treasure trove from The Guardian that has resources and ideas applicable to this year’s event. Photos: The World’s Game is from the NY Times. 10 things non-soccer fans need to know about the World Cup is from Vox. HOW WE PLAY THE GAME is a NY Times interactive. Stop the Ball is a fun interactive from The New York Times. Battle Cries is a wonderful interactive from The NY Times. The split-second psychology of football is from The BBC. The Clubs That Connect The World Cup is a NY Times interactive. Watch the Most Beautiful Free Kicks in World Cup History is from Slate. How We Play The Game is another neat interactive from the NY Times.     
Photos: Soccer Fields Around the World is from The Atlantic.
Though these lessons were designed for the last World Cup, most of the ideas can be applied to this one, too:
Why the World Cup Needs Music is from The NY Times.   All Eyes On the World Cup is a photo gallery from The Boston Globe.  
  
 
The making of a World Cup kit is from The Washington Post. Both of these infographics are from Visual Capitalist:
The World Cup as Teachable Moment? How One Teacher Approached It is from Ed Week. For Teachers: Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 Lesson Plan
  In Miami, soccer balls are turned into one-of-a-kind art as World Cup nears is from The Associated Press. 
In these schools, the World Cup is a teachable moment is from NPR.  More Recent Articles |
