I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning How To Tell Time and made these additions. They are collections of multiple interactives related to telling time:
July 31, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Monthly Archives: July 2011
July 30, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
The Best Posts & Articles On The Save Our Schools March
The Save Our Schools March took place earlier today in Washington, D.C., with other actions throughout the country. I’m on a previously-scheduled train trip with twenty family members, but thought I’d put together a quick “The Best…” list.
This is not meant to be a complete list and I hope that others will contribute additional suggestions in the comments section. I’ll approve them as soon as I get Internet access again.
Here are my choices, for now, of The Best Posts & Articles On The Save Our Schools March:
The Save Our Schools March is a report from Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post.
Teachers March On Washington is from Education Week.
Matt Damon’s clear-headed speech to teachers rally was also published in Valerie Strauss’ blog.
Save Our Schools March: a teacher revolt against Obama education reform is from The Christian Science Monitor.
Save Our Schools March Calls For Teacher-Backed Reform is from The Huffington Post.
Teachers take lessons of No Child Left Behind to D.C. is from CNN.
Texas school superintendent John Kuhn gave this speech at the Save Our Schools March:
Anderson Cooper from CNN has a great piece on a Matt Damon interview at the S.O.S. March. I wish he hadn’t included the very last piece (a parody music video clip which is very funny but not appropriate but, I guess, since they aired it on CNN, I guess I can post it on my blog):
How Teachers Would Reform Schools is the title of a nice CNN video on the Save Our Schools March:
Additional suggestions are welcome.
If you’ve found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might want to also view the over seven hundred other “The Best…” lists.
July 30, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful, too. These are resources that I didn’t include in my “Best Tweets” feature because I had planned to post about them, or because I didn’t even get around to sending a tweet sharing them.
Here are This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”:
Learn British Kids is the British Council’s YouTube Channel. I’m adding it to The Best YouTube Channels For Learning English.
The Glass Ceiling is a movie about the first woman Sherpa to climb Mt. Everest. I’m adding this trailer to The Best Sites For Learning About Mount Everest.
All About Twitter Hashtags is a useful post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Beginning To Learn What Twitter Is All About.
Storytelling to help your career is a useful article from CNN that would require modification to be made accessible to ELL’s. I’m adding it to The Best Websites For Students Exploring Jobs & Careers.
Tempest In The Crescent City is an online game about Katrina that I had posted about, but then it was taken off-line for awhile. It’s back working, and I’m adding it again to The Best Websites For Teaching & Learning About New Orleans.
The Power of Stories comes from Psychology Today. I’m adding it to The Best Digital Storytelling Resources.
We Debate It is a new online debating site. It looks intriguing, but doesn’t appear to moderate comments, which could be a problem for the classroom. Nevertheless, I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Students To Create & Participate In Online Debates.
Put the Story in History is by William Dietrich
Mexico’s Ongoing Drug Violence is a TIME Magazine slideshow. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Mexico’s Drug War.
Here are some other regular features I post in this blog:
“The Best…” series (which now number 700)
The most popular posts on this blog each month
My monthly choices for the best posts on this blog each month
Each month I do an “Interview Of The Month” with a leader in education
Periodically, I post “A Look Back” highlighting older posts that I think are particularly useful
Resources that share various “most popular” lists useful to teachers
Interviews with ESL/EFL teachers in “hot spots” around the world.
Articles I’ve written for other publications.
Regular “round-ups” of good posts and articles about school reform
July 30, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Another Special Edition Of “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
(NOTE: I usually publish this kind of post once-a-week. However, even more links than usual accumulated during the past few days)
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful, too. These are resources that I didn’t include in my “Best Tweets” feature because I had planned to post about them, or because I didn’t even get around to sending a tweet sharing them.
Here is Another Special Edition Of “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”:
Recession Study Finds Hispanics Hit the Hardest is from The New York Times. I’m adding it to The Best Resources About Wealth & Income Inequality.
10 awe-inspiring images of the moon is a great slideshow. I’m adding it to The Best Images Taken In Space.
Summer Festivals is a photo gallery from The Atlantic. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Summer. Days Of Summer is another slideshow from The Atlantic that I’m adding to that “The Best…” list.
Google has created a “What’s New In Google+” page that’s regularly updated. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning What Google+ Is All About.
Easy Notecards is a new online flashcard-making site. Richard Byrne has a good post about it if you want to learn more. I’m adding it to The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards.
The cost of bad credit is an interactive from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills.
July 29, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
A Round-Up Of Good School Reform Posts & Articles
Here are some recent good school reform-related posts and articles:
Of course, I have to lead off with an article about the Save Our Schools March, which is happening later today in Washington, D.C. CNN interviews Anthony Cody about it in Teachers take lessons of No Child Left Behind to D.C.
As I’ve mentioned, I’ll be on a family train trip for the next few days, but if you want to get live updates from the March, the place to do will be a Webcast hosted by my Sacramento colleague, Alice Mercer, starting at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.
Policy by Algorithm is a nice post over at Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven.”
Testing Insanity: Amount of Time on Testing is a fascinating chart by John T. Spencer. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad).
Is the use of standardized tests improving education in America? is a good summary of research from Pro/Con. I’m also adding it to that “The Best…” list.
Zombie Postmortem: Why Merit Pay Died in NYC, and Why It’ll Rise Again (and Again, and Again…) is by Justin Baeder at Ed Week. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea.
EWA Research Brief: What Studies Say About Teacher Effectiveness comes from the Education Writers Association, and seems to have a pretty summary of research. Even though it covers lots of areas, I think I’m going to add it to The Best Resources For Learning About Effective Student & Teacher Assessments.
Letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Concerning Evaluation of Teachers and Principals comes from the National Education Policy Center. I’m also adding it to the Assessment “The Best..” list.
Report: How voucher landscape is widening comes from Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why School Vouchers Are A Bad Idea.
July 29, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Headed On A Train Trip…
Twenty family members — including me — are taking the famous California Zephyr train this weekend, so I’ll probably be off-line for a few days. I’ve got a few posts scheduled, but since there is no WiFi on the train, and who knows what kind of ATT coverage there will be, I don’t expect to be responding to comments or sending many tweets until I return.
Twenty of us in one railway car…May God help us, and help the other passengers who are stuck with us, too 
!
July 29, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments
Research Studies Of The Week (And There Are Some Very Good Ones)
I often write about research studies from various field 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:
This isn’t a new report (thought it’s new to me) — Believing You Can Get Smarter Makes You Smarter is an older report from the American Psychological Association that for some reason they have publicized again. It’s still go info, and reinforces the lesson plan that I have in my book on helping students realize that the brain is like a muscle. I also discuss it in this post, “Now I Know My Brain Is Growing When I Read Every Night.”
The Compelling (not just interesting) Input Hypothesis is a new paper by Stephen Krashen. Here’s an excerpt: “Compelling means that the input is so interesting you forget that it is in another language. It means you are in a state of “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). In flow, the concerns of everyday life and even the sense of self disappear – our sense of time is altered and nothing but the activity itself seems to matter. Flow occurs during reading when readers are “lost in the book” (Nell, 1988) or in the “Reading Zone” (Atwell, 2007). Compelling input appears to eliminate the need for motivation, a conscious desire to improve. When you get compelling input, you acquire whether you are interested in improving or not.”
Is the human brain designed to be honest about itself? summarizes recent research that suggests we might not be good at providing accurate self-evaluations of ourselves. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Helping Students See They Might Not Always Be The Best Judges Of Their Behavior.
Rejection massively reduces IQ is the title of an article in New Scientist about a new study. Here’s how it begins: “Rejection can dramatically reduce a person’s IQ and their ability to reason analytically, while increasing their aggression, according to new research.”
Think Healthy, Eat Healthy: Scientists Show Link Between Attention and Self-Control comes from Science Daily. I’m not going to explain the experiment the article describes (you can read about it there if you’d like), but it basically reinforces the strategy that the famous marshmallow experiment found — that distracting yourself with other thoughts (and in the lesson plan in my book I emphasize positive distracting thoughts, like “Instead of throwing that paper wad at John I’m going to think about how I enjoy playing basketball with him) is an effective self-control strategy. You can read more at My Best Posts About Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control.
Personality Plays Role in Body Weight: Impulsivity Strongest Predictor of Obesity is another interesting study on self-control. It says that people with little self-control “are likely to go through cycles of gaining and losing weight throughout their lives.” I could see how this would be a nice addition to my self-control lessons, and just another reason why some students might want to work on self-control now.
‘Simon Says’: Preschool-Age Kids in Different Countries Improve Academically Using Self-Regulation Game is yet another report on a self-control related study. It says that “children who regularly participated in a Simon Says-type game designed to improve self-regulation — called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task — may have better math and early literacy scores.” I didn’t feel like paying to view the entire study, but I assume the task is the one which I have seen videotaped (the videos on are on my My Best Posts About Helping Students Develop Their Capacity For Self-Control list) where children are told to, say, touch their toes when the teacher actually puts her hand on her head. I’d suggest it’s not just for young children — my high school students loved doing it again, especially when they could lead it.
July 29, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
The Best Online Teleprompters
When you, or your students, are making a videocast, having a script or notes appear on your screen could come in handy.
Here’s a quick list of free and easy online teleprompter-like tools that let you paste your words into them and then scroll up on the screen:
Additional suggestions are welcome.
If you’ve found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might want to also view the over seven hundred other “The Best…” lists.
July 28, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Round Robin Reading Research
Thanks to Julie Niles Petersen, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find research for The Best Posts On Students Reading Aloud Individually In ESL Class — But I Need Your Help Finding Research On The Topic list was because it’s generally called “round robin reading” or “popcorn reading.” Thanks, Julie!
After a search, I found a ton of research pointing out what a bad instructional strategy it is. Here are a few links that I’m adding to that list:
Small Group Reading Instruction (go to page six)
July 28, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
5 Comments
The Best Posts On Students Reading Aloud Individually In ESL Class — But I Need Your Help Finding Research On The Topic
I’m not a big fan of having English Language Learners read aloud individually in class, though I do have students doing it when it’s part of a small group (reader’s theater or when they’ve practiced reading a short passage and “perform” in front of the class). It seems to me that, outside of those engaging interactions, having students read a passage aloud is not very energizing to them (or even worse — a confidence destroying experience) and pretty deadly for the rest of the class.
However, I know this is a matter of debate among teachers of English Language Learners. I’ve found some good posts about the topic, including tons of comments on them, but I haven’t been able to find a single piece of research on the subject.
So I thought I’d share links to the online discussions, and hope that a reader can recommend research. Can you help me out?
Thanks to Julie Niles Petersen, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find research was because it’s generally called “round robin reading” or “popcorn reading.” Thanks, Julie! After a search, I found a ton of research pointing out what a bad instructional strategy it is. Here are a few links that I’m adding to that list:
Small Group Reading Instruction (go to page six)
Weighing the Options: Alternatives to Round Robin Reading
Here are my choices for The Best Posts On Students Reading Aloud Individually In ESL Class:
Reading aloud allowed? is from Oxford University Press’ English Language Teaching Blog.
Reading aloud in class is a complete waste of time – Discuss… is by Ken Wilson.
Why I hate reading aloud is by Laura Patsko.
To Read or Not To Read is by Tamara Jones.
Jeremy Harmer on reading aloud is online presentation.
Feedback is welcome, as well as additional suggestions.
If you’ve found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might want to also view the over seven hundred other “The Best…” lists.
July 28, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Another Special Edition Of “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”
(NOTE: I usually publish this kind of post once-a-week. However, even more links than usual accumulated during the past few days)
I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in this blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with a minimal description. It forces me to look through these older links, and help me organize them for my own use. I hope others will find them helpful, too. These are resources that I didn’t include in my “Best Tweets” feature because I had planned to post about them, or because I didn’t even get around to sending a tweet sharing them.
Here is Another Special Edition Of “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t”:
I’m making three new additions to The Best Resources For Learning What Google+ Is All About, including:
How are Educators Using Google Plus Hangouts? is from Mind Shift.
Educators On Google+ is an ever-growing spreadsheet. Add you name to it!
7 Ways Google+ Users Are Getting More Out of Their Circles is from Mashable.
Sample letter to parents re blogging could come in very handy. I’m adding it to The Best Sources For Advice On Student Blogging.
Ego Checks You May Encounter As A Blogger-Turned-Book-Writer is funny and has wisdom. It’s from The Awl. Query Killers is another helpful piece. I’m adding both to So, You Want To Write A Book? Here’s The Best Advice….
Quizlet is on The Best Tools To Make Online Flashcards list. They’ve just added the great ability to have users listen to a word and then have to spell it. This dictation feature is excellent for ELL’s, and EFL Classroom has created a list of links to the best Quizlet dictation activities. I’m adding it to The Best Listening Sites For English Language Learners.
This is a nice post about the Flickr Creative Commons Search tool. Image After is a great place to find free stock images (you can read more about it at Richard Byrne’s blog). I’m adding both to The Best Online Sources For Images.
The Government of Alberta’s (Canada) Education website has an incredible page on research about teaching English Language Learners. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Keep-Up With Current ELL/ESL/EFL News & Research.
Telling science stories…wait, what’s a “story”? is a useful article from Scientific American. I’m adding it to The Best Digital Storytelling Resources.
Pick Chow is an interactive game on nutrition. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety. Thanks to Vicki Davis for the tip.
LyricsNMusic is a nice site that lets you easily search for lyrics and you can a very clean and accessible copy. It also finds music videos of the song. What I particularly like about it, though, is that is shows the lyrics at the top and the video at the bottom, so you can play the music and show the lyrics without students getting distracted by the video. Other sites show the lyrics right next to the video. I’m adding the site to The Best — And Easiest — Ways To Use YouTube If, Like Us, Only Teachers Have Access To It and to The Best Places To Find Lyrics On The Web.
July 28, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures
One of the chapters in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, talks about strategies and lessons to use with students about learning from mistakes and failures. I thought I’d put together a “The Best…” list that shares some additional related resources.
Here are my choices for The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures:
What Does Learning From Mistakes Do To Your Brain?
Of course, this Michael Jordan commercial is a classic:
On the importance of failure by Cedar Riener
There’s a great website called “Admitting Failure.” (thanks to Change The Equation for the tip)
Here’s a video book trailer called “BETTER BY MISTAKE: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong by Alina Tugend”
This next video an absolutely fascinating video showing the stages Picasso went through in order to complete a painting. It’s a great example of him making “mistakes” and learning from them. I’m less impressed with the second video (it’s just too long) by Derek Sivers, and it’s called “Why You Need To Fail.” However, at about 9:10 he shows the same Picasso footage and provides a great narration to it (thanks to Greg MacCollum for the tip).
What Is The Accurate Edison Quote On Learning From Failure?
Kevin D. Washburn has written an excellent post at The Edurati Review titled Learning from Mistakes Takes the Right Feedback. Here’s a short excerpt from it, but it’s really worth a visit and a “full read”:
“Dr. Robert Brooks (2007) suggests couching feedback in “we” statements. For example, rather than telling a student that a response is incorrect and to “try harder,” Brooks suggests, in one-on-one conversation, saying, “This strategy you’re using doesn’t seem to be working. Let’s figure out why and how we can change the strategy so that you are successful.” Such a response invites a careful investigation of the mistake and makes the interaction a problem-solving experience. A classroom environment that welcomes error as a gateway to learning contributes to better feedback responses.”
Here’s a TED Talk: Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex:
9 Reasons Why Failure Is Not Fatal
And, here are two “bonus” posts:
The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes by Richard M. Felder
Sue Waters wrote a great post titled “Here’s My Top Five Mistakes Made By New Bloggers — What Are Yours?”
Why Do Some People Learn Faster? is the title of a column by Jonah Lehrer in Wired. He reviews a study that highlights the importance of learning from mistakes and failures, and ends the article with this:
The problem with praising kids for their innate intelligence — the “smart” compliment — is that it misrepresents the psychological reality of education. It encourages kids to avoid the most useful kind of learning activities, which is when we learn from our mistakes. Because unless we experience the unpleasant symptoms of being wrong — that surge of Pe activity a few hundred milliseconds after the error, directing our attention to the very thing we’d like to ignore — the mind will never revise its models. We’ll keep on making the same mistakes, forsaking self-improvement for the sake of self-confidence. Samuel Beckett had the right attitude: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
The Art of Failing Successfully is also by Jonah Lehrer and is about the same study. However, this column is a bit different and appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
How Struggle Leads to Learning is a report on a study involving three-year-olds, but I suspect it might be applicable to others, too.
“We Should Celebrate Mistakes”
A rather complicated (at least to me) study found that high-performer physicians (those who appeared to most likely prescribe an effective treatment to a patient) were far more likely to pay attention to learning from their mistakes than low-performers. These “low-performers” were more likely to demonstrate confirmation bias and focus on their successes. I actually think that this study might be an important one, and I just need to set aside some time to review it again…and again until I understand it.
I’d probably only use parts of this video with students, but it makes some good points on the value of mistakes.
Videos Of Students Celebrating Making Mistakes
Hearing about scientists’ struggles helps inspire students and boosts their learning is a pretty self-explanatory headline about the results of a new study.
Learning From Brilliant Mistakes and Finding Opportunity in Failures are both articles and videos related to Paul J.H. Schoemaker’s book, ‘Brilliant Mistakes.’
Mistakeville is a site where users can share their mistakes and what they learned from them.
This study is a few years old, but it’s new to me. It comes via ASCD, and found that children above the age of twelve are more likely to learn from their mistakes than younger kids.
Additional suggestions are welcome.
If you’ve found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might want to also view the over seven hundred other “The Best…” lists.
July 28, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
The Best Sites (& Videos) For Learning About Jazz Chants
Many teachers of English Language Learners have used “jazz chants” (originally developed by Carolyn Graham) in the classroom, and I thought I’d put together a quick list of useful related resources:
Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto has written an excellent blog post, including a video, sharing the process Graham uses to develop these chants.
Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Of Jazz Chants is an article from New York TESOL.
Here’s a video of Graham explaining jazz chants:
This comes from TEFL Videos:
Using Jazz Chants for Teaching Language Functions comes from The University of Delaware.
Additional suggestions are welcome.
If you’ve found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
You might want to also view the over seven hundred other “The Best…” lists.
July 27, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I’m A Little Behind “Curating” My “The Best…” Lists
As regular readers know, I place links to all my “The Best…” lists in two different places — they’re listed chronologically at “Websites of The Year,” and they’re categorized by subject at “My Best Of Series.”
Those pages are up-to-date until July 1st. I haven’t gotten around to adding the twenty-five new “The Best…” lists I’ve posted so far this month. I hope to get to it sometime within the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, though, if you’re looking for any of those newer lists, they are “tagged,” so you can easily find all of them under the tag, “Best Of The Year.”
Sorry for the inconvenience. There are just not enough hours in the day, especially while I’m finishing up my next book — one on teaching English Language Learners.
July 27, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
Good Research On How Subtitles Help In Language Learning
Yesterday, I put out a request on Google+ for assistance in finding good research on how subtitles can help in language learning — if they do.
I received some great responses, which you can see here.
If you have any additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments section of this post…
July 27, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
“Emergency Team Of 8th-Grade Civics Teachers Dispatched To Washington”
“Emergency Team Of 8th-Grade Civics Teachers Dispatched To Washington” is the headline of a hilarious “news” report from The Onion:
At press time, an unruly House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had noisily stormed out of a lecture on bipartisan cooperation, claiming it was “too hard.”
They all need to read The Best Posts & Articles About Compromise
Thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip.
July 27, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments
Research On Music & ELL’s
Many ESL/EFL teachers use music with their students, and I’ve shared many related resources and ideas at The Best Music Websites For Learning English.
I’m making some new additions to that list focused on research that supports using music in the classroom:
Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom. ERIC Digest.
I’d love to hear additional suggestions from readers….
July 26, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
5 Comments
The Best Resources For Learning About Machu Picchu
This week is the one hundredth anniversary of the “rediscovery” of Machu Picchu (the issue of “discovery” or “rediscovery” in itself can make for a great classroom discussion).
This week’s date, combined with Machu Picchu being number one on my “bucket list” made me decide to pull together a quick “The Best…” list.
Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Learning About Machu Picchu:
The Incan Trail to Machu Picchu is a New York Times slideshow.
Here’s an excellent “talking story” about Machu Picchu.
Check out this panorama of the site.
In Pictures: Celebrating Machu Picchu’s rediscovery comes from the BBC and shows images from 100 years ago.
Here’s a TIME Magazine slideshow.
Scientific American also has a slideshow.
National Geographic has an exhaustive feature, including a good slideshow.
Here’s a National Geographic video:
Here’s a BBC video:
Feedback is welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at the 700 other “The Best…” lists and consider subscribing to this blog for free.
July 26, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2011 — So Far
(NOTE: This is the second time I’m publishing this post today. For some weird reason, the first time it was published RSS Feed Readers didn’t pick it up. I know it will look a little strange to have two identical posts showing up on my blog, but I also know that Twitter and Google+ readers have already bookmarked the previous version and I didn’t want to mess them up)
I usually just do a year-end list on this topic and many others, but it gets a little crazy having to review all of my zillion posts at once. So, to make it easier for me — and perhaps, to make it a little more useful to readers — I’m going to start publishing mid-year lists, too. These won’t be ranked, unlike my year-end “The Best…” lists, and just because a site appears on a mid-year list doesn’t guarantee it will be included in an end-of-the-year one (especially since this mid-year list is so long and will have to be trimmed-down). But, at least, I won’t have to review all my year’s posts in December…
You might also be interested in these previous editions:
The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy — 2010
The “Best” Articles (And Blog Posts) About Education Policy — 2009
The “Best” Articles About Education — 2008
The “Best” Articles About Education — 2007
Here are my choices for The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2011 — So Far:
On Treating Students & Educators ‘Like Rats in a Maze’ by Diane Ravitch
Teacher Evaluations through Student Testing by Linda Darling-Hammond
The Service of Democratic Education is a truly exceptional speech Linda Darling-Hammond gave at Teachers College of Columbia University.
On False Dichotomies and Warped Reformy Logic is from School Finance 101.
Five myths about America’s schools is an excellent Washington Post column by Post reporter Paul Farhi.
An excellent post appeared in The Washington Post’s “The Answer Sheet” titled NY regent: Why we shouldn’t link teacher evaluation to test scores.
I wrote Videotaping teachers the right way (not the Gates way) that also was in The Washington Post.
Mathematical Intimidation: Driven by the Data is by John Ewing, president of Math For America. He provides a good critique of value-added assessment.
Larry Cuban has written a very important post titled Teacher Resistance and Reform Failure
Who’s Bashing Teachers and Public Schools and What Can We Do About It? appeared in Rethinking Schools and is by Stan Karp.
What Do Teachers “Produce”? is by Diana Senechal and appeared in the Core Knowledge Blog.
The Test Generation is an article by Dana Goldstein that was published in The American Prospect magazine. It gives an excellent overview of what’s happening around the country, and particularly in Colorado, around high-stakes standardized testing.
The beatings will continue until teacher morale improves appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and is by Walt Gardner.
What I Learned at School is an op-ed in The New York Times. It’s written by novelist Marie Myung-Ok Lee.
Déjà vu all over again: A lesson from the history of school reform is by Mike Rose and appeared in The Washington Post.
Common Core Confusion – ASCD Edition is by David B. Cohen.
Race to Self Destruction: A History Lesson for Education Reformers is by Yong Zhao.
5 myths about teachers that are distracting policymakers is by Barnett Berry and appeared in The Washington Post.
I worked with a group of talented inner-city teachers from throughout the United States last year through the Center For Teaching Quality. We created a pretty thorough report, “Transforming School Conditions: Building Bridges to the Education System That Students And Teachers Deserve.” You can read my summary of the report in The Washington Post, as well as finding a link to the entire study.
The American Association of School Administrators has published the text of a speech (and the video) Diane Ravitch gave at their recent conference, and I don’t think you’re going to read or hear a better commentary on education anywhere. You can read the text of her speech here.
Here are links to the video of her speech, dividing into three parts:
Blinded by Reform is by Professor Mike Rose.
In Performance Evaluations, Subjectivity Is Not Random is from The Shanker Blog.
Matthew Di Carlo at the Shanker Blog wrote How Many Teachers Does It Take To Close An Achievement Gap?
Here’s a great column from The Seattle Times pointing out that small class sizes were important to Bill Gates when he went to school, and are an important reason why he sends his kids to the school they attend.
The Columbia Journalism Review has an excellent article on the issue of newspapers publishing teacher rankings based on test scores.
Richard Rothstein has written a great piece titled Fact-Challenged Policy.
Evaluating New York Teachers, Perhaps the Numbers Do Lie is an article from The New York Times. Check-out the equation above the headline!
Gates’ Measures of Effective Teaching Study: More Value-Added Madness is by Justin Baeder at Ed Week.
The Teaching Experience appeared on the Shanker Blog.
“It makes no sense”: Puzzling over Obama’s State of the Union Speech is the title of an excellent post by scholar Yong Zhao.
The Children Must Play: What the United States could learn from Finland about education reform is a very good article in The New Republic.
Teachers: How do We Propose to Measure Student Outcomes? is a very good post by Anthony Cody at Ed Week.
PISA For Our Time: A Balanced Look is another excellent post from The Shanker blog.
Neither Fair Nor Accurate • Research-Based Reasons Why High-Stakes Tests Should Not Be Used to Evaluate Teachers comes from Rethinking Schools.
Though it appeared in late December of last year, I’m still including Teachers’ Union Leading School Reform? Impossible! by Anthony Cody at Ed Week.
Premises, Presentation And Predetermination In The Gates MET Study appeared at the Shanker Blog.
Why organizational misconduct happens: A look at the Atlanta cheating scandal by Aaron Pallas is clearly the best and most thoughtful piece I’ve seen on the Atlanta cheating scandal.
Though it’s not an article or post, The Daily Show with Diane Ravitch has to be on this list. It was a classic. Jon Stewart opened with what was probably the most insightful, funny, and effective response I have seen to on-going teacher-bashing. Ten minutes later, Diane Ravitch came on and did a fabulous interview. The first two videos are the two segments of the amazing opening piece on schools, and then the third is the interview with Diane Ravitch:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Crisis in the Dairyland – For Richer and Poorer | ||||
|
||||
Feedback is welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at the 700 other “The Best…” lists and consider subscribing to this blog for free.
July 26, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2011 — So Far
I usually just do a year-end list on this topic and many others, but it gets a little crazy having to review all of my zillion posts at once. So, to make it easier for me — and perhaps, to make it a little more useful to readers — I’m going to start publishing mid-year lists, too. These won’t be ranked, unlike my year-end “The Best…” lists, and just because a site appears on a mid-year list doesn’t guarantee it will be included in an end-of-the-year one (especially since this mid-year list is so long and will have to be trimmed-down). But, at least, I won’t have to review all my year’s posts in December…
You might also be interested in these previous editions:
The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy — 2010
The “Best” Articles (And Blog Posts) About Education Policy — 2009
The “Best” Articles About Education — 2008
The “Best” Articles About Education — 2007
Here are my choices for The Best Articles & Posts On Education Policy In 2011 — So Far:
On Treating Students & Educators ‘Like Rats in a Maze’ by Diane Ravitch
Teacher Evaluations through Student Testing by Linda Darling-Hammond
The Service of Democratic Education is a truly exceptional speech Linda Darling-Hammond gave at Teachers College of Columbia University.
On False Dichotomies and Warped Reformy Logic is from School Finance 101.
Five myths about America’s schools is an excellent Washington Post column by Post reporter Paul Farhi.
An excellent post appeared in The Washington Post’s “The Answer Sheet” titled NY regent: Why we shouldn’t link teacher evaluation to test scores.
I wrote Videotaping teachers the right way (not the Gates way) that also was in The Washington Post.
Mathematical Intimidation: Driven by the Data is by John Ewing, president of Math For America. He provides a good critique of value-added assessment.
Larry Cuban has written a very important post titled Teacher Resistance and Reform Failure
Who’s Bashing Teachers and Public Schools and What Can We Do About It? appeared in Rethinking Schools and is by Stan Karp.
What Do Teachers “Produce”? is by Diana Senechal and appeared in the Core Knowledge Blog.
The Test Generation is an article by Dana Goldstein that was published in The American Prospect magazine. It gives an excellent overview of what’s happening around the country, and particularly in Colorado, around high-stakes standardized testing.
The beatings will continue until teacher morale improves appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and is by Walt Gardner.
What I Learned at School is an op-ed in The New York Times. It’s written by novelist Marie Myung-Ok Lee.
Déjà vu all over again: A lesson from the history of school reform is by Mike Rose and appeared in The Washington Post.
Common Core Confusion – ASCD Edition is by David B. Cohen.
Race to Self Destruction: A History Lesson for Education Reformers is by Yong Zhao.
5 myths about teachers that are distracting policymakers is by Barnett Berry and appeared in The Washington Post.
I worked with a group of talented inner-city teachers from throughout the United States last year through the Center For Teaching Quality. We created a pretty thorough report, “Transforming School Conditions: Building Bridges to the Education System That Students And Teachers Deserve.” You can read my summary of the report in The Washington Post, as well as finding a link to the entire study.
The American Association of School Administrators has published the text of a speech (and the video) Diane Ravitch gave at their recent conference, and I don’t think you’re going to read or hear a better commentary on education anywhere. You can read the text of her speech here.
Here are links to the video of her speech, dividing into three parts:
Blinded by Reform is by Professor Mike Rose.
In Performance Evaluations, Subjectivity Is Not Random is from The Shanker Blog.
Matthew Di Carlo at the Shanker Blog wrote How Many Teachers Does It Take To Close An Achievement Gap?
Here’s a great column from The Seattle Times pointing out that small class sizes were important to Bill Gates when he went to school, and are an important reason why he sends his kids to the school they attend.
The Columbia Journalism Review has an excellent article on the issue of newspapers publishing teacher rankings based on test scores.
Richard Rothstein has written a great piece titled Fact-Challenged Policy.
Evaluating New York Teachers, Perhaps the Numbers Do Lie is an article from The New York Times. Check-out the equation above the headline!
Gates’ Measures of Effective Teaching Study: More Value-Added Madness is by Justin Baeder at Ed Week.
The Teaching Experience appeared on the Shanker Blog.
“It makes no sense”: Puzzling over Obama’s State of the Union Speech is the title of an excellent post by scholar Yong Zhao.
The Children Must Play: What the United States could learn from Finland about education reform is a very good article in The New Republic.
Teachers: How do We Propose to Measure Student Outcomes? is a very good post by Anthony Cody at Ed Week.
PISA For Our Time: A Balanced Look is another excellent post from The Shanker blog.
Neither Fair Nor Accurate • Research-Based Reasons Why High-Stakes Tests Should Not Be Used to Evaluate Teachers comes from Rethinking Schools.
Though it appeared in late December of last year, I’m still including Teachers’ Union Leading School Reform? Impossible! by Anthony Cody at Ed Week.
Premises, Presentation And Predetermination In The Gates MET Study appeared at the Shanker Blog.
Why organizational misconduct happens: A look at the Atlanta cheating scandal by Aaron Pallas is clearly the best and most thoughtful piece I’ve seen on the Atlanta cheating scandal.
Though it’s not an article or post, The Daily Show with Diane Ravitch has to be on this list. It was a classic. Jon Stewart opened with what was probably the most insightful, funny, and effective response I have seen to on-going teacher-bashing. Ten minutes later, Diane Ravitch came on and did a fabulous interview. The first two videos are the two segments of the amazing opening piece on schools, and then the third is the interview with Diane Ravitch:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Crisis in the Dairyland – For Richer and Poorer | ||||
|
||||
Feedback is welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at the 700 other “The Best…” lists and consider subscribing to this blog for free.
