Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

…For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Monthly Archives: July 2011

July 18, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Best Funny Videos Showing The Importance Of Being Bilingual Or Multilingual — Part One

A couple of days I ago I asked readers to help me out by suggesting video clips from movies and television that would demonstrate the importance of being bilingual. I’m creating a lesson plan (which I’ll share in this blog sometime in the future) where I’ll use videos, along with information from The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual.

I’ve just begun to view the suggestions, and still have to watch quite a few on Netflix, but thought I share some of the best that people suggested and that I just found by searching through YouTube.

Here are my choices for The Best Videos Showing The Importance Of Being Bilingual — Part One:

Anne is the one who got me looking on YouTube with her suggestion of “The importance of being bilingual”:

Here’s “Bilingual Cat”

Here’s one about the a European country’s Coast Guard:

This next one is a Egyptian version that’s nice because it has sub-titles:

This is called “The Language Barrier”:

“Should Have Taken A Foreign Language Class”:

This next one is good, but is probably better for Intermediate English classes. I think all the ones I’ve mentioned previously would be accessible to Beginners:

Here’s a cute scene of Dory speaking “Whale” in the movie, Finding Nemo:

Kathryn was kind enough to suggest that this scene from “I Love Lucy” would be useful to encourage students to become bilingual. It sure would have come in handy for Lucy!

Keep the suggestions coming. I’ll be publishing a Part Two soon. Many of people’s suggestions don’t have YouTube clips, so it’ll take me a while to watch all of them. And there are still some ones I need to watch on YouTube.

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.

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July 18, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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July’s Best Tweets — Part One

Every month I make a short list highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. Now and then, in order to make it a bit easier for me, I may try to break it up into mid-month and end-of-month lists (and sometimes I’m a bit late).

I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post.

If you don’t use Twitter, you can also check-out all of my “tweets” on Twitter profile page or subscribe to their RSS feed.

Here are my picks for July’s Best Tweets — Part One (not listed in any order):

Clockwords is a new fun word game

“Books and Other Fetish Objects” NY Times

Augmented Reality in Plain English

Enron Emails Reveal What a Web of Deceit Looks Like-shape of social networks legal & illegal

What school is all about, according to Dolores Umbridge (and the US Dept of Education) by Stephen Krashen

“Google Is Making Us Stupid and Smart at the Same Time?” The Atlantic

“What’s a Metaphor For?” Chronicle of Higher Ed

“Stanford to Lead Creation of ELL Standards for ‘Common Core’”

“Kid gets gay marriage in one minute, plays ping pong” video

“How Many Hours of Sleep on Average Different Species of Mammals Require?” infographic

“Message From a Charter School: Thrive or Transfer” NY Times

Pearls Before Swine demonstrates the importance of correct English pronunciation

Teaching creationism in Doonesbury comic strip

“Famous first words” Guardian

“The 25 Documents You Need Before You Die” Wall St Jrnl infographic

“If you thought the do-it-yourself anti-immigrant schemes couldn’t get any more repellent, you were wrong.” NY Times

New York Times article on IB program

The Eye On Education blog also regularly lists their favorite tweets.

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July 17, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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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”:

A complete guide to web, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus privacy and security! is a must-read article by Ronnie Burt from Edublogs. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning Online Safety. By the way, I’ve revised and updated that entire list.

Google+ Improves on Facebook is by David Pogue of The New York Times. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning What Google+ Is All About. I’m also adding Google+: The Complete Guide from Mashable to that list.

I’ve updated and revised one of my favorite “The Best…” lists, The Best Sites For Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes. I’ve also added “The World of Useless Stereotypes” from The New York Times to that list.

David Deubelbeiss at EFL Classroom 2.0 has collected the best Mr. Bean videos for English Language Learners. I’m adding his collection to The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows For ESL/EFL.

This is a pretty impressive two minute video showing a visual history of Space Walks. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Planets & Space:

Here’s a video that Julie Lake suggested. It’s a Honda commercial that I’m adding to The Best Resources For Learning About Rube Goldberg Machines:

Sound of Post-Soviet Protest: Claps and Beeps is an intriguing New York Times story that would have to be modified for ELL’s. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History.

Summer PD: New Teacher Boot Camp Week 1 – Using Wordle comes from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About “Word Clouds.”

Here are some other regular features I post in this blog:

“The Best…” series (which now number 691)

Best Tweets of The Month

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

The ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival

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.

Photo Galleries Of The Week

Research Studies Of The Week

Regular “round-ups” of good posts and articles about school reform

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July 16, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Can You Help Me Out With Movie Clip Suggestions Demonstrating The Qualities Of A Good Language Learner?

I am amazed, touched, and very grateful for all the helpful suggestions readers made to my request yesterday, Can You Think Of A Funny Movie/TV Scene Where A Bilingual Character Uses Two Languages To Get Out of Trouble?

People generously shared their ideas here, on Twitter and on Google+.

Because people were so helpful, I’d like to make another request — and I promise I won’t be making any more similar requests for awhile.

In my book, Teaching English Language Learners: Teaching Strategies That Work, I discuss what researchers have found to be characteristics of a good language learner. These include:

Intrinsically Motivated

A Sense Of Self-Efficacy (Self-Confidence, Self-Esteem)

Willingness To Take Risks

Willingness To Make Mistakes

Willingness To Teach Others

I’d love to find short movie/TV scenes — ideally funny ones, but they don’t have to be — that illustrate a second language learner demonstrating any of these characteristics. I think some of the movies that people suggested in response to my last question, I think, might even have some scenes that respond to these qualities.

But I’d like to ask people to pick their brain and see if you have other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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July 16, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

The Best Posts & Articles About The Atlanta Testing Scandal

I haven’t been wildly impressed by much of what has been written about the Atlanta testing scandal. But there have been a few that I thought were particularly thoughtful, and so another “The Best…” list is born…

Let me know if you think I’m missing any.

Here are my choices for The Best Posts & Articles About The Atlanta Testing Scandal:

Why organizational misconduct happens: A look at the Atlanta cheating scandal by Aaron Pallas is a very thoughtful piece.

Read This: Learning From Atlanta is by Renee Moore. And she recommends (and I agree):

Following “pass or perish” path in education, we’ve lost our way from The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Ditch Testing: Lessons from the Cheating Scandal in Atlanta (Part 1) is from Yong Zhao.

He has also posted:

Ditch Testing: Lessons from the Atlanta Cheating Scandal (Part 2): Not An Anomaly

Ditch Testing: Lessons from the Atlanta Scandal (Part 3): Human Nature?

Ditch Testing (Part 4): Test Security Measures in China

Ditch Testing (Part 5): Testing Has Not Improved Education Despite all the Costs

The New York Times has published Cracking a System in Which Test Scores Were for Changing.

The Atlanta Scandal: Teaching in “A Culture of Fear, Intimidation and Retaliation” is by Erich Martel.

“Teachers Cheating And Incentives” is a very important commentary from professor, author, and researcher Dan Ariely. It’s a must-read.

Atlanta: Bellwether Or Whistleblower For Test-Driven Reform? is from The Shanker Blog.

Cheating report confirms teacher’s suspicions is from CNN.

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.

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July 16, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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“You Are Not An Equation” (And Neither Are Your Students)

I’ve written a fair amount about the importance of being “Data-Informed” and not “Data-Driven.” In fact, I’ve posted The Best Resources Showing Why We Need To Be “Data-Informed” & Not “Data-Driven.”

The newest addition to that list is a short article, which includes a video, titled You Are Not An Equation. It’s about Emanuel Derman, who the article describes as “a Quant, one of the shadowy legion of mathematicians on whose models Wall Street relies to make trading decisions.”

Derman has become highly critical of the use of these kinds of mathematical models — not just for Wall Street, but for many other things, including data-driven schools.

Here’s an excerpt from the piece, though I’d encourage you to read the whole article:

Derman has coined the term pragmamorphism to describe our tendency to define people in terms of inanimate things – IQ tests, magnetic brain scans, income. Pragmamorphic thinking, says Derman, is dangerous because it creates a one-or-two-dimensional representation of a multidimensional phenomenon – human behavior – and presents that as the whole story.

It goes on to say:

Derman’s warning is powerfully relevant at this moment in history. Faced with the undeniable global and personal anxieties that characterize our age, we should be deeply skeptical of premature solutions based on science that cannot yet deliver what its sales representatives promise.

I wonder if any proponents of data-driven school reform will heed that warning…

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July 16, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Good School Reform Posts Of The Week

Here are some recent good school reform-related posts from around the Web:

The Teacher and the American Dream by Esther Wojcicki appeared in The Huffington Post, and is a good read.

Some Charters finally admit attrition — then rationalize it is by Gary Rubenstein. I’m adding it to The Best Posts About Attrition Rates At So-Called “Miracle” Schools.

TFA Founder Kopp Dodges Questions with “Read my book.” is by David B. Cohen. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles Raising Concerns About Teach For America.

Moving past excuses from the no-excuse reform crowd is by Barnett Berry and appeared in The Washington Post.

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July 16, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Even More Good Sources Of ESL/EFL Teaching Research

Here are the newest additions to The Best Ways To Keep-Up With Current ELL/ESL/EFL News & Research:

AccELLerate! is the free quarterly newsletter of National Clearinghouse For English Language Acquisition. That link leads you to the issue archive.

David Deubelbeiss has collected some great resources at his School of TEFL.

The Marzano Research Laboratory doesn’t have a lot of research specifically for ELL’s, but most of its work can still be applied to them. You can either watch previous webinars they’ve hosted, or just download PDF’s of them.

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July 15, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
19 Comments

Can You Think Of A Funny Movie/TV Scene Where A Bilingual Character Uses Two Languages To Get Out of Trouble?

I know this is a long shot, but I’m wondering: Can you think of a funny movie or television scene where a bilingual character uses his/her two languages to get out of trouble?

I’m preparing a lesson on the value of bilingualism (which I’ll share in this blog), and I’d love to include this kind of video clip. I’m thinking that there’s got to be a scene like this in a Jackie Chan movie, at least. Even a Star Wars-like movie where the character speaks English and another language that doesn’t exist in the real world would work.

I would forever be in your debt if you can help me out with this.

You might also be interested in The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual.

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July 15, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
6 Comments

Collective Punishment In The Classroom

A few days ago I wrote a post titled Emphasizing Pride, Not Shame, In Classroom Management. In it, among other things, I shared some of the things I say to students if I know they are going to have a sub the following day.

A friend saw the post on Facebook, and we were discussing how wrong — on so many levels — the idea of collective punishment is (though I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes every bone in my body wants to collectively punish), and how it’s not unusual for teachers to use that on their classes after there’s misbehavior with a substitute. I explained that in addition to talking with students, students also have to complete a Behavior With A Sub grading rubric, which I discuss and share in When You Have A Sub…. If there had been problems, the rubric identifies who caused the difficulties, and I just express to those students privately and and individually my disappointment and move on.

I also mentioned to her that when I hear angry teachers talking about inflicting collective punishment, I sometimes jokingly remind them that practicing it is against international law.

I was also prompted to write this after seeing a short video that Guy Kawasaki shared today on Google+ called “Don’t Punish Everyone For One Person’s Mistake.” It’s a bit simplistic, but it does make a similar point:

What do you think? Do you ever practice collective punishment? Why or why not? And, if you don’t, but see other teachers doing it, what do you do?

(You might also be interested in an earlier post I wrote called “Alternatives To Collective Punishment”)

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July 15, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments

The Best Online Learning Games Of 2011 — So Far

I usually just do a year-end list on learning games and many other topics, 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. But, at least, I won’t have to review all my year’s posts in December…

As usual, In order to make it on this list, games had to:

* be accessible to English Language Learners.

* provide exceptionally engaging content.

* not provide access to other non-educational games on their site, though there is one on this list that doesn’t quite meet this particular criteria.

* be seen by me during 2011. So they might have been around prior to this time, but I’m still counting them in this year’s list.

You might also be interested in:

The Best Online Learning Games — 2010

The Best Online Learning Games — 2009

The Best Online Learning Games — 2008

The Best Online Learning Games — 2007

Here are my choices for The Best Online Learning Games Of 2011 — So Far:

R U Revising is new from the BBC and lets you answer your choice of English, Math, or Science questions. It has separate links to versions for each subject, so the link here is to the main game page. It’s particularly nice for English Language Learners because it provides audio support for the text.

Bitesize Bingo is another game from BBC Schools. It’s played like…bingo, and you can choose questions from pretty much any subject. It provides a short explanation, and then the question you have to answer refers back to it. It’s particularly accessible to English Language Learners since audio support is provided for the explanation, the questions, and the multiple choice answers.

Play The News, a current events game where users play roles and make predictions, was the number-one ranking game in The Best Online Learning Games — 2008. Unfortunately, it’s been dormant for quite awhile — until now. They have just relaunched the platform in conjunction with University of Missouri’s Reynolds Journalism Institute. You can register and play it here.

Zondle is a pretty darn impressive for online learning games. It has tons of content in different subjects, and, if you can’t find what you need, it’s easy to just add your own. The ingenious part is that once you pick the topic you study, you have the option of studying the info in forty different games! Plus, teachers can create their own virtual classroom and track student progress. And, it’s free.

QuizBreak! lets teachers easily create Jeopardy-like games for free that will be hosted online. What makes it really top-notch is that you can add images, video and audio to the questions, too. It’s one of several excellent and free online apps that is made available to teachers by The Center For Language Education and Research at Michigan State University (CLEAR). They have been included on several previous “The Best…” lists.

This one may not qualify as a game but it’s fun: “Twist Our Words” is a game from Channel 4 in Great Britain where you can first click on a selection of words to make a sentence. Then, a British “celebrity” will be shown speaking the words you chose. It now also lets you add your own “custom” word.

Cast Your Vote is an interactive game on the iCivics site. There are a lot of interactives there, but I think most of them are overly-complicated — even for native English speakers. “Cast Your Vote,” though, puts you in the role of a person at a political debate asking questions and evaluating the answers of the people running for office. It’s pretty good and useful.

Spelling City is already on several of my “The Best…” lists for learning games, and it’s now gotten even better — and changed it’s name. It’s now called called “Vocabulary and Spelling City” and has added quite a few new games, including ones using “sentence scrambles.” If you haven’t visited in awhile, I’d encourage you to do so now.

Mission US is a new site that will be providing interactive games to help students learn about United States history. It’s funded by the Corporation For Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment For The Humanities. Right now, it just has a couple of interactives online. It’s main one, For Crown Or Colony, is a very well designed “choose your own adventure” game (you have to register in order to play). The site also has a lot of supporting materials for teachers.

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.

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