If I get behind updating this page, you can always see the months that are missing by going to the category “Best Posts Of The Month”
I regularly highlight my picks for the ten or twelve best posts for each month. Here you can find a collection of them all. I also use these in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see back issues of those newsletters here.
These posts are different from the ones I list under the monthly “Most Popular Blog Posts.” Those are the posts the largest numbers of readers “clicked-on” to read.
The ones here are the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written. These don’t include my “The Best…” lists
MAY 2010 TOP TEN LIST
The Brain & Poverty — Upcoming New & Potentially Useful Study
“Will we succeed? The science of self-motivation”
Very Accessible Report On The Importance Of Home Libraries
Here’s What I’m Doing For My Class Final Exam
Will Doodling Help Students Learn Better?
Very Important Study On Learning & The Brain
An Analogy For Bloom’s Taxonomy
Teaching Students To Write “Hooks”
“Eliminating the Achievement Gap Is Educational Alchemy”
“Motivating Students Via Mental Time Travel”
“Using A Star Chart to Teach English Language Learners” (This Post Is Not About Astronomy!)
Here We Go Again: Private Foundations Have A Place (And Have To Be Kept In Their Place)
Instead Of Encouraging Students To Skip College, How About If We Help Them Get There & Graduate?
“All 23 of the “Interesting Ways” presentations in one place”
The Best Critique Of “Value-Added” That I’ve Seen…
Versions of Etherpad Are Raining From The Sky…
Now This Is The Way To Make Academic Talks Accessible — Great Examples Of Graphic Note-Taking
“Anger At Our Children” (Or Our Students)
Some Excellent Classroom Management Advice
This Is Why We Have To Be Very Careful With Error Correction
“More Simple Ways To Introduce Reluctant Colleagues To Technology”
Some Great New “TED Talks” Resources
Nice Endorsement Of My ELL Book
What Does A Study On Voter Turn-Out Have To Do With Working With Students?
April, 2010 “Top Ten” List
“Finishing The Dream” Is Impressive
“The Hubble Telescope’s Greatest Hits”
“Top 40 Nature Photographs Of All Time”
Getting Students To Talk About What They’re Reading &”Book Talks”
Here’s Yet Another Possible Self-Control Strategy — And I Really Like It…
Another Self-Control Strategy?
Talking With Students About Standardized Tests
“100 Places To Remember Before They All Disappear”
The Problem With “Bribing Students”
What Can Teachers Learn From Terrorists?
Rethinking Schools Article On Teach For America
Concerns & Questions About The “Talent Transfer Initiative”
“Getting English-Language Learners to Thrive”
The First Review Of My New Book!
“Read A Children’s Book” Form For Students
Great Interview With Diane Ravitch
What Can Students Learn About Self-Control From President Obama?
Why Haven’t I Posted About Palm Breeze CAFE Before?!!?!
More On The Problem With “Bribing Students”
My Book On Teaching Engish Language Learners Is Now Available
New Study Shows That Paying Students For Higher Test Scores Doesn’t Work
Gratitude Letters & Student Achievement
Would Arne Duncan Have Eaten The Marshmallow?
“Disadvantaged students reap most financial return from college education, study finds”
Make Your Textbook Come Alive!
Better Self-Control = Better Grades
Encouraging Low-Income Students To Go To College
Now You Can “Search Inside” My Book On Engaging Parents In School
“Timelines: Sources From History” Is Pretty Impressive
“Scientists find how relaxed minds remember better”
Interview Of The Month: Carrie Rose From The Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project
“Book Discussion Group Guidelines”
“Home Libraries Provide Huge Educational Advantage”
March, 2010 “Top Ten” List
Giving Students “Reflection Cards”
More On Test-Day Brain-”Priming”
Another Way For Students To Strengthen Self-Control?
“Connect With English” Video Series & Worksheet
“Is Education on the Wrong Track?”
NY Times Launches Great Way For Students To Write For An Authentic Audience
“What Can You Do To Finish The Year Strong?”
“Requests Work Better Than Orders…”
One Way To Help Students Who “Shut Down”?
“Self-Control As A Limited Energy Resource” In The Classroom
“Can The Brookings Institution Really Be That Clueless?”
Why I Oppose Teach For America Coming To Sacramento
More On Drinking Water & Test Scores
Drinking Water Helps Students’ Brains (& Their Test Scores)
“On The Importance Of Being Unprincipled”
“What Does It Mean To Be Human?”
Asking Questions Improves Your Memory
What Are The Oldest Living Things On Earth?
“When You Expect Rapid Feedback, the Fire to Perform Gets Hotter”
“High Learning Leads To High-Earning”
“How Do You Think Your Mother Felt When I Called To Say You Were Doing Well In Class?”
“To Hell With Good Intentions”?
“Prizing English Language Learners”
Nominate A Blogger For “Blog Of The Month” & A Twitterer For “Twitterer Of The Month”
Did You Know That THE Key To Saving American Education Is Firing Bad Teachers?
Display The Letter “A” On Test Days & Your Students Will Do Better?
The Importance Of Good Endings
What Snacks Do You Give Students On Test-Taking Days?
“Are You Going To Have A Good Day Or Bad Day Today?”
“Gotta’ Keep Reading” Is A Not-To-Be-Missed Video
“What’s Your Reading History? Reflecting on the Self as Reader”
Two Ways I’m Using Our School Library
Helping Students Who Are Grieving
Very Interesting NY Times Magazine Article On Teaching
Movieclips Is Now Available “Globally”
“Should Have, Could Have: What Parents Regret About High School”
More Results From Students Visualizing Success
“How The Average American Spends Their Day”
What Does The Navy Seals Training Program Have To Say About Students Visualizing Success?
What To Look For In A Classroom
February, 2010 “Top Ten” List
“Languages smarten up your brain”
Third Anniversary Of This Blog — What Have Been My Most Popular Posts?
“Myths of Independent Reading”
The Power of “Touch” In The Classroom
A Lesson Highlighting Community Assets — Not Deficits
Have You Ever Felt Like You & Your Students Are “Enduring” Class Instead of Enjoying It?
The Saddest School-Related Statistic I’ve Heard In Awhile….
TIME Magazine Can Do Better Than This…
“Idolizing Just One Person Undermines The Struggle”
If You Teach ELL’s In Grade Six Or Above, These Are “Must-Have” Resources
Useful Writing Exercise For Helping Students Develop Self-Esteem
I’ve Never “Motivated” A Student
“School Secretary Fired For Translating For Parents”
Persuasive Essays, Low-Income Communities & The Census Count
A Really Nice Online Writing Exercise
“Will Sleeping More Make Me Smarter?” — A Lesson I’m Trying This Week
Universcale Looks Pretty Amazing
On Rewards & Classroom Management
Are Some School Reform Technocrats Using Failed Urban Renewal Projects As Their Blueprint?
Interview Of The Month: Marvin Marshall On Positive Classroom Management
“If it is familiar, it has not eaten you yet”
Excerpt From My Upcoming Book On Teaching English Language Learners
January, 2010 “Top Ten” List
Updates On Some Classroom Lessons & Research I’ve Been Doing
A Growth Mind-Set For Educators
“How to have more self-discipline”
How Do You Use Photos In The ELL Classroom?
How Much “Content” Knowledge Do You Really Need To Be An Effective Teacher?
Update On My Website For Students
How Do Students Feel About Using Computers To Help Learn English?
Newest Assessment Results From Family Literacy Project
Interview Of The Month: Jim Burke
My Thoughts On Seth Godin’s Post “Without Them”
A Few Reflections On Daniel Pink’s New Book, “Drive”
Thanks, Thomas Edison, For The Light Bulb, Phonograph and…the SAT?
More On Saying “I’m Sorry” To Students
I Love This Quote From Education Secretary Arne Duncan
“Dumb Arguments for Stupid Ideas”
“How Not To Communicate With Parents”
If You Drop-Out Of High School, You’ll Be Less Healthy
Academic Research Has Its Place, But It Also Has To Be Kept In Its Place
Intriguing Study On Self-Control
Helping Students Respond To Writing Prompts
How I Organize My Classroom Library
Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes
December, 2009 “Top Ten” List
What Are Small Learning Communities?
Want To Know What’s Happened Since My “Marshmallow” & “Visualizing Success” Lessons?
“Looking At Every Problem As An Opportunity….” Lesson — More Advice Needed
Creating A Lesson On “Blaming Others” & Need Your Help
Interview Of The Month: John Norton From The Teacher Leaders Network
Kngine Might Be An Excellent Search Engine
“Earning Power: A Visual Survey of 80 Occupations”
Student Goal-Setting Lesson I’m Trying Out On Monday
Report On How Goal-Setting Lesson Went
English Central Gets Even Better
The Importance Of Saying “I’m Sorry” To Students
“Movieclips” Is A Real Find!
Improvisation In The ESL/EFL Classroom — At Least In Mine
Evaluating Teachers In Order To Fire Them?
A Not To Be Missed New Website: Zinn Education Project: Teaching a People’s History”
Is Figuring Out How To Make Schools Better A Puzzle Or A Mystery?
November, 2009 “Top Ten” List
The Best Piece Of Classroom Management Advice I’ve Ever Read
What Alice Mercer Saw When She Observed My Class
Do Teachers REALLY Come From The Bottom Third Of Colleges? Or Is That Statistic A Bunch Of Baloney?
The Difference Between Praise & Acknowledgment
“A Parent Engagement Model That Works”
Meeting Testing Goals By Lowering Standards
“Bracey Report on the Condition of Public Education”
A Few Simple Ways To Introduce Reluctant Colleagues To Technology
“I just thought it would end differently this time”
Neat Lincoln Memorial Interactive
October, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Great Picture Book Maker
“I Like This Lesson Because It Make Me Have a Longer Temper” (Part One)
Update On My Books
“Funniest videos about teaching / learning English”
Interview Of The Month: Claus von Zastrow From The Learning First Alliance
What Would Paulo Freire Do If He Was A School Superintendent?
Linklist Is A Winner
“I Made My Agreement With Mr. Ferlazzo And Kept It…”
Want To Talk About Classroom Management Issues?
“I Was Disappointed With What Happened Yesterday…”
Getting Our Students & Their Families Thinking About College
Incredible New Site On Cave Of Lascaux
“Audience Sounds”
You Need To Check-Out “English Central”
When Are Teenagers In The “Flow”?
“One Survivor Remembers” Available For Free
“What Would You Tell Your Parents You Learned In Class This Month?”
“I Know My Brain Is Growing…” Slideshow Of Student Work
“Why Rising Test Scores May Not Mean Increased Learning”
September, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
“ELL 2.0: How to Make the Most of the Web”
My Book On Teaching English Language Learners
“This Is Your Brain On Learning”
“The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes”
“Now I Know My Brain Is Growing When I Read Every Night”
“How Much Is A College Degree Worth?”
“State’s exit exams deserve a failing grade”
Reading Logs — Part Two (or “How Students Can Grow Their Brains”)
The Hopes And Dreams Of My Students
“Seeing The Forest Through The Trees”
Concerns About Book “Leveling”
The Best Part Of The President’s Speech & How I’ll Use It
Use Storybird To Create A Story
Great New Website From The BBC For Math, English & Science
The United States (& The World) As A 100 People
“Test scores poor tool for teacher evaluation”
August, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Paying Students For Increased Test Scores
“Fifty Stimulating Classroom Starters”
What Do You To Make Sure Small Groups Work Well In Class?
Do You Want To “Build Influence”?
Answers To “What Do You Do On The First Day Of School?”
The “Wizard English Grid” Is A Nifty Teaching & Learning Tool
New Article On Teachers Making Home Visits To Parents
What Kind Of Feedback Should We Give Our Students?
“How Different Groups Spend Their Day”
Why I Support The Cellphone Ban At Our School
My Thoughts On A Very Intriguing Video On Motivation & Incentives
“Data-Driven” Versus “Data-Informed”
July, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Make Neat Geography Games With “Map Battle”
Google Voice & English Language Learners
PinDax Is Similar To Wallwisher
What Do You Do On The First Day Of School?
ProProfs Does It Again — This Time With Polls
“Rooh It!” Looks Good For Webpage Annotation
Where To Find The Most Popular News Stories On The Web
Student Evaluations Of Summer School Class
Results From My Year-Long U.S. History Tech Experiment
Flash Meeting Looks Great For Real-Time Collaboration
My Entire U.S. History Curriculum Is Available Online
Bloom’s Taxonomy For Language Learners
“How To Use Leftover Class Time Wisely”
I’ve Begun A New Blog — “Engaging Parents In School”
June, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Most Popular Education Articles On The Web
“Does Slow and Steady Win the Race?”
“Interesting Ways” Series On Using Web 2.0 Apps In Schools
The 200 Most Popular Museum Websites
“Welcome To The Web” Is An Exceptional Site
What Do You Do On The Last Day Of Class? (Part Two)
May, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
“Tools For ESL Lesson Planning”
“The Last Day Of Class”
The “Most Popular” Blogs That Might Also Be Useful To Educators
Sketchcast Is Back!
Digital Research Tools
“The Seven Secrets Behind Great Teaching”
“I’ll Work If You Give Me Candy”
“How David Beat Goliath: When Underdogs Break The Rules”
“Fascinating Egyptian Mummies”
April, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Titatok & Tar Heel Reader For Student Writing — Again
Wallwisher Is A Winner — Big Time!
“Come On, Our Schools Aren’t That Bad…”
I Really Like “Next Stop” For Student Writing
Note Pub Might Work Great For Publishing Student Work
Mindopia For Career Exploration
What Do You Do To Keep Students (And You!) Focused Near The End Of The Year?
March, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Updated Multilingual Glossary Of Academic English Vocabulary
Excellent Immigration Graphic
MapBuzz Is An Easy Tool To Use
Accessible Multiple Intelligence Test
Two Hundred “The Best…” Lists!
National Curriculum? No Thanks
February, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
* Awesome Stories Has Just Gotten More “Awesome”
* Favthumbs Could Be Very Useful To Teachers
* I’m Adding “Themes” To Several “The Best” Lists
* Simply Box Might Be A Winner For Research
* USA Today Weather & Climate Interactives
* Top Notch Citizenship Resource
* Superb English Site Back Online
January, 2009 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
* Dictionary Added To Best Reference Site
* Screentoaster Is Now Open To The Public
* Mel Zoo Is An Excellent Search Engine
* Pixcetra
December, 2008 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
Two Excellent Sites For Beginning Readers
Grapevine Is Great For English-Speaking Practice
Gizmoz Is Good For Speaking Practice
November, 2008 “Top Ten” List
In addition to my most recent “The Best…” lists, here are my choices for this month’s “best” posts (not in order of preference):
* “The Best…” Lists Reorganized
* Voice Of America Special English — From China
* A Good Question For Classroom Management
* Incredible Website Launches Today!
* Smhoop
* Another Neat Online Spelling Bee
* Screentoaster Is Excellent For Speaking Practice
October, 2008 “Top Ten” List
In addition to the most recent “The Best…” lists, my choices for the “Top Ten” posts of this month (not in order of preference) are:
* More Great Resources From Oxford Press
* An Exceptional Reading & Writing Site
* Tizmos
* Excellent Flowgram On Web Tools For Language Learners
* “Why Do You Let Others Control You?”
* What A Great Way To Write A Book Review!
September 2008 Top Ten List
Apart from recent “The Best…” lists that I’ve written, here are my picks for September (not in order of preference):
* One Of The Coolest Online Music Tools Ever
* Great Environmental Teaching Tools For California Students
* iKnow! Has Extraordinary Potential
* Pic-Lits
Summer 2008 Top Ten List
Here are my picks for the best posts of the summer so far, excluding my many new “The Best…” lists:
Upcoming Student Technology Projects
Embedded Learning Portal Again
June 2008 Top Ten List
Here are my picks for June, excluding several new “The Best…” lists:
Extraordinary U.S. History Site
“Seven Secrets Of Student Learning”
May 2008 Top Ten List
Here are my choices for May (they’re not in any order of preference):
More About Maintaining A “Good” Class
Interested In Joining Our Sister Classes Project In The Fall?
April 2008 Top Ten List
This month, I wrote quite a few “The Best…” lists. Instead of listing all the new ones here, I’d encourage readers to just go to Websites of the Year to find them.
I’d like to list five additional posts, too:
YAKIToMe Converts Text To Speech
“Burbank Students Use Blog To Learn English”
March 2008 Top Ten List
Here are my choices for March:
I’ve written several new “The Best….” lists. I won’t list all the new ones here, but you can find all of them at Websites Of The Year.
Here are my other favorite posts for this month:
ESL/EFL Sister Classes Project
Article About Our School Getting Out of School Improvement
New “Best Search Engine” For English Language Learners
The “Digital Vaults” Are An Incredible Find!
February Top Ten List
This month includes several of the newest “Best of…” lists I’ve compiled. I won’t bother listing them here, but you can check them all out on my Websites of the Year.
The others include:
What Are You Doing In That Computer Lab?
Create An Online Scavenger Hunt With Zunal
This month includes the five newest “Best of…” lists I’ve compiled. I won’t bother listing them here, but you can check them all out on my Websites of the Year.
The other five are:
TechLearning Article on ESL and Video Games
Show Beyond Audio Slideshows Again
To Filter, Or Not To Filter? Is That The Question?
* Kid-Friendly Simon Sez Santa
* Another Fantastic Service From Daft Doggy
* Newspaper Article On Our Home Computer Project
* Does Using Technology Add Value To The Classroom?
* Tumblr
News For English Language Learners
Another Ecological Footprint Calculator
Excellent Online Language Program
Top Twelve” Posts In September
* Home Computers & English Language Learning
* A Zillion More Talking Stories
* What Do You Do In The Computer Lab?
* HippoCampus For History, Government & Math
* Another TechLearning Article
* International Reading Association Award
* Using Online Video Games For ESL
* Computers and Relationships Article
* The Best Online Slideshow Creator Yet!
* Great Site For U.S. History Projects
* Create Video Quizzes (this is actually from a few months ago, and I just realized that I’ve never put it on a Top Ten list)
* Talk Dog
* E-Cards
Temporary Student Email Addresses
Make a Virtual “You” (three websites are highlighted in this post)
Free E-Mail Newsletters on Education
* “Creating” Online Videos with English Language Learners
* Two Best Beginning To Read Sites
* Samuel L. Jackson, My ESL Students, And Me
International Reading Association Award
Intriguing Way To Learn Vocabulary
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