The Society of German Nature Photographers (GDT) has an annual Nature Photographer of the Year award, and it was just announced for this year. I’ll add this post to The Best Photos — In The World? Here are The Best … Continue reading → Read More...

Over the past couple of years (and I assume for a much longer time, too), a number of people, particularly “school reformers,” have been saying that direct instruction is clearly superior to guided inquiry. Listen, I certainly do my fair … Continue reading Read More...

Clozes, also know as “gap-fills,” are good tools for assessing vocabulary and comprehension and for helping students learn about context clues. Most clozes you find on the web, I think, are fairly useless because they create the clozes using some … Continue Read More...

Lyndon Johnson obviously made many mistakes. Nevertheless, he was often brilliant in organizing and using power to get what he wanted. Robert Caro’s multi-volume biography of Johnson is a must-read for anyone serious about wanting to make social change. Read More...

Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The London 2012 Olympics: London 2012: Seven Unique Venues for the Olympic Games is a slideshow from TIME. Top athletes to keep an eye on at the London … Continue reading → Read More...

Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted in February (you can see all 892 of them categorized here): The Best Photos & Videos Of The Space Shuttles’ Final Flights The Best Displays Of Just-Released New York … Continue reading → Read More...

Evaluate Me, Please is a must-read post at the “Teach From The Heart” blog. Please read the entire post, but here’s an excerpt: I teach children, not targets or standards, so please don’t walk into my classroom expecting to see … Continue reading → Read More...

Here are three very short videos (they’re commercials, but still very usable) that can be showed to reinforce the message that there is strength in unity. I could see using them, for example, when we’re discussing the idea of “we … Continue reading → Read More...

The X Prize Foundation recently sponsored a contest inviting people to submit short videos answering the question: “Why Do I Explore?” They’ve just named the winner, which is embedded below. You can see the other finalists here and all the … Continue Read More...

Here are some “new to me” smartphone apps I’ve found for translation. Though the last one is not iPhone-related, I’ll still add them all to The Best Sites For Beginning iPhone Users Like Me: SayHi Translate is an iPhone app … Continue reading → Read More...

Today is Astronomy Day. You might want to explore A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Space. Read More...

In 1944 two psychologists showed this video to 34 college students who were told to “write down what happened in the picture”: Of the 34, only one described it as showing geometric objects. The others told a story using humans … Continue reading → Read More...

The New York City Department of Records has just announced online access to 870,000 historical images of the city. They’re great to show in class, though, in email correspondence I’ve had with them, any educational use of them in student … Continue reading Read More...

When Google bought PostRank last year (see Bye Bye, PostRank? I Hope Not…) many of us feared they would be closing it down, and that concern is now real. PostRank just announced they were closing down on May 1st. No … Continue reading → Read More...

As I did a couple of days ago with my “The Best…” list on World War I resources, I’m taking the lazy way out here and just copying and pasting my post on the Depression over at our United States … Continue reading → Read More...

Check out this neat timelapse video of Yosemite: I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Yosemite & Other U.S. National Parks. Read More...

Maybe he/she is celebrating World Penguin Day today? Learn more at The Best Sites For Learning About Penguins. Read More...

I just posted Additional Ways We Can Teach Social Studies More Effectively — Part Two over at Education Week Teacher. It’s the second post in a three part series I’m doing on Social Studies. This post includes guest responses from … Continue reading Read More...

Here are some additional resources related to my earlier post, TED Talks Unveils New Interactive Education Website Tonight: The Atlantic has a good article on the new site. Chris Anderson from TED has written more about it here, as has … Continue reading Read More...

TED has just unveiled a new education website tonight, TED Ed, different from the YouTube channel with the same name that they launched last month (actually, the domain name of today’s new site is ed.ted). This new site, using the … Continue reading Read More...

Recent research has found that thinking in a second language makes you a better decision-maker: A research team led by psychologist Boaz Keysar reports using one’s second language reduces or eliminates certain biases that otherwise infiltrate our decision-making. Read More...

Several Ways We Can Teach Social Studies More Effectively — Part One is my newest post over at Education Week Teacher. It’s the first post in a three-part series. Three very talented educators share their responses in this post: Stephen … Continue reading Read More...

Dropbox is the ridiculously easy tool that lets you access your documents from anywhere, and you can read more about it at The Best Resources For Maximizing The Use Of Dropbox. Today, it announced a great additional feature — with … Continue reading Read More...

Follow-Up: Parent Engagement vs. Parent Involvement is a new short post I’ve written at Education Week. It briefly explores the roles of parents, teachers and administrators in parent engagement versus parent involvement. Read More...

Regular readers of this blog know I’m a big proponent of students teaching other students. I’ve published several posts on the topic, but am hoping readers will point me in the direction of others. Here is a beginning list of … Continue reading → Read More...

Source: pinaquote.com via Larry on Pinterest The President of the National School Boards Association just published an open letter to President Obama. You can see her entire letter here. It’s well worth reading. Here’s another excerpt: The work … Continue Read More...

Prof. Armin Falk, a professor at Bonn University, unveiled some very intriguing studies on motivation last week. I’ll provide a short summary of how I believe some of his key findings can be applied to education. You can also read … Continue reading Read More...

This is a very different “The Best…” list from the ones I usually post. It’s a “quasi” “The Best…” list. I’m still trying to figure out how TPRS (TPR Storytelling) actually would work in an ESL classroom, and I’m not … Continue reading → Read More...

I’ve just updated “The Best Tools To Make Simple Graphs Online.” Feel free to make additional suggestions. Read More...

I’ve recently learned about two new free video series: The disappointing one surprisingly comes from Harvard and the Annenberg Institute have recently unveiled 42 short videos on Neuroscience and the Classroom. I haven’t watched them all, but the few Read More...

@chrisdc77 you will appreciate the irony of this twitter.com/emmaemma33/sta… — emma cheetham (@emmaemma33) April 16, 2012 Thanks to Ed Yong for the tip. Read More...

Here are a few recent good posts and articles on school reform issues: Teacher: I dare you to measure my ‘value’ is from The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards … Continue reading Read More...

Resumonk lets you easily create resumes. It’s one of the easiest tools out there that I’ve seen — students can quickly make a PDF. I’m adding it to The Best Places For Students To Write Their Resumes. Read More...

Vimeo, the more “artsy” alternative to YouTube, has just opened voting for their 2012 Awards. It looks like they have quite a number of excellent videos, though I really wish they had provided each one with a sentence or two … Continue reading → Read More...

I’ve previously posted about many interactives and infographics from the BBC. Recently, I discovered that they have two pages where they collect them. You can visit their Interactive and Graphics page, which appears to be regularly updated. Their other Read More...

Nature Valley Trail View offers neat panoramic tours of the Grand Canyon, Great Smokies and Yellowstone. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Yosemite & Other U.S. National Parks. Read More...

April 25th is World Malaria Day. I’ve recently updated The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day. Additional suggestions are always welcome. Read More...

Here are the newest additions to The Best Earth Day Sites: Earth Day and All Days: 10 Ways to Learn About the Environment is from The New York Times Learning Network. Earth Day Over the Years is a slideshow from … Continue reading → Read More...

Holocaust Remembrance Day is tomorrow (Thursday, April 19th) in the United States. You might find The Best Sites For Learning About The Holocaust useful. Additional suggestions are welcome. Read More...

Repinly shows you what boards, “pinners,” and categories are most popular on Pinterest. They don’t seem to have an Education category — not yet, at least. It does seem somewhat interesting, though. Boy, some of the most popular boards have … Continue Read More...

Several Kinds Of Grading Systems is my newest Education Week Teacher column. In it, I describe the grading system I use in my classes, which is primarily based on student self-assessment, and several other authors and educators describing standards-based Read More...

Seven Tips for Building Positive Relationships with English Language Learners is another excerpt from my upcoming book, written with co-author Katie Hull Sypnieski. It just appeared over at Edutopia. Read More...

I’ve written A LOT about how to help students enhance their feelings of intrinsic motivation and help them want to change their behavior and attitudes. Many of us would also like to make change occur in our schools, districts, and … Continue reading Read More...

“In a healthy team, all the individual members talk to each other, not just the boss. Everyone listens as much as they talk. There is frequent communication, but it tends to be fairly fast. And people regularly make forays outside … Continue reading Read More...

How open is your internet? An interactive map is from The Guardian showing a world map and the levels of free Internet access in each country. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Internet. Read More...

Dani Lyra has posted specific info on the upcoming May 1st Edition of the ESL/EFL/ELL Blog Carnival! It will have two themes: Critical Thinking and EFL/ESL Using Technology to Raise Cultural Awareness You can read more details at her post. … Continue Read More...

Many teachers are familiar with the incentive-laden Accelerated Reader program. I was horrified by it during the the one year I taught in a middle school where it was used. I thought I’d begin a list sharing posts and article … Continue reading → Read More...

Here are some final additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Titanic: Titanic: A graphic look at how and why it sank is from The Orange County Register. The Newseum has a slideshow of newspaper frontpages on the … Continue reading → Read More...

33 Animals Who Are Extremely Disappointed In You is a great post from BuzzFeed with….33 animal photos, along with captions of what they are thinking. The pictures would be perfect with the kind of writing activity I suggested in What … Continue reading Read More...

D-Day To Victory is a very engaging interactive from History Television in Canada. I’m adding it to The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II. Read More...

Here are today’s additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Titanic: Here’s a video from The Guardian: Titanic: Faces of the crew is a BBC interactive. The sunken ship of dreams is a slideshow from The BBC. Titanic … Continue reading → Read More...

I’ve recently read some articles on how physical exercise helps students learn, and thought I’d put together a related “The Best…” list. However, I only have a few resources now, and I’m sure there are plenty others out there. I’m … Continue reading Read More...

The World Stories Project is “a growing collection of traditional and new stories representing the 21 most commonly spoken languages by children across the UK. These stories can be read, listened to and downloaded in English and their original language.” Read More...

Source: pinaquote.com via Larry on Pinterest This quotation came from “Amanda Alonzo, a 32-year-old teacher at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif., who has mentored two Intel Science Prize finalists and 10 semifinalists in the last two years—more Read More...

I suspect my ELL students will have fun describing this chronology of events…. It’s also a good public service announcement about the dangers of texting Read More...

It’s National Library Week! I’ve just updated The Best Sites To Teach ELL’s About Libraries. Additional suggestions are welcome! Read More...

Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Lessons On Trayvon Martin: Prosecutor Files Charge of 2nd-Degree Murder in Shooting of Martin is from The New York Times. Trayvon Martin’s Death Sparks National Outrage, Mourning is a slideshow … Read More...

What Kind Of Grading System Should We Use? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher blog. Feel free to leave your responses there or here…. Read More...

Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources For Learning About What’s Happening In Syria: Syria’s Year of Chaos: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War is a slideshow from TIME. Syrian refugees is a photo gallery from The Boston … Continue reading Read More...

Several Ways To Engage Students Without Carrots & Sticks is my new post at Education Week Teacher. It’s a good one, and includes guest responses from principal Chris Wejr and author Jeff Wilhelm. Read More...

Check out the largest Rube Goldberg Machine in the world. It’s purpose is….to pop a balloon. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Rube Goldberg Machines. Read More...

Here’s James Cameron’s new animation of how the Titanic sank. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The Titanic. Read More...

I’ve previously posted about having English Language Learner students write and describe the process they’ve used to write an essay (see A Pretty Darn Good Lesson — If I Say So Myself ). They then record themselves using the Fotobabble … Continue reading Read More...

Another Reason Why We Need To Be Careful How We Speak To Parents About Their Children is a post I just published at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. It’s about a pretty interest study documenting what typically happens … Continue reading → Read More...

How well does a college teach, and what do its students learn? Rankings based on the credentials of entering freshmen are not hard to find, but how can students, parents and policy makers assess how well a college builds on … Continue reading → Read More...

“What I Cannot Create, I Do Not Understand” That’s what was on Nobel-Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman’s blackboard when he died: I found this image in an article at Scientific American titled Hunters of Myths: Why Our Brains Love Origins. … Continue Read More...

It was news to me that the Pentagon gives out yearly awards to their many military photographers, and the awardees for 2011 have just been announced. I’ll be adding this list to The Best Photos — In The World?, which … Continue reading → Read More...

Read about the Eggbot at The Atlantic, and watch it in action below. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Easter And Passover, Read More...

Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Titanic: Sinking Of The Titanic is a series of videos from NBC Learn. Century After Titanic Sinks, Story Still Captivates is an Associated Press video. Five Titanic … Continue reading Read More...

As regular readers know, I periodically publish posts sharing what some organizations list as the “most popular” sites or services. I find them interesting and sometimes useful (see The Best Places To Find The Most Popular (& Useful) Resources For … Continue Read More...

If you’ve ever tried Incredibox, you know why I call it the easiest and most fun tool to create music on the Web. If you haven’t tried it yet, do it now! They announced major improvements today, including letting you … Continue reading → Read More...

Diane Ravitch calls this video clip the “greatest single commentary on flaws of data-driven school reform today.” It is pretty darn good, I have to agree: Read More...

How Can We Keep Students Engaged Without Carrots & Sticks? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Comments are welcome there or here… Read More...

Today, Google released a video demonstrating their hopes for augmented reality glasses they developing. It’s a little too connected for me — What do you think? And what do you think your students will think? Read More...

100 Years Later: A Snapshot of Life on the Titanic is a TIME slideshow giving a sample of the last photographs taken on the Titanic. The ship first from England to Ireland before it left for the Atlantic, and an … Continue reading → Read More...

I’ve certainly been aware of the concept of using Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) in teaching a second language but, to tell the truth, I’ve never really explored it much. Education Week Teacher has just published an article Read More...

A study has just been published finding that reading for pleasure makes your brain literally grow. Relationships Among Cortical Thickness, Reading Skill, and Print Exposure in Adults was published last Friday and was written by Jason G. Goldman and Frank Read More...

I periodically post “most popular” lists of websites (and books) that I think educators might find useful. Of course, there are a number of ways to gauge “popularity.” I just view these lists as opportunities to check-out some new sites, … Continue reading Read More...

Here’s a Mythbusters Rube Goldberg Machine. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Rube Goldberg Machines: Read More...

In light of irresponsible decisions by newspapers in Los Angeles and New York to publish teacher ratings, Matthew Di Carlo over at The Shanker blog has published a perfect April Fools Day post titled Measuring Journalist Quality. The best education … Read More...

Here’s a collection of recent education policy articles and posts: Integral to “value-added” is a requirement that some score low is from Gotham Schools. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles About The New York Court Decision Releasing … Continue Read More...