Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day… https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:46:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://edublogs.org?v=7.0.8 “Do You Want to Be an Administrator or Stay in the Classroom?” https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/30/do-you-want-to-be-an-administrator-or-stay-in-the-classroom/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 07:20:15 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164576 Do You Want to Be an Administrator or Stay in the Classroom? is the headline of one of my recent Education Week columns.

It’s a question that many teachers ask themselves during their careers.

Here are some excerpts:

]]> 164576 November Is Native American Heritage Month – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/30/november-is-native-american-heritage-month-here-are-teaching-learning-resources-5/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 07:05:51 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=161640

 

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States.

I don’t have a specific “Best” list for the month.

However, I have many related resources at:

The Best Sites For International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People

The Best Online Resources About Christopher Columbus (& ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’)

The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About The Standing Rock Protests

A Beginning List Of The Best Folklore & Myth Sites

The Best Resources For Learning About The Code Talkers

Many resources sharing the perspectives of Native Americans are included in The Best Sites To Teach and Learn About Thanksgiving.

A BEGINNING LIST OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHING ABOUT RACIST MASCOTS

RESOURCES ON CHALLENGES NATIVE AMERICANS FACE IN SCHOOLS

]]> 161640 My Best Posts That Appeared In October https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/30/my-best-posts-that-appeared-in-october-5/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 06:12:08 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=168846

 

I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here).

You can also see my all-time favorites here. I’ve also been doing “A Look Back” series reviewing old favorites, too.

Here are some of the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written during this past month (not in any order of preference) – also note that I group many updates on the Trump administration’s current attack on education and democracy in weekly posts you can find here):

This Piece On How Lack Of Agency Is Driving American Politics Is Very Relevant To American Classrooms

This Is The Best Piece I’ve Seen About How School’s Should Respond To This Year’s PISA Results

It Seems To Me That Anyone Who Says They Are “Data-Driven” Should Read This Article

The NY Times Asked 30 Researchers (Two-Thirds Who Had Never Taught In A K-12 Classroom) How To Improve Schools. Here Are My 12 Different Low-Cost Suggestions

Video: “Reading the World”: New Film Spotlights Paulo Freire’s Radical Literacy Experiment in 1960s Brazil

This Is The Most Interesting Piece About Education Research That I’ve Read In A Long Time

Increased Lighting Is To Improved Public Safety As [Blank] Is To Improved Student Learning

This Might Be The Best Video About Motivation That’s Available To Show To Students

Study Found That Requiring Later Start Times For High School & Middle School Seems To Have Worked

This Quotation Highlights The Main Reason I Think I Was Successful Doing Visualization With Students

“Civics For All,” A NYC Schools Program, Is An Amazing Resource

This Is A Great Older Reggie Miller Commercial On The Power Of Reading

New SEL Meta-Analysis Finds That SEL Improves “Prosocial Behavior” AND That Less Is More

AI Is Making The Student Motivation Challenge More Visible – Here Are Some Effective Strategies For Creating The Conditions Where Motivation Can Flourish

This Is Extraordinarily Excellent Advice On How To Use AI For Written Translation To Non-English-Speaking Parents/Guardians

I Think This Strategy Of “Waterfall Reading” Can Help Promote Reading Fluency At Any Level

“Rethinking ‘What Works’ in Education”

“Your Students Are Stressed. You Can Help Them”

You Should Turn Students Into Detectives. Here’s How

“Toss That Notion. Educators Reflect on Their Changing Beliefs”

“How Teachers Handle Frustration and Anger”

 

]]> 168846 Nov. 5th Is “World Tsunami Awareness Day” – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/29/nov-5th-is-world-tsunami-awareness-day-here-are-teaching-learning-resources-5/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:57:05 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=161768

KELLEPICS / Pixabay

 

The United Nations has declared November 5th to be World Tsunami Awareness Day.

You might be interested in The Best Sites To Learn About Tsunamis.

 

]]> 161768 “Classroom Routines Can Bolster Student Agency. Here’s How” https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/29/classroom-routines-can-bolster-student-agency-heres-how/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:47:42 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164505 Classroom Routines Can Bolster Student Agency. Here’s How is the headline of one of my recent Education Week columns.

Four educators share how to build predictable daily structures—and why you should.

Here are some excerpts:

]]> 164505 This Week’s Free & Useful Artificial Intelligence Tools For The Classroom https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/29/this-weeks-free-useful-artificial-intelligence-tools-for-the-classroom-171/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:12:23 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=162313

geralt / Pixabay

 

At least, for now, I’m going to make this a weekly feature which will highlight additions to THE BEST NEW – & FREE – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS THAT COULD BE USED IN THE CLASSROOM:

AI broke our exams. Are oral exams the fix? Hold your horses… is from From Experience To Meaning. I’m adding it to The “Best” Strategies For Creating AI-Resistant Assignments.

Students’ Qualitative Narratives on the Role of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots as Tutors in English as a Second Language Writing Development

In N.Y.C. Classes, Teachers Can Use A.I. to Plan but Not to Assign Grades www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/n… gift link

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) March 24, 2026 at 9:16 AM

An AI elementary school, with no teachers, is opening in Chicago this fall. blockclubchi.co/4lQB2S5

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— Block Club Chicago (@blockclubchi.bsky.social) March 25, 2026 at 7:00 AM

I’m adding this post to The “Best” Strategies For Creating AI-Resistant Assignments:

I really like the idea of oral exams, but I’m not thrilled with this example——-Perfect homework, blank stares: Why colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI
apnews.com/article/coll…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) March 25, 2026 at 1:48 AM

]]> 162313 Dolores Huerta Has Died – Here Are Related Teaching & Learning Resources https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/28/dolores-huerta-has-died-here-are-related-teaching-learning-resources/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 18:49:32 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=168944

 

Dolores Huerta’s death today hits hard.

I got my start in social justice work in the 1970’s working on the UFW grape boycott.

You can find a number of useful resources about her at The Best Sites For Learning About Farm Workers, The United Farm Workers Union & California Farmworker Day.

]]> 168944 Sentences Of The Week https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/28/sentences-of-the-week-42/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:56:06 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=168363

geralt / Pixabay

 

I thought readers might, or might not, find this new regular post useful.

Each week, I highlight several sentences, with links to their sources, that I find interesting/concerning/useful.  And they may, or may not, be directly connected to education.  I may also include my own comments or related links.

This regular post will join my other regular ones on teaching ELLs, education policy, Artificial Intelligence, infographics, and Pinterest highlights, not to mention sharing of my regular Education Week posts.

Here are this week’s sentences:

There is evidence, for example, that solutions are less likely to be rejected when we explain the problem first, that showing unbridled enthusiasm can prevent people from taking us seriously and that we’re sometimes more likely to be heard when we highlight the limitations as well as the strengths of our pet projects.

In the film, Musk’s former girlfriend sums up the matter concisely: “Elon is a nuke,” she says—a human of mass destruction.

“If you don’t like public executions just don’t watch it” says the crowd trying to ban drag shows

Blaming screens is a convenient way to avoid harder, deeper issues: inadequate mental health care and a system that chronically underfunds treatment. Policymakers and health system leaders instead must focus on providing the therapy, medication and support that troubled kids and families need.

We need to make the problem and the solution bigger to help both sides….

A “both sides” diagnosis obscures the asymmetry between a faction seeking to reverse social progress and those resisting it.  See Every Teacher Who Has Ever Felt Pressured To Present “Both Sides” Of An Event Or Belief Should Read This Article

Guide on the side or sage on the stage? How about a guide who is knowledgeable enough to periodically stop and deliver some sage advice, and who is wise enough to know when to lead and when to get out of the way?

But reality of everyday life is a tad more complex; not everything is a win or loss–there is an in-between: the middle range, the typical, the average. The concept of being in the middle—“average”–has in the U.S. segued into “mediocrity,” a linguistic euphemism for inferior quality applied to student, teacher, and school performance.

It’s important to call bullshit on the idea that these people are “futurists.” They’re not futurists. They’re building unbelievably interesting machines, thrilling marvels, but their political and economic ideas are the worst failed, most discredited ideas of the 20th century. Why we should look to them for political and economic leadership is baffling to me.

I don’t actually need to ask Claude what to cook for dinner or how to tell my vet that it’s time for my dog to be put down. I have people for those things. The more that we ask machines to tell us those things that we use people for, the more we surrender our humanity.

Getting a ride in a driverless car is convenient and fast, and if you don’t like talking to a driver or jostling with other people on the bus or the subway, it’ll seem preferable. But every time you take that ride, you’re missing out on encountering other people and, over time, you risk becoming more isolated, and lonelier, and less able to work with other people or, really, to even handle being with them. “Large language models,” Hook argues, “are the Waymo of intellectual life.”

The mural was intended to reinforce the school’s motto, “a ball and a book can change the world,” coined by Silver’s predecessor, David Stern. 

Multiple administrators told me that they are already considering rolling back their one-to-one device policies because of RAMaggedon, and the challenges for schools are poised to mount.

“He will bring them death and they will love him for it” –
Senator Gracchus

— Brent Staples (@bstaples.bsky.social) October 9, 2026 at 4:59 AM

Victor Wembanyama wants to set the NBA’s moral standard. It can be a burden www.nytimes.com/athletic/766…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 10, 2026 at 5:31 PM

]]> 168363 A Look Back: Intriguing Research Suggests Relatively Simple Exercise With Teachers Might Reduce Student Suspensions https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/28/a-look-back-intriguing-research-suggests-relatively-simple-exercise-with-teachers-might-reduce-student-suspensions-2/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:51:06 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164392 For the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful.  This post first appeared in 2022.

 

 

A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions is a new not-behind-a-paywall study that could offer an intervention schools might want to considering trying out.  It’s written by JASON A. OKONOFUA and his colleagues.

Basically, middle school math teachers spent a little more than an hour reading about research highlighting the value of thinking about – and listening to – students’ perspectives and the importance of relationship-building, along with reading short essays by students sharing how individual teachers had made an impact on their lives.  Then, teachers were asked to share ideas on how they now develop relationships with students and what they could do in the future.

That’s a very rudimentary description, but you can read more at the paper, and also see excerpts from the materials the researchers shared with teachers here.  If found that here.

In addition to the excerpt at the top of this post, I was particularly struck by this line in the abstract:

…reductions persisted through the next year when students interacted with different teachers, suggesting that empathic treatment with even one teacher in a critical period can improve students’ trajectories through school.

 

I can’t see anything negative coming from a professional development session like this, and it certainly would be more valuable than what a lot of us have to deal with when it comes to district-dictated PD.

I’m adding this info to The Best Resources On The Importance Of Building Positive Relationships With Students.

 

]]> 164392 The Best Resources For Learning About Youth Participatory Action Research https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/28/the-best-resources-for-learning-about-youth-participatory-action-research/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 07:27:09 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164470

Mohamed_hassan / Pixabay

 

I’ve written a lot about Teacher Action Research – see The Best Resources For Learning About Teacher Action Research – Help Me Find More.

But, for some reason, I had never heard about Youth Participatory Action Research until relatively recently.  That’s particularly disappointing to me because if I had known about it while I was teaching, it’s likely I would have encouraged students to participate more systematically.  Certainly, during my teaching career we did similar projects that involved students surveying friends and community members about their concerns, and then organized subsequent action projects, but I suspect they might have gone more smoothly knowing about YPAR.  It appears to often be done in conjunction with mentoring programs (The Best Resources On The Value & Practice Of Having Older Students Mentoring Younger Ones).

Here are some resources about it:

From AI-Supported ESL Writing to Co-Researchers: Empowering Refugee Youth Through Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is from FLT Magazine.

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Guide is from The University of Minnesota.

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is from UC Berkeley.

A Brief Primer on Youth Participatory Action Research for Mentoring Programs is from The Office of Juvenile Justice.

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is from The University of Virginia.

Best Practices for Youth-Led Participatory Research Projects is from The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Youth Participatory Action Research: A Guidebook and Curriculum is from Knowledge Works.

Facilitating youth participatory action research (YPAR): A scoping review of relational practice in U.S. Youth development & out-of-school time projects

The Mentoring Program’s Guide To Youth Participatory Action Research

Why Youth Participatory Action Research? is from NYU.

Centering Youth in the Healing Process Through Participatory Action Research: A Systematic Review

Designing Research With Youth: What it Takes to Do it Well is from AIR.

]]> 164470 This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/27/this-weeks-round-up-of-useful-posts-articles-on-ed-policy-issues-528/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:59:57 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=168482

 

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in seeing all my “Best” lists related to education policy here):

Can the new federal voucher program help public schools? Democrats are torn is from NPR.

I would suggest before he priorities ANY ed issue, he organize a listening process primarily with educators, but also with parents, students and administrators —–California’s next governor should prioritize these education issues, 6 leaders say edsource.org?page_id=768495

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 20, 2026 at 4:03 PM

It’s interesting & disappointing to me that she says it will take “leadership on top” to make a difference because parents won’t change things on their own. What about community organizing?—What It Took for Nikole Hannah-Jones to Write About Her Daughter’s Distress www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/i…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 20, 2026 at 4:57 PM

State takeovers of struggling Texas school districts come at a high cost, with little evidence of success is from The Conversation.

I’m adding this post to The Best Resources For Learning About The Student Protests In France:

Student Protesters in France Have a Strange New Slogan. What Does It Mean? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/w…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 20, 2026 at 1:35 PM

pagesix.com/2026/10/19/h…

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— Peter Greene (@palan57.bsky.social) October 20, 2026 at 8:09 AM

How Kings Canyon students outpace their peers: A data focus, learning mindset among teachers edsource.org?page_id=768609

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 11:18 AM

Taxpayers are funding private school tuition. It’s helping classical Christian schools expand apnews.com/projects/pri…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 6:24 AM

I love how the same guys who are always banging on about evidence, science, research, etc. are also like:

“I understand that your views on teaching are based on strongly held convictions about human flourishing, self-determination, democracy, etc—but have you considered this half assed analogy? 😏”

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— Trevor Aleo (@mraleosays.bsky.social) October 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM

Don’t Be Fooled by Claims That Tax-Credit Scholarships Can Help Public Education is from Ed Week.

Trump: “Angie Nixon was the lead sponsor of a bill to let schools turn children, all of them, transgender without parental consent”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 23, 2026 at 11:58 AM

Students at an A.I. School Were Supposed to Learn Faster. Many Aren’t. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 23, 2026 at 4:28 AM

Amid Trump’s assaults on DEI, how one university is elevating Black students www.npr.org/2026/10/23/n…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 23, 2026 at 4:25 AM

I’m adding this post to The Best Sites For Learning That Money Does Matter For Schools:

More and more compelling research continues to pile up regarding the positive effects of increases in school funding (& negative effects of cuts). Here’s a quick update: schoolfinance101.com/2026/10/22/m…

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— Bruce D. Baker (@schoolfinance101.bsky.social) October 22, 2026 at 9:07 AM

How Kings Canyon students outpace their peers: A data focus, learning mindset among teachers edsource.org?page_id=768609

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 11:18 AM

‘What we’re witnessing right now under Greg Abbott is really the destruction of Texas public schools.’ Fantastic interview with Gina Hinojosa, demonstrating why public education is such a critical issue. www.newyorker.com/news/the-new…

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— Nancy Flanagan 🎼 (@nancyflanagan.bsky.social) October 22, 2026 at 4:22 AM

‘Everything We Love Is on the Line’ www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/o…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 24, 2026 at 5:18 AM

Not nothing—but the primary voucher funding threat comes from not by driving kids out of public schools, but by states setting up entirely new subsidy systems for kids never enrolled in the first place.

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— Josh Cowen (@joshcowenmi.bsky.social) October 24, 2026 at 7:24 AM

For undocumented students, the path from high school to college is shrinking is from Chalkbeat. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Encouraging ELL’s To Attend College.

Direct Instruction is the American Default is by Michael Pershan.

Public Colleges Are Passing the $50,000-a-Year Mark. For Locals. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/b…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 25, 2026 at 7:09 AM

Red States Are Dumbing Down College Admissions www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 26, 2026 at 10:25 AM

Special ed diaries: Teachers tell NPR about their most joyous, most difficult moments www.npr.org/2026/10/26/n…

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) October 26, 2026 at 6:21 AM

Want to Improve Attendance? Start With Relationships is from Ed Week. The best strategies to improve chronic absenteeism, per new research is from Ed Source. They’re both summaries of the same recent report. I’m adding them to The Best Resources On Student Absenteeism.

]]> 168482 Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/27/around-the-web-in-esl-efl-ell-383/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:44:49 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=161910

 

Ten years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention.

You might also be interested in all my Best lists on teaching ELLs.

Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners.

In addition, look for our latest book on teaching ELLs, The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox 2.0.

Here are this week’s choices:

I’m adding this post to THE BEST RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT TRANSLANGUAGING:

This could be a fun video to show to ELL students and then have them talk/write about what they saw:

How to Help Students Express Complex Ideas: The Metaphorical Transmediation Protocol is from Song Activity Factory.

I’m adding this post to SOME “BEST” IDEAS FOR USING MINI-WHITEBOARDS IN THE CLASSROOM:

AI-Powered Learning for ELLs: A Texas Study

Mindful Moments for Teachers of Multilingual Learners is from Helping Multilingual Learners Thrive.

A Poetry-Writing Exercise to Support English Learners appeared in Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best World Poetry Day Resources – Help Me Find More.

]]> 161910 SEL Weekly Update https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/27/sel-weekly-update-307/ Tue, 27 Oct 2026 07:24:15 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=162297

 

I’ve begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists.

Also, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources.

Here are this week’s picks:

The Social Wealth Gap is from Education Next. I’m adding it to The Best Resources On Social Capital In Schools.

5 neuroscience-backed tips for beating procrastination is from Fast Company. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Teaching Students About The Dangers Of Procrastination.

Down on your luck? How behavioural neuroscience could help is from The Guardian. I’m adding it to THE BEST RESOURCES ON LEARNING HOW TO IMPROVE OUR “LUCK”

Stop trying to ‘educate’ people into changing. Science proves it doesn’t work is from Fast Company. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On Building Influence & Creating Change/

Glisten offers resources to support LGBTQ students.  I’m adding it to THE BEST WAYS TO SUPPORT LGBTQ STUDENTS.

]]> 162297 A Look Back: Six Ways For Students To Be Powerful In The Classroom – What Are More Ideas? https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/26/a-look-back-six-ways-for-students-to-be-powerful-in-the-classroom-what-are-more-ideas-3/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:49:34 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164390 For the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful.  This post first appeared in 2022.

 

Pexels / Pixabay

 

The Ikea Effect (see Video: “How the ‘IKEA effect’ can motivate people to work [& learn] harder” )   – basically, we are more invested in something if we feel we contributed to creating it – is not big news to just about anyone.

As many experienced teachers know, this holds true in the classroom, also.

I was prompted to write this post because of a couple of things that happened this week.

One, a student teacher who was observing my class asked me what I was saying to students who I had invited to briefly come to my desk after he saw they had been “off-task.”  I explained to him that they had previously  made some decisions about how they had wanted to conduct themselves in class (see Here Is How I’m TRYING to Create The Conditions Where My ELL Students Can Motivate Themselves (With A Little Encouragement)), and I was checking in with them to see if those goals they had set for themselves were still important to them.  I told the student teacher that the important thing to keep in mind was not to challenge them to comply with my expectations but, instead, to challenge them if they wanted to act on what they said they wanted (see Irritation vs. Agitation).

Two, I asked peer tutors (see Are Schools Overlooking An Obvious Strategy They Can Implement Immediately To Accelerate Learning? Peer Tutors!) for their recommendations (and reasoning for those recommendations) of Newcomer students who might be ready to be moved to the Intermediate ELL group.  They took it very seriously and, though the names were the same I would have chosen, they pointed out a couple of improvements made by students that I had not noticed.  And, importantly, though the peer tutors generally take their job seriously, they seemed to be even more attentive to it after I asked them for their suggestions.

So, what are some other ways to create the conditions where students feel – and have – a genuine sense of power and ownership?

One simple strategy for incorporating this “need for power” (as William Glasser describes it) is through the use of choice (see The Best Posts & Articles About Providing Students With Choices).   I also talk about it in an excerpt from one of my books that appeared in Edutopia, Strategies for Helping Students Motivate Themselves.

Asking for student suggestions and acting on them is another strategy.  One way I do this is through a weekly Google Form (see I’ve Been Having Students Complete Weekly “Check-Ins” & I Can’t Believe I Didn’t Think To Ask This Question Until Now! ).  Asking for feedback, and not responding to it, can make things worse.  I’ve received some good suggestions, and make it very public when I act on them.  Anonymous class evaluations have also been helpful (see Best Posts On Students Evaluating Classes (And Teachers)).

Inviting students to tell me how much time is needed to complete a task/assignment or, if they are in the middle of it, how much more time they need.  Some researchers have questioned the value of student input on pacing (see A Look Back: Study Finds That “Student-Centered” Activities Better Than “Teacher-Centered” Ones – Except When It Comes To Pacing).  I used to feel the same way, and maybe I’m just more flexible during the pandemic, but I’m generally finding that students are setting reasonable deadlines.

I think having many of my students act as mentors to other students also contributes to their sense of power and agency in class (see The Best Resources On The Value & Practice Of Having Older Students Mentoring Younger Ones).   Sometimes they are mentors to students in other classes, and other times they are mentors to new students who have recently arrived in the United States.

I’m sure I’m forgetting other ways to invite student ownership.  What are additional strategies you use?

I’m adding this post to:

The Best Posts & Articles About Providing Students With Choices

The Best Resources On Student Agency & How To Encourage It

Best Posts On “Motivating” Students

The Best Posts & Articles On Student Engagement

 

ADDENDUM:

GUEST POST: WAYS TO CREATE A STUDENT-DRIVEN CLASS

Bringing Student Voice to the Forefront is from NASSP.

NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT “STUDENT VOICE” MATTERS

Agency, Choice, and Action is from Facing History.

]]> 164390 This Piece On How Lack Of Agency Is Driving American Politics Is Very Relevant To American Classrooms https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/26/this-piece-on-how-lack-of-agency-is-driving-american-politics-is-very-relevant-to-american-classrooms/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:27:47 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=168273

 

My toddler theory of American politics is an insightful piece about American politics, and also has a lot of relevance to America’s classrooms.

The author rightly suggests that people are frustrated with being told that what future is happening to them, and are desperate to gain a sense of agency.

Of course, a sense of student agency, most easily supported through creating opportunities for student autonomy through choice and other ways, is an important way teachers can help students gain a feeling of power, too.

For specific ideas on how to make that happen, check out:

Six Ways For Students To Be Powerful In The Classroom

The Best Resources On Student Agency & How To Encourage It

Not to mention our most recent book, The Better Teacher’s Toolbox.

 

]]> 168273 Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/26/classroom-instruction-resources-of-the-week-559/ Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:20:35 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=162245

 

Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here.

You can also see all my “Best” lists on instructional strategies here.

Here are this week’s picks:

Six types of multiple-choice question is from Six Things. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Use Multiple Choice Exercises.

Sharpening Students’ Observation Skills Through Poetry is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best World Poetry Day Resources – Help Me Find More.

This writing format is to me, and comes from Beth Southern. I’m adding it to The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students:

An Effective Strategy for Teaching With Videos is from Edutopia.

]]> 162245 A Look Back: Strategies For Encouraging Students To Make Multiple “Touches” On The Same Text https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/25/a-look-back-strategies-for-encouraging-students-to-make-multiple-touches-on-the-same-text-3/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:47:18 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164388 For the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful.  This post first appeared in 2022.

 

geralt / Pixabay

 

For many student, especially English Language Learners, it can be very valuable to review a text multiple times – especially in content classes.

It can’t just be re-reading it, though, time and time again.

BORING!

Each “touch” on the text needs to be for a different reason and, ideally, done in a different way.

Of course, this is also the idea behind “close reading” (see The Best Resources On “Close Reading” — Help Me Find More).

Here’s sequence I often use in my ELL History and Government/Economics classes to promote this idea of “multiple touches” (by the way, I first heard this phrase by Kelly Young, who was a talented literacy coach who worked with our school and others) on the same text.

  1. A peer tutor, or a more English-proficient student, reads the first page of one of our textbook chapters to a small group.  He/she then will read sentences from that page as students will write them on mini-whiteboards without looking at the book, and the reader will check each one.  Students will then write a summary of that page.
  2. Students in the group will then take turns reading paragraphs aloud in the rest of the chapter, and the group will work together to write summaries of each page.  Generally, students will take turns reading a couple of sentences from each page for others to copy on their whiteboards.
  3. We’ll then play a game where I ask questions about the content of the chapter, and each group writes the answer on a whiteboard.
  4. Students next write several multiple choice questions from the chapter and, from there, I choose the ones to use on a test.
  5. Students take the test.  We’ve spent a fair amount of time discussing the importance of retrieval practice (see The Best Resources For Learning About Retrieval Practice), so students know to first try answering the questions without looking at the book, and then they can double-check their answers by lookin in the book (with no penalty).

 

So, as you can see, students have to make multiple touches on the same text, but for many different reasons – first reading, copying down on whiteboards, game, coming up with test questions, and answering them.

What are your suggestions for other ways to encourage these kinds of multiple touches?

]]> 164388 Research Studies Of The Week https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/25/research-studies-of-the-week-211/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:37:22 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=162050

Mohamed_hassan / Pixabay

 

I often write about research studies from various fields 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.

You can see all my “Best” lists related to education research here.

Here are some new useful studies (and related resources):

Again, the Very Serious edu-pundits who like to say that “higher pay won’t matter [if you don’t do this other thing I want and/or because teachers aren’t in it for the money]” are wrong and you shouldn’t listen to them.

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— Paul Bruno (@paul-bruno.com) March 11, 2026 at 4:32 AM

Fail, flip, fix, and feed – Rethinking flipped learning: A review of meta-analyses and a subsequent meta-analysis

“On average, schools that improve students’ longer run outcomes the most are those that improve their 10th-grade test scores and increase their college plans the most.” onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1…

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— Morgan Polikoff (@mpolikoff.bsky.social) March 16, 2026 at 7:31 AM

I’m adding this to The Best Posts & Articles About Why High School Exit Exams Might Not Be A Good Idea:

Impact of Removing Exit Exams on Graduation Rates journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3…

“Removing exams led to increases in school-level ACGR of 3 percentage points, with the limited English proficient ACGR…projected to increase up 15 percentage points at 4 years after exam removal.”

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— Paul Bruno (@paul-bruno.com) March 15, 2026 at 1:33 PM

Research Bite #59: The impact of distractor processing on semantic memory retrieval is from Tips For Teachers.

Greater autonomy need satisfaction with a little help from my friends: a randomized control trial to increase peer-directed agentic engagement

]]> 162050 Daylight Savings Ends On Nov. 1st – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/25/daylight-savings-ends-on-nov-1st-here-are-teaching-learning-resources-2/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:15:51 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=161673

obpia30 / Pixabay

 

Daylight Savings Time ends on November 1st.

You might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Daylight Savings Time.

]]> 161673 “Your Students Are Stressed. You Can Help Them” https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2026/10/24/your-students-are-stressed-you-can-help-them/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 07:42:13 +0000 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=164280 Your Students Are Stressed. You Can Help Them is the headline of one of my recent Education Week columns, a guest post by Elise White Diaz.

Teachers can guide students out of survival mode and into readiness for learning.

Here’s an excerpt:

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