Warren Berger shared this clip from Dead Poets Society this morning. It’s a great one to teach about creativity and also about thinking outside of the box, though I’m not sure what David Coleman, author of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards, would say about this quote: I’m adding it to: The Best Videos Showing "Thinking Outside The Box" — Help Me Find More The Best Sources Of Advice On Helping Students Strengthen & Develop Their Creativity

Q & A Collections: Teaching English Language Learners is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. It brings together all my Ed Week posts from the last four years on teaching English Language Learners - in one place! Here’s an excerpt from one of them:

© 2013 Luke Jones, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Here are a number of great resources for teaching writing. I’m adding most to The Best Posts On Writing Instruction: Richard Byrne writes about the Hemingway App might have turned itself into a useful writing tool and not just a gimmick. I’m adding it to The Best Online Tools That Can Help Students Write An Essay. Speaking of those kinds of online tools, one that’s already on that list, Write Well, today just announced some useful improvements. Dylan Wiliam advises: Forget the Rubric; Use Work Samples Instead is a pretty important post by Doug Lemov. Be sure to also check out Dylan William’s comment on it. In addition to adding it to my "Writing" Best list, I’m also adding it to The Best Rubric Sites (And A Beginning Discussion About Their Use). The Moving Writers have created a great collection of mentor texts. I’m adding it to The Best Websites For K-12 Writing Instruction/Reinforcement. WISE EYES: Prompting for Meaningful Student Writing is from The National Writing Project. I’m adding it to the same list. School Writing Vs. Authentic Writing is by Ken Lindblom. @Larryferlazzo It's the blog Two Writing Teachers. My #1 favorite blog about teaching writing https://t.co/wQddlTEs11 #TWTblog — Jenny Maehara (@jennymae) August 11, 2015 Check out @steve8071 's cool blog post on pop-up books and paper engineering http://t.co/VviwDx4KCK #unccwp #nwp #lrng — Cindy Urbanski (@birdawg) August 4, 2015

Frank Bruni wrote a New York Times column this morning that pretty much summarizes good policy changes that could be made to enhance the attractiveness of the teaching profession: higher salaries, a career ladder, a career ladder, a voice in policy decisions and more. Here’s how he ends it: I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles About The Importance Of Teacher (& Student) Working Conditions.

© 2013 John Fowler, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio As The NY Times describes it: the annual Perseid meteor shower will fill the sky with shooting stars. At its peak, between Aug. 11 and Aug. 14, an average of one shooting star a minute will zip through the night sky. I have a number of related resources already at The Best Sites For Learning About Meteor Showers, but here are some new ones specific to this week: The Perseid meteor shower — the year’s best — is tonight. Here’s how to see it. is from Vox. Infographic Seeing the Perseid meteor shower is from The L.A. Times.

© 2013 DonkeyHotey, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio I’ve got a small handful of blog posts scheduled over the next few days, but I’ll be taking a break for a few days from writing anything new. I’ll be back "on the job" by the middle of next week after taking the time to both wrap up my next book and to relax a bit before the new school year begins. Though my blog posts will be slowing down during that time, I suspect I’ll still be active on Twitter. See you next week!

Thanks to Jim Bentley, I learned about Karen Ogen‘s nice collection of learning games called Interactive Sites For Education. I’m adding it to The Best Collections Of Online Educational Games.

Here’s a very young Morgan Freeman demonstrating a fun classroom game. I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn About (And View Video Clips Of) Teachers In The Movies.

I’m adding this video to The Best TV/Movie Scenes Showing Good & Bad Classroom Discussions:

Here are new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About NASA’s "New Horizons" Spacecraft: See the Pluto portrait 85 years in the making is from The Washington Post.

Q & A Collections: Teaching Reading & Writing is the title of my latest post at Education Week Teacher. In it, you can find all my posts on Teaching Reading & Writing from the past four years - in one place! Here’s an excerpt from one of them:

© 2015 Jessica Ottewell, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio Over the weekend, Alfie Kohn wrote a piece for Salon headlined The perils of "Growth Mindset" education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system. It’s divided into four parts and I think the first section offers a spot-on critique of some who view the idea of a "growth-mindset" and other Social Emotional Learning concepts as the primary answer to the challenges facing our students and schools. It’s similar to analyses that I’ve offered elsewhere (see The manipulation of Social Emotional Learning and The Best Articles About The Study Showing Social Emotional Learning Isn’t Enough). And I, like Kohn, am critical of what can be perceived as Professor Dweck’s occasional pronouncements that appear to support those in what I call the "Let Them Eat Character!" camp (see Our Students Are Not Supermen & Superwomen and The Limits To The Power Of A Growth Mindset (& The Dangers When We Don’t Recognize Them)). But I think Kohn goes too far by portraying it as an either/or situation facing us in our classrooms — I believe the idea of a growth mindset can have a very positive impact on our students (and I’ve seen it). I also believe that helping students become aware of social/economic/political/racial challenges facing them and how to respond effectively, including through becoming active citizens, can also have a very positive impact on our students (and I’ve seen those benefits, too). I also think it’s unfortunate that Kohn doesn’t mention some of Professor Dweck’s recent public efforts to rein in some of the misuses of her theory (see Why the ‘false growth mindset’ explains so much). Perhaps, as the study in the below tweet suggests, either/or in many instructional situations is often not the paradigm that serves our students best… Fascinating research of what teaching appeared to improve outcomes in Israel (HT @cmr_ed) http://t.co/6DMYOQkhkN pic.twitter.com/yidHfNo01R — David Weston (@informed_edu) May 27, 2015 I’m adding this post to The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A "Growth Mindset."

© 1910 The Library of Congress, Flickr | PD | via Wylio The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified 95 years ago today. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About Women’s Suffrage. 95 years ago today: 19th amendment ratified; women gain right to vote in The United States. http://t.co/ajEIESnmgW pic.twitter.com/pHzQ4N8HI9 — NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) August 18, 2015

© 2008 Alison, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio How to Never Succumb to Boredom is a very good piece over at Bright. I’m going to have students read it and then answer this prompt: What is the author saying about boredom? Do you agree with his view? To support your opinion, be sure to include specific examples drawn from your own experience, your observations of others, or any of your readings. I’m adding this post to: The Best Posts & Articles On Boredom & How Students & Teachers Can Deal With It The Best Posts On Writing Instruction

Here’s an interesting new TED-Ed video and lesson:

© 2005 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio August 29th is the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. You can find many related resources at: The Best Short Video Clips About Hurricane Katrina The Best Websites For Teaching & Learning About New Orleans

The New York Times has just published a review of a new book on the school reform fiasco in Newark, New Jersey titled The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? I’ve previously posted about the excellent article the author, Dale Russakoff, wrote about Newark for The New Yorker, which she obviously then expanded and turned into this book. Here’s an excerpt from the review: You might also be interested in The Best Posts & Articles For Learning About Newark’s $100 Million From Facebook. You can also find even more recent updates on what is happening with Newark schools here.

This is a pretty interesting, and a bit depressing, video from Vox that I’m adding to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures:

© 1973 The U.S. National Archives, Flickr | PD | via Wylio There has been a lot of media about what has been called a "teacher shortage." Here are some of the best articles I’ve seen about it: Teacher Shortages Spur a Nationwide Hiring Scramble (Credentials Optional) is from The New York Times. Peter Greene has a related post that worth’s a read, too. Teacher Shortage? Or Teacher Pipeline Problem? is from NPR. The Hidden Costs Of Teacher Turnover is a  report from NPR. You might also be interested in a three-part series I published on this topic at Education Week Teacher last year. Is There a Teacher Shortage? That Depends How You Frame It is from Ed Week. Some Districts Battle Shortage of Teachers as School Begins is from ABC News. Thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip. Bay Area school districts scramble amid teacher shortage http://t.co/6dDF2NjLsw — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) August 16, 2015 The Teacher Shortage, via @nytimes great commentary by @rweingarten http://t.co/Sp8UpaTVPr — Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) August 16, 2015 California's Teacher Supply in 15 Charts http://t.co/8Fu5PLO5uX pic.twitter.com/RBc8Fg7TkT — Paul Bruno (@MrPABruno) August 12, 2015 Two Views: Why Is There a Teacher Shortage? http://t.co/woi8IHQNtp via @dianeravitch — Amy Berard (@1amyberard) August 10, 2015

PertsLab shared a report on an interesting study with unsurprising results, Warmth, not punishment, helps middle-school students learn, U-M study says. Though the study is focused on parenting, it’s easy to substitute the word "teaching." It’s results are similar to two previous studies I’ve written about, Study: "Authoritative," Not "Authoritarian," Classroom Management Works Best For Boys. Here’s an excerpt from the article about the new research: I’m adding this post to The Best Posts, Articles & Videos Explaining Why Punishment Is Often Not The Best Classroom Strategy.

I’ll be developing weekly student interactives for English Language Learners at The New York Times Learning Network starting after Labor Day. The exercises, which should be fairly creative and the posts will include resources to first develop background knowledge and writing prompts for students to respond to — on paper or in the NY Times comments section (if they’re thirteen or older). You can access all my previous ELL posts for The Learning Network here (they include both columns for teachers and interactives for students) and see a list at All My NY Times Posts For English Language Learners - Linked With Descriptions. I think, and hope, that teachers and students will find them useful….

Q & A Collections: Education Policy Issues is the title of my latest Education Week Teacher post. It contains all my posts from the past four years on Education Policy Issues - in one place! Here’s an excerpt from one of them:

Ancient whistle language uses whole brain for long-distance chat is an article from The New Scientist, and here is the language in action: I’m adding it to The Best Resources For International Mother Language Day.